Download THE COLD WAR ENDS - Mrs. Ward World History

THE COLD WAR
ENDS
In the 1980s, new U.S. President
Ronald Reagan helped win the Cold
War against the Soviet Union
President
Reagan’s strong
anti-communist
policies and the
collapse of
communist
economies
brought the
Cold War to an
end by 1991
Reagan took a strong
stand against the USSR,
calling it “an evil empire”
To restore America’s position as a dominant
superpower, Reagan spent over TWO
TRILLION DOLLARS on the American military
Reagan’s most ambitious program was the Strategic
Defense Initiative (SDI), called “Star Wars”: satellites
designed to protect the U.S. from missile attacks
Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in
1982, at a time when the USSR was
facing serious problems
“The
government
pretends to
pay us, and we
pretend to
work.”
Communism did not offer incentives for hard
work; by the 1980s, the USSR had low
industrial and agricultural production
The USSR spent 50% of its budget on the
military: the arms race, fighting an expensive
war in Afghanistan, and maintaining troops
and tanks in Eastern Europe
Soviet leaders faced the impossible
task of competing with SDI and
taking the arms race into space
The Soviet government restricted
freedom of speech and did not allow
democratic elections, so no
alternative opinions were offered
Gorbachev recognized that
communism was failing; he
wanted to make reforms
Gorbachev
began three
major
reforms to
save the
communist
system in
the Soviet
Union
Gorbachev introduced glasnost
(“openness”) to encourage freedom of
speech and to allow expression of new ideas
“Be Bold,
Comrade!
Openness
Is Our
Strength!”
Perestroika relaxed
some government
controls over farms
and factories to make
production more
efficient; it allowed
citizens to open small
businesses
“Don't Be Afraid of Work.”
Democratization
allowed citizens to
vote for Communist
politicians
(but Communists only)
In addition to
his economic
reforms,
Gorbachev
changed
Soviet
foreign policy
Reagan’s SDI plan forced Gorbachev to
admit that the USSR could not afford to
keep up with arms race
Gorbachev withdrew Soviet tank
divisions from the communist
nations in Eastern Europe
In 1989, Gorbachev ended the
nine year war in Afghanistan
Reagan was able to work with Gorbachev
to reduce Cold War tensions
Reagan visiting
Moscow in 1988
In 1987, Reagan and Gorbachev agreed to
disarm all medium-range ICBMs
Rather than
saving the
communist
system in the
USSR and Eastern
Europe,
Gorbachev’s
reforms helped
bring an end to
communism
In 1989, a surge of democratic revolution
swept through the Eastern European
communist satellites
Eastern European
nations broke from
Soviet control and
created
democracies
Gorbachev did not use the Soviet
military to stop these revolutions
In November 1989, the Berlin Wall was torn
down by celebrating East Berliners and West
Berliners; this was the symbolic end of
communism and the Cold War
Ethnic nationalism and desire for democracy led to
the break-up of the Soviet Union from 1990 to 1991
In 1990, the Soviet states of Estonia,
Latvia, and Lithuania declared
independence from the Soviet Union
In 1991, the Soviet Union broke apart and
15 new nations were formed
The breakup of the
Soviet Union
in 1991
marked the
true end of
the Cold
War
The
Death
of the
Soviet
Union
WHAT CAUSED THE USSR TO BREAK
UP AND COMMUNISM TO FALL?
Reagan’s strong stand against
the communism and
outspending the USSR in the
arms race they could not afford
Gorbachev’s
introduction of reforms
made the flaws of
communism as an
economic system clear
to the Russian people
Gorbachev allowing Eastern European countries to have a
taste of democracy and freedom made those countries want
more; they broke free of the Soviets’ influence

Revamped and
redone by
Christopher
Jaskowiak
Thanks to Brooks
Baggett for
several of the slides