1. The End of the Cold War

2. New Polish pope John Paul II elected in 1978 became an outspoken critic of communism
Strikes broke out in Gdansk shipyards in 1980 led by Lech Walesa
Gov’t responded by allowing the formation of Solidarity, an independent union

3. Reagan
Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980 promising economic reform and a renewed hard line toward the USSR
U.S. increased military spending, deployed a new European missile system, and began SDI (“Star Wars”) research
These measures forced a corresponding military buildup in the USSR that the Soviets could ill afford

4. Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev reenergized Soviet leadership when he came to power in 1985
New policies…
-perestroika glasnost
Gorbachev believed these reforms would strengthen Soviet communism and allow it to survive

5. An American leader (Reagan) and
a Soviet leader (Gorbachev) together
in Red Square-not a photo most
Americans ever expected to see.

6. 1989: Year of Revolution in Eastern Europe
New strikes erupted in Poland in 1988
Gov’t failed to re-impose order and Solidarity was legalized
Poland now chose its first non-communist gov’t since 1945 with the approval of Gorbachev
Throughout the year, one Soviet-dominated state after another in Eastern Europe moved toward independence

7. When mass demonstrations erupted in East Germany, Soviets informed the East German communist party that they wouldn’t intervene to stop them
East German gov’t then resigned
New German gov’t ordered the opening of the Berlin Wall paving the way for German unification in 1990

18. The Collapse of the Soviet Union
Central Committee accepted Gorbachev’s proposal to relinquish the Communist Party’s monopoly on power in 1990
Conservative coup in August, 1991 discredited the Communist Party and strengthened the reformer Boris Yeltsin
Gorbachev left office in December and the Soviet Union dissolved into the Commonwealth of Independent States

19. Содружество Независимых Государств