1. The Collapse of the Soviet Union
And the world watched with wonder …

2. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Eastern Bloc
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
15 Republics: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan
7 Satellite
Countries:
Bulgaria, Czech Republic, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia

3. Technological Ambitions
Ideological Differences Democratic Capitalism v. Totalitarian Communism
Military Strength
Arms Race
Technological Ambitions
Space Race
The Cold War rivalry

4. Was the Collapse Due to Force? No
The Cold War cost more than $11 trillion. But the collapse of the Soviet Union and its satellites was not a result of force.
No NATO tank fired a shot.
No bomb fell on the Kremlin.

5. A Home-Grown Insurgency
Instead, a massive, home-grown insurgency, led by a number of different participants, contributed to the collapse:
Workers
Dissident intellectuals
Advocates of national self-determination (satellite and Baltic states)
Reformers (Gorbachev)

6. Changes in the USSR Communist governments in satellite states toppled
Led to end of Cold War
Gorbachev’s reforms gathered momentum beyond his control.
Also affected SA – collapse of apartheid

7. What was the USSR like in 1985?
In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev became leader of the
USSR. At that time, the USSR had many problems:
the economy was collapsing
the USSR was spending more money than it could afford on the Cold War arms race
there were tensions with the West (the Cold War was still on)
the USSR was losing a war in Afghanistan
the people of the USSR were angry about their poor standard of living and the long queues for basic goods. They didn't think that their government could solve the problems.

8. Why was the Soviet Union bankrupt?
High cost of subsidizing other communist countries
High cost of Soviet Space / Arms Program
Lack of incentives for innovation and hard work among the workforce
Increasing costs associated with reliance on western food and technology (imports)
Rising military expenditures
Arms Race
Afghanistan Campaign
Maintaining forces in Eastern Europe
i) The Soviets supported other communist regimes through COMECON - this was increasingly costly as by the 1980s the USSR was subsidizing all the East European economies to a significant extent.
ii) Military expenditure continued to rise (the Afghan campaign was a particular drain).
iii) The Space Program too was costly.
iv) The weakness of the Soviet economy and Soviet industry meant that Russia came to rely increasingly on imports of technology and food from the West, but it had little foreign currency to pay for them.
v) Soviet goods were shoddy and could not be exported to earn that currency.
vi) Workers had no incentive to do a proper job as everyone was guaranteed a job, housing and public services.
As if all these problems were not enough, Reagan's challenge coincided with a prolonged leadership crisis which led to paralysis in Soviet government.

9. The Gorbachev Revolution
Mikhail Gorbachev, who came to power in 1985 as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), recognized that the Soviet Union could not remain politically and economically isolated and that the Soviet system had to be changed if it was to survive.

10. What did Gorbachev do about this situation?
Gorbachev believed in communism, but decided that it needed to be reformed. So he introduced some changes.

11. Gorbachev's Five-Point Plan
The key pieces to Gorbachev's plan for the survival of the Soviet Union were a series of reforms:
Glasnost (openness) – greater freedom of expression
Perestroika (restructuring) – decentralization of the Soviet economy with gradual market reforms
Renunciation of the Brezhnev Doctrine (armed intervention where socialism was threatened) and the pursuit of arms control agreements
Reform of the KGB (secret service)
Reform of the Communist Party

12. “Glasnost” He allowed 'glasnost' (or openness):
This meant that people were allowed to speak openly and criticize the government.
For the first time, there was freedom of speech in the USSR.
In 1989, free elections and opposition parties were allowed, also for the first time in the USSR's history.

13. “Perestroika” Perestroika (restructuring):
This meant improving the way the economy worked. Instead of the state trying to control everything.
He let state enterprises make their own decisions and buy and sell at a profit, which was more like capitalism.
Private businesses allowed
Foreign investment encouraged
He hoped that this would strengthen the economy.

14. Results abroad Reforms were welcomed “I like Mr Gorbachev” – Thatcher
End of armed race, withdrawal from Afghanistan, end of Cold war
Reduction of nuclear arms

15. Results at home These reforms had unexpected results:
Perestroika did not work very well. It moved too slowly.
The economy was in such a bad state that it collapsed without the state to control it.
Life for ordinary people became even harder. Higher prices. Production remained low.

