End of the Cold War, 1988-1991

Series of developments during this time

Shattered the Soviet bloc
Eastern Europe separated themselves from Soviet control, ousted their Communist leaders, and established themselves as fully independent states

Profoundly changed the structure of international relations Brought the Cold War to an end
1991- Communist hardliners failed to restore a Marxist-Leninist regime and the USSR collapsed and ceased to exist

Mikhail Gorbachev
October 1988- Gorbachev was selected as Soviet president
Became the official head of state Enhanced his powers immensely Removed or demoted his main opponents and critics Earned a resounding endorsement for perestroika by party and state officials Gained a freer hand in pursuing his reforms

George H. W. Bush
November 1988- Bush won the presidential election against Democrat Michael Dukakis
Seemed as if US foreign policy would have some continuity with the Reagan years, but Bush was less enamored with Gorbachev than Reagan and did not support SDI

Gorbachev Visits the US

Speech given in the UN revealed a momentous shift in the conduct of Soviet foreign policy
Advocated freedom of choice for all nations Declared that ideology had no place in international affairs and that strong nations must renounce the use of force in dealing with other countries Pledged that his nation would unilaterally reduce its overall military forces by 500,000 troops and 10,000 tanks

Soviet Domestic Realities

Gorbachev had lost the support of the people Standard of living continued to decline Reforms failed to take hold Calamitous harvest in 1988 added to Soviet economic woes Long-submerged ethnic rivalries and nationalist aspirations had begun to tear at the fabric of the enforced social discipline that held the USSR together A devastating earthquake hit Soviet Armenia and government efforts to deal with it proved inadequate and incompetent

Gorbachev vs. Bush

Gorbachev Hurried pace Failure of domestic policies seemed both to indicate he was running out of time and to encourage him to be ever bolder in his foreign policy initiatives Sought to force the pace of change Concessions could be seen as a rouse to the West Bush Determined to take his time and not let himself be rushed into tumultuous new departures on the international scene Tried to slow the pace of change Leary of Gorbachev because he was still a Marxist-Leninist

Bush Slows the Pace

With the help of newly appointed Secretary of State James Baker III, Bush began a lengthy review of US foreign policy during the Cold War
In order to avoid such disasters as JFKs Bay of Pigs and the Vienna Summit, and Carters poorly conceived arms control initiative

Bush kept a relatively low profile on the international scene to begin his presidency
Resisted efforts by Gorbachev to arrange an early meeting and barely responded to the Soviet leaders force reduction proposals

Gorbachev Steals the Limelight

Followed up his UN speech with a series of actions and proposals making it clear that he was the one taking the initiative in trying to change the world January 1989- laid out a plan for his military reduction which included eliminating 1/8th the force and reassuring the West that the tanks he was removing from Eastern Europe were modern- not outdated ones Within the month, Warsaw Pact member nations also promised force reductions February 1989- USSR completely withdrew from Afghanistan

Gorbachev Steals the Limelight

March 1989- new talks on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE)replaced the long-stalled mutual and balanced force reduction (MBFR)talks
Opened with Soviet foreign minister Shevardnadze unveiling some conciliatory new proposals

April 1989- Gorbachev flew to London to meet with PM Thatcher and complained about Bushs foot dragging May 1989- in the midst of US plans to modernize its Euro-based tactical nuclear weapons, Gorbachev declared unilateral elimination of 500 such weapons from Soviet Bloc stockpiles and offered to further reduce the number of tanks and artillery pieces deployed by the Warsaw Pact May 1989- Gorbachevs letter to Bush stated that the USSR had stopped supplying weapons to its Central American clients

Bush Finally Responds to the Soviet Challenge

Bush responded by agreeing to negotiate with the Soviets on tactical nuclear weapons and then by using the NATO meeting in Brussels as a stage from which to put forth his own bold plan for sweeping military cuts Bush proposal would have both superpowers reduce the number of troops they deployed in Europe to 275,000 and the number of combat aircraft to 15% below the current NATO level Both NATO and the USSR agreed this was a step in the right direction

Gorbachevs Socialist Summit in China

May 1989- Gorbachev met with Deng Xiaoping and other Chinese leaders in Beijing
Attempted rapprochement was balked at by the Chinese as Gorbachev called on them to allow greater democracy

June 1989- Tienanmen Square Massacre

Two weeks after Gorbachevs visit Student protesters were crushed (literally by tanks) during a pro-democracy rally

Democracy Takes Hold in Poland

June 1989- Poland held peaceful, free elections which resulted in the overwhelming defeat of the Communist leaders Set in motion a chain of events that was destined to bring down Communist rulers throughout the Soviet bloc

Gorbachev Refutes the Brezhnev Doctrine

December 1988- Gorbachevs UN speech suggested the USSR would no longer use military force to achieve its foreign policy goals
Was he refuting the Brezhnev Doctrine?

