Born in 1931 in the Soviet Union Mikhail’s lasting

achievement was to greatly contribute to the end

of the Cold War. Rising to power in the USSR in
1985 Gorbachev had a more democratic approach
to leadership than that of his predecessors and put
in place many policies to extend the longevity and
strength of the USSR’s economy and improve the
lives of the Soviet citizens. He also held various
negations with the USA to ensure there would
never be nuclear warfare between the two super
powers.

His two most famous policies are that of

perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (openness)
these two policies were introduced to build a better
and more democratic future for the USSR and
allowed economic restructuring that would
significantly lessen the amount spent on arms and more freedom of speech;
both were considered radical at the time by Soviet traditionalists. The Western
powers found Mikhail more reasonable to negotiate with and as such attended
“summits” to negotiate the lessening of each countries stock of arms and a
more peaceful coexistence that would remove the threat of nuclear warfare.
Mikhail also became close friends with some of the Western leaders and this
eased the tension of the Cold War considerably. By signing various treaties with
US leader Ronald Reagan and later George W. Bush concerning nuclear weapons
Gorbachev agreed to reduce the amount of arms that the USSR and its satellites
would stockpile and remove some missiles that were a threat to Western
countries. He agreed to redirect large amounts of state money away from the
military and
into more
civilian
activities, as
was his
intention with
his perestroika
policy. This was
a large step
towards the
end of the Cold
War; by
removing many
weapons the
USSR became
less of a threat.

This map shows Eastern Europe post 1989, when the USSR had surrendered
control of its satellites.

During 1988 Gorbachev announced the USSR would no longer control the
internal affairs of the Eastern Bloc nations. This policy of non intervention in the
internal affairs of states of the Warsaw Pact proved to be one of Gorbachev’s
most momentous foreign policy reforms. Speaking in France in July of 1989
Gorbachev stated that: “Any interference in the internal affairs, or any attempt
to limit the sovereignty of another state, friend, ally, or another, would be
inadmissible.” This lead to many revolutions in Eastern Bloc countries. More
importantly it signalled the breakdown of Communism and the power of the
USSR, which had been held for over 40 years. The loosening of Soviet control
over Eastern Europe effectively ended the Cold War, and for this, Gorbachev was
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on October 15, 1990.
Reagan, although initially taking a hardline approach to the USSR
during his presidency, is a major contributor to the end of the Cold
War. Through participation in negotiations with Gorbachev and a
willingness to lessen the USA’s arms stockpile he was largely
responsible for the thaw in relations between the East and West. He
was also influential in reuniting East and West Germany through
urging Gorbachev to “tear down” the Berlin Wall.

By agreeing to summit meetings Reagan showed he was willing to

negotiate with Gorbachev and find a peaceful conclusion to the Cold
War. Reagan also believed that if he could get Gorbachev to grant
more democracy and free speech in the USSR this would lead to the
end of Communism and, ultimately, the Cold War. This assumption
was essentially correct and when Communism fell across Eastern
Europe the Cold War ended.

In a famous speech delivered at the Berlin Wall on June 12th in 1987

Regan publically challenged Gorbachev to show he was serious about
reform by saying:

“General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek

prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek
liberalisation; Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate!
Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”

Regan was also partially responsible for the signing of a significant

weapons reduction treaty, The Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces
Treaty at the White House in Washington in 1987. This eliminated an
entire class of nuclear weapons and lessened the threat of a nuclear
holocaust.

When Reagan attended the Moscow summit he was viewed as a

celebrity by the Soviet citizens and when a journalist asked if he still
considered the USSR an “evil empire” he replied:

“No, I was talking about another time, another era”

This change in perception was representative of how much the

nineteen-eighties had changed the relations between East and West.

The Cold War was a major political and economic endeavour for over
four decades, but the confrontation and depleted relations between
the two superpowers decreased dramatically by the end of Reagan’s
presidency. It is widely agreed Reagan played a role in the downfall of
the USSR and that his defence policies, summits with Gorbachev and
hard line against communism were significant contributing factors to
the end of the cold War.
 Five “summits” held between 1985 and 1989 helped the USA and the USSR
to come to many agreements that would ultimately signal the end of the
Cold War through the signing of various treaties relating to the amount of
arms each country might stockpile and how they may use them. These
summits mainly included talks between Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald
Reagan, and were often held on neutral territory.

The first was held in Geneva, Switzerland (shown in blue on the map below)
in November of 1985 was a discussion concerning economic issues and the
scaling back of the arms race. Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev spoke
for well over their allotted time in a beach house and were accompanied only
by a translator. They also planned two more summits to be held in following
years. The major thing to come out of this summit was cooperation between
the two countries and a willingness to resolve their issues peacefully.

