HOW DID THE COLD WAR COME TO AN END IN THE 1980s? What was the Reagan Doctrine and what was the philosophy behind it? What factors weakened the hold of the USSR over Eastern Europe? How did Gorbachev change USSR foreign policy in the 1980s? What was the significance of the fall of the Berlin Wall? What was the sequence of events that ended the Cold War?

What was the Reagan Doctrine and what was the philosophy behind it? Reagan became President of the USA in 1981 and Andropov becomes Soviet leader after Brezhnev dies in 1982. Reagan introduces the policy of ‘Militarised Counter-Revolution’ This policy meant: Increasing nuclear weapons and defence spending increased by 13%. Stealth bombers, Trident submarines and Strategic Defense Initiative (or Star Wars) were developed. ‘The Reagan Doctrine’ was the term given to the policy of sending assistance to anti-communist governments and anti-communist insurgents. He did this in Nicaragua, El Salvador and Grenada. The Reagan Doctrine was designed to weaken the Soviet Union ‘at the edges’ to ensure that Soviet support for revolutionary regimes would entail much greater military, political and economic cost. Not always popular with the rest of the World, but was supported by Margaret Thatcher in Britain.

What Factors weakened USSR’s hold over Eastern Europe in the early 1980s? Economic Issues: Socialist Economies did not deliver prosperity. The State controlled industries were inefficient and relied on heavy industry rather than consumer goods. Pollution was a problem. Management became a privileged group and new technologies nonexistent. Social expectation of their people were changing and western style capitalism seemed attractive. The slow down in rate of industrial growth caused alarm and it seemed to be grinding to a halt. Calls for Political Reform: There was a call from some Communist leaders for political reform and they clashed with the traditional hardliners. Many of the leaders of Eastern bloc countries enjoyed their privileges and were reluctant to change e.g. Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, East Germany, Romania and Poland. In each country opposition was increasing and attempting to challenge Communist rule.

How did Gorbachev change USSR policy in the 1980s? 1980 – 1985 under the ‘Gerontocracy’: Brezhnev, Andropov (‘the most switched-on man in the Kremlin due to being wired to a dialysis machine) and Chernenko who were old and traditional leaders there was political inertia over political reform Mikhail Gorbachev was only 54 when he became leader in 1985 and was determined to make the Soviet system more productive. His ‘New Political Thinking’ led to the Geneva Summit in November 1985; the Reykjavik Summit in October 1986; the Washington Summit in December 1987; the Moscow Summit May-June 1988 and the Malta Summit in December 1989. His new Domestic Policies were genuine attempts to rejuvenate the USSR: Perestroika, Glasnost and Democratisation. All led to a more critical approach and ‘Gorby-mania’. In 1985 he made it clear he would not uphold the Brezhnev Doctrine. The consequences of this were radical for each Eastern Bloc Country: Poland; Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Romania. The situation by 1989 meant the USSR was no longer willing to support unpopular Communist Governments. The Berlin Wall collapses in 1990: a result or a cause of the end of the Cold War?