16. Results
Because of glasnost, people could speak out and criticize what was happening.
Gorbachev lost support.
Some people blamed him for changing the communist system, others said that his reforms did not go far enough and that he should change it even more.

17. Results One of these critics was Boris Yeltsin.
Called for democracy, end to Communist Party and freedom for other political parties.
Became the people’s hero.

18. Results
Gorbachev’s attempts to reform the Communist Party were a failure.
Change was too slow to keep pace with events and he was continually hampered by his need to give in to the hard-liners in order to retain power.
As communism collapsed in Eastern Europe, reform of communism in the Soviet Union became unlikely.

19. Results
The renunciation of the Brezhnev Doctrine (armed intervention in support of socialism) released the Eastern European states from Soviet domination.
The communist rulers of these states could not survive without the support of the Soviet Union.
The Brezhnev Doctrine was articulated in 1968 when the Soviet army occupied Czechoslovakia to end the Prague Spring, an attempt by Alexander Dubcek to build “socialism with a human face.”

20. 1989
Winds of Change

21. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Eastern Bloc
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
15 Republics: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan
7 Satellite
Countries:
Bulgaria, Czech Republic, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia

22. Warsaw Pact
Military alliance between USSR and the eastern European satellites
Hungary(1956)+ Czechoslovakia(1968) tried to withdraw (revolts crushed)

23. The First Crack in the Iron Curtain
Poland: First challenges
Worker unrest in the 1970’s
John Paul Jones II elected Pope in 1978
First Polish Pope
The Solidarity Movement
Established by Lech Walesa in 1980 (Gdansk shipyards)
First labor union in Eastern Europe
Soviets apply pressure
Pope’s stance deters Soviet crackdown (1979 visit)
Solidarity 1980
In the late 1970s the Polish economy went into recession and Polish workers began to form trade unions; the most influential was 'Solidarity', a union of the shipyard workers of Gdansk led by Lech Walesa.
When the government announced price rises in July 1980 there was an outbreak of strikes and in August, Solidarity issued 21 demands for political and religious freedom. By the end of the year Solidarity had 9 million members, Walesa was extremely popular and he had become widely known throughout the world.
What could the government do? The Soviet government considered sending in troops as it had in Hungary and Czechoslovakia but Solidarity's support appeared too widespread. Instead it decided to order the Polish Communist government to solve the problem. In 1981 the new leader General Jaruzelski declared martial law, arrested Walesa and 10,000 other members of Solidarity. At the same time Brezhenev sent the Red Army to carry out manoeuvres on the Soviet border.
This solution proved only temporary. Solidarity was not crushed and Jaruzelski was forced to release Walesa at the end of The Communist Party was not able to fully suppress such a widespread movement. In the late 1980s Solidarity and Lech Walesa were well placed to take advantage of the collapse of communism (see the End of the Cold War published in May 2000 on the History Classroom).
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24. Polish Trade Union: Solidarity
The downfall began in 1980 when striking Polish workers organized Solidarity, an independent trade union of nearly 10 million members.
List of 21 demands

25. Solidarity’s Chairman: Lech Walesa
The Polish military drove Solidarity underground in 1981 after the Soviet army had training operations on the Polish border.
Government declare martial law, Solidarity banned, leaders imprisoned.
1983- Lech Walesa won the Nobel peace prize.

26. Support from Catholic Church
Solidarity, which had strong support from the powerful Polish Catholic Church, demonstrated how a working-class movement could offer an entire nation moral and political leadership.
1986 Solidarity start operating again, Radio Solidarity urge boycott of 1988 elections

27. Eastern Europe: The satellite states
1989: Gorbachev renounces the Brezhnev doctrine
1989: Gorbachev’s reforms inspired popular protests in Eastern Europe
Communist governments overthrown

28. Hungary May 1989: Communist party calls for multiparty elections
October 1989: Communists are defeated
New government opens border to Austria
East Germans allowed to flee through Hungary to the West

29. Map

30. Poland June 1989: Poland holds first free election
Solidarity wins a majority, Lech Walesa becomes first prime minister.
In 1990, he would be the first freely elected president of the Polish nation in more than sixty years.

