The End of the Cold War?

Cold war in the 1960s and 70s Some very tense moments: Soviets shot down a U.S. spy plane and captured the pilot in 1961 Cuban Missile Crisis  Khrushchev tried to install Soviet missiles in Cuba (90 miles from U.S.) in 1962 Brezhnev began a massive military buildup and was willing to use force to keep satellite countries under Soviet control (The Brezhnev Doctrine)

ECONOMIC failure Too much money spent on the military Industrial production (coal, cement, fertilizer, etc.) declined Collective farming fell short of production goals Waiting lines, food shortages, high prices, unemployment…

FRUSTRATION with communism Party leaders had a better lifestyle & more privileges than the working class Anti-Communist movements emerged Example: Solidarity, a trade union for workers in Poland, led by Lech Walesa People went on strike and rioted for better living and working conditions The Catholic Church and Pope John Paul II opposed communism and inspired people to liberate themselves from Communist control

New leadership & policies In the 1970s, Brezhnev eventually sought a détente, or relaxation of tensions with the U.S. Ex: both agreed to limit their number of nuclear warheads Mikhail Gorbachev emerged as the new leader with new policies after Brezhnev died in the 1980s: Glasnost  “openness” – more freedom, less censorship Perestroika  “restructuring” – added capitalist elements to economy Abandoned the Brezhnev doctrine and let communist governments fall in satellite countries

The end: key dates Fall of the Berlin Wall: 1989 Reunification of Germany: 1990 Collapse of the Soviet Union: 1991