The End Of The Cold War 1985-91 Flashcards
Why did Gorbachev want to change policies of the USSR
Poor living standards
Government corruption
Millions on verge of starvation as USA stopped grain imports and agricultural technology couldn’t capitalise on farm land
Industry in need of modernisation
Afghanistan costing the USSR billions
Pressure from Reagan’s aggressive policies towards USSR
What policies did Gorbachev undertake to change the situation of the USSR
Glasnost - More freedom of media and a lessening of government control and secret police
Perestroika - restructuring of Soviet economy, letting in more western-style policies
End of Brezhnev Doctrine - This allowed the withdrawal of soviet troops from Afghanistan in 1988
Key Actions of Ronald Reagan and the USA over the course of the 1980s
Denounces Soviet Union and calls them an Evil Empire due to the invasion of Afghanistan (ironic isn’t it)
Increases US military spending and announces the Star Wars programme
In response to Gorbachev’s policies Reagan becomes more diplomatic and signs the 1987 intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty)
Kept pressure on the USSR giving a speech at the Berlin Wall calling for Gorbachev to tear down this wall!
What happened to East Germany at the end of the Cold War
1989 9th November: Berlin wall is opened.
1990 October: Germany is reunified
What happened to Bulgaria at the end of the Cold War
1989 November: Communist leadership resigned
What happened to Romania at the end of the Cold War
1989 December : dictator Nicolae Ceausescu fled, but he was executed by the army
What happened to Poland at the end of the Cold War
1989 June: Anti-communist political party Solidarity won elections. Solidarity had been supported by Polish native, Pope John Paull II
December: Solidarity’s Lech Walesa became President of Poland
What happened to Czechoslovakia at the end of the Cold War
1989 November: The Velvet Revolution - protesters peacefully ended communist rule. Alexander Dubcek new leader of parliament. The country is divided into Czech Republic and Slovakia.
What happened to Hungary at the end of the Cold War
1988/89: Hard Line leader Janos Kadar sacked. Imre Nagy is given a state funeral.
May: the border with Austria was opened; eastern Europeans could cross into West Germany
What happened to the Baltic States at the end of the Cold War
1991 August-September: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania declared their independence.
What happened to Yugoslavia at the end of the Cold War
1990: Emergence of four different regimes within Yugoslavia.
Ethnic wars are fought throughout the 1990s
How did the cold war end through the 80s
Reagan and Gorbachev held a number of summit meetings throughout the 80’s. Little was achieved at first but after intense negotiation both sides agreed to a reduction in weaponry and signed the INF Treaty in 1987 and in 1988 the USSR removed its troops from Afghanistan
Under Reagan’s successor, George Bush, The changes continued. Both leaders met at the Malta Summit in 1989 and declared the Cold War was over. In 1991 the Warsaw Pact was dissolved
How did the USSR collapse in 1991?
Boris Yeltsin and not a communist was elected leader of Russia in 1990 and he felt there had not been enough change in the USSR to help its people
In 1991 the army who didn’t want more change tried to overthrow Gorbachev - they failed and within months the Communist Party had been banned in Russia
All 15 members of the USSR declared their independence
Gorbachev, now the president of a state that didn’t exist resigned on Christmas Day 1991
