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Account for the end of the cold war and the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe in 1989?
The term ‘cold war’ refers to the hostile relations between the Soviet Union and the United States of America between 1945-1989. ... There was intense political and military rivalry between the two superpowers that always carried the threat of nuclear war. It was an “ideological conflict between capitalism and communism” which would eventually result in the collapse of communism and the end of the cold war.
To account for the end of the cold war and the fall of communism in Eastern Europe we first need to look at the Soviet Union itself and the structural problems within the Soviet system. I will look at the accession to power of Mikhail Gorbachev, his policies and reforms and the effects that these would have on the people of Eastern Europe. In the final part of the essay I will look at the external factors which may have been responsible for the end of the cold war and conclude by presenting my own viewpoint. ... “He was the first leader of the party to have reached maturity after the Second World War. ... ”
These political and economic changes undertaken by Gorbachev along with the idea of Glasnost would not only affect the people of the Soviet Union but would have extreme effects on the people of Eastern Europe. However, it is extremely important to realise that the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe was not solely down to Gorbachev and his reforms, however important they may have been. There were many sources off opposition in Eastern Europe to communist rule before Gorbachev came to office. It would be this opposition combined with Gorbachev’s reforms that would result in the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe.
Some of the first popular uprisings against communist rule in Eastern Europe came in Hungary in 1956 and in Czechoslovakia in 1968. ...
As the Soviet Union was experiencing fundamental policy changes Gorbachev also showed a willingness to experiment with policy towards Eastern European states. ... They advised Gorbachev that “Eastern Europe was no longer a strategic necessity and that it was a costly economic burden.”
Possibly the most significant change that Gorbachev initiated with relation to Eastern Europe was the abandonment of the principle of limited sovereignty mentioned earlier as the principle used to justify the crushing of the Czech revolt in 1968. Also known as the Brezhnev doctrine, its abandonment was so important as it gave the people of Eastern Europe the freedom to choose their social system at their own discretion as the threat of Soviet military intervention had been taken away. ... ” Another major factor for Gorbachev’s abandonment of the Brezhnev doctrine was that he recognised that suppression of change in Eastern Europe would have been totally inconsistent with the domestic reforms he was trying to put in place in the Soviet Union.
Approximate Word count = 2289
Approximate Pages = 9.2
(250 words per page double spaced)
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