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The Collapse of the Soviet
Union and the End of the Cold
War
Gorbachev’s resignation as President of the
USSR on Christmas day 1991 meant it was the End of
the Cold War.
It was very unexpected and it occurred with
very little bloodshed.
No one had predicted the Soviet Union’s
collapse.
Even the CIA and British Intelligence services
were surprised when the Berlin Wall fell and was
torn down in November 1989.
One thing that was for certain was the
relationship between the USA and the USSR had
changed dramatically in the 1980s.
Some say that the collapse of the Soviet
Union began in the early 1980’s.
- Soviet economy was stagnant. (no
economic growth, high unemployment, food
shortages, corruption).
- War in Afghanistan and Chernobyl
clean-up costing billions of rubles
annually.
- Many citizens of Eastern European Soviet
states unhappy, growing unrest.
Solidarity Movement (Poland – 1980’s)
In Poland, the Solidarity Movement gained
support from Pope John Paul II, the first Polish
Pope.
The Pope wrote a letter to
Brezhnev after the Soviet Union
threatened to invade Poland.
Although Solidarity was forced to
go underground, they continued to
get support from the Pope and
would reemerge in the late 1980’s
and win the elections.
What was the Impact of Mikhail Gorbachev?
Gorbachev was the youngest and first
university educated leader of the Soviet
Union since Stalin.
We can’t go on living like this!
Also since Stalin, the Soviet Union
remained authoritarian single
party state that focused on
producing weapons instead of
consumer goods, housing,
transportation or health care.
Gorbachev’s two key reforming ideas were…
Perestroika
Restructuring.
Restructuring the Soviet economy (it
was stagnant).
Glasnost
Openness.
Every area of the government should
be open to public scrutiny.
Democratization – getting more people involved in
the Communist Party and political debate.
Gorbachev’s plan was to reduce military
spending.
He knew the Soviet Union could not match
and compete with the USA’s SDI system.
He called for new thinking in
international affairs.
He also knew that there were ‘no
winner’s’ in a nuclear war.
Chernobyl Disaster
The Chernobyl disaster heightened
Gorbachev’s awareness of the dangers of
nuclear power.
Even without war and without nuclear
missiles, nuclear power could destroy
human kind.
The Chernobyl cleanup also cost a
lot of money and resources.
Accelerated Gorbachev’s reforms for
more openness (Glasnost).
Unlike past Soviet leaders, Gorbachev was
willing to meet with US president Reagan to
discuss arms control.
Geneva Summit – First meeting with Reagan. Both
decided that a nuclear war should not be fought.
Agreed to meet again.
Reykjavik Summit – No agreement. Gorbachev was
willing to get rid of all nuclear weapons if Reagan
abandoned SDI. Regan couldn’t as he couldn’t
break his promise to the American people.
Washington Summit – Both sides agreed to
abolish land based missiles of intermediate
and shorter range.
Moscow Summit – Disagreement again over SDI.
Reagan takes back his evil empire comment.
What was the role of Reagan?
Reagan was elected President partly
because he promised a tougher approach
towards the Soviet Union.
Once in office, he called the Soviet Union an
“evil empire”.
- Reagan got the CIA to convince the Saudi Government
to increase oil production, which weakened Soviet oil
exports.
- Reagan got the CIA to provide weapons and support to
the Mujahedeen fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan.
- Reagan and the CIA provided the Solidarity Movement
in Poland with communications equipment, like fax
machines and radios so they could communicate while
remaining underground.
- Reagan’s SDI Program and increased military spending
put pressure on the Soviet Union and forced them to the
negotiating table.
Long Term Factors in the Ending of the Cold War.
The Soviet Union under Brezhnev was an
era of stagnation and decline.
There had been a serious lack of spending on
consumer goods and the domestic economy.
The Soviet Union was technologically behind and
Industrial output was declining.
Food had to be imported from North America.
Workers had low morale as they had no incentive
to work harder to produce better goods.
Workers also had a high rate of absenteeism
and were alcoholics.
Gorbachev inherited an economy in serious
trouble.
It could be argued that he
was forced to make reforms
and take actions that led to
negotiations with the West.
What was the role of Nationalism and people
power in ending the Cold War?
What no one understood, at the beginning of 1989,
was the Soviet Union, its empire, its ideology – and
therefor the Cold War itself was a sand pile ready to
slide. All it took to happen was few more grains of
sand. The people who dropped them were not in
charge of superpowers or movements or religions;
they were ordinary people with simple priorites who
saw, seized and sometimes stumbled into
opportunities. In doing so they caused a collapse no
one could stop.
- John Lewis Gaddis
In the late 1980’s many Nationalist
movements began to develop in most of
the satellite states in Eastern Europe.
(Poland, East Germany,
Czechoslovakia, Romania, Hungary)
Unlike previous Soviet Leaders,
Gorbachev made it clear that he was
not going to use force to maintain
control over these places.
Gorbachev made a speech in December
1988 announcing…
“That force and the threat of force cannot be and
should not be an instrument of foreign
policy…freedom of choice is a universal principal
and it should know no exceptions.”
This was a clear signal to the people and governments
in Eastern Europe that the Brezhnev Doctrine would
not be applied and thus in 1989, many revolutions
took place in the satellite states resulting in the entire
Soviet System to be swept away.
May 1989 - A fence is taken down
between Hungary and Austria.
March 1990- Latvia
declares independence
from the USSR. Other
states follow.
December –
Romanian leader
Ceausescu is
overthrown and
executed. Huge
anti-government
protests in
Bulguria.
November – East
German Government
eases travel
restrictions. East
Germans force guards
to let them through the
Berlin Wall. The Berlin
Wall is torn down.
June - Democratic
(Free) elections are
held in Poland. The
Solidarity Party Wins.
September - East
Germans begin
escaping into Austria
from Hungary and
Czechoslovakia.
October - Gorbachev
tells East German
leader (Honecker) he
will not use force
against East German
protestors.
Who deserves the most credit for the
collapse of the Soviet Union and the end
of the Cold War?
Margaret
Gorbachev?
Thatcher?
The brave citizens of
Eastern Europe?
Reagan?
Pope John Paul II?