6 Collapse of European Communism Today s Objective - To understand how the actions of Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev led to the collapse of the Soviet Union and communist system in Europe
By 1982, renewed fears of communist aggression, and the need to stimulate a depressed American economy led Ronald Reagan to describe the USSR as an evil empire, and order the largest military build-up in US history The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) or Star Wars threatened to destroy the fragile nuclear balance of power by making M.A.D. and deterrence meaningless By 1985, Reagan had committed American financial and military resources to numerous hot conflicts of the Cold War all in an attempt to reassert commitment to containment During the mid-1980s, in an attempt to keep pace with the US, Soviet spending had crippled the nation
Recognizing that the arms race was bankrupting his country, Mikhail Gorbachev began to restructure the Soviet economy shifting resources from the military to consumer production - Perestroika To encourage discussion of ways to revitalize the USSR, a policy of openness and limited free-speech was introduced - Glasnost Like Khrushchev s reforms of the 1950s, Gorbachev s liberalization unleashed unanticipated forces as Eastern European opponents of communism and Soviet domination found their voice again initiating a series of revolutionary protests seeking reform of the communist system which ultimately led to its collapse
In 1989, Gorbachev s reforms suggested to the Eastern satellites that he intended to loosen Soviet control over the communist bloc Gorbachev declared self-determination, no USSR intervention hoping they would choose a liberal version of socialism (Sinatra Doctrine) Starting in Hungary, opposition forces overthrew their communist gov t peacefully spread to Poland (Solidarity & John Paul II), Czechoslovakia (Velvet Revolution), and Bulgaria Romania was the only nation to overthrow its communist regime violently 1994: Internal differences in Czechoslovakia led to the Velvet Divorce - The Czech Republic and Slovakia
In the Summer of 1989, the flight of thousands of East Germans to the West via Czechoslovakia Hungary Austria West Germany forces the East German gov t to place restrictions on all foreign travel In the fall of 1989, protests lead to the resignation of the East German premier continued pressure from the people forces the gov t to open the Berlin Wall Within a year (3 Oct 1990), the two Germanys will be reunited as one nation-state, within the NATO alliance
By 1991, without the support of its former allies, the Soviet economy was in a state of rapid decline Gorbachev was confronted by challenges from four major political forces within the USSR: - Conservative hardliners wanting to preserve the influence of CPSU and the Red Army - Liberals wanting to expand Perestroika and Glasnost - Nationalists seeking independence for the union s republics - Radicals seeking a market economy and democratic gov t
25 Dec 1991, four months after a failed coup by hard-line communists, Gorbachev resigns as President of the USSR as the Soviet Union broke apart into fifteen independent republics - The Cold War was over In early 1992, Boris Yeltsin would become the first democratically elected national leader in Russian history
ESSENTIAL QUESTION How did the actions of Reagan and Gorbachev contribute to the collapse of the communist system in Europe? TARGET QUESTIONS Explain the significance of the SDI Gorbachev s regime was similar to which former leader of the USSR? What was the Sinatra Doctrine? Describe the collapse of the Berlin Wall What four political forces did Gorbachev face in the USSR? 1992, what happens in the USSR?