CW3 - Collapse of Soviet Control

Why do Gorbachev scrap the Brezhnev Doctrine?

Believed openness would lead to improvements in Eastern bloc. Eastern bloc communist governments were already planning reform. Reform would end unrest in countries such as Poland where the trade union Solidarity and Roman Catholic Church challenged government. USSR had to improve trade with West to rebuild economy, and cost of troops and military hardware was devastating the USSR’s economy, it could no longer afford to maintain the Warsaw Pact.

When did Gorbachev announce the end of the Brezhnev Doctrine?

December 1988

When did Hungary open its borders to East Germans?

August 1989

When does Gorbachev announce the Eastern bloc could go their own way?

October 1989

When was the fall of the Berlin Wall?

November 1989

When did communist governments fall in Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Romania?

December 1989

How did Gorbachev announce the end of the Brezhnev Doctrine?

Announced that ideology should play a smaller role in foreign affairs, this meant that Soviet troops would no longer intervene in Eastern Europe to support communism.

What were the causes of the Berlin Wall?

In 1989, demands for change had been building in East Germany, resulting in demonstrations in many East German cities, especially Leipzig in October 1989. East German leader, Eric Honecker, received no assurances from Gorbachev that he would support any attempt to deal with protests using force, he was forced to resign and replaced by more moderate Egon Krenz. Growth of democracy meant that East Germans could now travel to West Germany through Czechoslovakia and Hungary. On 9th September, East German government announced they could now travel into West Germany.

What was the significance of the fall of the Berlin Wall?

German reunification - East Germany ceased to exist and became part of united Germany in 1990 with Berlin as its capital. USSR withdrew its troops from East Germany. British, French and US troops remained in West Germany.

What was the significance of the Berlin Wall for superpower relations?

End of Warsaw Pact July 1991, withdrawal of Soviet troops from Eastern Europe from 1990, NATO continued to exist but expanded to contain other countries such as Poland and Hungary, gave further momentum to ‘thaw’ the cold war, Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Agreement in 1990 set limits on non-nuclear forces deployed in Europe, and Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) in 1991, in which the USA and USSR agreed to reduce nuclear warheads by about a third, with an additional undertaking to reduce them further.

What were the causes of the breakup of the USSR?

Perestroika and glasnost were not working and the economy was performing poorly. Many or the republics such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania wanted to leave the USSR. Some army officers claimed Gorbachev had betrayed communism, in August 1991 they launched a failed military take over against him.

What happened at the dissolution of the USSR?

Gorbachev tried to save Soviet communism by issuing a new constitution in the USSR that would have given Soviet republics more independence, which failed as these countries wanted even greater independence and rejected the constitution. On 25th December 1991, Gorbachev announced the dissolution of the Soviet Union and his resignation as president.

Why did the USSR lose the Cold War?

Propaganda - it was hard for the USSR to ‘sell’ communism when capitalism seemed to work better and give people more.

War in Afghanistan - expense of war after Soviet invasion but pressure on Soviet economy.

Economy - Soviet economy was never as productive as the USA’s.

Arms race - catching up with the USA in the 1960s devastated Soviet economy.

Freedom - Soviet control of the Eastern Bloc and Soviet republics relied on force and oppression.

1970s-1980s - USSR’s economy stagnated under Brezhnev whilst USA developed personal computers, USSR feared what people would do if they owed their own computers.

What was the significance of the fall of the USSR?

USSR became the Commonwealth of Independent States in December 1991. Many Soviet states seceded from the the USSR and became independent states, including Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as Asian republics such as Kazakhstan. The Cold War came to an end as the USSR no longer existed and there was no ideological conflict between East and West. The meeting of Bush and Gorbachev in December 1989 (Malta Summit) had already declared an end to the Cold War.