End of the Cold War Fall of Communism In Europe

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End of the Cold War / Fall of Communism In Europe
Students make notes from words in yellow.
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Détente
-after the Cuban Missle Crisis, a period of
relaxed tension developed between the USA and the
USSR.
-Soviet military expansion meant that the USA no
longer had a huge advantage.
-M.A.D. mutually assured destruction
-there were periodic increases in tension
(Vietnam War, Czechoslovakia)
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Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty 1968
-limited the spread of nuclear weapons around the
world.
-originally signed by the USA, USSR, and UK.
Eventually 93 other countries signed.
-notable exceptions were France, China, Egypt,
Japan, Israel and South Africa.
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Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT)
-negotiations and agreements (1972 and 1979)
between USA and USSR to limit the number of
ICBMs (inter-continental ballistic missiles)
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Ost Politik (Eastern Policy)
Willy Brandt, Chancellor of West Germany signed
agreements with other European countries and the
USSR to finalize the borders of Europe including
two Germanys and two Berlins
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Helsinki Accords, 1975
-signed by USA, USSR, Canada, and almost all
European nations. -3 goals aiming to improve
relations between East and West
1. acceptance of Europes boundaries.
2. expansion of human rights
3. easier movement of people across borders
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-during détente in the 1970s, both the USSR and
USA learned to co-exist as the worlds two
superpowers.
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President of the USSR
President of the USA
Lyndon B Johnston 1963-1969
Leonid Brezhnev 1964 -1982
Richard Nixon 1969 - 1974
Gerald Ford 1974 - 1977
Jimmy Carter 1977 - 1981
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End of Détente
-two events contributed to the end of détente and
the beginning of a new arms race.
-in 1980, the USSR invaded Afghanistan to prop up
a weak pro-Soviet government. The USA supported
the anti-Soviet forces. -the invasion was a
disaster for the Soviet Union. Up to 2 million
people were killed before the Soviets withdrew in
1989.
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-in 1981 Ronald Regan was elected President of
the USA.
-he called the USSR an evil empire and refused
to negotiate with them. He began a massive
buildup of the American military.
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Cruise Missile
-a missile which flies below radar -on-board
computers steer the missile around
obstacles -extremely difficult to detect and
destroy
-in the 1980s US cruise missiles were deployed
in European NATO countries despite Soviet
opposition.
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AWACS Airborne Early Warning And Control
-aircraft loaded with sophisticated tracking
equipment to guide weapons including pilotless
aircraft and driverless tanks.
-USA led the world in this technology
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SDI Strategic Defence Initiative (also known
Star Wars)

• an extremely expensive attempt to create a
  defensive umbrella over the USA to protect from
  incoming missiles

-would upset M.A.D.
-after Regan left office, this development no
longer became a priority.
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Brezhnev died in 1982
-after two short-lived leaders, Mikhail Gorbachev
became President of the USSR in 1985
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Gorbachev wanted to improve relations with the
west. Regan wanted to establish a positive
legacy for himself and became more willing to talk
The two leaders met several times in the late
1980s to negotiate.
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The Fall of Communism in Europe
-the communist governments of the USSR and
eastern Europe collapsed in 1989-1990. Why?
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1. Economic Failure of Communism
-while the USSR had modernized and improved since
the revolution, the standard of living of most
people lagged far behind people in western Europe
and North America.
-there were shortages and rationing of basic
foodstuffs.
Consumer goods were of inferior quality.
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2. Military Spending
The USA spent 5 to 7 of GDP on military
equipment.
The USSR had to spend 15 to 25 (huge amount)
of its GDP to keep up.
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3. Chernobyl Disaster
-in 1986, a Soviet nuclear reactor melted down
killing 56 immediately, exposing 600,000 to
radiation, and contaminating huge areas of land.
-this reinforced in Russians the technical
inferiority of the Soviet Union.
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4. Glasnost (Openness)
-in an attempt to improve communism, Gorbachev
invited people to begin openly debating the
issues the USSR faced.
-this shocked people inside and outside the USSR
-newspapers were less censored -dissidents were
released from jail -Stalin was denounced
-unintended consequence people learned about all
the problems in the USSR and began to criticize
openly.
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5. Perestroika (Restructuring)
-Gorbachev denounced Stalins command economy and
praised Lenins New Economic Policy. -admitted
that 1956 Hungary and 1968 Czechoslovakia were
mistakes. -wanted to build ties with the
west -he wanted to reform the USSR but keep it
within a one-party Communist state.
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6. Unwillingness to intervene in Eastern Europe
-Peristroika stated that the Soviet invasions of
Hungary and Czechoslovakia were wrong. This sent
a signal to eastern Europeans that the Soviets
may not intervene in their countries anymore.
-the USSR failed to recognize the importance of
nationalism in eastern Europe -Poles, Czechs,
Slovaks, etc had been dominated for centuries by
Austria-Hungary, Nazis, the USSR. They wanted
freedom.
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Poland
-labour unrest in the 1980s organized by
Solidarity and lead by Lech Walesa
-a new pope, John Paul II, was from Poland and
encouraged non-violent reform in Poland. -the
Roman Catholic church has always been very
influential in Poland.
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-in 1989, Solidarity was allowed to contest
elections in Poland and surprised Communist
authorities by winning 99 of the available seats.
-the first non-Communist government took office
in Sept 1989. Lech Walesa eventually becomes
president of Poland.
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-Gorbachevs policy was not to intervene in
Poland.
-this led to the quick collapse of the other East
European Communist governments
Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Bulgaria,
Rumania
IRONY -at the beginning of the Cold War, the USA
feared a domino effect of countries falling into
communism. 1989 saw the domino effect but in
reverse.
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-after Czechoslovakia and Hungary opened the
border with Austria, East Germans could easily
access the west. The East German communist
government could no longer contain its citizens.
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The Berlin Wall was a symbol of the Cold War.
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Beginning November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall was
opened up and eventually torn down.
People walking through Checkpoint Charlie
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(No Transcript)
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The only violence happened in Rumania where the
Communist leader, Nicolae Ceausescu, and his wife
were executed by revolutionary leaders
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In most of the world, Mikhail Gorbachev was
hailed as a great leader. In the Soviet Union,
he was blamed by hard-line Communists for failing
to improve their lives and failing to maintain
East European governments.
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The Soviet Union was made up of 15 different
federated states dominated by Russia.
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-in August 1991, there was an attempt by
hard-line Communists to overthrow
Gorbachev. -the attempt failed but Gorbachev
lost his stature within the USSR
-Boris Yeltsin, leader of the Russian Soviet,
emerged as a hero and a strong leader. He wanted
the Soviet Union and Communist party dissolved.
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On Christmas Day 1991, the Soviet Union dissolved
into separate countries. Most have established
some form of democratic government.