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Section 6: 1985-1991, Gorbachev and the ending of the Cold War, The…
Section 6: 1985-1991
The ending of Cold War Tensions
The end of Cold was tensions in Asia: Afghanistan
The ending of Cold War tensions in the Americas: Nicaragua, El Salvador and Cuba
The end of Cold War tensions in Africa
The end of the Cold War
The collapse of the USSR and the resignation of Gorbachev
The summits between the US and the USSR
The Summits between US and USSR
Geneva, November 1985
Goal of cutting offensive nuclear weapons by 50%
Plans for a provisional agreement on limiting + eliminating medium-range nuclear missiles
Collaboration to end nuclear proliferation to other countries, maintain rational control over these weapons as well as discussions on the ban of chemical weapons
Gorb removed ideological split between East and West - period between March and December 1985 = extremely important new policy approaches - core of new thinking
SDI = constant source of tension + 2 agreed to meet in Washington and Moscow - not enough so
Iceland October 1986
Reagan + Gorb wanted to look like success - no concrete outcomes joint statements states importance of preventing war between USA and USSR
3,000 reporters so well anticipated
Reykjavik, October 1986
Purpose = put Soviet-US relations back on track
Reagan in favour of eliminating nuclear weapons - Gorb wouldn't discuss unless Reagan abandoned SDI
Discussed Human rights - no concrete agreement
Lack of conrete arms limitations agreements
No clear result
Year after INF Treaty signed
Faliures regarding arms reduction talks
Summit more productive as became clear both sides wanted arms reduction + limits to what they said they would abandon
Washington, December 1987
Focussed specifically on INF treaty
Proposed to end use of all intermediate ballistic + cruise missiles - destroyed by
June 1991
INF treaty signed - 1st time USA + USSR both agreed to remove nukes
By 1991 USA = 846 destroyed USSR = 1846
Gorb withdrew from Afghanistan by
May 1989
all soviet troops withdrawn
Summit viewed as succes + confimed Cold war = ending
Although SDI still problematic Gorb made no demands that the treaty was to be conditional on the USA withdrawing from SDI
The Moscow Summit May-June 1988
Intended to focus on START to limit nuclear weapons to 5,000 on each side
Focus changed to cultural exchanges + human rights
7 Cultural + human rights agreements signed
Reagan's interactions with citizens increased Gorbs popularity
SDI was still provocative by Gorb
Lengthy and difficult negotiations about inspections + verification of weapons being put out of use
Reagan and the 'Star Wars'
Arms race accelerated..
Reagan was surrounded by NUTs - people who believed the US could survive nuclear conflict
CIA officials led by Bush came up with a report that the Soviets were achieving military superiority + preparing to fight a nuclear war
USSR was portrayed as threatening + officials claimed they were hiding new weapon systems
Increased arms
1982 increased 13% and 8% in following 2 years
George H W Bush and the US response to 1991
Reagan was replaced by George Bush in
January 1989
SDI caused escalation in soviet arms production during 80s
By July 1991 the USA and USSR had to renegotiate the numbers of weapons to be destroyed
Bush's advisers sceptical about soviet arms - Gorb succeeded by 'old style' soviet leader / Gorb wanted to rebuild the USSR to make it more powerful
Bush saw Gorb as crucial for positive relations - determined not to undermine Gorb's position + didn't think they were planning renewed cold war - committed to encouraging the emergence of stable, amicable USSR
Visits to Poland + Hungary in July 1989 were intended to support the shift to democracy but not at the expense of Gorbs leadership
Signed START in 1991 - intended to come into force 1994
Gorbachev and the ending of the Cold War
Pressures on significance of Gorbachev as a Soviet Leader
He inherited an economic crisis and a stagnant system of government that was failing to deliver progressibe improvements relative to the West
Gorbs 2 main aims were to
Reduce tensions of the 'Second Cold War'
Reform the communist system in order to save it from collapse
Crop failures and food shortages
Brezhnev's attempts at agricultural reform had been blocked by hard line communists
Poor grain harvests in 1972 and 1975 led to food shortages
The gov had to purchase grain from abroad at the expense of devoting funding to the production of consumer goods
Military expenditure
25% GNP spent on soviet military yearly between 1964-1982
Need to spend even more to match SDI
Burdened by Afghanistan
Continued lack of consumer goods
During the 70s the availability of consumer goods remained limited despite emphasis in 5 year plans
Black market was flourishing
Worker discontent
Wages weren't in line with inflation - unrest + strikes
Stagnating living standards led to decline in morale + productivity
Poor air + water quality - lack of environmental standards
Alcoholism national problem - caused absence + decreased productivity
Public dissent
Criticism grew - people realised there wouldn't be a return to the Stalinist scale of terror
Pressure groups were increasingly vocal
Minority groups were anxious to obtain greater independence
Lack of foreign investment
USSR was closed to foreign investment - stifled growth + business innovation
Afghanistan cost $8 billion per year
'New Thinking' and its practicalities
