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The end of the Cold War- 1970-91 (Détente and the SALTs and the Helsinki…

- - - - He had three main policies:
      - Perestroika this was the restructuring of the soviet economy to include elements of capitalism. Other leaders were worried that people wouldn't choose communism and they would lose their position of power. Other leaders hated it because it was a much more relaxed form of communism which no longer stayed true to the ethos of real communism.
      - Glasnost This referred to an openness between Moscow and the Soviet Union and the Satellite states. He allowed for more freedom of speech and more openness and less corruption in government. This was done in the hope that people would have a better understanding and appreciation of how the country was run. Gorbachev loved communism and wanted people to choose and want communism out of choice.
      - He abandoned the Brezhnev Doctrine which became known as the Sinatra Doctrine. He believed openness would make all Eastern bloc countries better and this had to occur because the SU wanted to increase trade relations with the US and they would only agree if the repression was reduced. Also the cost of the military hardware and troops was crippling to the soviet economy and they could no longer afford to maintain the Warsaw Pact.
      - The reforms begin in Poland with Solidarity and slowly, all the countries in the sphere of influence turn their backs on communism which impacted the soviet economy badly.
      - In December 1988, Gorbachev announced that ideology should play a smaller role in foreign affairs and this meant that Soviet troops would no longer intervene in Eastern Europe to support communism. Gorbachev's announcement weakened the communist governments in Eastern Europe =, this resulted in many revolutions between 89-90 and between all of these, only the Romanian one was violent. In all of the old Eastern bloc countries, non-communist governments now came to power.
      - When Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia had revolutions, it signaled the end of the Soviet Union as they were Soviet states. Moscow called this move illegal but the later collapse meant it wouldn't have really mattered.