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THE COLD WAR ENDS
Détente
WAS THE U.S. POLICY IN THE
EARLY 1970s UNDER
PRESIDENT NIXON THAT
ATTEMPTED TO REDUCE COLD
WAR TENSIONS BETWEEN THE
SUPERPOWERS.
1979
COLD WAR TENSIONS
HEATED RIGHT BACK
UP AGAIN AFTER THE
SOVIETS INVADED
AFGHANISTAN.
RONALD REAGAN
• BECOMES U.S. PRESIDENT
IN 1981.
• CALLS THE SOVIET UNION
AN “EVIL EMPIRE”
• SPENDS TRILLIONS OF
$$$$$ ON U.S. DEFENSE
New Soviet Leader- 1985
Mikhail Gorbachev
He will make reforms to
the Soviet Union which
will dramatically change
the course of history.
SOVIET PROBLEMS
• Got stuck in a conflict in
Afghanistan for 10 years.
(They were forced to leave in
1989)
• Couldn’t keep up with the
U.S. in Defense spending,
Economy was in shambles .
Glasnost
Policy of “openness” that
allowed more individual
freedoms in the Soviet
Union.
Perestroika
Focused on reforming the
struggling Soviet economy.
It introduced limited forms of
Capitalism to the U.S.S.R.
Gorbachev’s Goal
Was to REFORM the
Communist system in the
Soviet Union, NOT to get
rid of it.
Soviet Control Of Eastern Europe
Under Gorbachev, the Soviet
Union started to LOOSEN its
control over the other communist
nations of Eastern Europe.
Impact #1 of Gorbachev’s policies
They encouraged the people
of other Communist nations
to want the same changes
to happen in their country.
MAJOR RESULTS
-In 1989 Communism ended in
many Eastern European nations
like Poland, Hungary, and East
Germany (Berlin Wall came down
in Nov. 1989 & Germany is
reunited in 1990)
Impact #2 of Gorbachev’s policies
Gorbachev’s reforms will lead
to many of the Soviet Republics
wanting their independence &
the break-up of the Soviet Union
will eventually occur.
MAJOR RESULT
In 1991 the official break-up of the
Soviet Union occurred. The Cold
War was over!
Moscow- Jan. 31, 1990
A symbol that capitalism had come to the Soviet Union
Go to this site & View Clip
http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/economybusiness/business/muscovites-mad-formcdonalds.html
This Day In History: January 31, 1990
The First McDonald's opens in Soviet Union
The Soviet Union's first McDonald's fast food restaurant opens in Moscow. Throngs of people line
up to pay the equivalent of several days' wages for Big Macs, shakes, and French fries.
The appearance of this notorious symbol of capitalism and the enthusiastic reception it received
from the Russian people were signs that times were changing in the Soviet Union. An American
journalist on the scene reported the customers seemed most amazed at the "simple sight of polite
shop workers...in this nation of commercial boorishness." A Soviet journalist had a more practical
opinion, stating that the restaurant was "the expression of America's rationalism and pragmatism
toward food." He also noted that the "contrast with our own unrealized pretensions is both sad and
challenging."
For the average Russian customer, however, visiting the restaurant was less a political statement
than an opportunity to enjoy a small pleasure in a country still reeling from disastrous economic
problems and internal political turmoil.
The arrival of McDonald's in Moscow was a small but certain sign that change was on the horizon.
In fact, less than two years later, the Soviet Union ceased to exist as a nation, Mikhail Gorbachev
resigned as leader of the country, and various Soviet republics proclaimed their independence. As
the American newsman reported, the first Russian McDonald's customers "had seen the future, and
it works, at least as far as their digestive tract."