THE COLD WAR ENDS

Détente WAS THE U.S. POLICY IN THE EARLY 1970s UNDER PRESIDENT NIXON THAT ATTEMPTED TO REDUCE COLD WAR TENSIONS BETWEEN THE SUPERPOWERS.

1979 COLD WAR TENSIONS HEATED RIGHT BACK UP AGAIN AFTER THE SOVIETS INVADED AFGHANISTAN.

RONALD REAGAN BECOMES U.S. PRESIDENT IN CALLS THE SOVIET UNION AN “EVIL EMPIRE” SPENDS TRILLIONS OF $$$$$ ON U.S. DEFENSE

New Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev He will make reforms to the Soviet Union which will dramatically change the course of history.

SOVIET PROBLEMS Got stuck in a conflict in Afghanistan for 10 years. (They were forced to leave in 1989) Couldn’t keep up with the U.S. in Defense spending, Economy was in shambles.

Glasnost Policy of “openness” that allowed more individual freedoms in the Soviet Union.

Perestroika Focused on reforming the struggling Soviet economy. It introduced limited forms of Capitalism to the U.S.S.R.

Gorbachev’s Goal Was to REFORM the Communist system in the Soviet Union, NOT to get rid of it.

Soviet Control Of Eastern Europe Under Gorbachev, the Soviet Union started to LOOSEN its control over the other communist nations of Eastern Europe.

Impact #1 of Gorbachev’s policies They encouraged the people of other Communist nations to want the same changes to happen in their country.

MAJOR RESULTS -In 1989 Communism ended in many Eastern European nations like Poland, Hungary, and East Germany (Berlin Wall came down in Nov & Germany is reunited in 1990)

Impact #2 of Gorbachev’s policies Gorbachev’s reforms will lead to many of the Soviet Republics wanting their independence & the break-up of the Soviet Union will eventually occur.

MAJOR RESULT In 1991 the official break-up of the Soviet Union occurred. The Cold War was over!

Moscow- Jan. 31, 1990 A symbol that capitalism had come to the Soviet Union

Go to this site & View Clip business/business/muscovites-mad-for- mcdonalds.html

This Day In History: January 31, 1990 The First McDonald's opens in Soviet Union The Soviet Union's first McDonald's fast food restaurant opens in Moscow. Throngs of people line up to pay the equivalent of several days' wages for Big Macs, shakes, and French fries. The appearance of this notorious symbol of capitalism and the enthusiastic reception it received from the Russian people were signs that times were changing in the Soviet Union. An American journalist on the scene reported the customers seemed most amazed at the "simple sight of polite shop workers...in this nation of commercial boorishness." A Soviet journalist had a more practical opinion, stating that the restaurant was "the expression of America's rationalism and pragmatism toward food." He also noted that the "contrast with our own unrealized pretensions is both sad and challenging." For the average Russian customer, however, visiting the restaurant was less a political statement than an opportunity to enjoy a small pleasure in a country still reeling from disastrous economic problems and internal political turmoil. The arrival of McDonald's in Moscow was a small but certain sign that change was on the horizon. In fact, less than two years later, the Soviet Union ceased to exist as a nation, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as leader of the country, and various Soviet republics proclaimed their independence. As the American newsman reported, the first Russian McDonald's customers "had seen the future, and it works, at least as far as their digestive tract."