humanities - the 20th century - the cold war - student work 4

8/14/2019 Humanities - The 20th Century - The Cold War - Student Work 4

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Born in 1931 in the Soviet Union Mikhails lastingachievement was to greatly contribute to the endof the Cold War. Rising to power in the USSR in1985 Gorbachev had a more democratic approachto leadership than that of his predecessors and putin place many policies to extend the longevity andstrength of the USSRs economy and improve the

lives of the Soviet citizens. He also held variousnegations with the USA to ensure there wouldnever be nuclear warfare between the two superpowers.

His two most famous policies are that ofperestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (openness)these two policies were introduced to build a betterand more democratic future for the USSR andallowed 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 attendedsummits to negotiate the lessening of each countries stock of arms and amore peaceful coexistence that would remove the threat of nuclear warfare.Mikhail also became close friends with some of the Western leaders and thiseased the tension of the Cold War considerably. By signing various treaties withUS leader Ronald Reagan and later George W. Bush concerning nuclear weaponsGorbachev agreed to reduce the amount of arms that the USSR and its satelliteswould stockpile and remove some missiles that were a threat to Westerncountries. He agreed to redirect large amounts of state money away from the

military andinto morecivilian

activities, aswas hisintention withhis perestroikapolicy. This wasa large steptowards theend of the ColdWar; byremoving manyweapons theUSSR becameless of a threat.

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

During 1988 Gorbachev announced the USSR would no longer control theinternal affairs of the Eastern Bloc nations. This policy of non intervention in theinternal affairs of states of the Warsaw Pact proved to be one of Gorbachevsmost momentous foreign policy reforms. Speaking in France in July of 1989Gorbachev stated that: Any interference in the internal affairs, or any attemptto limit the sovereignty of another state, friend, ally, or another, would beinadmissible. This lead to many revolutions in Eastern Bloc countries. Moreimportantly it signalled the breakdown of Communism and the power of the

USSR, which had been held for over 40 years. The loosening of Soviet controlover Eastern Europe effectively ended the Cold War, and for this, Gorbachev wasawarded the Nobel Peace Prize on October 15, 1990.


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Reagan, although initially taking a hardline approach to the USSRduring his presidency, is a major contributor to the end of the ColdWar. Through participation in negotiations with Gorbachev and awillingness to lessen the USAs arms stockpile he was largelyresponsible for the thaw in relations between the East and West. Hewas 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 tonegotiate with Gorbachev and find a peaceful conclusion to the ColdWar. Reagan also believed that if he could get Gorbachev to grantmore democracy and free speech in the USSR this would lead to theend of Communism and, ultimately, the Cold War. This assumptionwas essentially correct and when Communism fell across EasternEurope 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 aboutreform by saying:

General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seekprosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seekliberalisation; 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 significantweapons reduction treaty, The Intermediate Range Nuclear ForcesTreaty at the White House in Washington in 1987. This eliminated an

entire class of nuclear weapons and lessened the threat of a nuclearholocaust.

When Reagan attended the Moscow summit he was viewed as acelebrity by the Soviet citizens and when a journalist asked if he stillconsidered 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 thenineteen-eighties had changed the relations between East and West.

The Cold War was a major political and economic endeavour for overfour decades, but the confrontation and depleted relations betweenthe two superpowers decreased dramatically by the end of Reaganspresidency. It is widely agreed Reagan played a role in the downfall ofthe USSR and that his defence policies, summits with Gorbachev andhard line against communism were significant contributing factors tothe end of the cold War.


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Five summits held between 1985 and 1989 helped the USA and the USSRto come to many agreements that would ultimately signal the end of theCold War through the signing of various treaties relating to the amount ofarms each country might stockpile and how they may use them. Thesesummits mainly included talks between Mikhail Gorbachev and RonaldReagan, 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 thescaling back of the arms race. Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev spokefor well over their allotted time in a beach house and were accompanied onlyby a translator. They also planned two more summits to be held in followingyears. The major thing to come out of this summit was cooperation betweenthe two countries and a willingness to resolve their issues peacefully.

During the second summit, held in Reykjavik, Iceland (shown in red on themap below) in 1986 the talks went well between the two leaders untilGorbachev raised the issue of Reagans Strategic Defence Initiative (or StarWars) 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 mostsuccessful and vital in finishing the Cold War. It was where Gorbachev andReagan chose to sign the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, whicheliminated all nuclear-armed, ground launched ballistic and cruise missileswith 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 ArmsReduction Treaty) with Mikhail Gorbachev. It was a huge step towards theend 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 whereGorbachev said I assured the President of the United States that I willnever start a hot war against the USA. This assurance really signalled theend of the Cold War and removed the threat of a nuclear holocaust. I wasrepresentative of the thaw in relations between the two superpowers.


