1. Macdonald World History
Cold War Thaws
Macdonald
World History

2. New Soviet Leaders Stalin died 1953; Nikita Khrushchev new leader
Hated Stalin b/c he killed innocent soviets
Created policy of destalinization (getting rid of all memories of Stalin)

3. New Soviet Leaders
Ppl didn’t like how Khrushchev dealt w/ Cuban Missile Crisis so removed
Breschev new leader
Dictator – limited ppl’s rights
Used military to make satellite nations stay communist

4. Detente Ppl began to grow tired of always bracing for war
Pres. Nixon adopted new policy of détente – official policy of lessening Cold War tension
Tried to deal w/ other nations in flexible manner

5. SALT Nixon visited communist country for first time (China)
Also visited Soviet Union and had series of mtgs called Strategic Arms Limitation Talks or SALT & agreed to limit number of missiles each country could have
Many other countries also joined

6. Star Wars Reagan new president – strongly anti-communist
Stopped détente
New program – SDI (strategic defense initiative) or Star Wars to protect against enemy missiles
Renewed Cold War tensions but not as strong as before

7. Gorbechav
Breshnev created much opposition in Soviet Union b/c restricted freedoms
When he died, Mikhail Gorbachev became leader
To deal w/ opposition, Gorbachev adopted:
Glasnost – openness in religion/ speech/ press
Perestroika – changes to economy to give ppl more authority over their businesses
Tried to make Soviets more efficient

8. Arms Race
Gorbechev realized his economy couldn’t keep up w/ arms race so signed Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty w/ US to limit nuclear missiles

9. Gorbechev’s Parties
After Gorbechev, many satellite nations started calling for independence
Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia declared independence
PPl blamed Gorbahev
Aug pure communists demanded Gorbehev’s resignation

10. End of the Soviet Union
Soviets sent in tanks & military to defend himself
Soldiers, though, joined rebellion to overthrow Soviets
Boris Yeltsin stood atop a tank & declared the end of communism & a new gov’t

11. Cold War Ends
Dec 1991 all republics of the Soviet Union declared independence
Most other satellite nations declared independence (Hugary, Poland)
East & West Germany reunited after huge demonstrators demanded free travel between the two
Berlin Wall torn down in 1989 & Cold War was over