Summary
The End Of The Cold War consisted of multiple events that ended Communism in the Soviet Union, such as the demolition of the Berlin Wall that ended the tension between East and West Berlin, and Gorbachev’s involvement in the destruction of Communism in Russia. These two events played a big part in ending communism and the high tension between East and West Berlin. First, the demolition of the Berlin wall shaped a new beginning for the once shattered relationships between East and West Berlin. When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, people flocked over the wall to reunite with their family and friends. This event really shows how a broken city or a broken country can come back together after an event such as the Cold War. Second, Gorbachev’s involvement in the end of Communism astounded everybody in the US and Russia. A Russian leader taking initiative and fighting against Communism in his own country was unheard of in that time period. His infiltration of the communist government in Russia completely stopped further communism in Russia, as well as further fighting between the two countries. Summed up, both of these events finally broke the tensions between the two warring countries. Throughout the events that ended Communism and the Cold War, tensions between opposite sides were destroyed. Mistrust, fear, and tensions resounded loudly throughout the Cold War, but during this last portion, these feelings between Russia and the US were broken. The End Of The Cold War was the most vital and thought provoking time between the two countries throughout all of the Cold War. -Caleb Ely |
Summary
The end of the Cold War era began with the relaxing of tensions, known as detente, through the SALT talks, and ended with the breakup of the USSR. Detente was the period in the cold war of increasingly easing tensions between the United States and the USSR. This was the beginning of the end of the Cold War. Both sides at this period of time realized that relationships should be improved in order to reduce the possibility of war which could lead to the planet's destruction. The SALT I and II talks are prime examples of detente. The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks were discussions between the US and the USSR to limit nuclear weaponry. During the SALT I talk, the US and USSR agreed to limit the number of long-range nuclear missiles. This is significant because it was the first agreement to limit the arms race. The second talk placed exact limits on the number of nuclear weaponry each side could have. These talks was were significant as it showed improved relations between the US and USSR, as well as slowed the arms race. SALT talks and the relaxing of tensions eventually lead breakup of the USSR. In 1985, the leadership of the communist party was transferred to Mikhail Gorbachev. Gorbachev wanted to restructure the party, and in doing so, he realized that the USSR could not continue the arms race and solve its domestic problems at the same time. This lead to his aggressive attempts to end the arms race. Gorbachev took many actions which accidentally lead to the end of the USSR. First, he signed the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty in 1986 which eliminated all intermediate nuclear weapons over a period of three years. In 1988, he allowed East European countries to choose their own government. And finally, in 1989 the Berlin Wall fell. All these actions allowed democratic governments to overtake communism, and in December of 1991, the day after Gorbachev resigned, the USSR ceased to exist. This lead to the beginning of a more democratic government in Russia, and signified the true end of the cold war. The SALT talks between the US and the USSR lead to the relaxing of tensions between the two powers, and eventually lead to the end of the Cold War with the fall of the USSR. -Nathan Vezina |
Summary
The end of the Cold War era was a time of relaxing tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States with key events such as the presidency of Mikhail Gorbachev and the demolition of the Berlin Wall. In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev became the new leader of the Soviet Union and with this, there was many other important changes in Europe. His goal was to restructure the communist party and to have more freedom in the Soviet Union. His leadership was very important during the series of talks in order limit nuclear weapons in the end of the Cold War. Mikhail Gorbachev’s presidency was very important in ending the Cold War and in relaxing the tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States. In October 1989, after many satellite countries decided to take their freedom from the Soviet Union, Gorbachev visited East Berlin and stated that they could take their freedom as well. So, on the night of November 9, 1989, thousands of people tore down the wall with household tools. The fall of the Berlin Wall was crucial in the relaxing of tensions between West and East Berlin and helped further the end of the Cold War. The presidency of Mikhail Gorbachev and the demolition of the Berlin Wall were two important events that greatly eased tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States and helped end the long period known as the Cold War. -Cameron Zipper |
1943- 2017, Lech Wałęsa:
Lech Wałęsa co-founded and ran Russia’s first independent trade union known as the Solidarity. He had been arrested almost six times for various political reasons before he served as the President of Poland from 1990 to 1995. There had been many suspicions about Wałęsa being a former communist, so in 2017, a lengthy investigation by the INR made the conclusion that Wałęsa had in fact collaborated with a communist secret police headquarters during his early years in Poland. -Caleb Ely |
