The End of Cold War Notes

Prepared by: Mr Qin Yixuan 1 Humanities: History Unit 3: Bi-Polarity & the Cold War Chapter 4: The End of the Cold War Chapter Outline: 4.1 Why did the Cold War end? 1. US economic might a. Economic boom in the USA and Western European countries b. Renewal of arms race i. ‘Star Wars’ programme ii. Escalation of US-Soviet tensions 2. Weaknesses of the Soviet economy a. Inefficiencies of the Command Economy b. Low standards of living c. External economic burdens of the Soviet Union i. Eastern Europe ii. War in Afghanistan d. Increasing resistance within the communist bloc 3. Impact of glasnost and perestroika on the USSR and Eastern Europe a. Glasnost b. Perestroika c. Gorbachev’s UN speech 4. End of Soviet control over the communist bloc a. Eastern Europe b. Fall of the Berlin Wall c. Dissolution of the Soviet Union 5. Conclusion 4.1 Why did the Cold War end? 1. US economic might Economic boom in the USA and Western European countries  The Vietnam War and global oil crises affected the US economy adversely in the 1970s.  To counter the negative impacts of the oil crises, President Reagan began a policy of economic liberalisation to stimulate the US economy. Western European countries like Britain also adopted Reagan’s economic policies.  Individual enterprise was encouraged to reduce the people’s reliance on the government for goods and services.  National budgets were cut and national assets such as phone companies, oil companies and airlines were privatised.  Reagan’s economic policies worked. A period of economic prosperity followed in the USA and Western Europe. US economic partners, such as West Germany and Japan also contributed to the USA’s economic prosperity in the 1980s.

Prepared by: Mr Qin Yixuan 2 Renewal of the arms race  The growth of the American economy allowed the USA to renew the arms race, putting pressure on the Soviet Union to keep up with military spending and production.  ‘Star Wars’ programme: o To intensify the pressure on the Soviet Union, Reagan proposed the Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI) programme or ‘Star Wars’ programme, as it was popularly called. o This expensive programme aimed to use new space-based technologies to detect and destroy any potential nuclear attacks on the USA via intercontinental missiles. o The Soviet Union did not have the financial or scientific resources to match the USA in this spaced-based military technology.  ‘Able Archer 83’ o Tensions between the Soviet Union and the USA intensified when NATO, led by the USA, placed more than 100 mobile Pershing II Nuclear Missiles in West Germany. These mobile missiles were aimed at targets in the western parts of the Soviet Union. o In November 1983, the USA and its NATO allies held a joint 10-day military exercise codenamed ‘Able Archer 83’. o The exercise was so realistic that the Soviet Union was convinced that it was disguised as an actual nuclear ‘first str