31. Wave of Demonstrations
Beginning in September 1989, a wave of huge demonstrations shook Communist regimes across eastern Europe. A massive tide of East German emigrants surged through Czechoslovakia and Hungary to the West, undermining the authority of the Communist hard-liners who still clung to power in the German Democratic Republic (GDR).

32. In 1990 the Germanys re-unite
East Germany
October 1989: Protesters gather at the Berlin Wall
Gorbachev refuses in a speech to send troops, causing East German government to fall.
Nov. East and West Germans tear down the wall
In 1990 the Germanys re-unite

33. A tram is blocked by East German demonstrators in the center of the city in October Their banner reads: 'Legalization of opposition parties, free democratic elections, free press and independent unions.'

34. The Wall Came Down
Finally, on the night of November 9, 1989, ordinary Germans poured through the Berlin Wall. The GDR quickly disintegrated, and by the end of 1990, all of East Germany had been incorporated into the Federal Republic of Germany.

35. Communism Collapses in Eastern Europe
November 1989: Internal coup overthrows the communist dictatorship of Todor Zhivkov in Bulgaria.
December 1989: Popular uprising led by Dubcek peacefully overthrows communist government in Czechoslovakia. (Velvet Rev.)
December 1989: Bloody revolution overthrows the communist dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu in Romania.

36. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Nationalism
½ of USSR population Russian ½ consisted of 100 minorities
Eastern Bloc
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
15 Republics: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan
7 Satellite
Countries:
Bulgaria, Czech Republic, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia 36

37. 15 Soviet Republics

38. The role of nationalism
People in other republics in USSR resented Russian domination (cultures ignored, Russians held top positions)
1989 free elections Congress of People’s Deputies (parliament)
Growth of nationalism and demands for independence

39. Baltic Republics
Nationalism especially strong in Baltic states (Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania)
Gorbachev used army to crush nationalist uprisings in Georgia, Azerbaijan and Baltic republics

40. The Rise of Nationalism
With the iron grip of the centralized Soviet state relaxed and the growing failure of the state to adequately feed and clothe its people, nationalism in the republics surged and separatist movements threatened the very existence of the Soviet Union.
We shall destroy nationalist defile.

41. Nobel Peace Prize
Gorbachev won the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize. He brought a peaceful end to the cold war, and dramatic change to his country's economy, though not in the way he intended, but in the USSR minorities were calling for independence.

42. Radical Change Gorbachev lost support, Yeltsin was more popular
Yeltsin called for dissolution of USSR
Reactionary coup by pro-Soviet conservatives
Radical change finally reached the Soviet heartland in August 1991, when thousands of Russian citizens poured into the streets to defeat the reactionary coup d'état.

43. The coup Gorbachev arrested while on holiday in Crimea
Conservatives in military and government staged coup in Moscow to overthrow Gorbachev
Yeltsin climbed into tank and called on soldiers to mutiny, workers to oppose coup and Gorbachev to be released

44. Boris Yeltsin Gorbachev reinstated Coup failed
Boris Yeltsin, who headed the Russian Republic, replaced Gorbachev as president of a much- diminished state. Gorbachev found that there was no Soviet Union to lead and retired into private life.
Time magazine's July 15, 1996, issue, featured a 10-page spread about a squad of U.S. political pros who "clandestinely participated in guiding Yeltsin's campaign.“

45. Soviet Union Collapses
1991:Latvia and Baltic states and later Soviet republics (Ukraine Georgia) begin declaring independence from the Soviet Union
1991: Boris Yeltsin proclaims Russia’s independence
1991: The Soviet Union ceases to exist

46. Independent Republics
The Communist party quickly collapsed, and the Soviet Union began the painful and uncertain process of reorganizing itself as a loose confederation of independent republics.

47. Effects of the collapse of USSR on Russia
1991: 12 of the 15 republics in former USSR formed Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
3 Baltic states chose complete independence
Russian Federation was biggest state in CIS

48. The End of the Cold War
The Cold War was over, brought to a close not by the missiles and tanks of the principal participants, but by the collective courage and willpower of ordinary men and women.

