The pro-Gorbachev view Flashcards
Why do historians stress Gorbachev’s role in ending the CW?
Gorbachev was unwilling to perpetuate the CW stalemate and worked to create genuine East-West understanding by adopting new policies to build trust, reduce CW tensions and solve the USSR’s economic problems
What did Gorbachev pursue?
Arms reductions to lower the risk of nuclear war and ease the economic burden on the USSR
What did Gorbachev do in 1987?
He negotiated the INF Treaty with the USA, which dismantled a whole class of intermediate-range nuclear missiles
What did Gorbachev do in 1991?
He concluded the START Agreement with the USA, which reduced overall nuclear arsenals by 30%
What did Gorbachev remove?
The ideological basis of the CW and promoted glasnost and perestroika
What was the result of Gorbachev’s landmark UN speech in 1988?
It abandoned the Brezhnev Doctrine, endorsed freedom of choice and dismissed Marxist-Leninism as irrelevant
What did Gorbachev introduce into the Soviet economy in 1986?
Perestroika reforms
When did Gorbachev inform EE communist leaders that they would have to government with Soviet support?
April 1989
What did Glasnost give to the Soviet satellite countries?
The rights to choose their own paths
What did Gorbachev end?
Old style Soviet aggression and expansionism
What did Gorbachev announce in 1988?
That Soviet forces in EE would be reduced by 500,000
When did Gorbachev withdraw Soviet forces from Afghanistan?
1989
Which countries did Gorbachev end Soviet financial support to?
Ethiopia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Nicaragua and Angola
What did Gorbachev refuse to suppress and prevent?
Suppress - popular protests in EE
Prevent - the liberalisation of the Soviet Bloc
Which historians endorse the pro-Gorbachev viewpoint?
Robert J. McMahon Archie Brown Raymond L. Garthoff Jeremy Isaacs Taylor Downing
