Y 13s – End of Cold War

Communism in Crisis 1976 – 1989 Problems of

Brezhnev Era Gorbachev's Aims

and Policies Consequences of

Gorby's policies – 1989

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According to Melvyn Leffler, the personal dynamic between Reagan and Gorbachev was hugely significant

Paper 1 – Source-based responseCommunism in Crisis 1976 – 1989 Problems of

Brezhnev Era Gorbachev's Aims

and Policies Consequences of

Gorby's policies – 1989

Problems of the Brezhnev Era● Brezhnev● Took power in 1964● Gradually established

dominance● Hardliners almost

rehabilitated Stalin● Economy stalled:● Brezhnev stagnation

Economic Problems

● No Reforms● 1973: Oil Price Boom

1980s prices fell● 1979 Afghanistan War

was expensive● Kosygin's half-hearted

reforms had failed● Warsaw Pact

Failed coup – Moscow 1991

Political Problems● Samitzat● Explicit dissidents● Helsinki Accords● Jewish refuseniks● Russian nationalists

“cadre stability”● many Russian

nationalists had secret support in highest ranks of CPSU

Choose one domestic and foreign

problems of the Brezhnev era: economic and political stagnation;

Afghanistan (Abhinav, Yahya, & Charlie)

Gorbachev and his aims/policies (glasnost and perestroika) (Matty, Tian, Ing)

consequences of Gorbachev’s policies for Eastern European reform movements:

Poland—the role of Solidarity; (Pitchaya)

Czechoslovakia—the Velvet Revolution;

fall of the Berlin Wall (Aakriti, Becky & Wook)

Gorby

consequences of Gorbachev’s policies for the Soviet state

Glasnost unleashed a torrent of criticism, both against the Party and within the Party

Perestroika exposed the weaknesses of central planning and the Soviet economy

Gorbachev had not anticipated the torrent of criticsm, especially from Russian nationalists

Historians to consider Melvyn Leffler (UVa)

attributes signficance to the relationship between Gorbachev and Reaga, and considers Gorbachev the man primarily responsible for ending the Cold War

Archie Brown (Oxford) points to the inherent instability opf the Communist system and emphasizes the importance of Yeltsin and Russian nationalists

John Merriman (Yale) likes Gorbachev but attributes significance to the masses of Eastern Europeans fed up with communism, particularly in Poland

Jack Matlock (former US ambassador to USSR) says “Kennan got it right” and credits Reagan

“The Baltic Chain”