The 1st major reform targeted alcohol - targeted individual productivity and absenteeism and the social problems of alcohol
Prices raised on wine, beer and vodka - arrests for public drunkenness + intoxicated at work
Perestroika
Restructuring the economy
, including allowing a measure of private enterprise to increase efficiency and production
Gorb wanted to
amend
the existing economic and production systems rather than change them
Planning was
decentralised
and self-management was allowed without the loss of state ownership of factories etc
Aimed to
end state price controls
These approaches allowed Gorb to address the economy but this also
changed foreign policy
It enabled him to open the USSR to
foreign investment
Businesses would be forced to function as profit-making organisations
like in the west
Members of the established part elite were resistant to change - gerontocracy etc
Intellectuals, scientists, technologists and various specialists increased and began to show impatience with the old ways
Phase 1 1985-1986: Period of acceleration
Believed the problems could be addressed without radical change but making the existing system better
He believed the income was growing at 3% per year - far from 1/3 of that
Several economists argued the plan needed to be amended or scrapped
November 1986 Law on individual labour activity
- allowed private enterprise in the service sector
April 1985
discussing problem of alcoholism
May
closed down distilleries
Renewed campaign against corruption - leading ministers arrested
December 1986
Law on joint enterprises with foreign companies agreed
Results
Economic growth decined
USSR reliant on grain imports and foreign loans
Soviet budget increased from 3% 1985 to 14% 1989
No restructuring of the economy - public dissatisfaction + ruined Gorbs credibility as a reformer
Phase 2 1987-88: Radical reform from above
Calls for more discipline _ crackdown on corruption weren't enough
No unanimity on how to proceed
Gorb took need for more popular participation + accountability - some social reform required - Reducing power of the party + union ministers
1987
- Law on joint ventures - allowed foreign ownership of no more than 49% businesses
January 1988
- Law on state enterprises
May 1988
- Low on cooperatives
Economic result = disappointing - rationing at end of 88 - even coupons didn't ensure goods
1990 Poverty = rising
Phase 3 1989 -1991: The period of attempted market-based reform and reaction
Economic activity = seriously affected by political, economic and social system
Central planning authorities still in place but increasingly ignored as Republics took measures for their own survival as nationalist tensions grew
Growing economic collapse led to major disturbances beginning with a major coal miners strike in
Summer 1989, 1990 and 1991
Other important groups like railway workers also struck
Phase 4 1990-91: The period of indecision, crisis and the break up of the USSR
By summer 1990 clear there was a major crisis in the economy
Most reformers accepted a move to full market-based economy = only way to avoid catastrophe
January 1991 Russian supreme soviet implemented law permitting private property ownership
This ended the planned economy - the remaining economic base of the USSR was being destroyed
Glasnost
Openness
, encouraging people to put forward
new ideas
1986 challenges and the need for reform became clear with the Chernobyl disaster
April 1986
initially Chernobyl was suppressed according to soviet censorship - Ukraine forced the soviets to make it public
Sakharov travelled throughout the USSR + presented information on the repression of Soviets and conditions of prison camps
These led to criticisms of government actions
The official recognition and acceptance came in 1988 when Gorb announced glasnost
This translated as openness leading to a re-examination of Soviet history and an open debate on past government actions e.g forced collectivisation and party purges
The importance of Soviet economic problems
:check: 1988 Comecon + European economic community came to agreement - diplomatic recognition, allowing bilateral negotiations regarding trade + exchanges. It paved the way for trade agreements implemented between 1988-91
:check: 61 joint venture agreements were made with western companies by 1988 - bringing capital + technological developments
:check: Corruption in state bureaucracy was cut
:check: Collectivisation ended - state still owned land but farmers paid lease - acted as incentive + provided basis for agricultural improvement
:red_cross: Consumer prices increased with end to price controls
:red_cross: By 1988 budget deficit = 12% GNP
:red_cross: Industrial production declines
:red_cross: Agricultural output full 13% between 1985-90
:red_cross: Labour productivity fell by 9% between 1985-90
:red_cross: Exports down 18% - imports down 45%
:red_cross: Alcohol policies cost the gov almost 100 billion roubles in lost taxes
The collapse of communism in Eastern European satellite states
The collapse of communism in Eastern European Soviet satellite states
Poland
Solidarity had been officially
suppressed in 1981
and by 1986 the polish PM Wojciech Jaruzelski believed it was no longer a threat. He agreed to a general amnesty for all political prisoners, an end to marital law, and the legalisation of solidarity
-
February 1988
- economic downturn led to the gov raising food prices. This caused strikes + demands for change. The dissent remained peaceful and following Gorbs policy of Glasnost the Polish Gove tried to appease dissent rather than supress like 1981
