End of Cold War flashcards

End of the Cold War

The collapse of communist control in Eastern Europe and the dissolution of the USSR, ending the Cold War by 1991.

Cold War

A prolonged geopolitical, ideological and military rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union and their allies.

Domestic causes

Pressures originating within the USSR or communist states, including economic stagnation, political rigidity, dissent and nationalism.

International causes

Pressures from outside the USSR, including Western military competition, economic competition, diplomacy and support for anti-Soviet forces.

Perestroika

Gorbachev's policy of economic restructuring intended to improve the inefficient Soviet economy.

Glasnost

Gorbachev's policy of openness, allowing greater public discussion, criticism and transparency.

Why did Gorbachev introduce reforms?

The Soviet economy was stagnating, the arms race was expensive, living standards lagged behind the West, and the political system lacked flexibility.

How did glasnost weaken Soviet rule?

It enabled criticism of the Communist Party, exposed past abuses and government failures, and raised expectations for further change.

How did perestroika contribute to instability?

Economic restructuring disrupted existing systems but did not quickly solve shortages or stagnation, increasing dissatisfaction.

Mikhail Gorbachev

Soviet leader from 1985 to 1991 who introduced glasnost and perestroika and chose not to use large-scale Soviet force to preserve communist governments in Eastern Europe.

Ronald Reagan

US president from 1981 to 1989 who increased pressure on the USSR through military spending and a hard-line anti-communist stance, while later negotiating with Gorbachev.

Margaret Thatcher

British prime minister from 1979 to 1990; an important Western leader who supported a strong stance against Soviet communism but also engaged diplomatically.

Reagan Doctrine

US policy of supporting anti-communist resistance movements opposing Soviet-backed governments, including in Afghanistan and Nicaragua.

Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)

Reagan's 1983 proposal for a space- and ground-based missile defence system, popularly called 'Star Wars'; it increased Soviet concern about the arms race.

Arms race

Competition between the superpowers to develop and accumulate increasingly powerful weapons, especially nuclear weapons.

Why was the arms race damaging to the USSR?

It diverted resources from consumer needs and economic development, while the USSR struggled to match the West's technological capacity.

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

The USSR invaded Afghanistan in December 1979 to support a communist government; the costly war drained resources and damaged Soviet prestige.

Mujahideen

Afghan resistance fighters who fought Soviet forces and the Soviet-backed Afghan government, receiving support from the US and other states.

Operation Cyclone

The CIA programme (1979–1992) that funded and armed Afghan mujahideen fighting Soviet forces and their allies.

Chernobyl disaster

A nuclear accident in Soviet Ukraine in April 1986 that exposed secrecy and administrative failures, undermining public confidence in the Soviet system.

Why was Chernobyl politically significant?

The delayed and limited official response contradicted glasnost and highlighted the dangers of secrecy and state incompetence.

Helsinki Accords

The 1975 agreement signed by the US, USSR, Canada and most European states, recognising post-war European borders and committing signatories to human rights and cooperation.

Why were the Helsinki Accords a 'legal and moral trap'?

As historian John Lewis Gaddis argues, Soviet dissidents could use the USSR's own written human-rights commitments to criticise its repression.

Dissidents

People who openly or quietly opposed official policies or challenged the authority of the communist state.

Helsinki Groups

Groups formed in the USSR and Eastern Europe to monitor and publicise violations of the human-rights commitments in the Helsinki Accords.

Charter 77

A 1977 Czechoslovak civic initiative that called on the government to respect human rights and freedoms it had agreed to uphold.

Václav Havel

Czech playwright and dissident associated with Charter 77; advocated living truthfully and exposing the contradictions of the communist system.

What did Havel mean by living in truth?

Individuals could undermine the regime by refusing to participate in its lies and by acting according to their genuine beliefs.

Plastic People of the Universe

Czechoslovak underground rock band whose prosecution helped galvanise intellectuals and contributed to the context for Charter 77.

Youth dissent in 1968

International student and youth protests driven by opposition to authority, war, social and economic injustice, and repression in both East and West.

John Lewis Gaddis on youth protest

Gaddis argues that more young people and greater access to education helped young people question established authority across ideological boundaries.

Did the 1967–68 protests overthrow governments?

According to Gaddis, they generally did not overthrow governments, but they shook established institutions and encouraged authorities to respond to dissent.

Prague Spring

A 1968 reform movement in Czechoslovakia that sought 'socialism with a human face' and greater freedom under Alexander Dubček.

Why did the USSR invade Czechoslovakia in 1968?

Soviet leaders feared that reforms and political liberalisation would weaken communist control and spread across the Eastern Bloc.

Brezhnev Doctrine

The claim that the USSR and its allies could intervene in a socialist country if socialism was considered threatened.

