1. End of the Cold War Mr. Epps World History Chapter 28 SSWH20, SSWH21
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Mr. Epps
World History
Chapter 28
SSWH20, SSWH21
Germans celebrating the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 10, (AP Photo/File)

2. End of the Cold War By 1980, Soviet Union’s economy is declining
- Too much money spent on arms race
- Invasion of Afghanistan in 1979
- Suppress uprisings in satellite states
- Soviet goods were of poor quality; unable to compete in the global marketplace
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3. End of the Cold War Soviet Union experienced difficult social problems
- Poor working conditions
- Sharp increase in alcoholism
- Rising infant mortality rate
- Food shortages
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4. Nikita Khrushchev Leader of the Soviet Union, 1957-1964
- Sent nuclear weapons to Cuba, Cuban Missile Crisis
- Violently suppressed a revolt in Hungary, 1956
- De-Stalinized the country
- “We will bury you!”, told to Western diplomats, 1957
- Approved the Berlin Wall
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Led the country during the height of the Cold War
Nikita Khrushchev ( ) led the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War, serving as premier from 1958 to Though he largely pursued a policy of peaceful coexistence with the West, he instigated the Cuban Missile Crisis by placing nuclear weapons 90 miles from Florida. At home, he initiated a process of “de-Stalinization” that made Soviet society less repressive. Yet Khrushchev could be authoritarian in his own right, crushing a revolt in Hungary and approving the construction of the Berlin Wall. Known for his colorful speeches, he once took off and brandished his shoe at the United Nations.
Once a loyal Stalinist, Khrushchev gave a long speech in February 1956 that criticized Stalin for arresting and deporting opponents, for elevating himself above the party and for incompetent wartime leadership, among other things. This withering, albeit incomplete, indictment of Stalin was supposed to remain secret. By that June, however, the U.S. State Department had published the complete text. Starting in 1957, Khrushchev made some minor attempts to rehabilitate Stalin’s image. But he switched course once again in 1961, when the city of Stalingrad was renamed and Stalin’s remains were removed from Lenin’s mausoleum in Moscow’s Red Square.
Emboldened by Khrushchev’s so-called “secret speech,” protestors took to the streets in the Soviet satellites of Poland and Hungary. The Polish revolt was resolved fairly peacefully, but the Hungarian revolt was violently suppressed with troops and tanks. In all, at least 2,500 Hungarians were killed in late 1956, and about 13,000 were wounded. Many more fled to the West, and others were arrested or deported.
On the domestic front, Khrushchev worked—not always successfully—to increase agricultural production and raise living standards. He also reduced the power of the Soviet Union’s feared secret police, released many political prisoners, relaxed artistic censorship, opened up more of the country to foreign visitors and inaugurated the space age in 1957 with the launch of the satellite Sputnik. Two years later, a Soviet rocket hit the moon, and in 1961 Soviet astronaut Yuri A. Gagarin became the first man in space. (

5. Detente
Thawing of the Cold War, easing of tensions, improved relations
- Began in 1970s
- Leaders spoke more frequently, decreased rhetoric
- President Richard Nixon visited the secretary-general of the Soviet Communist party, Leonid I. Brezhnev, 1972
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Détente (a French word meaning release from tension) is the name given to a period of improved relations between the United States and the Soviet Union that began tentatively in 1971 and took decisive form when President Richard M. Nixon visited the secretary-general of the Soviet Communist party, Leonid I. Brezhnev, in Moscow, May 1972.
Both countries stood to gain if trade could be increased and the danger of nuclear warfare reduced. In addition, Nixon–a candidate for reelection–was under fire at home from those demanding social change, racial equality, and an end to the Vietnam War. The trip to Russia, like his historic trip to China a few months earlier, permitted him to keep public attention focused on his foreign policy achievements rather than his domestic problems. Nixon’s trip to China had also heightened the Soviets’ interest in détente; given the growing antagonism between Russia and China, Brezhnev had no wish to see his most potent rivals close ranks against him.
On May 22 Nixon became the first U.S. president to visit Moscow. He and Brezhnev signed seven agreements covering the prevention of accidental military clashes; arms control, as recommended by the recent Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (salt); cooperative research in a variety of areas, including space exploration; and expanded commerce. (

6. Mikhail Gorbachev Leader of the Soviet Union, 1985-1991
- Democratized its political system, moved away from communism, “Perestroika” or restructuring
- Decentralized its economy
- Improved relations with U.S., “Glasnost” or openness
- Modernized the country’s technology
- Signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty with the U.S.; plan to eliminate intermediate-range nuclear weapons
- Awarded Noble Prize for Peace in1990
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Mikhail Gorbachev, in full Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (born March 2, 1931, Privolye, Stavropol kray, Russia, U.S.S.R.), Soviet official, the general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1985 to 1991 and president of the Soviet Union in 1990–91. His efforts to democratize his country’s political system and decentralize its economy led to the downfall of communism and the breakup of the Soviet Union in In part because he ended the Soviet Union’s postwar domination of eastern Europe, Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in (
The Treaty Between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Elimination of Their Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles, commonly referred to as the INF (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces) Treaty, requires destruction of the Parties' ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers, their launchers and associated support structures and support equipment within three years after the Treaty enters into force. (

7. Perestroika Restructure the economy to be more like capitalism
Have limited privately-owned businesses
More responsive to consumer wants and desires
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8. Glasnost
Encouraged people to discuss their government with government officials
Established a new parliament of elected, not appointed, members
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9. End of the Soviet Union and its Influence
Berlin Wall falls in 1989, Germany reunites in 1990
Soviet Union dissolved in December 1991, people no longer support Communism
Citizens pushed for democracy
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10. End of the Soviet Union and its Influence
Formerly suppressed ethnic issues rose to the forefront, nationalist movements begin (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia)
Satellite states, including Ukraine, Kazakhstan and the Baltic countries sought their independence
Soviet Union broke into 15 new republics/countries, largest of which is Russia
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Former Soviet Republics
Russia Ukraine Uzbekistan Belarus
Kazakhstan Azerbaijan Georgia Tajikistan
Armenia Lithuania Moldova Turkmenistan
Kyrgyzstan Latvia Estonia
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