Kaarten: Chapter 8 : The End of The Cold War (1989 - 1991) | Quizlet

How/ Why did the Cold War end?

1) Crisis in the Soviet Union

Brezhnev (1964 - 1985 ) = came after Khrushchev

=> he will start the downfall of the SU

- He is obstinate (=koppig, doesn't like change)

- Against any form of innovation => difficult to grow your economy

-> Result: Economic crisis and military crisis

A) economic crisis

B) military crisis

What did the economic crisis entail?

Problems:

- Dire shortage of everything : goods, food, clothing (bread + meat)

- Corruption ( ministers, politicians => bribery / frauds -> fake number to make it seem that the economy is growing)

- Lack of innovation (primitive methods )

- Poor quality of products (e.g. tractors)

Cause for these problems: the planned economy (the system)

==> the state controlling your economy = basis of the communist economy

- Five-year plans (plan economy in advance = within five years you have to produce x amount more...)

= state determined the prices, numbers and, distribution of good for the coming 5 years

However: you can not foresee the future

RESULT: shortage and queues for basic goods

What did the military crisis entail?

Brehznev

- Personal prestige: huge military spending (if my army wins a lot = THAN I'm POWERFUL + proof: that the communist system was better etc)

1975: victory in Vietnam ( we won against the USA)

However:

- Expensive weapons race start to weigh on the SU (they cannot afford it any more)

- HUGE military failure in Afghanistan (1979 - 1989) => SU invaded it -> prevent them from becoming western allies

Result:

- The SU was severely weakened = economically and military

- Politicians started to question "communism" itself

= Massive military failure

What did the reforms of Gorbachev entail?

They elect a very humane leader

- 1985: Gorbachev becomes the new leader of the SU (last one is dethroned)

= starts massive reforms to strengthen the SU once again (knows that the economy system is not working out)

=> so they can compete against the USA

Solution to the crisis: mix of communism & capitalism

= a communist regime with room for political, economic and cultural freedom

Which reforms took place?

A) Perestroika

B) Glasnost

C) Disarmament

What did Perestroika entail?

A) Perestroika = economic reforms

- End of the planned economy

- More private initiative (= capitalist element) -> some companies got more freedom to also sell things themselves without the government coming in between them

What did Glasnost entail?

Glasnost = political reforms = IMPORTANT

- He introduces: more democracy and transparency in government (SU has been = dictatorship for years)

- Separation between government institutions: law / police -> separated

- 1989: first more or less parliamentary elections

ALSO = mental freedom

- Freedom of press (let the press criticise our policies so that we can work with it)

- Debunking state propaganda: corruption and economic issues

- Freedom of association : you can start your own organisations

What did the disarmament entail?

C) Disarmament

= Gorbachev wanted to end the expensive weapons race -> talking with the USA

- Wanted to end the Cold War and create a peaceful international order ( stop competition with the USA and openly state we need to end the Cold War and Weapons race)

- Agreements with the USA about nuclear disarmament

- No longer military interventions in Eastern EU ( in the past: people want democracy = SU invades the country and uses military violence)

1990: Gorbachev wins the Nobel Peace Prize

How did the Eastern Bloc end?

- Glasnost and perestroika -> milder course of the SU

Result : "Velvet Revolutions" in 1989 => you give them a little bit of freedom = THEY WANT MORE

Why velvet?

= Non-violent revolutions in Eastern Europa that ended the communist regimes in favour of western liberal democracies

e.g. Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic = become democratic as western

= the end of the Iron Curtain =

Episode: the fall of the Berlin Wall

Causes:

- 1989 : The Iron Curtain was dismantled in Hungary (East-Berliners => go to Hungary to cross to Western EU)

- The entire purpose of the Berlin Wall => has lost its purpose

Result: 9 November 1989

-failed (foute) announcement of the new DDR travelling legislation

- The Berlin Wall was slowly opened up

- Led to a massive PARTY

= the ushering of the end of the Eastern bloc

How did the Soviet Union end/fall apart?

- Due to Glasnost and Perestroika also growing criticism from the Soviet Republics (- STAN countries)

- From 1989 onwards, one by one, they will all claim independence

e.g. The Baltic States (Estland, Letland + Litwouen), Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan ...

Result: Soviet Union = initially was Russia + Soviet Republics (but know they became independent)

By 1991: Russia was the only one left

= End of Soviet Union

= Founding of 'The Russian Federation" = basically just Russia

-> fire Gorbachev = replace him with Boris Yeltsin elected as the first president of Russia

(Succeeded by Vladmir Putin in 2000 )

= Birth of Russia: THE END OF THE COLD WAR

(1948 - 1991) = between RUSSIA + USA

Did the Cold War really end?

Officially it has ended = however, some kind of COLD WAR is still going on

Some say: YES

- West vs Russia

- Still proxy wars (Syrian Civil War, Ukraine War)

- Constant nuclear threats

- Fear of escalation to larger conflict (WWIII?)

Some say : NO

- It is a territorial conflict, not an ideological conflict (more about economic growth LESS about destroy the other side bc of other ideology)

- They don't fight for world dominance

- Today we are a multipolar world (China, India, Japan, Germany...)