Main Idea

1. 33.5 – Cold War Thaws • Main Idea • Essential Question How did the end of the Cold War change international relations around the world?

2. Objectives

3. Setting the Stage • In the postwar years, the Soviet Union kept a firm grip on its satellite countries (Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Albania and East Germany) in Eastern Europe. • One Eastern European country had broken away (Yugoslavia) but since they remained Communists the Soviets did not interfere • Soviet Union did not allow these countries to direct or develop their own economies. Instead in insisted that they develop industries to meet Soviet needs. • Policies greatly slowed Eastern Europe’s recovery from the damages of WWII

4. De-Stalinization • Joseph Stalin died on March 5, 1953, transitioning power to Nikita Khrushchev, he denounced Stalin’s actions against loyal Soviet citizens • Nikita Khrushchev – • He called for a de-escalation of tension with US, and for peaceful competition with capitalist states • De-Stalinization– • Purging of the country of Stalin’s memory, workers destroyed monuments of the former dictator and reburied his body outside of the Kremlin wall

5. Unrest in Hungary • New outlook for USSR did not change life in the satellite countries. Oct 1956, Hungarian army joined with protestors to overthrow Soviet controlled government • Popular and liberal Hungarian Communist leader Imre Nagy formed a new government • Promised free elections and demanded the Soviet troops leave Hungary • In response Soviets tanks rolled into Budapest (Hungary’s capital) • Though the protestors armed themselves they were not match for the Soviet tanks • Pro-Soviet leaders were put in place and Nagy was executed

6. Revolt in Czechoslovakia • Following the Cuban Missile Crisis Khrushchev lost support in the Communist Party and was removed from office and replaced with Leonid Brezhnev • Leonid Brezhnev – • Tenure as leader criticized for marking the beginning of economic and social stagnation • Czech Communist leader Alexander Dubček loosened controls on censorship in Czechoslovakia. Led to a period of reform • Prague Spring –

7. Split with China • In 1950 Mao and Stalin signed a treaty of friendship. Soviets however believed the Chinese would follow Soviet leadership in world affairs • As Chinese grew more confident they resented being the shadow of the Soviets • They began spreading their own version of Communism in Africa and East Asia • To punish China for noncompliance, the Soviets refused to share nuclear secrets. The following year they ended technological aid. • Eventually the two nations parted ways. occasionally fighting broke out along their common border • After repeated incidents, the two neighbors maintained a fragile peace

8. What Incidents Prevented the US and the USSR from Peaceful Relations?

9. From Brinksmanship to Détente • US and USSR had a stressful relationship throughout the 60s, bridging Presidencies of JFK and Lyndon B. Johnson • Vietnam raised tension with the USSR, and caused widespread protest across the US. These issues signaled a shift in US foreign policy • Détente– • Philosophy grew from Bismark’sRealpolitik • Though the US still followed the policy of containment they would work with the Soviets to reduce tensions

10. Nixon Visits Communist Superpowers • Richard Nixon – • Nixon became the 1st US President to visit Communist China. Three months later Nixon went to the USSR in Feb 1972 • Began series of meetings aimed at reducing the levels of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) • SALT (Strategic Arms Limitations Talks) – • Determined number of submarine-launched missiles each country could have. 33 countries signed the treaty, known as the Helsinki Accords

11. Détente Cools • Harsh treatment of protestors in the Soviet satellites threatened additional SALT meetings • June 1979, US president Carter and Soviet premier Brezhnev signed the SALT II treaty but the treaty was rejected by the US Congress when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan • Ronald Reagan – • Announced a program called Strategic Defense Initiative aimed at protecting US against enemy missiles. The program was called Star Wars after the movie but was never put into effect

12. Gorbachev Moves Towards Democracy • After Brezhnev’s death, turmoil rocked USSR. New leadership and a new direction presented itself in Mikhail Gorbachev • Mikhail Gorbachev – • Past leaders had created a totalitarian state that rewarded silence and discouraged individuals from acting on their own. As a result, Soviet society rarely changed and their economic ideas stagnated. • Glasnost –

13. Reforming Economic and Politics • The new openness allowed Soviet citizens to complain about economic problems such as food shortages and long lines. USSR’s inefficient system of central planning was to blame • Party officials told farmers what to produce, how much to produce and what to charge • Because individuals could not make more money by producing extra crops, there was no incentive to increase efficiency • Perestroika – • The goal was not to end command economy, rather to make socialism work more efficiently to better meet the needs of Soviet consumers. • Process of implementing perestroika exacerbated already existing politicaland economic tensions within USSR and no doubt helped to further nationalism in the constituent republics.

14. Soviet Union Faces Turmoil • Powerful forces for democracy building within USSR, Gorbachev decided to embrace reform • Ethnic tensions erupted in satellites, as majority ethnicities were controlled by minority Russian officials. As reforms loosened central control, unrest spread from one country to the next, demanding self-rule • Baltic state of Lithuania declared independence from USSR, Gorbachev feared other countries would do the same if he didn’t make an example out of them. Soldiers fired at unarmed citizens protesting, killing 14 and wounding hundreds. • Assault on Lithuania and the slow economic progress hurt Gorbachev’s popularity. Party leaders wanted him to resign so that hardline policies could be reinstated • Gorbachev was detained by party officials at his vacation him on the Black Sea

15. What contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union

16. End of the Soviet Union • Pro-reform Russians looked to Boris Yeltsin, a member of Parliament and the former Mayor of Moscow for leadership • Boris Yeltsin – • He stared down Soviet tanks entering Moscow, climbing on top of one and declaring the actions of the Communist Party illegal • As a result of the failed Coup, all 15 satellites declared independence, leading to the dissolution of the Soviet Union • Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS was formed to maintain government over a dramatically changing Russian landscape

18. Fall of the Berlin Wall • Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Hungary won independence and replaced their Communist puppet leaders with democratically elected ones • East Germans used the turmoil in Hungary to find an escape route to wealthier, more democratic West Germany. As a result, East German officials closed the country’s borders • East Germany remained tightly controlled by Communists, resistant to reform. Protests erupted, demanding free travel and a free elections. • Fall of the Berlin Wall -