March 1989- Kremlin spokesperson Gennadii Gerasimov made it clear when he announced that each Eastern European nation had the right to decide its own fate These promises would be proved out by Soviet reaction to major upcoming political events in Poland and Hungary

Hungary
1988- Janos Kadar stepped down after 32 years in power Karoly Grosz took control of the government and set out to emulate Gorbachev with his own version of glasnost Opened up Hungarian society Brought reformers into power Instituted democratic procedures Announced constitutional changes designed to transform Hungary into a multiparty state and then scheduled free elections for the coming year Opened up their borders to the West by tearing down the barbed-wire fences between them and Austria

Poland
1981- General Wojciech Jaruzelski declared martial law and banned the Solidarity trade union movement 1987- Jaruzelski initiated perestroika-type reform for the weak economic situation
Heavily opposed by the Solidarity movement

1988- Lech Walesa emerges as the clear leader of the Solidarity movement February 1989- Jaruzelski meets with Walesa to discuss the deteriorating economic situation April 1989- Solidarity union was legalized and sweeping political changes occurred June 1989- free elections were held and a coalition government was created with Tadeusz Mazowiecki as PM and Jaruzelski as president

East Germany
1989- East Germans were fed up with Erich Honeckers regime Many East Germans escaped to recently-democratized Hungary where they were able to then escape to the West
Hungary attempted to block East Germans from coming through their country, but by September 1989, too many of them were coming through to stop them

With Gorbachevs permission, Hungary began to allow East Germans to travel through their country to the West East Germany then outlawed travel to Hungary and thousands of East Germans fled to Prague where they crammed into the West German embassy and were eventually allowed to travel to the West after awkward negotiations between Czechoslovakia and East Germany

East Germany
Some East Germans chose to stay and fight September 1989- antigovernment rallies were initiated in Leipzig by a group called New Forum who called for democratic reform
The movement spread to other East German cities

East German government began to contemplate using massive force to quell the protests October 1989- Gorbachev arrives in East Berlin to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the GDR
He extolled the GDR government for their achievements, but privately urged them to allow for democratic reform and claimed that the USSR would not help to put down the protests

East Germany
November 1989- Shortly after Gorbachev left, another mass demonstration occurred in Leipzig (100,000 strong) Within a week, an ailing Honecker was replaced by Egon Krenz as party leader
Flew to Moscow for powwow with Gorbachev who suggested allowing for a pluralistic society

Krenz returned to East Germany and announced sweeping reforms for the party and government, jettisoned unpopular officials, called for free elections, and lifted almost all restrictions on travel to the West Within hours, hundreds of thousands of Berliners thronged to the Berlin Wall where an impromptu celebration broke out and the people began to dismantle the wall Now in both Germanies, massive support arose for reunification Krenz and his associates were forced to step down as the two Germanies prepared for elections in March 1990

Bulgaria
Todor Zhivkov (Communist dictator since 1954) had become an embarrassment to his supporters as he attempted to secure the advancement of his incompetent son November 1989- Foreign Minister Petur Mladenov replaced Zhivkov as general secretary in a carefully conceived palace revolt Mladenov then moved quickly to reform his country and party Free elections were to be held in June 1990

Czechoslovakia
October 1989- a large demonstration (celebrating the 71st anniversary of Czechoslovakia) in Prague was broken up by the police November 1989- massive demonstration in the streets of Prague called for democratic reform Communist regime leaders Gustav Husak and Milos Jakes responded with brutal force Grassroots reform movement (Civic Forum) grew larger and held more demonstrations in the face of the brutality
Leaders of the movement included dissident playwright Vaclav Havel and Prague Spring (1968) participant Alexander Dubcek

