1970’s - 1990’s Cold War

Detente

• After Khrushchev was ousted from power Leonid Brezhnev ruled as Premier from 1964-1982.

• His economic reforms continued the failure of communism, but he did adopt a policy of Détente (understanding) with the U.S. and Western Europe.

SALT Talks

• SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) limited kinds of weapons and limited the development of anti missile systems.

1979

• Two major events of the 20th century in one year!

• 1. The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan provoking a long war with serious long-term implications for several nations.

• 2. The Iranian Revolution and hostage crisis.

Iranian Revolution• In 1979 the Ayatollah Khomeini

came to power in Iran. Islamic revolutionaries seized the U.S. embassy in Iran taking more than 60 Americans hostage.

• They demanded that the U.S. return the former leader of Iran (the shah) for the release of the hostages.

• They were released after 444 days.

Ronald Reagan

• In 1980 a popular anti-communist was elected President of the U.S.

• He once called the USSR the “Evil Empire”, told Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall and planned to build a missile defense system he called “Star Wars”.

• Reagan is seen by many as the man who won the Cold War.

Mikhail Gorbachev

• Gorbachev became Secretary General of the Communist Party in 1985. The Soviet Economy was in crisis and Gorbachev proposed sweeping economic reforms.

• He signed a treaty eliminating most intermediate nuclear weapons.

• He began a policy noninterference in Eastern Europe. (Gorbachev Doctrine)

Fall of the Berlin Wall

• November 9th 1989 East Germany relaxed travel restrictions to the West and thousands of people gathered looking for a chance at freedom.

• By October of 1990, Germany reunited under a democratic government!

Glasnost

• Glasnost was Gorbachev’s policy of openness with the hopes of ending the secrecy of Soviet life and government.

• People were allowed to publicly be critical and openly have opposing viewpoints. Banned music, books, and art would now be allowed.

Perestroika• Perestroika (restructuring) of the

economy. Unlike political freedom economies take years to change.

• In August 1991 Gorbachev was ousted in a coup d ‘etat. Boris Yeltsin defied the takeover, kept the loyalty of the army and became a national hero. The people lost their fear of the Communist Party because it looked like a failure at even forced takeovers……

Boris Yeltsin

• Yeltsin declared Russia to be an independent state, not governed by the communists of the Soviet Union provoking a swift breakup of the USSR and the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

• In 2000 Vladimir Putin won election as President of Russia. http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/fall-of-soviet-union

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Sources

• World History -McDougal Littell 2003• Let’s Review: Global History and Geography 5th Edition