End of the Cold War Causes

The End of the Cold War: Causes and Consequences

Technological and Military Advancements of the United States

• By the early 1980s, the US and the Soviet Union possessed over 12,000 nuclear missiles each, creating a state of mutual assured destruction (MAD) that deterred either side from initiating a nuclear war.

• Detente in the 1970s: A period of relaxed tensions, exemplified by the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I) signed by US President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev, which prohibited further manufacture of nuclear weapons.

• Ronald Reagan's Hard Line: In 1980, President Ronald Reagan adopted a more confrontational stance against the Soviets, discarding detente and initiating the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI).

  • Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI): Also known as "Star Wars," this system aimed to deploy space-based defense systems capable of detecting and destroying nuclear missiles with lasers, rendering a Soviet nuclear attack obsolete.

  • Although the SDI never fully materialized, it widened the divide between the US and the Soviet Union.

• Economic Strain on the Soviet Union: Reagan anticipated that the Soviets would attempt to match US military spending, which proved largely correct. However, the Soviet economy, stagnant since the 1970s, could not sustain such expenditures, leading to further economic decline.

Failed Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan

• Invasion (1979): The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979 to support the communist regime against Afghan Muslim rebels.

• Support for Afghan Rebels: The United States, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan supported and supplied the Afghan rebels, enabling them to wage a guerrilla war against the Soviets.

• Economic Impact: The nine-year conflict significantly strained the Soviet economy, contributing to its overall decline.

Policies of Mikhail Gorbachev

• Economic Crisis: By the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Soviet economy faced significant challenges, including limited foreign trade and stifled agricultural production due to government control.

• Eastern European Discontent: Eastern European Soviet bloc countries grew increasingly dissatisfied with Soviet oppression such as the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia in 1968.

  • The Soviet Union had to devote more resources to suppress resistance movements in its sphere of influence further straining the economy.

• Gorbachev's Reforms: Mikhail Gorbachev rose to power in 1985 and implemented policies aimed at addressing the economic and political issues.

  • Perestroika: A restructuring of the Soviet economy to reduce central planning and introduce market-oriented reforms.

  • Glasnost: A policy of openness that allowed criticism and dissent against the government, which had previously been suppressed.

  • Non-Intervention Policy: Gorbachev declared that the Soviet Union would no longer use military intervention to support communist governments in its sphere of influence.

• Consequences of Gorbachev's Policies:

  • Reform Movements: Encouraged by the loosening Soviet grip, democratic reform movements emerged throughout Eastern Europe.

  • Independence Declarations: States within the Soviet Union, such as Lithuania and Georgia, began declaring independence.

  • Fall of the Berlin Wall: In 1989, the Berlin Wall was torn down, leading to the reunification of Germany.

• Dissolution of the Soviet Union: In 1991, the Soviet legislature voted to dissolve the Soviet Union, marking the end of the Cold War.