[TMJC] Theme I End of Cold War

International History 8838 Theme I: The Changing International Order: The End of the Cold War TMJC/ History Unit/ Updated 28 February 2024 1 Theme I: The Development of the Cold War, 1945 – 2000 (8838) End of the Cold War Learning Outcome Evaluate the causes of the end of the Cold War CONTENT • US policy of renewed containment and confrontation o US role in arms control negotiations o Strategic Defense Initiative Programme o Reagan Doctrine • Decline of USSR and shifts in Soviet foreign policy: o Economic problems o Gorbachev ‘New Thinking’, o Sinatra Doctrine • Eastern European movements & revolutions in the 1980s: o Poland and East Germany • Historical interpretations of the end of the Cold War: o Western Triumphalist o Soviet Initiative o ‘People Power’ debates

International History 8838 Theme I: The Changing International Order: The End of the Cold War TMJC/ History Unit/ Updated 28 February 2024 2 THE END OF THE COLD WAR – HISTORICAL DEBATES CONTENTS OUTLINE 1. Overview: When did the Cold War end? 2. Historical Debates - Why did the Cold War end? a. The Western Triumphalist - Centrist vs. Right Wing b. Soviet Initiative c. People Power 1. OVERVIEW – WHEN DID THE COLD WAR END? OVERVIEW  The Cold War, having dominated such a significant part of modern world history, is complicated whether we are studying its origins or ending.  Akin to the examination of reasons that led to the origins of the cold war, the end of the Cold War has a wide range of interpretations, each with its own validity.  The determination of when Cold War ended inevitably ties in with the take on why the Cold War ended. WHEN did the Cold War End?

International History 8838 Theme I: The Changing International Order: The End of the Cold War TMJC/ History Unit/ Updated 28 February 2024 3 WHY did the Cold War End? AGENTS FORCES CONTEXT Agent’s actions (shaped by memory of past experience, what’s happening at that moment) Historical context is the social, political, cultural, economic, and environmental situations that influence/shape the agents/s motivations, perception the events or trends we see happen during that time. Have the power to influence, affect or control. (eg loosening of censorship, political liberalisation)

International History 8838 Theme I: The Changing International Order: The End of the Cold War TMJC/ History Unit/ Updated 28 February 2024 4 2. SCHOOL OF THOUGHT – HISTORICAL DEBATES A. The “Western Triumphalist” Interpretation This interpretation emphasizes that the Soviet Union’s capitulation and the victory of the forces of freedom and democracy were due to the relentless application of the West’s military superiority and the dynamism of its economic system. These revealed communism’s moral illegitimacy and highlighted its economic stagnation. There are two strands to this interpretation: CENTRIST RIGHT-WING  Insists that it was the unbending determination and persistent strategy of military vigilance exerted over the long haul (starting with the Truman Doctrine and the policy of Containment which was carried on by subsequent presidents) that wore down the USSR, thwarting its expansion, straining its economy, and triggering the internal reforms of Gorbachev.  Central to this success was the policy of nuclear deterrence and the resoluteness of the West’s stand throughout the period of the Cold War. Peter Schweitzer – Concludes that the Reagan administration turned the tide of the Cold War, which had developed in the 1970s in favour of the Soviet Union, against Moscow, Reagan’s administration in its early years used all the means, short of actual warfare, to bring the Soviet Union down. Schweitzer argues that there were a number of secret policies between 1981 and 1987 – military, economic, political and psychological – that in his view, were responsible for the collapse of Soviet empire and ‘victory’ of the West.  Stresses that it was the ideological offensive and military build-up of the Reagan era that forced an intrinsically doomed system of central planning into bankruptcy and submission  Western superiority, especially in the field of weapons technology and productive capacity, paved the way for a peace “negotiated from strength”. o During the 1980s, the USSR was simply unable to match the West in military hardware and consumer goods.  Reagan built up US’s military power to attain clear superiority over the USSR through the huge military budgets of his first administration. o Crucial to this was SDI, which had a decisive impact on Soviet policy because it threatened a major technological arms race in which the USSR could not hope to compete. o Reagan abandoned SALT as a model of arms control and sabotaged the Geneva Talks of 1981 and 1983. A Western triumphalist B. Soviet Initiative C. People Power

International History 8838 Theme I: The Changing International Order: The End of the Cold War TMJC/ History Unit/ Updated 28 February 2024 5 o He also weakened the USSR by denying it access to western technology and economic support, opposing co-operation on the Soviet natural gas pipeline which was to bring gas from Siberia to Europe. o The “Reagan Doctrine” aimed not at just ‘containing’ communism, but ‘rolling it back’, by means of assistance to the Contras and the Afghan rebels. o Reagan’s ideological offensive, calling the USSR “the evil empire” and the “focus of all evil in the world” enabled the West to seize the moral high ground.  These initiatives of his first administration enabled Reagan to shed his ‘cold war cowboy’ image and to emerge as ‘Reagan the peacemaker’ in his second administration.  The initiatives by the Soviet government after 1985 could be a direct response to the first Reagan administration which forced the Soviet leadership to confront internal weaknesses and narrowed the options open to them. o Though there is no convincing evidence that the Soviet military budget ↑ as a result of US military spending, the perceived cost of continuing the military confrontation after 1985 forced a drastic re-evaluation of Soviet foreign and military policies. Alternative Perspective – There is actually another interpretation of the role of Reagan. This alternative interpretation argues that, if Reagan had any impact on the Cold War, it was entirely negative. Reaganism intensified the Cold War by exacerbating tensions. A proponent of this view would be the British scholar, Archie Brown, who argues that the Reagan administration slowed down changes by its obtuse policies and blind anti-communism. It was Gorbachev who deserves the credit.

International History 8838 Theme I: The Changing International Order: The End of the Cold War TMJC/ History Unit/ Updated 28 February 2024 6 B. The “Soviet Initiative” Interpretation This interpretation emphasizes the long term weaknesses of the USSR and the vision and determination of a new generation of Soviet leaders to do something about it, both by “restructuring” the economy and by pursuing a new foreign policy more in line with the constraints facing the country. ▪ This interpretation asserts that it was not the military strength of the West nor its ideological offensive which moved the Cold War to a rapid conclusion, for these factors had been present for more than 40 years. ▪ Far more important was the emergence of a new generation of Soviet leaders determined to do something about their country’s deteriorating productivity and economic position. It is important to note that this interpretation looks at two things i. Long term weaknesses of USSR State of Soviet Union by the 1970s/1980s