The end of the Cold War

In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to try to prop up the communist government there, which was being attacked by Muslim Mujaheddin fighters. This immediately caused a rift with America, which boycotted the 1980 Olympics.

President Reagan referred to the Soviet Union as the 'evil empire'

In 1980, Ronald Reagan became president of the USA. As a strong anti-communist, he called the Soviet Union the "evil empire" and increased spending on arms. The US military developed the neutron bomb, cruise missiles and a Star Wars defence system using space satellites.

By 1985, the Soviet Union was in trouble. In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev became leader of the USSR.

• He withdrew from Afghanistan.
• He realised that the USSR could not afford the arms race, and opened the START (Strategic Arms Reduction Talks) with the USA. He signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 1987.
• He began to reform the Soviet system by allowing perestroika (competition in business) and glasnost (freedom).

Mikhail Gorbachev reformed the Soviet system

As in 1956 and 1968, a relaxation by the Soviet government encouraged revolutions in Eastern Europe only this time, the USSR did not have the means or the will to impose military control.

• Free elections held in Poland in June 1989 were won by Solidarity, originally a banned trade union, and Lech Walesa became the first non-communist president of Poland.
• Revolutions in other Eastern European countries quickly followed - notably the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989.
• In 1991, Gorbachev fell from power and the Soviet Union was dissolved.

Problems facing the USSR in the 1980s

• Afghanistan had become "Russia's Vietnam".
• Russia could not afford the arms race.
• The Soviet economy was backwards - factories and mines were decrepit and out of date.
• Backward industry was causing increasing environmental problems - eg pollution, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion of 1986, and the Aral Sea dried up.
• Many people were much poorer than the poorest people in the capitalist West - unrest about shortages was growing.
• Crime, alcoholism and drugs were out of control in Soviet towns.
• The Soviet system had become corrupt and out of date - instead of dealing with problems, the government just covered them up (eg Chernobyl, 1986).
• Many people were dissatisfied with the Soviet police state and censorship.

Revision tip and answer preparation

Revision tip

Consider these two statements:

• Increasing détente between the two sides after the Cuban Missiles Crisis gradually brought the Cold War to an end.
• The Cold War did not gradually thaw out. It continued with unabated ferocity until 1985, when the Soviet Union ended things by unilaterally collapsing.

Look back through the pages covering the end of the Cold War, sorting the different evidence to support the two statements.

Answer preparation

As part of your revision, think about the arguments and facts you would use to explain:

1. How the invasion of Afghanistan worsened relations between the USA and USSR.
2. How détente collapsed in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
3. Why détente collapsed in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
4. How Reagan and Gorbachev were able to improve relations between America and Russia.
5. Why communism in Central and Eastern Europe collapsed.
6. How important Solidarity was in the collapse of communism.
7. How far Gorbachev was responsible for the collapse of Soviet control over Eastern Europe.
8. How far Reagan was responsible for the collapse of communism.

Now try a Test Bite