This note pack includes in-depth and detailed notes on the End of the Cold War covered in the Grade 12 IEB History syllabus. Everything you need for your exams or tests! These notes have been written by two History students who received A's from these study notes. These notes are SAGS compliant & h...
End of the Cold War
BACKGROUND:
- The Cold War started in 1945 and for more than 40 years the USSR and USA competed for global
dominance
- 1980s → Soviet Union facing economic problems
- 1985 → new Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev introduced reforms to solve these problems
- McCarthyism - the red scare
- Kennedy comes into power
COLLAPSE OF COMMUNISM (SOVIET UNION):
Internal vs External
Internal External
Inherited economic bankruptcy Soviet - Afghanistan War & other expensive
proxy wars
Gorbachev’s reforms: Solidarity Poland & rebellion in Eastern
Glasnost, Perestroika and Democracy European satellites
Chernobyl (1986) Reagan (USA) & Star Wars
Growth in nationalism - cultures, states and satellites all want political change & independence
Solidarity Poland - Poland’s rebellion
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN AND AROUND THE USSR PRIOR TO 1985:
- 1946 - Stalin’s hostile speech: communism and capitalism incompatible
- Truman Doctrine & Marshall Plan aim to isolate USSR ® Containment Policy
- 1948 - Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia & Berlin Blockade
- 1949 - Communist takeover in China and NATO is established
- 1954 - KGB Established & Vietnam Split on 17th Parallel
- 1955 - Warsaw pact formed
- 1956 - USSR sends troops to Afghanistan & Rebellion in Communist Hungary & Suez Crisis
- 1961/1962 - Bay of Pigs, Berlin Wall constructed & Cuban Missile Crisis
- 1968 - Czechoslovakian revolt crushed
- 1979 - Soviet forces invade Afghanistan & China and the US establish diplomatic relations
- 1980 - Polish shipyard workers strike
,Internal Factors:
THE STATE OF USSR PRIOR TO 1985:
1. ERA OF STAGNATION - FAILURE TO CHANGE WITH THE TIMES
→ Mounting economic problems led to Undisciplined workforce & Alcoholism
→ Increased Military Expenditure over consumer goods
→ Move the USSR away from central Control and Towards Market Socialism
2. 1973 - OIL CRISIS
- Increased economic activity → boost to economy
- Reliance on oil exports rather than improve other economic areas
3. OVERSPENDING ON MILITARY
- Previous leaders had wasted huge amounts of money to compete with the USA in proxy wars,
the Arms Race and the Space Race → Bankrupted the state
4. INHERITED BANKRUPTCY
- An Antiquated collective farming process & Inadequate transport processing and storage
facilities → Massive shortages of foods and goods
- Inadequate housing, healthcare, etc. and a very low standard of living
- After Brezhnev Died, he was followed by Andrapov, Chernenko and Gorbachev with period of 3
years + Corruption = leadership Crisis
5. THE USSR IN 1985
- Mikhail Gorbachev became leader in 1985
- Soviet Union was facing a crisis
- Resources were drained by the Cold War arms race and relation with West were strained
- Soviet economy was failing → poor agricultural production, possible economic collapse
- Shortages of essential consumer goods, inadequate housing, poor public health care,
alcoholism, a failing economy and a sense that gov. could not find solutions
- Those in power had privileges and showed little interest in improving lives of citizens
- The ongoing Afghanistan War further drained the economy
MIKHAIL GORBACHEV
- Mikhail born to hard-working Russian and Ukrainian migrants (1931)
- WW2 → Suffered starvation and extreme poverty
- A leader of Komsomol (or young communist league) during his school years
, - When he was 17, he was awarded the Order of Red Banner of Labour for his job as a combine
operator
- Loving knowledge, he applied tp 5 different courses under 5 different universities, and was
accepted to law school at the moscow state university
- In addition to Marx-Lenin theories, he studied Roman law (not used in Russia at the time),
Political Science, Oratory & the Constitutions of Great Bourgeois States e.g. US
- This contributed to Mikhail’s Political pluralism and tolerance of non-communist ideologies
- 1985 → became General Secretary of the Communist Party and head of state of the Soviet
Union
6. Gorbachev’s Reforms:
- He recognized the problems and believed the change should be brought about by the party
itself
- He did not intend to end the Communist system
- He decided to withdraw from Afghanistan → within 4 years all Soviet soldiers had left
- Aimed to:
→ end existing culture of silence and censorship
→ restructure the economy
PERESTROIKA
- “Restructuring” → aim to rebuild soviet economy
- Move the economy from state controlled to a market economy (supply & demand)
- State enterprises could sell supplies
→ State companies that were failing would be closed down - state subsidies withdrawn
→ A sharp reduction of military spending & Withdrawal from the space race
→ The withdrawal from the war in Afghanistan & any funding for left wing liberation
movements
- Smaller businesses could be privately owned
→ could engage in foreign trade & make own decisions about prices and production
→ lead to more realistic pricing based on growth of profits
→ had to finance themselves through loans
- Foreign investments was allowed & encouraged
- Newly-created bank to finance private businesses
- Higher taxes on alcohol
GLASNOST
- Political “Openness”
- Allowed people to speak out freely → able to freely criticise the government with no
repercussions
, - No censorship of the media or press → freedom of expression in art, literature, theatre and the
media
- Debate encouraged → intellectual stimulation
- Gov. still controlled press but newspapers etc could report openly and question gov.
- The history of USSR was questioned due to the opening of archives, many people got closure
about what happened to their families
- Those political parties previously banned were allowed to operate → free multi party elections
held in Soviet republics
- Use of force for coercion lessened & Gulags closed
FAILURES OF PERESTROIKA
- Introduced some aspects of free market, but not others
→ price controls and foreign-exchange controls were retained
- Loss of jobs from cloning state enterprises
- Prices and cost of living increases - soviet GDP declines & inflation and foreign debt increase
sharply
- Production remained low
- Food and housing shortages continued
...so…
- Little economic growth → shortcoming of the reforms contributed to economic decline
- Increased public dissatisfaction & because of Glasnost, people could openly criticise
Gorbachev’s reforms
FAILURES OF GLASNOST
- Journalism uncovered mountains of information long kept secret by the societ communist party
→ feeling of betrayal amongst people towards their government
- More freedom led to greater criticism → media published articles and cartoons criticising the
massive failings of the state
- Nationwide protests against reforms increased
- Events of Chernobyl showed that the gov. wasn't prepared for total transparency
...so…
- Loss of control by Communist party
- Break-up of USSR begins
RESPONSE TO GORBACHEV’S REFORMS:
International response
- Western leaders supported Gorbachev’s reforms → they felt that Gorbachev was admitting to
Communism having failed
- Margaret Thatcher openly stated that she should do business with the Soviet Union
- They thought cold war animosities could now end
- Gorbachev’s initiated meetings with Ronald Reagan in order to stop the nuclear arms race in an
attempt to reduce military spending
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