The Fall of Communism

Containment (Yes, again)

Was the basis of American foreign policy from 1945 to 1991 as an attempt to restrict communism t only those nations where it already existed

Presidents – Truman (D) Begins Containment policy

Harry Truman (D) Eisenhower (R)

Korea

Eisenhower (R)Kennedy (D)Johnson (D)Nixon (R)Gerald Ford (R)

Vietnam

Ford (R)Carter (D)Ronald Reagan (R)George Bush (R)

Smaller conflicts and invasions

Collapse of Communism – 1980s-1990s

Soviet Union will dissolve as a NationCold War would endStrong Military key to America’s victoryResult of the service of the American military,

US and American ideas prevailed

Collapse of the USSRBoth internal and external pressures in the 1980s caused the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. 1981 = Ronald Reagan, a Republican, became US PresidentDuring his first term, President Reagan tried to American power throughout the world. Reagan challenged the moral legitimacy of the Soviet Union by publicly calling the Soviet Union “an evil empire.” Reagan launched a massive military buildupPlaced new nuclear missiles in Western EuropeCaused Soviet union to increase military spending and TENSION

Collapse of the USSRThe need to increase military spending was a serious problem for the Soviet Union, because the state-controlled Soviet economy suffered from gross (extreme) inefficiency after nearly seventy years of communist rule.

Mikhail Gorbachev• Becomes leader of the Soviet Union in

1985• immediately adopted new policies in

an attempt to revive the Soviet economy and reform the Soviet system.

• First effort was to introduce glasnost (Russian word for “openness”) to Soviet life.

• allowed open criticism of the Soviet government and even took some steps toward freedom of expression.

PerestroikaPerestroika introduced by Gorbachev 19871)less government control of the economy2)the introduction of some private enterprise3)steps toward establishing democracy.

While economic restructuring lay at the heart of perestroika, Gorbachev even said the Soviet people needed “to teach and to learn democracy.”

Internal pressures

• Gorbachev’s new policies raised high expectations among millions of well-educated Russians for both immediate improvement in their standard of living and increased freedom in Soviet society.

• The fast-paced reforms, which occurred as the Soviet Union moved quickly toward a market economy, placed even greater internal pressure on the communist system.

• In addition, the Gorbachev government faced rising nationalism within the Soviet republics (equal to American states), which made up the Soviet Union.

External PressuresExternal pressures on the Soviet government came from its eastern European communist satellites, which were also experiencing a rising feeling of nationalism. A satellite is a nation that is formally independent but dominated by another power. As the Cold War developed after World War II, most of the nations of Eastern Europe became satellites of the Soviet Union. These Russian satellites included Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania.

Solidarity• The Solidarity labor movement created great

unrest in Poland during the 1980s.

East GermanyBy the late eighties, East Germany citizens held

mass protests to show their desire for new leadership. President Ronald Reagan added to the external pressures on the Soviet Union by traveling to the Berlin Wall and saying, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”

Berlin WallThe Berlin Wall - divided communist East Berlin from democratic West BerlinBest-known symbol of the Cold War. East German government had built the Berlin Wall in 1961 as a means to keep East German citizens from escaping to the West. But by late 1989 East German government was so unstable that East German citizens began to tear down whole sections of the Berlin Wall without interference by government officials. In late 1990 Germany was formally reunified under the democratic leadership of West Germany. Communist governments quickly fell from power in the Soviet Union’s other Eastern European satellites.

Deconstructing the Berlin Wall

Collapse of the Soviet UnionIn 1991 the Soviet Union fell apart. As the Gorbachev government introduced democratic reforms, the republics began to push for additional change. The three Baltic republics – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania – even declared their independence from the Soviet Union, and other republics soon followed their example. By year’s end, Gorbachev agreed to dismantle (take apart) the entire Communist system, including the 15-million member Communist PartyOn Christmas Day 1991, Gorbachev resigned and declared the Soviet Union had ended. The Cold War was over!

Cold War in 9 Minutes

• Add to this• Suez canal• Eisehnower Doctrine• Iron Curtain