1. The End of the Cold War

2. Détente  Date: roughly 1969-1979  Definition: thawing of relations between the US and the USSR  Concrete elements  Arms control talks  Increased trade  Scientific cooperation  However, proxy conflicts continued

3. The Afghan War (no, not the one you already know about)  1978: Soviet-supported left- wing government takes over Afghanistan  Mujahideen – religious fundamentalists – rise up  December 24, 1979: USSR invades Afghanistan  Soviet goal: to prop up a friendly regime in the Middle East

4. Results of the Afghan War  Carter denounces the invasion  Sanctions and trade embargoes  Boycott of Moscow Olympics  CIA supports mujahideen  USSR withdraws in 1989  End of détente

5. Ronald Reagan  Former movie star and staunch anti-Communist  1980: Reagan elected president as a Republican  Reagan promises to be tougher on Communism

6. Reagan Escalates the Cold War  1985: “Reagan Doctrine” promises support for “freedom fighters” – i.e., anti-Communists  Shift from “containment” to “rollback  Supports intervention (covert or overt) against Communists in:  Afghanistan  Grenada  Nicaragua  Angola

7. Mikhail Gorbachev  Becomes leader of USSR in 1985  Committed to reform  Glasnost: political openness; more freedom of information  Perestroika: restructuring; introduced elections and economic liberalization  Strong personal relationship with Reagan  Negotiated arms control

8. But life in the USSR is still no fun  Low economic productivity and standard of living  Chernobyl (1986)  Nuclear reactor melts down in Ukraine  Kills 400; exposes 60,000 to radiation  Soviets attempt to cover up news

9. And the economy stagnates

10. In your notebook: how do you think Soviets reacted to glasnost and perestroika?

11. Reforms Backfire  Perestroika leads to economic disaster  Soviets don’t know how to live in capitalism  Reduction in welfare hurts the poor and the elderly  Glasnost unleashes a tide of criticism  Criticism of Stalin and political repression  Responses to Chernobyl  Criticism of perestroika  Democracy movement emerges

12. The Soviet Union Collapses  November 9, 1989: Berlin Wall falls  Unpopular Communist governments fall in Soviet satellite states  1991: Baltic states leave the USSR  August 1991: hard-line Communists kidnap Gorbachev  December 25, 1991: USSR dissolved; Gorbachev resigns