The Decline of the Soviet Union Chapter 13 Section 1

A. The Soviet Union Under Stress After Khrushchev was removed from office, Leonid Brezhnev took over He insisted on the right to intervene anywhere communism was threatened -called the Brezhnev Doctrine Under Brezhnev, the Cold War experienced détente -a relaxation of tensions btwn US and USSR

USSR was equal to the US in nuclear weapons Soviet leaders relaxed their rule Allowed more access to western pop-culture Brezhnev continued to emphasize heavy industry Large bureaucracies led to inefficiencies in the Soviet gov’t Farmers had no incentives to grow crops Avg. Soviet citizen still very poor In the 1970s, Brezhnev allowed the US to sell grain and consumer goods to the USSR

Détente suffered a major setback in 1979 The USSR invaded Afghanistan to reinstall a pro-soviet gov’t there The US viewed this as an act of expansion To show US disapproval, President Jimmy Carter did not allow US athletes to compete in the Olympics at Moscow

When Ronald Reagan became President, he began large and expensive military build-up This led to a 2 nd arms race btwn the US and USSR The US also gave military aid to Afghan rebels fighting the USSR The USSR spent large amounts of money to keep up with the US, driving them deeper into debt

B. Gorbachev and the Soviet Union In 1980, serious problems in the USSR -High infant mortality, rampant alcoholism, and poor working conditions Within the communist party a small group of reformers wanted to address these problems They were led by Mikhail Gorbachev The basis of Gorbachev’s beliefs was perestroika -means restructuring

C. Perestroika First, meant restructuring the economy -make the USSR a market economy where some people can own their own businesses and focus on consumers Second, it meant restructuring the gov’t -Gorbachev made a new Russian parliament in he also created a new presidency and in 1990 was elected the 1 st President of the USSR

D. End of the Cold War Gorbachev’s ideas are going to bring an end to the Cold War In 1987, Gorbachev made a treaty called the INF Treaty -btwn US and USSR to reduce nuclear weapons and slow down arms race This would help Gorbachev focus more money on the people This would help the US reduce the debt that they had built up -national debt tripled under Reagan

Gorbachev also stops spending Soviet money to support satellite states Many of these countries then overthrow the communist regimes In 1989, a mostly peaceful revolution swept through Eastern Europe Then, in 1989, Germans began to tear down the Berlin Wall In 1990, both East and West Germany were reunified In 1991, the Soviet Union was dissolved

End of the USSR After the USSR was dissolved, many new countries were created Many Soviets, especially gov’t officials and Secret Police were afraid of losing their privileges In 1991 a group of these arrested Gorbachev and tried to seize power The attempt failed when Russians led by Boris Yeltsin fought off the rebels Boris Yeltsin, then became the new President of the Russian Republic

The New Russia Yeltsin wanted to introduce a free market economy The transition was not easy Economic hardships were made worse by a rise in organized crime Another problem was in Chechnya -Largely Muslim province in the South that wanted to break from Russia Yeltsin used force to keep Chechnya By the end of 1999, Yeltsin resigned and Vladimir Putin was elected president in 2000

Putin was a former KGB officer Putin was also harsh in dealing with Chechnya He sent in Russian troops to take it over, but fighting intensified Some claimed that al-Qaeda was funding Chechnyan rebels In 2004, rebels siezed a school in Beslan, a city in Chechnya When Russian troops were sent in, 300 people died, many were children Many people began to criticize Putin, but this caused him to crack down on the media In 2004, he proposed that regional leaders be appointed, rather than elected