49. The Collapse of the Soviet Union and the End of the Cold War
John Paul II’s CATHOLIC CHURCH
NATIONALISM
In Republics
NATIONALISM
In Satellites
Lech Walesa's SOLIDARITY
Eastern Bloc
Gorbachev’s
REFORMS
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Ronald Reagan’s
FOREIGN POLICY
Glasnost
Perestroika
EVIL EMPIRE Speech
No Brezhnev Doctrine
MILITARY BUILDUP
Ordinary MEN & WOMEN
protest
Reform KGB and Party
USSR power
Relied on
DICTATORSHIP
ARMS RACE
COURAGE
Reforms bring discontent
People
Questioned it
WILL POWER

50. The Collapse of the Soviet Union and the End of the Cold War
John Paul II’s CATHOLIC CHURCH
NATIONALISM
In Republics
NATIONALISM
In Satellites
Lech Walesa's SOLIDARITY
Eastern Bloc
Gorbachev’s
REFORMS
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Ronald Reagan’s
FOREIGN POLICY
Glasnost
Perestroika
EVIL EMPIRE Speech
No Brezhnev Doctrine
MILITARY BUILDUP
Ordinary MEN & WOMEN
protest
Reform KGB and Party
USSR power
Relied on
DICTATORSHIP
ARMS RACE
COURAGE
Reforms bring discontent
People
Questioned it
WILL POWER

51. How did the collapse of the USSR change the balance of world power?

52. The end of the Cold War Economic problems in the USSR
USSR needed to reduce military spending
Summit meetings between Gorbachev and Reagan
Treaties in Washington (1987) and Moscow (1988)
Agreed to end nuclear arms race

53. End of Cold War 1989: Collapse of communism in Eastern Europe
December 1989: Gorbachev and Bush (sr.) agreed that Cold War was over
Eastern
European
Satellites

54. Effects of the collapse of USSR on Russia
1991: 12 of the 15 republics in former USSR formed Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
3 Baltic states chose independence
Russian Federation was biggest state in CIS (20 republics)
Radical reforms under Yeltsin

55. Problems facing Russian Federation:
Economic problems
continued under Yeltsin:
low production,
unemployment, inflation
and collapse of wages
High levels of corruption and crime
People missed aspects of controlled economy (e.g. state-funded healthcare, assured employment, sate control over prices and wages)

56. The effects of the collapse of the USSR on communism globally
China, Cuba, Vietnam and
North Korea remained
communist states
1980s: Economic reforms in China – economic boom – China replaced USSR as dominant communist power
Cuba, Vietnam and North Korea affected by loss of Soviet support

57. 4.2.4 The effects of the collapse of the USSR on South Africa

58. Effects on Africa
Failure of communism and emergence of democracies in Eastern Europe
Encouraged democratic movements in world
Several countries in Africa became multi-party democracies
Africa no longer significant in Cold war politics
Withdrawal of superpower aid

59. SA: Attitude of the apartheid government
Strongly anti-communist
Suppression of Communism Act 1950
Pro-communist organizations banned
White conscripts given propaganda that USSR was threatening to take over Mozambique and Angola

60. Attitude of the West towards SA during the Cold War:
West wanted to ensure that the USSR did not control mineral resources or Cape sea route
Alarmed when communist governments came to power in Angola and Mozambique (1975)
Accepted NP government’s anti-communist propaganda (Rooi Gevaar / Total Onslaught)
SA convenient as pro-Western and anti-Soviet ally

61. Policy of West towards SA during the 1980s:
Reagan and Thatcher resisted calls for economic sanctions (UN, OAU)
Reasons: strongly anti-communist , substantial US and British investments in SA

62. Late 1980s: Policy began to change:
Reasons:
Influence of anti-apartheid human rights organizations increased,
SA + Africa no longer significant in Cold War politics,
Western governments applied pressure on SA
NP could no longer rely on Western backing
Fear of ANC diminished – communism losing ground

63. ANC also affected by collapse of the USSR and change in balance of world power:
Many ANC followers expected socialist economic policies after 1994 (Tripartite alliance)
Instead ANC government chose free market capitalist policies (e.g. GEAR)

64. Other effects on ANC ANC received financial and military aid from USSR
Exiled members supported with education and jobs
Collapse of USSR removed outside backing for ANC
After Foreign policy shifted from backing socialist states to playing a leading role in Africa