During the second summit, held in Reykjavik, Iceland (shown in red on the
map below) in 1986 the talks went well between the two leaders until
Gorbachev raised the issue of Reagan’s Strategic Defence Initiative (or Star
Wars) which he expressed a desire for the US to abolish. Reagan refused and
the negotiations were largely considered a failure this time around.

The third summit held in Washington, USA in 1987 is considered the most
successful and vital in finishing the Cold War. It was where Gorbachev and
Reagan chose to sign the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which
eliminated all nuclear-armed, ground launched ballistic and cruise missiles
with ranges of between 500 and 5,000 kilometres and their infrastructure.

The fourth was held in Moscow, Russia (shown in purple on the map below)
in mid 1988 was when George W. Bush signed the START (Strategic Arms
Reduction Treaty) with Mikhail Gorbachev. It was a huge step towards the
end of the Cold War and further major reductions in arms stockpiled by each
country.

The final summit was held in Malta (shown in yellow) in late 1989 where
Gorbachev said “I assured the President of the United States that I will
never start a hot war against the USA.” This assurance really signalled the
end of the Cold War and removed the threat of a nuclear holocaust. I was
representative of the thaw in relations between the two superpowers.
The 1988 Summer Olympics, held in Seoul in 1988, were significant in the
ending of the Cold War because it represented the first Olympic Games in
two editions that the USSR and the USA both chose to compete in.

In 1980, at the Moscow Olympics, the US had boycotted the games. Four
years later, when the games were held in Los Angeles, the Soviet Union and
thirteen other countries boycotted the Olympics in retaliation of the 1980
boycott. This made both sides of the Cold War participating significant, as it
was for the first time since the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics. This was
representative of the relaxation in conflict between the two nations and
showed they were willing to compete on a world scale through sports
instead of by building superior weapons and armies.

It was the largest Olympics to date with 159 participating nations and
approximately 8,500 athletes.

By the end of the Game the Soviet Union had the largest medal count at 132,
East Germany was second with 102 and the United States was third with 94,
therefore it would appear that on a sporting scale the USSR, and
Communism was winning the Cold War.

These graphs depict the

amount of medals won
by the USSR and the USA
between 1924 and 1996.
There are sharp
downturns where
boycotts occurred (1984
for the USSR and 1980
for the USA)
It would appear that the
USA has been more
consistent and continued
to win after the Cold War
(1992 and 1996) whereas
the Soviet Union suffered
a sharp downturn in
1996.
 Armed Mujahids return to a destroyed village, March 25,

1986.

Da De
te ce
m
be
Re So
r Belligerents
su vie
27,
lt t19
wit
79
Democratic Mujahideen of
Republichd–of Afghanistan
ra
Fe
Afghanistan
wa
br
l; Foreign
SovietuaUnion Mujahideen
Af
ry
gh
15,
an
19 Commanders
Civ
89
il
Soviet 40th Army: Abdul Haq
Wa
Jalaluddin Haqqani
Sergeir Sokolov
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
co
Ismail Khan
Valentin
nti
Ahmad Shah Massoud
Varennikovnu
es.
Boris Gromov
DRA:

Babrak Karmal

Mohammad
Najibullah

Abdul Rashid
Dostum

Strength

Soviet forces: 80,000- 45,000 (in 1983)

104,000 250,000 (in 1986)[2]
Afghan forces:
329,000 (in 1989)[1]

Casualties and losses

From 1979 till 1989 the Soviet War in Afghanistan was held until the Soviets
withdrew their forces in February of 1989. The USSR was supporting the
People’s Democratic Party of
Afghanistan (PDPA) against
the mujahideen resistance.
The mujahideen found
support from the USA, Saudi
Arabia and Pakistan. When
the Soviets withdrew their forces civil war continued in Afghanistan.

In 1985 when Mikhail Gorbachev rose to power he expressed a desire for the
war to be over after Soviet occupation of Afghanistan for six years. This
meant that the PDPA had to be able to continue resistance of the
mujahideen fighters on their own before the Soviets could withdraw. So a
plan was set to train PDPA soldiers in 1985-1987 before the Soviets left. In
1988 the Soviet withdrawal began and continued until the last troops had
left by February of 1989.

This withdrawal reduced the threat of a large scale conflict like that of WWII.
 The Berlin Wall
came down in 1989 after
28 years and one day of
dividing East and West Germany. Germany was officially reunified in 1990.

The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 signified the fall of the Iron Curtain
that had descended across Europe almost forty years earlier. It was
representative of the joining of Eastern and Western Europe and the end of
the friction that had defined the past forty years of the twentieth century.

