The end of the Cold War
Soviet control loosens, 1985–89
Gorbachev's reforms gave hope to people across Eastern Europe. When he made clear that the USSR would no longer send troops to keep communist governments in power, as it had in Hungary (1956) and Czechoslovakia (1968), those governments lost their protection.
The satellite states also had their own problems: poor economies, debts, and people who had never accepted Soviet control.
Significance: once people realised Soviet tanks would not come, the communist governments could not survive.
The revolutions of 1989
In 1989, communist rule collapsed across Eastern Europe, mostly peacefully:
| Country | What happened in 1989 |
|---|---|
| Poland | The trade union Solidarity won partly free elections, and a non-communist became prime minister |
| Hungary | It opened its border with Austria, so East Germans could escape to the West through it |
| East Germany | Huge protests; the border with West Berlin was opened in November |
| Czechoslovakia | The peaceful 'Velvet Revolution'; the writer Václav Havel became president |
| Romania | The dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu was overthrown and executed |
The USSR did not intervene.
Key terms
The fall of the Berlin Wall, 9 November 1989
By late 1989, thousands of East Germans were escaping to the West through Hungary and Czechoslovakia, and huge crowds were protesting in East German cities.
On the evening of 9 November 1989, an East German official announced, by mistake, that people could cross the border straight away. Crowds gathered at the Wall, and the guards opened the crossings. Berliners began to tear the Wall down.
Consequences: East Germany's communist government collapsed, and on 3 October 1990 Germany was .
Significance: the Wall had been the symbol of a divided Europe. Its fall was the clearest sign that the Cold War was ending.
Key terms
The end of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union, 1991
With communism gone from Eastern Europe, the had no purpose. It was formally ended in July 1991.
Inside the USSR, Gorbachev's reforms had not fixed the economy, and many of its republics, such as the Baltic states, demanded independence. In August 1991, communist hardliners tried to overthrow Gorbachev. The coup failed, but it left him weak.
The republics broke away one by one. On 25 December 1991, Gorbachev resigned, and by the end of December 1991 the Soviet Union no longer existed.
Significance: with no Soviet Union, the Cold War was over.
Key terms
Why the Cold War ended
Causes, taken together:
- : he chose not to use force to keep control.
- The Soviet economy: the USSR could no longer afford the arms race or its empire.
- Reagan: pressure through SDI and arms spending, and then a willingness to negotiate.
- The people of Eastern Europe, who took their chance in 1989.
Remember
1989 the revolutions and the Wall; 1990 German reunification; 1991 the end of the Warsaw Pact and the USSR.