February 1989
the gov agreed to hold talks with solidarity leaders leading to 3 major reforms
Legalisation of Non-Gov trade unions
Creation of president position
Formation of bicameral legislature
June 1989
- elections solidarity won 92% senate seats + 160/161 parliament sears
7th August
- Lech Walsea demaded new gov led by solidarity - within fortnight this was formed
By the end of 1989 Poland = multiparty state with coalition demanded by solidarity
Hungary
1980s sufering economic downturn
Nemeth folowed economic reforms with policial ones
Gov adpoted basic freedoms, civil rights + electoral reform
Constitutional chnages permitted non-communist parties
April 1989
USSR agreed withdraw all military forced by 1991
June 1989
gov agreed free elections should take place 1990 - based on belief Communist party had support win
1990 elections peacefully moved Hungary from communism to democracy
Czechoslovakia
January 1989
- leaders of a demonstration in Prague arrested + jailes. They did nothing to supress the dissent - further protests
July
- limited economic reforms announced by goc - didn't do enough to appease public
21st August
mass demosntration in Prague
17th Novemeber
- police violence agaisnt protestors prompted popular outcry agaisnt police + gov
19th November
- Civic forum formed + rejected communists idea of a coalition gov
The communsit leadership resigned + Civic Forum agreed to join cabinet - majority members = non-communsit
28th December
- elections held + Havel elected president
East Germany and the Berlin Wall
2nd May 1989
- Hungary removed barbed wire border with Austria
By September 60,000 EG sought asylum in Hungary. Overcrowing in Budapest from refugees led Hungary to grant permission for the EG to leave via Austria for West Germany. 22,000 EG refugees immediately crossed
Mounting international preassure forced EG to allow citizens to travel to WG as long as they returned
October 1989
- widespread protests agaisnt Honecker - forced to resign + replaced by Egon Krenz
18 October
- endorced Gorbs ideas of Perestroika, Glasnost + end of Brezhnev doctrine
5th November
- Krenz proposed more relaxed travel laws - criticised as being too limited + didn't calm the public - entire Politburo resigned
9th November
- televised conference announced EG had free transit to West Germany + Berlin. Thousands flooded to Checkpoint charlie + EG police opened the border
Krenz hoped this reform would bolster stability + popularity but led to its collapse
3rd December
- Krenz resigned + provisional coalition gov took over to plan for the reunification of East and West Germany
2nd October 1990
- EG incorporated into FRG
Bulgaria
Organised resistance to Zhivkov began in 1988 with the creation of organisations that advocated for reforms centred around environmentalism, rights for the Orthodox church + Turks. The convergence of these groups proved to be stronger than a gov centred on the personality of Zhivkov
November 1989
- Zhivkov removed by the party and replaced by Mladenov - not enough for the population -demanded democracy
April 1990
- Communist party dissolved + reconstituted as the Bulgarian Socialist party
June 1990
- Free elections held + SDP won
Romania
Serious opposition began in
November 1987
when workers stormed the Communist Party headquarters and destroyed records
16th December 1989
- demonstrations in Timisoara + military crackdown
21st December
anti-gov demosntrations began + spread rapidly, turning into a rebellion that included miltary members
25th Decmeber
- Nicolae + Elena Ceausescu were captured while tryig to flee - executed by fire squad
May 1990
- free elections held - National Salvation Front led by Ion Iliescu won landslide victory
End of the Brezhnev Doctrine
One of Gorbs FP aims was to relax the Soviet control over the sattelite states of Eastern and Central Europe. These states were to be allowed to establish socialism in ways that best suited their individual circumstances (the USSR also hoped to spend much less to subsidise these regimes)
A key conponent of this shift was Gorbs decision to roll back on the Brezhnev doctrine. He officially renounced the use of force against soviet bloc countires in
July 1989
in a speech to the council of europe. Gorb was committed to the idea that communism could inky survive if people were willing to accept it rather than be forced to live under it
Once the BD was ended and the communist regimes in Eastern and Central Europe had collapsed, the withdrawal of Soviet troops back to the USSR began and was completed by 1990
By the end of 1989 Albania was the only Eastern European country that was still communist
Significance of events of 1989
Gorbs decision not to use force agaisnt the populations of the Warsaw pact encouraged popular independence movements + largely peaceful change of governements in EE, beginning with Poland in June
Single party states were replaced by governemnts that were more representative of the will of their populations. Capitalism replaced planned economies, and free markets emerged
These revolutions are often portrayed as anti-communsit but they were also revolutions against elitist + corrupt regimes fueled by economic problems
1989 marked the beginning of the end of the cold war. With 6 of its European satellites now gone, the citizens of the USSR began to question Communist Party doctrines despite Gorbachev's reforms