Why did the 1968 invasion matter to later dissent?

It showed the limits of reform under Soviet control and encouraged some dissidents to use cultural, civic and human-rights methods rather than direct confrontation.

Solidarity in Poland

An independent trade union movement founded in 1980, led by figures including Lech Wałęsa, which challenged communist authority through mass organisation.

Nationalism in the USSR

Growing demands by national groups for autonomy or independence weakened the unity and authority of the Soviet state.

Economic stagnation

Long-term slow growth, low productivity, shortages and technological lag that weakened the legitimacy of Soviet communism.

Why did Soviet consumer shortages matter?

They undermined the claim that communism could deliver prosperity and made everyday life compare unfavourably with the West.

Why was Soviet agriculture inefficient?

Despite a large agricultural workforce, output was poor and the USSR had to import grain, using scarce resources.

Fall of the Berlin Wall

The opening of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989 became a powerful symbol of the collapse of communist control in Eastern Europe.

Why did the Berlin Wall fall?

Mass demonstrations, pressure for travel and reform, and East German confusion over new travel rules combined with Gorbachev's refusal to impose a Soviet crackdown.

Did Reagan's 'tear down this wall' speech alone cause the Wall's fall?

No. It symbolised Western pressure, but mass opposition in East Germany and political decisions in 1989 were more directly responsible.

Revolutions of 1989

A series of largely peaceful revolutions that ended communist rule in several Eastern European states, including East Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia.

Why was Gorbachev's non-intervention important?

By not sending Soviet forces to crush Eastern European reform movements, he allowed communist governments to fall without a repeat of 1956 or 1968.

INF Treaty

The 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between the US and USSR eliminated an entire class of ground-launched intermediate-range missiles.

Reykjavik Summit

The 1986 meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev that made major progress on arms-control ideas, although it ended without a final agreement.

Washington Summit

The December 1987 summit where Reagan and Gorbachev signed the INF Treaty.

Malta Summit

The December 1989 meeting between George H. W. Bush and Gorbachev, often treated as a symbolic declaration that the Cold War was ending.

Dissolution of the USSR

The Soviet Union formally ceased to exist in December 1991 after republics declared independence and central authority collapsed.

Boris Yeltsin

Russian political leader who challenged Gorbachev's authority and became a key figure in the final collapse of the USSR.

August Coup of 1991

An attempted coup by hard-line Soviet officials against Gorbachev; its failure weakened the Communist Party and strengthened Yeltsin.

Cause vs trigger

A cause contributes to a historical outcome over time; a trigger is an event that accelerates or precipitates change.

Long-term cause of the Cold War's end

Structural weaknesses in the Soviet economy and political system, alongside decades of international competition.

Short-term accelerant of the Cold War's end

Gorbachev's reforms, the revolutions of 1989, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the failed August 1991 coup.

Political cause

The rigidity and limited legitimacy of one-party rule, plus reforms that weakened Communist Party control.

Economic cause

Stagnation, shortages, low productivity and the unsustainable cost of military competition.

Military cause

The costly arms race, the Afghan war and pressure to keep pace with Western technology.

Social and cultural cause

Youth protest, underground culture, dissident networks and growing demands for freedom and human rights.

Environmental/technological cause

Chernobyl exposed the consequences of secrecy, poor regulation and technological-administrative failure.

How to analyse relative significance

Compare causes directly, explain their effects, and judge which was most important while recognising how causes interacted.

Essay thesis: leadership

Leadership mattered greatly because Gorbachev chose reform and non-intervention, while Reagan combined pressure with negotiation; however, their choices operated within deeper structural weaknesses.

Essay thesis: internal pressures

Domestic economic failure, political rigidity and dissent made the Soviet system increasingly difficult to sustain; international pressure intensified these weaknesses.

Essay thesis: external pressure

Western military and economic competition raised the cost of Soviet power, but external pressure alone cannot explain the peaceful collapse without Gorbachev's decisions and internal dissent.

How to use a historian's interpretation

Name the historian, state their argument accurately, link it to specific evidence, and evaluate what it explains or overlooks.

Evidence for internal pressures

Economic stagnation, shortages, Chernobyl, glasnost, Helsinki Groups, Charter 77, nationalism and mass demonstrations.

Evidence for external pressures

SDI, the arms race, Reagan Doctrine, support for Afghan mujahideen, Western economic superiority and arms-control diplomacy.

Chronology: Helsinki Accords

1975

Chronology: Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

December 1979

Chronology: Reagan elected president

November 1980

Chronology: Gorbachev becomes Soviet leader

March 1985

Chronology: Chernobyl disaster

April 1986

Chronology: INF Treaty signed

December 1987

Chronology: Fall of the Berlin Wall

November 1989

Chronology: USSR dissolved

December 1991