The End of the Cold War - Part I

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The End of the Cold War - Part I
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Opposition to Communist Rule

• Direction of life
• Restrictions of freedom
• Restrictions on creativity
• Shortages
• Lack of luxury goods
• Concentration on armaments
• Poor housing
• Contrast with living conditions in the West
  West was getting better East was getting worse
• Increased communication made it easier to find
  out how the West was living

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Khrushchev to Brezhnev

• Khrushchev believed in separate roads to
  socialism
• Brezhnev believed that any state in which
  communism was threatened, the USSR had the right
  and duty to intervene
• This led to violent intervention in
  Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Afghanistan

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Hungary

• In 1956, Khrushchev denounced Stalin in his
  secret speech
• Later that year, a bad harvest and fuel shortages
  led to demands and protests
• Hungarians wanted personal freedoms, food, the
  removal of secret police, and removal of Russian
  control
• To solve the problem, Imre Nagy was appointed
  prime minister and Janos Kadar foreign minister

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Hungary

• On October 31st, 1956, Nagy broadcast that
  Hungary would withdraw itself from the Warsaw
  Pact
• This was pushing the Russians too far and Kadar
  left the government in disgust and established a
  rival government in eastern Hungary which was
  supported by Soviet tanks
• On November 4th, Soviet tanks went into Budapest
  to restore order and they acted with immense
  brutality even killing wounded people
• Tanks dragged round bodies through the streets of
  Budapest as a warning to others who were still
  protesting

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Hungary

• Hundreds of tanks went into Budapest and probably
  30,000 people were killed
• To flee the expected Soviet reprisals, probably
  200,000 fled to the west leaving all they
  possessed in Hungary
• Nagy was tried, executed, and buried in an
  unmarked grave
• By November 14th, order had been restored. Kadar
  was put in charge. Soviet rule was re-established

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Czechoslovakia

• Alexander Dubcek, Communist Party chairman in
  1968, attempted to create a socialist system
  based on the consent of the people
• He was committed to reform, debate, and relaxing
  censorship (Prague Spring)
• When censorship was relaxed, bitter criticism of
  the USSR and of the hard-line policies of the
  Czech Communist Party were unleashed
• This began to worry Brezhnev and other leaders of
  the Warsaw Pact countries

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Czechoslovakia

• Brezhnev feared that
• Communist Party control in the country was being
  endangered
• Dubceks policies were undermining the USSRs
  leadership of world communism
• The reforms would cause the Czech Communist Party
  to lose control and the result would be open
  rebellion, like in Hungary
• The Warsaw Pact countries invaded Czechoslovakia
  in Aug. 1968

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Czechoslovakia

• Dubcek and several other Czech leaders were
  arrested. Little resistance was put up and only
  100 were killed
• After agreeing to end political reform, Dubcek
  was allowed to return to Czechoslovakia until he
  was replaced by a less reform-minded politician
• The U.S. condemned the invasion, but took no
  action because they were bogged down in Vietnam

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Importance of Developments in Czechoslovakia

• Sino-Soviet tensions escalated rapidly, prompting
  rapprochement between the Chinese and the U.S.
• The Soviets then sought better relations with the
  West (détente)
• As a result of the Sino-Soviet tension, the U.S.
  drove a wedge between the two countries
• This split weakened communist movements around
  the world

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Importance of Developments in Czechoslovakia

• Led to the issuing of the Brezhnev Doctrine for
  justification of force
• Successful Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia
  led to the invasion of Afghanistan
• The invasion of Afghanistan eventually led to a
  quagmire and a strain in the USSRs economy that
  contributed to their collapse

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Poland

• The Solidarity movement began because of the
  repressive conditions in Poland and high food
  prices
• The original Solidarity was formed by the
  delegates of 36 regional trade unions, and it
  grew from there. By early 1981 it had over 10
  million members, most every worker in Poland
• They implemented a series of controlled strikes
  in 1981 as it requested additional freedoms, such
  as free elections and economic reforms

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Poland

• Poland was an important ally to the Soviets
  because of its central location it was the home
  of the USSRs communications equipment between
  the Soviets and their satellite countries
• The Soviets mobilized along the Polish border, so
  the Poles imposed martial law on December 13,
  1981
• Solidarity was declared illegal and its leaders
  were arrested. The union was dissolved by
  Parliament on October 8, 1982
• The movement went underground and rose again when
  Gorbachev took power
• They would eventually win elections that would
  oust the communists out of power in 1989

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Mikhail Gorbachev

• Was the new, charismatic leader of the Soviet
  Union in 1985
• He was personable, energetic, imaginative, and
  committed to radical reforms in the Soviet Union
• The problems he faced were
• A stagnated economy resulting from the Cold War
  arms race
• An bureaucracy stuck in their ways
• A population that did not trust their leaders
• Rising discontent in satellite states

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Reformers

• The two groups that wanted reform were
• Neo-Stalinists who wished to bring Stalins
  system back
• Pro-western liberal democrats who wished to
  replace the existing system with something else
• Of the two, the neo-Stalinists were the more
  powerful group

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Gorbachev Builds Power

• During 1985 to 1986, Gorbachev built his power
  base
• Influential Brezhnevites retired
• New figures from the provinces were introduced
  into leadership (i.e. Boris Yeltsin)

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Gorbachevs First Actions

• In an effort to address the social problems
  facing his country, such as poor housing and
  health care, Gorbachevs first actions was to
  shut down production and sale of vodka
• He launched an anti-corruption campaign in 1986
• He removed the Soviet troops from Afghanistan

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Gorbachevs Main Policies

• He announced two policies
• Glasnost
• Means openness
• Aimed to introduce free speech and some other
  liberties
• Perestroika
• Means restructuring
• Was intended to revive the Soviet economy by
  adopting many of the free-market practices of the
  capitalist West

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Glasnost

• A liberal press was allowed to grow and flourish
• Books previously banned began to appear
• The work of Lenin was questioned
• The government was more open and honest (i.e.
  Chernobyl nuclear disaster)
• Political prisoners were released from exile

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Glasnost

• There were open political discussions (i.e.
  Democratic Union organized mass street
  demonstrations)
• Religious freedom was given
• Free elections were held
• All enterprises were allowed to establish trade
  relations with foreign partners (i.e. PepsiCo)

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Perestroika

• People could be motivated by profit
• There was private ownership in agriculture
• Private enterprises were allowed (i.e. retail
  kiosks and small restaurants)
• Owners could pay their own workers and seek their
  own resources
• Farmers and individuals could now lease land and
  housing from the government

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The End of East-West Confrontation

• Both policies required that the Soviet Union
  shrink the size of its military operations and
  redirect its energies to the economy. So that
  meant they needed to end the Cold War
• Within 6 months, both Gorbachev and Reagan
  announced a 6-month freeze on the deployment of
  missiles in Europe

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The End of East-West Confrontation

• Geneva Summit (1985)
• Called for the abolition of all nuclear weapons
• Called for the abolition of all bases on foreign
  soil
• Reykjavik Summit (1986)
• Reagan proposed the zero option elimination
  of all INF and strategic missiles
• However, Gorbachev insisted that SDI be included,
  but Reagan refused

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The End of East-West Confrontation

• Summit (1987)
• Both signed the INF treaty, banning all
  intermediate-range nuclear missiles from Europe
• Summit (1988)
• Reagan praised Gorbachev
• The Soviet army was reduced to ½ million men
• USSR would have a defensive posture
• Withdrew 10,000 tanks in Eastern Europe