The Wall was dismantled mainly by

Ronald Reagan gives his civilians following the announcement by the
famous “tear down this East German government that visits to West
Germany would be allowed. Thousands
of East Germans fled to West Germany
as parts of the Wall came down and
through surrounding countries as
peaceful revolutions took place across
Eastern Europe. These countries
included Austria, Hungary and
Czechoslovakia.

November 9th is considered the

day the wall fell as thousands of East
Berliners flocked to the checkpoints in
the wall and overwhelmed the guards,
eventually passing through to West Berlin and joining the celebratory
atmosphere in the West.

The Fall of the Berlin Wall is largely considered to be the catalyst for
the fall of the Iron Curtain across Europe and the end of Soviet power and
ultimately the end of the Cold War.

This map shows the

“sections” West Germany was
divided into before it became a
country in its own right. The yellow
line down the middle of the map
represents the Berlin Wall.
The ultimate cause of
the end of the Cold
War was the cost of
the Arms Race and the
resulting strain in
placed on the
economies of the two
world superpowers;
mainly that of the
USSR, who fell into
economic stalemate
and suffered an
economic growth rate
of close to zero
percent in 1985. The
military expenditure
of the two countries
fell into the trillions
and left the
economies of the US
and USSR devastated. It was simply not economically viable, or possible to
continue building the military and weapons at the previous rate.

The USSR spending has been estimated at trillions of dollars as well and was
crippling for their economy, although there are no official statistics
available. The CIA spent much of the twentieth century trying to estimate
the spending of the USSR.

Annual US Military Spending During the

Cold War: (Total of 13.1 Trillion US1996
Dollars for Cold War Military Expenditure
1948-96)
Decade Spending
(Billions of
Dollars)

1940’s (45- 1819.5

49)

1950’s 3218.7

1960’s 3149.2

1970’s 4719.7

1980’s (1980- 3913

91)

Above: Stockpile of Nuclear

Weapons:
US vs. USSR 1945 - 2000
The Warsaw Pact was the binding pact between the eastern European states
and the Soviet Union signed in 1955
that bonded the countries together for
the majority of the cold war. It was
essentially an agreement that stated
that were there to be a threat against
any of the member states the others
would step in and help to defend the
country. It is officially known in the
eastern bloc countries as the treaty of
friendship, cooperation and mutual
assistance. (To the left is a map where
the coloured nations represent
members of the Warsaw Pact.)

The Members:

• People's Republic of Albania (left in 1961 as a result of the Sino-Soviet

split)

• People's Republic of Bulgaria

• Czechoslovak Socialist Republic

• People's Republic of Hungary

• People's Republic of Poland

• Socialist Republic of Romania

• Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

• German Democratic Republic (joined in 1956)

The members of the Warsaw Pact pledged to defend each other if one or
more of the members were attacked. The treaty also stated that relations
among the signatories were based on mutual non-interference in internal
affairs and respect for national sovereignty and independence.

As a result of most of the eastern European communist governments falling,

the Warsaw Pact fell apart in 1991.

The Warsaw pact was divided into two branches; The Political Consultative
Committee, which was responsible for all non-military activities and the
Unified Command of Pact Armed Forces, which had authority over the troops
and military of member states. The headquarters for the Pact were in
Warsaw, Poland.

The end of the pact was formally announced on July 1st, 1991 in Prague.

The map below represents the two binding “pacts” of the Cold War’ where
NATO is highlighted in blue and the Warsaw Pact in red.
In 1989 a series of peaceful revolutions
took place in Eastern Europe with many
Soviet satellites overthrowing their
communist governments. It followed and
easing of control over the Eastern
European nations by the USSR in 1989, announced by Mikhail Gorbachev.
The Revolutions began in Poland and then spread to Hungary, East Germany,
Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria. The only violent revolution took place in
Romania, where Ceausescu was killed. The revolutions greatly changed the
balance of power in the world and signalled, along with the fall of the USSR,
the end of the Cold War era.

On December 3rd in 1989 the leaders of the two world super powers declared
an end to the Cold War at the Malta summit.

When the Soviet Union rapidly withdrew its forces from Eastern Europe the
spillover from the 1989 revolutions in neighbouring countries began
reverberating throughout the USSR itself. This led to Lithuania, Estonia,
Latvia and Armenia declaring their independence. These movements
continued as the Soviet economy weakened and the Soviet command
structure breaking down. In 1991, a coup attempt failed, but Gorbachev’s
authority was undermined. In September of 1991 the Baltic States were
granted independence and on Boxing Day of 1991 the USSR was officially
disbanded, and broke into fifteen constituent parts. Since there was no
longer a USSR this really was the end of Cold War as there was nobody left
to fight.
Maps of Europe during and after the Cold War show significant changes
across Eastern Europe in particular, and serve to highlight the “sides” that
each country took during the Cold War.