7 Collaspe of the USSR and the Warsaw Pact Flashcards
past leaders before Gorbachev
Brezhnev died 1982 -> Andropov + Chernenko -> could not stay in positions to solve SU problems -> 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev new General Security -> USSR change
internal problems facing Gorbachev
- serious inflation
- high cost of food subsidies
- decrease in industrial production
- inefficient central planning: corrupt and incompetent gov officials
- inefficient agriculture: not enough food grown
- shortage of goods
external problems facing Gorbachev
- High cost of the arms race
- high cost of maintaining control over satellites in Eastern EU
- war in Afghanistan too expensive-> no sign of victory in sight
Gorbachev leading period
1985-91
The change in ruling style (his comments on the cold war)
different from predecessors -> young well-educated energetic quick-witted -> visited the West before becoming Party Security
friendliness + willingness -> favourable impressions (especially among Americans -> president Reagan in 1985)
1. wanted to reform economy of SU -> could no longer afford to continue arms race + remain as enemy of West
Perestroika meaning
restricting the inefficient centrally-planned economy
1. central planning of economy stopped
2. farmers given larger private plots -> grow food + sell in private markets
3. some collective farmlands broken up
4. tenants given longer leases
5. industrial mangers:
1. more freedom to plan production + sell to local markets
2. set most of the prices + wages
5. corrupt + incompetent officials dismissed
glasnost meaning
openness
1. different opinions could be expressed openly -> people had more freedom of speech
2. dissidents like Sakharov were released (opposes official policy)
3. new constitution of 1988 allowed elections at local level + elections for president
4. the power of communist party reduced -> more power given to locally elected people’s parliament
Perestroika + Glasnost reason and why unpopular
determined to force SU to break form the past -> called for Perestroika + Glasnost
-» unpopular in:
1. conservative old communists -> disliked change
2. young radicals -> change was not taking place quickly enough
-» idea of glasnost led to growing demand for greater independence among communist states in eastern EU
Improvement of Soviet-American relations since 1985
- Geneva summit meeting 1985 -> Gorbachev + Reagan agree to work together to reduce their stocks of nuclear weapons
Gorbachev claim “world has become a safer place”
2.1988 -> SU + US signed Intermediate range nuclear forces treaty (INF) -> both agreed to destroy 2 categories of nuclear weapons
june 1988 -> treaty ratified by Moscow when Reagan visited SU - 1990 -> another treaty was signed to limit non-nuclear weapons
- research on “Star Wars” halted
- Soviet army withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989
summits -> relations between SU under Gorbachev + US under George WH Bush
Intermediate range nuclear forces (INF) treaty year and content
1988
SU + US signed Intermediate range nuclear forces treaty -> both agreed to destroy 2 categories of nuclear weapons
june -> treaty ratified by Moscow when Reagan visited SU
Geneva summit meeting year and content
1985
Gorbachev + Reagan agree to work together to reduce their stocks of nuclear weapons
Gorbachev claim “world has become a safer place”
when did soviet troops withdraw from Afghanistan
1989
What caused the collapse of the giant communist bloc from 1989 to 1990?
- inability to solve economic problems
- Gorbachev’s “liberal” attitude
- Development of the revolutions in Eastern EU
- Democracy movement in Poland
- The fall of communist governments in Eastern EU
order of communism rejection
Poland -> Hungary -> East Germany -> Czechoslovakia -> eventually all eastern Europe satellites left communist bloc -> collapse of Warsaw Pact (1955)
Communist bloc inability to solve economic problems
communism in Eastern EU did not produce the standard of living people expected
economic systems 1. inefficient
2. over-centralised
3. subject to many restrictions
mid 1980s -> economic problems everywhere
increased contact in west on 1980s -> how backward Eastern European countries were in contrast to Western countries -> people doubt
1. efficiency of communist system
2. leadership skills of leader
economic systems in the Eastern Europe were
- inefficient
- over-centralised
- subject to many restrictions
Gorbachev’s “liberal” attitude
“glasnost” idea contrasts Brezhnev’s “hard-line” policy
-> Soviet satellites in Eastern EU had to follow rules set by SU
-> failure to follow -> Soviet invasion (etc. Czechoslovakia in 1968, Hungary in 1956)
Gorbachev -> believed USSR would not afford the high cost of controlling the Eastern EU satellites
-> announced SU will no longer use military strength to support communist govs that were facing problems
-> believed people should be allowed to choose their own forms of government + go own way
-» people demanded all over eastern EU for
1. free elections
2. glasnost + perestroika in own countries
-» protest, strikes, chaos broke out -> govs begin to collapse between 1988-1990 when people realise liberal Gorbachev will not use force to crush democratic movements
get support from West for Soviet economy -> did not stop freedom movements
-> communist parties in Eastern EU defeated in free elections
how did people react to Gorbachev’s message that he would not use force to force them to follow communism
people demanded all over eastern EU for
1. free elections
2. glasnost + perestroika in own countries
-» protest, strikes, chaos broke out -> govs begin to collapse between 1988-1990 when people realise liberal Gorbachev will not use force to crush democratic movements
