Confrontation and reconciliation; reasons for the end of the Cold War (1980–1991)

List ideological challenges and dissent

• Rise of solidarity in Poland

• Eastern bloc dissent

• Western ideological offensive

• Nationalism within the USSR

• Collapse of bloc legitimacy

• Symbolic collapse

Describe rise of Solidarity in Poland

Rise of Solidarity in Poland (1980):

• Strikes at the Gdańsk shipyards produced the independent trade union Solidarity under Lech Wałęsa.

• Within weeks it had ~10 million members (≈⅓ of Poland’s population),

  • becoming the first mass organisation outside Communist Party control.

• Though crushed under martial law (1981),

  • it remained a symbol of resistance,

  • backed by the Catholic Church and Pope John Paul II,

  • received covert Western support.

Describe Eastern bloc dissent

• Intellectuals and activists challenged ideological control.

• In Czechoslovakia, Charter 77 (1977), led by figures like Václav Havel

  • demanded human rights promised in the Helsinki Accords.

  • Underground publications (samizdat) circulated despite censorship.

• After Gorbachev’s glasnost (from 1986), such groups expanded their influence,

  • openly eroding the Party’s monopoly.

Describe Western ideological offensive

• The West waged a cultural and moral campaign.

• Reagan’s “evil empire” speech (1983) cast the Cold War as a battle between freedom and tyranny.

• Radio Free Europe and Voice of America broadcasts reached tens of millions in Eastern Europe,

  • undermining Soviet narratives and inspiring dissidents.

Describe nationalism within the USSR

• Glasnost unintentionally fuelled nationalist movements in the Baltic states, Caucasus, and Central Asia.

• By 1990, nine Soviet republics had declared sovereignty or independence,

  • exposing deep fractures in the “Soviet family of nations.”

Describe collapse of bloc legitimacy

• By the late 1980s, communism lost its ideological appeal.

• Economic stagnation and repression turned socialism into a byword for shortages, censorship, and stagnation,

• while liberal democracy and capitalism appeared increasingly attractive alternatives.

Describe symbolic collapse

• The fall of the Berlin Wall (Nov 1989) epitomised communism’s ideological defeat.

• Within a year, every Eastern bloc government — from Poland and Hungary to Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia — had abandoned communism,

• leaving the USSR isolated and vulnerable.

Evaluate ideological challenges and dissent

Ideological dissent — from Solidarity’s mass mobilisation to intellectual dissidents, Western propaganda, and resurgent nationalism — steadily eroded communist legitimacy.

By the late 1980s, the USSR could no longer command belief at home or abroad.

The collapse of the Wall symbolised not just political weakness but an ideological bankruptcy that left socialism without credibility as a governing system.

List economic problems 

• Stagnation under Brezhnev 

• Oil dependency 

• Debt crisis in Eastern bloc 

• Perestroika reforms 

• Living standards collapse

• Comparative decline 

Describe stagnation under Brezhnev

• From the mid-1970s, Soviet growth slowed to ~2% annually,

  • with productivity falling ever further behind the West.

• Military expenditure consumed 20–25% of GDP,

  • diverting resources from consumer goods and strangling living standards.

Describe oil dependency 

• The USSR relied on energy exports to cover systemic inefficiencies.

• The global oil price collapse of 1986 (from $30 to $12 a barrel) cost the USSR around $20bn annually,

  • exposing its vulnerability.

Describe debt crisis in Eastern bloc

• By the late 1980s, satellite economies were burdened with unsustainable foreign debts.

• Poland owed $40bn by 1981, while Hungary owed $18bn,

  • increasing dependency on Western credit

  • undermining Soviet authority.

Describe perestroika reforms

Perestroika reforms (1987–90):

• Gorbachev introduced cooperatives and partial marketisation to revive efficiency.

• Instead, reforms disrupted central planning,

  • creating shortages, inflation, and loss of state control.

  • By 1990, GDP fell 4% and inflation reached 300%, accelerating collapse.

Describe living standards collapse 

• By the late 1980s, consumer discontent was widespread:

  • queues for food stretched for hours,

  • meat production dropped 15% (1986–90),

  • basic goods disappeared.

• Declining quality of life eroded the regime’s social contract.

Describe comparative decline 

• By 1989, Soviet GDP per capita was only about ⅓ that of the US,

• the technological gap in computing and electronics widened.

• The USSR could not sustain economic competition with advanced capitalist economies.

Evaluate economic problems

Economic failure was the Achilles’ heel of the Soviet system.

Oil dependency, debt, and botched reforms exposed structural weaknesses, while collapsing living standards destroyed public faith.

By the late 1980s, the USSR could neither compete with the West nor provide for its own citizens, leaving the regime fatally weakened.

List arms race and military pressures

• Soviet military burden

• US arms build up

• Strategic Defensive Initiative

• Afghanistan

• Arms control breakthroughs

• Military morale

Describe Soviet military burden

• By the 1980s, sustaining nuclear parity consumed ~25% of GDP

  • with nearly ⅓ of Soviet scientists employed in the defence sector.

• Civilian industries and technological innovation were stifled as resources were drained into the military.

Describe US arms build up

• Under Reagan, US defence spending rose from $134bn (1980) to $253bn (1985).

• New weapons systems, including MX missiles and B-1 bombers, escalated pressure on the USSR to

  • keep pace despite its weaker economy.

Describe Strategic Defensive Initiative

Strategic Defense Initiative (1983):

• Reagan’s proposed “Star Wars” missile shield threatened to make Soviet nuclear forces obsolete.

• Though technologically unfeasible, it created enormous psychological and financial pressure,

  • as Moscow lacked the resources to compete in space-based defence.

Describe Afghanistan

Afghanistan (1979–89):

• Over 620,000 troops rotated through the conflict

• with 15,000 killed

• costs of ~$8bn annually.

• The war demoralised the army,

• undermined Soviet prestige

• prolonged by US support for the mujahideen

  • including advanced Stinger missiles.

Describe arms control breakthroughs 

• Despite renewed rivalry, progress was made:

  • the INF Treaty (1987) eliminated all intermediate-range missiles,

    • the first accord to abolish an entire weapons category;

  • START (1991) prepared the ground for deep reductions in strategic arsenals.

Describe military morale

• By the late 1980s, morale within the Soviet armed forces collapsed.

  • Conscripts deserted in large numbers,

  • draft-dodging soared,

  • corruption hollowed out effectiveness.

Evaluate the arms race and military pressures 

The arms race became an unsustainable burden for the USSR.

Reagan’s military build-up, SDI, and the war in Afghanistan exposed Soviet weakness, draining resources and morale.

Although arms control treaties offered limited relief, the cumulative pressures demonstrated that Moscow could no longer compete militarily with Washington, accelerating systemic collapse.