November 9, 1989, Demolition of the Berlin Wall:
As the Soviet Union’s leadership changed to Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985, the control over its surrounding countries began to relax. Many freedoms were gifted to the people in the satellite countries as they became largely less controlled by the Soviet Union. In October 1989, Gorbachev visited East Berlin and stated that he would release control and let the people of East Berlin have democracy if they desired. Many other changes in leadership occurred such as Erich Honecker, the East German leader, was replaced by Egon Krenz. On November 9, 1989, after a large amount of civil unrest, the East German government stated that citizens would be able to travel among East and West Berlin once again. Over the next few weeks, thousands of people chipped away at the Berlin Wall to open the borders of West and East Berlin. Due to the new leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, freedom was gifted to the people in East Berlin as the wall was able to be taken down after nearly nearly thirty years of division. -Cameron Zipper |
1969-1979, Strategic Arms Limitation Talks:
The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, also known as SALT, was a pair of conferences between the major powers of the Cold War both discussion the reduction of nuclear weapons with the goal of ending the arms race. SALT one, being the very first talk about ending the arms race and was signed on May 26, 1972 to limit the number of nuclear missile launchers each of the countries could have. SALT II was another series of talks taking place 1972-1979. These treaties discussed cutting off the manufacturing of nuclear weapons for both sides of the war. Unfortunately, the Salt II treaties were never ratified due to the Russian invasion of Afghanistan shortly after the agreement. The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks were very important in taking steps to end the arms race during the end of the Cold War era. -Cameron Zipper |
1931- 2017 - Mikhail Gorbachev: Mikhail Gorbachev was the eighth and final leader of the Soviet Union, and helped demolish all the remaining communist beliefs in Russia. Before Gorbachev became president of Russia, he had very bias beliefs of having communism in his home country. After Gorbachev stepped up into leadership, he started changing his beliefs to more of a democratic background. As his beliefs started spreading around Russia, Communism slowly started decreasing until all communism in Russia was gone, thus ending the Cold War. In 2009, Gorbachev and Alexander Lebedev officially formed the Independent Democratic Party of Russia. -Caleb Ely |
1969 - 1979 - Detente: Detente was a word which described the relaxing of tensions between the US and the USSR near the end of the Cold War. President Nixon realized that the Cold War could lead to the destruction of the world, so he attempted to improve relationships with Russia during this time to reduce the possibility of war. Leonid Brezhnev, president of the Communist party, also wanted friendlier relations so that he could spend less money on weaponry, and spend more time improving living conditions. Because both countries felt the same way about improving relations, this lead to a more peaceful time during the Cold War. -Nathan Vezina |
1972 - Opening of China: President Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger wanted to improve relationships with Mao's People's Republic of China. By improving relations, America could open Chinese markets to American exports, as well as ally against Russia, which both the US and China feared because of the Soviet’s strong military. In 1972, Nixon and Kissinger traveled to China. The trip was a complete success, opening communications with China that still in place today, as well as ended 25 years of separation between the two sides. -Nathan Vezina |
The Strategic Defense Initiative
The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), also known as Star Wars, was a program that was supposed to developed a sophisticated missile system in space in order to prevent missile attacks from other countries such as Russia. The nickname “Star Wars” was created from some of the program’s abstract and farfetched ideas such as their lasers technic! The SDI was never put into place by Ronald Reagan, but cost the US over one billion dollars in research and testing. -Caleb Ely |
1980 Olympic Boycott
On March 21, 1980, President Jimmy Carter announced that America will boycott the olympics which were held in Moscow. Carter announced this after Russia failed to comply with Carter's deadline to withdraw Russian troops from Afghanistan. In 1979, the Soviet military invaded Afghanistan to reinforce the country's communist regime against islamic rebel forces. Carter did not like this, stating that Russia only invaded to gain control of Afghanistan resources, specifically oil supplies. This invasion could have caused the cold war to revive itself, which during the time, tensions have calmed down. In addition, Carter threatened to issue a trade embargo with Russia with two U.S. goods that the country desperately needed. -Nathan Vezina |
Nixon Visits China
In February of 1972, President Nixon visited the People’s Republic of China and greatly changed the American perspective of China. This was the first step in becoming somewhat of an ally with China. This visit also let Americans see pictures of the country for the first time in over twenty years. Richard Nixon’s visit to China in 1972 was very important to becoming friendlier in the end of the Cold War. -Cameron Zipper |