The End of the Cold War To what extent was liberalism responsible for the fall of the USSR?

Spheres of Influence Blues – under the influence of the US Reds– under the influence of the USSR

The End of the Cold War???? The term second Cold War has been used by some historians to refer to the period of intensive reawakening of Cold War tensions and conflicts in the early 1980s. Tensions greatly increased between the major powers with both sides becoming more militaristic. This increase in tension was a direct result of:  the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (1979)  US withdrawal from SALT II negotiations  the US lead boycott of the Moscow Olympics  election of Ronald Reagan to the White House

events Reagan vowed to increase military spending and confront the Soviets everywhere Reagan got an ally – Brit P.M. Margaret Thatcher – both vowed to contain the Soviets Both NATO and Warsaw Pact Nations built up nuclear weapons in Europe Tensions went high when Soviets shot down a Korean Airlines passenger plane - Reagan called it a "massacre".

Reagan spent $2.2 trillion for the military over eight years “Star Wars” defense plan started (weapon designed to shoot down Soviet missiles) Reagan voiced support for the “Solidarity” movement in Poland – this started out as a workers’ union, but became a promoter of democratic reform, and later a political party US and USSR continued to be at ideological odds with one another

By the early 1980s, the Soviet armed forces were the largest in the worldSoviet armed forces By the late years of the Cold War, Moscow had built up a military that consumed as much as twenty-five percent of the Soviet Union's gross national product  USSR was in deep economic trouble  By the time Mikhail Gorbachev had ascended to power in 1985, the Soviets suffered from an economic growth rate close to zero percentMikhail Gorbachev

To restructure the Soviet economy before it collapsed, Gorbachev announced an agenda of rapid reform. Reform required Gorbachev to redirect the country's resources from costly Cold War military commitments to more profitable areas in the civilian sector.

Policies of Mikhail Gorbachev – Liberalization – ushered in a new era of political and economic reform in the USSR and its satellite states = calls for democratic and capitalist reforms – Glasnost (openness) - allowed for greater economic opportunities to appear for common people – this lead to further political empowerment – Perestroika (restructuring) – loosening of central authority allowed for capitalist reforms to creep into the Soviet economy – These reforms would allow nationalism in Eastern Europe to grow – result – the eventual disintegration of the Soviet empire

In light of these changes, Gorbachev offered major concessions to the United States concerning weapons, troops and policies concerning Eastern Europe

At first, the US did not take Gorbachev seriously, but agreed to keep talking to him The new Soviet leader eventually proved more concerned about reversing the Soviet Union's deteriorating economic condition than fighting the arms race with the West East-West tensions that had reached intense new heights earlier in the decade rapidly subsided through the mid-to-late 1980s.

Events that showed Gorby was sincere In 1988, the Soviets officially declared that they would no longer intervene in the affairs of allied states in Eastern Europe Soviet forces withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989 In December 1989, Gorbachev and George Bush Sr. (new pres. of US) declared the Cold War officially over at a summit meeting in MaltaGeorge Bush Malta

The end of communist control by 1989, the Soviet alliance system was on the brink of collapse Communist leaders of the Warsaw Pact states were losing power In the USSR itself, Gorbachev tried to reform the party to destroy resistance to his reforms, but,  ultimately his reforms weakened the bonds that held the state and union together

February 1990, the Communist Party was forced to surrender its 73-year old monopoly on state powerCommunist Party By December of the next year, the union-state also dissolved, breaking the USSR up into fifteen separate independent states Gorbachev eventually lost power and communist rule in the USSR ended By this time, the Berlin Wall had come down, East and West Germany were being reunited, and Eastern Europe was dumping communism