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Summary Oxford in Search of History, ISBN: 9780199056903 History
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Summary Oxford in Search of History, ISBN: 6903 History
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The End of the Cold War and a New World Order, 1989 to the Present:Key things:
• Gorbachev’s reforms in the USSRà reasons for his reforms and the impact of the
reforms
↳ Shift to the reforms was too rapid
• Gorbachev was more open to negotiations with the Westà USSR could not afford
the arms raceà diplomacy only option à Reagan and Thatcher
↳ Arms reduction treaties with USA
• Events in Eastern Europe à Czechoslovakia, Romania, Hungary à overview
• Events in Poland à significance of solidarity à overviewà Democratic trade
unionà Solidarity established by Lech Walesa in 1980
↳ Significance of Solidarityà after much civil resistance in 1988 the Polish
government was forced to hold democratic elections.
↳ 4 June 1989: Poland held free elections marked the fall of communismà an
example for others to follow
↳ Hungary was next and again Gorbachev refused to come to intervene with
force
• USSRàUnion of Soviet Socialist Republics
• Problems in political and economic system too broad by mid-80sà were result of
decades of incorrect decision making
• Germanyà The fall of the Berlin Wall
• The end of the Cold War and the collapse of the USSR
• Impact on SA
• War in Afghanistan
• Abandoned the Brezhnev Doctrine
• 1 November 1989: Berlin Wall was dismantled
• 1989: Revolutions due to Gorbachev’s reforms
• 3 October 1990: Germany became a united countryà East and West are oneà
overthrow of communist government
• What Happened from the building of the wall in 1961, to Cuban Missile Crisis(1962),
to 1970s that caused on the environment that was that was conclusive to change?
↳ Long term, short term factors
• What was the role of the leaders?
↳ How they led- Gorbachev, Reagan, Maggie Thatcher
• What was the role of people in Eastern Europe (specifically Poland with trade union
movement- solidarity)?
• What role did economic factors play?
• Détente- easing of tensions
• Timeline- 1961(build of wall), 1962(Cuban Missile Crisis), 1970→end
• End of CW, Collapse of Communism, Disintegration of USSR
• East➗West= New Westernisation and Capitalism= USA being Victor
• Collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe, fall of Berlin Wall and the disintegration
of the Soviet Union were earth-shattering and totally unexpected events that stand
out as some of the most dramatic developments of the 20th century.
• Impact of collapse of the USSR= South Africa, Africa, China and the dominance of
USA- how could USA VS USSR politically repressive giant, military power could last
, 80years, survive WW, invasions and collapse only happened in a few years 1989-
1991.
• 1917: Russia= 1st Communist state.
• Stalin’s industrialisation and the collectivisation of agriculture turned the USSR into a
major economic and military power
• During Cold War, USSR and USA became nuclear superpowers.
• After Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962- USA and USSR continued to compete with each
other- they built up their stocks of nuclear and other weapons and continued to
explore outer space. They also tried to gain allies among the newly independent
countries in Asia and Africa.
• 1970s: Saw a realisation of the negative impact that the nuclear arms race could
have on the world
• 1969: discussions had been happening between USA and USSR to try to reach
agreements to limit the number of strategic missiles- little was achieved.
• Despite the signing of SALT-1( First Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty) development
of new weapons continued.
• Protest against the arms build up increased- many protested as they felt the build up
increased the likelihood of a war which would result in the destruction of
humankind- “no win war”= MAD
• 1971: period of Détente- relaxing of tensions- there was a THAW in the CW when
relations between the superpowers improved.
• Ended 1979: USSR invaded Afghanistan.
