1. George H.W. Bush & The End of the Cold War

2. George H.W. Bush
Cold War had threatened the very existence of human kind
At the same time, clearly directed U.S. foreign policy for decades
George H.W. Bush was former ambassador to the U.N. and director of the CIA
First president to define the country’s role after the Cold War

3. Election of 1988
Democrats hoped the Iran- Contra Scandal and huge deficits under Reagan would hurt the Republicans
Bush attacked the Democratic candidate Mike Dukakis as being soft on crime and weak on national defense

4. Election of 1988
Bush appealed to voters by promising to not raise taxes- “Read my lips- no new taxes”
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Bush won a decisive victory by over 7 million votes, but Democratic majorities returned to Congress

5. Collapse of Communism
Spring 1989: prodemocracy students demonstrate in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square
Broadcast on international television
The next night, the Chinese Communist government secretly crushed the demonstration with tanks and assassinations, killing hundreds

6. Collapse of Communism
Gorbachev announced he would no longer support Eastern European satellites with Soviet armed forces
Beginning with elections in Poland in 1989, the Communist party fell from power in one country after another

7. Collapse of Communism
November 1989: Communist party in East Germany was driven out after protestors tore down the Berlin Wall
October 1990: two Germanys, divided since 1945, were reunited
With the blessing of NATO and the Soviet Union

8. Collapse of the Soviet Union
Desire for self-determination among Eastern European satellites overwhelmed the Soviet Union
1990: Soviet Baltic republics declare their independence
After a failed coup against Gorbachev by Communist hardliners, the remaining republics left the Soviet Union in December 1991
Gorbachev was now a leader with no country

9. Collapse of the Soviet Union
Boris Yeltsin joins with nine former Soviet Republics to form the Commonwealth of Independent State (CIS)
Yeltsin disbanded the Communist party in Russia and attempted to establish a democracy and free-market economy

10. End of the Cold War
Agreements to dismantle nuclear weapons were evidence the Cold War was coming to an end
Bush and Gorbachev sign START I in 1991
Reduced number of nuclear warheads to under 10,000 for each side
1992: Bush and Yeltsin agree to START II
Reduced the number of nuclear warheads to just over 3,000 for each side
START II also offered some U.S. assistance to the troubled Russian economy