65. Effects on apartheid government
Apartheid no longer tolerated by West as bolster against communism
Collapse of USSR weakened impact of one-party states (e.g. In satellites)
Multi-party democracies emerged in its place
NP hoped to play role in multi-party SA

66. Cuito Cuanavale Turning point in SA politics
Government forced to reassess its military strength
Agreed to withdraw and give Namibia independence
Namibian independence showed SA that majority rule did not mean communism
Eased fears of SA government and encouraged liberation movements

67. De Klerk and changes
Mounting pressure and protests led to tensions in NP
Change in leadership
De Klerk adopted policy of meaningful reform (1990 speech)
Unbanning of liberation movements, release of prisoners and negotiation of a new constitution
Only 2 months after fall of Berlin wall

68. 4.2.5 The effects of the collapse of the USSR on the power of the USA

69. Shift in balance of power
Collapse of USSR meant US in dominant position → not concerned about Soviet reactions to American-led invasion to liberate Kuwait (from Iraq) in Gulf War (1991)

70. Collapse of USSR regarded as victory by West:
Triumph of capitalism over communism
Triumph of democracy over totalitarianism
US now in dominant position - ideologically, economically and militarily
Western defence pact (NATO) expanded to include many former Warsaw Pact countries
American-style capitalism the dominant feature of the global economy

71. But US had some domestic problems
Economic position of African Americans - inequality a source of tension
Rising unemployment
Growing division between rich and poor

72. Were there any rivals to US domination?
CIS ineffectual; Russia weakened by internal problems
Britain and France never regained strength after World War Two
Severe problems in reunified Germany (unemployment, etc.)

73. European Union (EU) included most countries in western and eastern Europe:
Common citizenship and currency; free movement of goods and people
But weakened by differences in national interests; conflict in Yugoslavia
EU potentially important economic force in world

74. China the main communist power in world
1980s: Successfully liberalized its economy
But government maintained strict control (e.g. crushing of 1989 Tiananmen Square protests)
1990s: Massive economic growth in China → booming economy —> rival (not threat) to US domination

75. The use of power by the USA after the Cold War
Some criticize American foreign policy in Middle East:
Intervention in other countries e.g. Kuwait (1991). Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003)
Sanctions against Libya and Iraq
Continuing support for Israel in conflict with Palestinians —> growing anti-American feeling in many Arab states

76. Others criticize US for failure to become involved:
US reduced support and financial contributions to UN
US refused to support UN intervention in Rwanda and Burundi to prevent civil war and genocide
US reluctant to support NATO intervention in Bosnia to prevent civil war and genocide

77. The 'new world order'
State of world after Cold War complicated and unpredictable → many regional and civil wars
Threat of nuclear war not over:
Many countries had nuclear weapons
Fears that they might use them in regional conflicts
World not more united:
Division between East and West replaced by division between North (developed) and South (developing) worlds

78. Remaining Communist Countries
At its peak, communism was practiced in dozens of countries:
Soviet Union: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan
Asian Countries: Afghanistan, Cambodia, Mongolia, and Yemen
Soviet Controlled Eastern bloc countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia.
The Balkans: Albania, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia.
Africa: Angola, Benin, Congo, Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, and Mozambique.
Currently only a handful of countries identified as communist remain: Laos, North Korea, Vietnam, China, and Cuba.

79. Ronald Reagan’s Role
In the United States, partisans of Ronald Reagan claimed much of the credit for ending the Cold War. Reagan's frank denunciation of the Soviet Union as an “evil empire," along with his administration's military buildup, were said to have inspired eastern bloc dissidents at the same time the arms race exhausted the productive capacity of the Soviet Union and other inefficient Communist regimes.

81. President Reagan giving a speech at the Berlin Wall, Brandenburg Gate, Federal Republic of Germany. June 12, 1987

82. Reagan’s Brandenburg Gate Speech
President Ronald Reagan called upon Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall: "In the Communist world, we see failure, technological backwardness, declining standards... Even today, the Soviet Union cannot feed itself. The inescapable conclusion is that freedom is the victor. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

83. Nuclear Stockpiles,
Source data from: Robert S. Norris and Hans M. Kristensen, "Global nuclear stockpiles, ," Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 62, no. 4 (July/August 2006), Online at