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The 1988 Summer Olympics, held in Seoul in 1988, were significant in theending of the Cold War because it represented the first Olympic Games intwo editions that the USSR and the USA both chose to compete in.

In 1980, at the Moscow Olympics, the US had boycotted the games. Fouryears later, when the games were held in Los Angeles, the Soviet Union andthirteen other countries boycotted the Olympics in retaliation of the 1980

boycott. This made both sides of the Cold War participating significant, as itwas for the first time since the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics. This wasrepresentative of the relaxation in conflict between the two nations andshowed they were willing to compete on a world scale through sportsinstead of by building superior weapons and armies.

It was the largest Olympics to date with 159 participating nations andapproximately 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 theamount of medals wonby the USSR and the USAbetween 1924 and 1996.There are sharpdownturns whereboycotts occurred (1984for the USSR and 1980for the USA)

It would appear that theUSA has been moreconsistent and continuedto win after the Cold War(1992 and 1996) whereasthe Soviet Union suffereda sharp downturn in1996.


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Armed Mujahids return to a destroyed village, March 25,

1986.

Belligerents

DemocraticRepublic ofAfghanistan

Soviet Union

Mujahideen ofAfghanistan

ForeignMujahideen

Commanders

Soviet 40th Army:

Sergei Sokolov

ValentinVarennikov

Boris GromovDRA:

Babrak Karmal

MohammadNajibullah

Abdul RashidDostum

Abdul HaqJalaluddin HaqqaniGulbuddin HekmatyarIsmail KhanAhmad Shah Massoud

Strength

Soviet forces: 80,000-104,000

Afghan forces:329,000 (in 1989)[1]

45,000 (in 1983)250,000 (in 1986)[2]

Casualties and losses

Date

December27,1979Februa

ry15,1989

Result

Sovietwithdrawal;AfghanCivilWarcontinues.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_Afghanistanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_Afghanistanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_Afghanistanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_Afghanistanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_Afghanistanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_Afghanistanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Unionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Civil_War_(1989-1992)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Unionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Civil_War_(1989-1992)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Sokolov_(Marshal)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Sokolov_(Marshal)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentin_Varennikovhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentin_Varennikovhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentin_Varennikovhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Gromovhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babrak_Karmalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Najibullahhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Najibullahhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Rashid_Dostumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Rashid_Dostumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Haq_(Afghan_leader)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jalaluddin_Haqqanihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulbuddin_Hekmatyarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ismail_Khanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Shah_Massoudhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_27http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_27http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_27http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Civil_War_(1989-1992)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Civil_War_(1989-1992)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Civil_War_(1989-1992)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Civil_War_(1989-1992)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Civil_War_(1989-1992)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Civil_War_(1989-1992)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Afghanistan_1980.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Civil_War_(1989-1992)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Civil_War_(1989-1992)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Civil_War_(1989-1992)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Civil_War_(1989-1992)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Civil_War_(1989-1992)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Civil_War_(1989-1992)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Civil_War_(1989-1992)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Afghanistan_1980.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Afghanistan_1980.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Afghanistan_1980.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_the_Soviet_Union.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_the_Soviet_Union.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_the_Soviet_Union.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Jihad.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Jihad.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_the_Soviet_Union.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Afghanistan_1980.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Mujahideen_village.JPEGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Civil_War_(1989-1992)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Civil_War_(1989-1992)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Civil_War_(1989-1992)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_Afghanistanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_Afghanistanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_Afghanistanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_Afghanistanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_Afghanistanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_Afghanistanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Unionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Unionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Sokolov_(Marshal)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Sokolov_(Marshal)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentin_Varennikovhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentin_Varennikovhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentin_Varennikovhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Gromovhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Gromovhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Gromovhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babrak_Karmalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Najibullahhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Najibullahhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Rashid_Dostumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Rashid_Dostumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Haq_(Afghan_leader)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jalaluddin_Haqqanihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulbuddin_Hekmatyarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ismail_Khanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Shah_Massoudhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_27http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_27http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_27


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From 1979 till 1989 the Soviet War in Afghanistan was held until the Sovietswithdrew their forces in February of 1989. The USSR was supporting thePeoples Democratic Party ofAfghanistan (PDPA) againstthe mujahideen resistance.The mujahideen foundsupport from the USA, SaudiArabia and Pakistan. Whenthe Soviets withdrew their forces civil war continued in Afghanistan.

