Question 10

Why did the Cold War in Europe come to an end?

1979-1986 a new Cold War developing
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan convinced the US that the Soviet Union hadn’t changed after 30 years and was still trying to impose itself on other states
Soviets felt threatened by US deployment of new weapons such as cruise missiles in Europe
Third World conflicts also affected East-West relations especially in the Middle East and Latin America
Another factor was the emergence of new leaders in both countries
Brezhnev died 1982 and was followed by Andropov and Chernenko in quick succession
Both of them were old and unwell
Their unexpected deaths took place quickly causing instability in both the USSR and in relations with the US
The 1980 election in the US brought in a new President and with him, a great impact on the Cold War

Ronald Reagan

Carter’s Foreign Policy had been weak and indecisive
The Republican Reagan brought in an aggressive, patriotic Foreign Policy
Believed the US should support its friends even if they were dictators
US should oppose its enemies and use force if needed
Called the USSR ‘the evil empire’
Said all the troubles in the world could be traced back to the Soviets who were bent on world domination
How much he really believed that they were an ‘evil empire’ is debatable
Reagan’s supporters say he knew the USSR was getting weak internally, its economy was in poor condition and the war in Afghanistan was putting a strain on it and on Soviet society
Thus if the US put them under further pressure, they could be forced to negotiate over arms and begin reform of the USSR
Others feel that Reagan did believe the USSR was behind most of the world’s troubles
He was a fervent capitalist who detested the communist system
They had been increasing their influence in Africa and Latin America, so he was convinced they were trying to take over the world
Whatever the truth, Reagan pursued an uncompromising Cold War policy

Arms Reduction

The USA under Reagan embarked on the biggest arms build-up in its history
1980s, $550 billion a year was being spent on conventional and nuclear weapons
New systems were being developed e.g. the Stealth Bomber and the neutron bomb (called the capitalist bomb by the Soviets because it would kill people but not property)
1983 cruise missiles were sent to bases in Europe
This made these areas targets
It led to protests including the 7 year protest at Greenham Common in England
Reagan was also willing to talk about arms control
He knew that the US had to negotiate from a position of strength or it would be seen as weak and would be vulnerable to attack

1982 Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START)

Began in Geneva but failed to reach agreement
Basic problem – the two sides didn’t trust each other
During the talks, the Soviets clamped down on ‘Solidarity’, a democratic trade union movement in Poland
In 1983 Soviets shot down a Korean passenger plane killing 269 people
Reagan saw it as typical communist aggression
Soviets distrusted the Americans because during the talks they refused to include NATO in arms reduction – they seemed to want more than they were willing to give up

Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI)

1983 Reagan announced SDI, nicknamed ‘star wars’
Its job was to be a defence shield to destroy missiles fired at the USA while they were still in space
Although some scientists thought it wouldn’t work, if it did work, Soviet missiles would be useless while the USSR would still be open to attack
To them, it appeared that the USA was talking peace but this wasn’t reflected in their actions

How Gorbachev affected the Cold War

1985, Gorbachev became the new Soviet leader
Launched new programme of reform in USSR
US feared these would strengthen USSR and improve its position in the Cold War
Prime Minister Thatcher said she could ‘do business’ with Gorbachev but early meetings between Reagan and Gorbachev didn’t go well
Meetings in Geneva (1985) and Reykjavik (1986) produced no real agreement on arms
They discussed the types of weapons to be limited and whether current agreements were being kept
Real bone of contention was SDI
1987 signed Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty
This was a major achievement because for the first time there were to be reductions in weapons
Intermediate-range weapons were to be dismantled and there were to be inspections to ensure that both sides were keeping to the deal
1988 the first weapons were dismantled

Why was there an improvement?

Some credit Reagan’s military expansion with forcing USSR into a position where it couldn’t afford to keep up with the US
The build up also worried America’s allies and the public about the number of nuclear weapons in existence
The concern about nuclear proliferation increased in 1986 with the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in the Ukraine which polluted land and atmosphere as far away as Wales
An important factor was the relationship between Reagan and Gorbachev which had become very productive
Reagan saw that Gorbachev really wanted a better relationship with the West and so he altered his stance on the ‘evil empire’ to more compromising
Relations improved further when Reagan visited Moscow in 1988
However the INF treaty only cut out one class of missile –there were still thousands in existence – but it was a start

Why did communism collapse in Eastern Europe?

The roots of this lay in Soviet and Russian history, but the Cold War played an important part
The American policy of containment over the previous 49 years meant that the USSR had to spend huge sums on arms – thus this money was not available to improve the living conditions of the people
Reagan’s huge increase in arms spending meant that this got worse
To carry out his reforms Gorbachev had to reduce the Soviet military
This encouraged the satellite states to reform too without fear that the Red Army would intervene this time
Change began to happen rapidly from 1989
The border between Austria and Hungary was opened allowing people to travel from East Germany to the West through Hungary and Austria
Because this movement became a flood, Gorbachev advised East Germany to open the Berlin Wall so that they could travel directly to the West
9^th November 1989 the Wall was opened – the end of the Cold War had started

The American response

The new President George Bush was slow to react especially when the Warsaw Pact collapsed at the end of 1989
Bush was intelligent and well-travelled and he saw that the change in Eastern Europe was so rapid that it would be best for the US to move slowly and avoid serious errors
The USSR still had its nuclear weapons and one of the most powerful armies in the world
During 1989 there were meetings between Secretary of State James Baker and Russian Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze
They talked about the ongoing changes in the Soviet Union and the East, and discussed beginning the START talks again
This time the Soviets said they would accept US development of SDI, thus removing a major obstacle to an agreement
June 1990 Bush and Gorbachev met in Washington
Cuts were agreed in chemical weapons and long-range nuclear weapons
This was made formal in July in START 1
Both countries were limited to 1,600 nuclear delivery vehicles (bombers and submarines etc) and 6,000 nuclear devices
This was a reduction in weapons and allowed for verification
There were to be greater contacts between the two powers and increased trade

Europe

Spring 1990, the Baltic states of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania declared independence from Moscow, followed by the Ukraine
In Romania, East Germany and elsewhere in the Eastern Bloc dictators were being pressured into resigning and were being replaced by democratic governments
Gorbachev became a victim as he was too closely identified with the old regime

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