,Reasons for Détente
USSR USA
1. USSR and China had broken down which 2. Nixon(faced with distrust at home) wanted
mad it more important for the USSR to a change in foreign policy after the failure
work towards reducing tensions with the of the USA in Vietnam
USA- not as close to China as before but
much better
2. USSR had caught up in the arms race and 3. Nixon aimed for changes in relations with
was feeling more confident China and USSR- hadn’t come out of
Vietnam with glory- wants to improve
relations
3. East and West Germany had agreed not to 4. US public- more vocal about the reduction
acquire nuclear weapons; this removed a of weapons to reduce the risks of war
potential threat for the USSR
4. Was in USSR’s interests to increase trade 5. USSR had caught up to the USA in the arms
with the West race- less chance of 1 winning the war-
conscious that USSR has caught up in arms
and space race
• Is it suitable for both sides to have Détente- everyone’s interest 1970s full of
economic problems
• USA- was concerned about the improved relations between China and the USSR and
feared a communist alliance developing between the two
• Peaceful co-existence
• Both USSR and USA hoped to reduce the risk of nuclear war- both had economic
problems in the 1970 and as result needed to reduce the spending weapons
drastically and urgently
• USA’s economy had been seriously hurt by the expenses of the Vietnam War and the
American people were experiencing increasing inflation
• USSR- economy was struggling: the Russians experienced low living standards and
their industries were highly inefficient
• Middle East- serious area of concern for both powers. Both the USSR and the USA
were concerned about the oil supplies and the growing tensions and increased
conflicts between Arabs and Israelis. Communist and Non-Communist countries had
become involved in this area
• 1970s: USSR seemed as strong as ever, it was the largest country in the world,
covering more than one-sixth of the earth’s of the earth’s land surface. 15 Soviet
republics, one for each main national group, it was a one-party communist state with
a nationalist and resource-rich economy. The republican governments ran local
affairs, but the federal government in Moscow had power over the whole of the
union
, The USSR was suffering from increasingly serious economic and social problems:
• Collectivised agriculture was so unproductive that food had to be imported.
• The state did not invest enough in consumer industries. Goods in the shops were
scarce and of poor quality, so an illegal or ‘grey’ economy developed, in which
people bought and sold goods or offered their services for cash.
• Corruption was a major problem at all levels.
• Workers were not motivated and unproductive.
• Social problems such as absenteeism from work and alcoholism increased.
• Many people had stopped believing that Communism would make their lives better,
even if they did not dare to say so.
• The USSR’s population of 280 million consisted of many ethnic groups,and conflict
between some groups was a strong possibility.
USSR had plenty of problems on the international front too:
• Still looked like a superpower, zero economic growth meant that it could not afford
to develop new high-tech weapons or equip and pay the 6 million people in its
defence force
• Détente ends when USSR invades Afghanistan- unpopular
• 1979: USSR plunged into a civil war in Afghanistan, in order to support Afghanistan’s
communist regime. War they couldn’t win, and that was unpopular among Russians.
↳ Afghanistan became the USSR’s ‘Vietnam’ and was described by one Soviet official as
a ‘bleeding wound’. The war used vital resources from the ailing Soviet economy,
deepening the USSR’s economic problems- deepens economic crisis.
↳ The Islamic Arab States of the Middle East and many Third World countries
condemned the USSR. At its peaked there were 110 000 Soviet soldiers in
Afghanistan and altogether about a million Soviet citizens served there during the
war until 1988.
↳ Over 15 000 USSR soldiers lost their lives and 50 000 were wounded. War cast
enormous money and lasted more than twice as long as WW2.
↳ The grinding war broke the spirit of USSR people and contributed to the apathy of its
workers during 1980s. The movement of troops to Afghanistan also weakened to the
USSR’s control over its East European allies, specifically Poland where the trade
union movement Solidarity challenged the Communist Government.
↳ The war negatively affected the USSR’s economy and made its economic difficulties
worse, forcing new leaders particularly Gorbachev to consider sweeping economic
changes and political reforms that ultimately untravelled the USSR
• Relations with China had been tense since border clashes in 1969
• Relations with the West were hostile
• Reasons why Reagan won the presidential race- convinced the US voters that his
predecessor, Carter was ‘soft’ on communism and had allowed the Soviet Union to
‘overtake’ the USA in the nuclear warheads and intercontinental missiles.
↳ He argued that a dangerous ‘window of vulnerability’ had opened where where until
USA could design and build a new generation of advanced weaponry, USSR had a
military advantage and could use this to promote communism around the world.
↳ Critics said this wasn’t true and condemned Reagan as a ‘Cold Warrior’
↳ Reagan’s critics warned that he would end détente with the USSR and start ‘Second
Cold War’
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