In 1985 when Mikhail Gorbachev rose to power he expressed a desire for thewar to be over after Soviet occupation of Afghanistan for six years. Thismeant that the PDPA had to be able to continue resistance of themujahideen fighters on their own before the Soviets could withdraw. So aplan was set to train PDPA soldiers in 1985-1987 before the Soviets left. In1988 the Soviet withdrawal began and continued until the last troops hadleft by February of 1989.

This withdrawal reduced the threat of a large scale conflict like that of WWII.


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The Berlin Wallcame down in 1989 after28 years and one day ofdividing East and West Germany. Germany was officially reunified in 1990.

The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 signified the fall of the Iron Curtainthat had descended across Europe almost forty years earlier. It was

representative of the joining of Eastern and Western Europe and the end ofthe friction that had defined the past forty years of the twentieth century.

The Wall was dismantled mainly bycivilians following the announcement by theEast German government that visits to West

Germany would be allowed. Thousandsof East Germans fled to West Germanyas parts of the Wall came down andthrough surrounding countries aspeaceful revolutions took place across

Eastern Europe. These countriesincluded Austria, Hungary andCzechoslovakia.

November 9th is considered theday the wall fell as thousands of EastBerliners flocked to the checkpoints inthe wall and overwhelmed the guards,eventually passing through to West Berlin and joining the celebratoryatmosphere 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 andultimately the end of the Cold War.

This map shows thesections West Germany wasdivided into before it became acountry in its own right. The yellowline down the middle of the maprepresents the Berlin Wall.

Ronald Reagan gives his


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The ultimate cause ofthe end of the ColdWar was the cost ofthe Arms Race and theresulting strain in

placed on theeconomies of the twoworld superpowers;mainly that of theUSSR, who fell intoeconomic stalemateand suffered aneconomic growth rateof close to zeropercent in 1985. Themilitary expenditureof the two countriesfell into the trillionsand left theeconomies of the USand USSR devastated. It was simply not economically viable, or possible tocontinue building the military and weapons at the previous rate.

The USSR spending has been estimated at trillions of dollars as well and wascrippling for their economy, although there are no official statisticsavailable. The CIA spent much of the twentieth century trying to estimatethe spending of the USSR.

Annual US Military Spending During theCold War: (Total of 13.1 Trillion US1996Dollars for Cold War Military Expenditure1948-96)Decade Spending

(Billions ofDollars)

1940s (45-49)

1819.5

1950s 3218.7

1960s 3149.2

1970s 4719.7

1980s (1980-91)

3913

Above: Stockpile of NuclearWeapons:

US vs. USSR 1945 - 2000
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:US_and_USSR_nuclear_stockpiles.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:US_and_USSR_nuclear_stockpiles.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:US_and_USSR_nuclear_stockpiles.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:US_and_USSR_nuclear_stockpiles.svg


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The Warsaw Pact was the binding pact between the eastern European statesand the Soviet Union signed in 1955that bonded the countries together forthe majority of the cold war. It wasessentially an agreement that statedthat were there to be a threat againstany of the member states the otherswould step in and help to defend thecountry. It is officially known in theeastern bloc countries as the treaty offriendship, cooperation and mutualassistance. (To the left is a map wherethe coloured nations representmembers of the Warsaw Pact.)

The Members:

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

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 ormore of the members were attacked. The treaty also stated that relationsamong the signatories were based on mutual non-interference in internalaffairs 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 ConsultativeCommittee, which was responsible for all non-military activities and theUnified Command of Pact Armed Forces, which had authority over the troopsand military of member states. The headquarters for the Pact were inWarsaw, 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 whereNATO is highlighted in blue and the Warsaw Pact in red.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People's_Republic_of_Albaniahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Soviet_splithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Soviet_splithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People's_Republic_of_Bulgariahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czechoslovak_Socialist_Republichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People's_Republic_of_Hungaryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People's_Republic_of_Polandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_Republic_of_Romaniahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Democratic_Republichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1956http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_East_Germany.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_the_Soviet_Union.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Romania_(1965-1989).svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Poland.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Hungary_1949-1956.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Czechoslovakia.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Bulgaria_1971-1990.pnghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Albania_1946.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People's_Republic_of_Albaniahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Soviet_splithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Soviet_splithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People's_Republic_of_Bulgariahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czechoslovak_Socialist_Republichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People's_Republic_of_Hungaryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People's_Republic_of_Polandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_Republic_of_Romaniahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Democratic_Republichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1956


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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/71/Eastern_bloc.png


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humanities - the 20th century - the cold war - student work 4

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