The end of the Cold War 1984–1995 Flashcards
gorbachev key dates
1985 became leader introduced Glasnost (openess) Perestroika (Reforms)
1987 called for free elections in the USSR
1988 withdrew from afghanistan
1989 berlin wall collapses
1989 abandoned the Brezhnev doctrine and taking up of The Sinatra doctrine
1991 Coup in USSR
1991 Yeltsin became prime minister and bans communist party. recognises independance of baltic states
1991 August Gorbachev stepped down
economy in the USSR
Very poor
took them a long time to develop new weapons
businesses failing and little in the shops
wasting millions of pounds in Afghanistan
Couldn’t keep up with the USA and reagan’s SDI
Hungary
Kadar had been in power since uprisings in 1956
in 1982 tried to move their trade away from the USSR and modernising their weapons, highest debts in eastern bloc
kadar replaced by grosz
became a multi party democracy
round table talks - followed poland’s example
hungarian socialist party made from old communist party, was assumed to win but only got 11% in 1992, however won in 1994 through coalition
non violent and clear move from communism to socialism
east germany
controlled by Honecker
tried to boost moral and collectivism with medals and sporting triumphs in the Olympic games but just angered the working class people at the pampering athletes received
resentful attitude but most people just made do with what they had, honecker’s reign was safe
stasi still in control and wide network of informers
romania (7)
ceascesu, parannoyed and meglomaniac leading a repressive regime, cult of personality around him
the securitate were the secret police
heavy censorship for example each typewriter had to be registered each year
built a people’s palace for himself destroying many houses and spending billions of pounds
alienated from the people
villages systematically destroyed to build agro-industrial complexes
showed the leader did not care for the wellbeing of this people
yugoslavia
led by Tito had been expelled from cominform in 1948
liberal movement, received marshall aid
global non-aligned movement associated with neither the USSR or USA
rise of nationalism
founded on borrowing showing still had an unstable economy
tito dies in 1980 - kept power due to charisma and power
civil war
reagan and star wars
USSR’s failing economy couldn’t keep up with USA
SDI - Strategic Defense Initiative
Reagan saw the ussr as an evil empire and claimed he was upholding international peace
state of the art satellite technology
1983
the collapse of the Berlin wall opposition
November 1989
worried many soviets as it was seen as a buffer zone between russia and the West, especially as roughly 20,000,000 russians had died in ww2
worried about the reunification and a powerful germany once more, incl Thatcher,
Helmut Kohl wanted a gradual reunification as not to negatively affect the FGR’s economy (had a 10 point plan which he devised himself)
abandonment of the Brezhnev doctrine
1989 Hungarian leader planned free party elections and Gorbachev said he would not send in troops
opposition to the breakdown of the USSR
Ceascecu, Jakes and Honecker organised a conspiracy attempt against Hungary and Poland
the situation in East Germany
40th anniversary of the GDR, Honecker very disillusioned, october
many citizens worried about the Chinese approach eg. ‘Tienanmen square’ many were shot down after peacefully protesting .. leipzig
october 7th meant to be a massive protest
extra police on standby and spare beds in the hospital
peaceful protest happened, a step forward for the GDR
1983-4 massive loans from west-east kept its economy running
honecker granted exit visas to east germans causing many to flee to hungary / poland in order to reach west berlin due to free movement, borders shut off
honecker replaced by krenz, october
fall of berlin wall 9th november 1989
why did the soviet union collapse (summary)
gerontocracy (ineffective/old leaders who replaced each other in quick succession)
economic weakness (afghanistan, the arms race)
nationalism in the Eastern bloc and a hunger for reforms/change
Gorbachev (glasnost/perestroika)
the reunification of Germany
coup
Yeltsin
the coup in Russia
1991
There were clear divisions in the communist party between the conservatives and the reformers but neither party had a clear leader,
Gorbachev warned of a coup but did nothing even when Yeltsin stepped down in 89
a group of 12 hardliners attempted to overthrow Gorbachev, they put him in his house and cut all contact from telephone lines etc
they were weak willed and had no plan
Yeltsin lead protests outside the white house in Moscow and kept opposition strong
after the coup had failed Gorbachev elected many conservatives back into the Politburo which angered many
why did the coup fail?
the 12 leaders were unorganised and didn’t have a plan
yeltsin had lots of support from figures such as the mayor of Leningrad
media lines were kept open ensuring that the public could see the opposition to the Coup
Gorbachev didn’t crack under pressure and resign
aftermath of the coup
Gorbachev oblivious of the true situation in Russia and how much support Yeltsin had/had gained during the coup - didn’t thank him
Gorbachev elected many conservatives back into his cabinet and renewed his faith in the communist party
Famous televised interview in which Yeltsin gave Gorbachev the minutes of a meeting with his cabinet in which all of them except one had supported or not spoken out against the coup