November 1989- Jakes and other Communist leaders stepped down December 1989- Husak stepped down By the end of the year a new government had been created
Made up mostly of non-Communists with Havel serving as president and Dubcek as head of the national assembly

Whole incident is known as the Velvet Revolution

Romania
Nicolae Ceausescu had ruled over Romania since 1965 with an iron fist
Created a Stalin-like cult of personality

Rejected Gorbachevs appeal for reforms As Communist leaders and Communism was falling all around him in late 1989, he clung to power December 1989- antigovernment protests broke out in Timisoara that resulted in a bloody clash with the police Rioting and demonstrations spread to other Romanian cities Ceausescu attempted to quell the demonstrators by giving a speech in Bucharest, but was shouted down by the crowd Ceausescu then called in the military to put down the riots, but they refused to fire on the people and joined in the demonstration Ceausescu and his wife attempted to flee the nation, but were caught, put on trial, and publicly executed by a firing squad on TV A National Salvation Front was established and Ion Iliescu emerged as the acting head of state

Gorbachev-Bush Summit, 12/2-3/89

Location- aboard a Soviet ship on the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Malta Gorbachev came looking for US aid because his economic reforms were failing and his success hinged on his ability to improve the living conditions of the Soviet people Bush came armed with a huge list of specific proposals on arms control and initiatives designed to help the Soviet economy Both agreed to accelerate START and CFE talks with hopes of signing these within the year (1990)

Reunification of Germany
Late 1989- West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl proposed a plan for unification which rekindled fear in neighboring countries including Russia (they were responsible for WWI and WWII you know!) Poland feared territorial gains would be lost to a unified Germany Western governments feared a powerful, unified Germany Bush proposed a prudent, gradual process that would be overseen by the WWII Allies
Known as the two + four framework (the two Germanies and the four supervising powers)

Reunification of Germany
March 1990- East Germans voted for candidates who favored a unified Germany
Creation of a conservative coalition linked with West German Chancellor Kohl

May 1990- East and West Germany agreed to integrate their economic and monetary systems which would take place on July 1 One major obstacle remained- NATO vs. Warsaw Pact issues Kohl promised that Germany would remain in the Western alliance USSR clung to its traditional stance favoring a neutral, demilitarized Germany

Reunification of Germany
West Germany bought off the Soviets by making major economic concessions in return for Moscows acquiescence
Agreed to fulfill all of East Germanys financial obligations toward the USSR Granted the Soviets an enormous bank credit of five billion DM Agreed to cut the size of their army Helped pay the cost of removing Soviet troops from East Germany

Reunification of Germany
July 1990- Chancellor Kohl visited Moscow and gained Gorbachevs assurance that he would not block unification and that Germany could remain in NATO September 1990- two + four treaty was signed which ended the rights of the occupying powers and gave the Germans the permission to unite October 1990- GDR ceased to exist and Germany was united once again

Superpowers Unite!
May 1990- Gorbachev flew to the US to meet with Bush
Although Gorbachev was unpopular at home, he was welcomed as a hero by the American people

Bush and Gorbachev went to Camp David where they casually discussed wideranging matters of global concern Slow progress in the START negotiations precluded a major arms agreement at this time, but they did sign statements outlining the framework for a comprehensive accord and advocated even greater cuts in the arsenals of both sides They signed a treaty calling for the cessation of chemical weapons production and reduction of existing stockpiles They signed a new commercial agreement by which the US would at last grant most-favored nation trading status to the USSR Gorbachev then flew to Minneapolis and San Francisco to garner interest in the Soviet economy by US businesses June 1990- NATO issued the London Declaration which proclaimed that Europe had entered an new, promising era and declared that the Cold War was over

Persian Gulf War

August 1990- Saddam Hussein and Iraq invaded their tiny oil-producing neighbor Kuwait
Because of debt incurred during the 8-year war with Iran, Iraq had acquired an $80 million debt An oil glut on the world market had reduced oil to $10 per barrel OPEC attempted to cut production and increase prices Hussein persuaded Kuwait to join the oil production cuts and price increases and even some small territorial concessions Hussein then decided that he would invade the nation as he believed that the superpowers would not intercede Iraq gained control of Kuwait in one day and controlled 21% if the worlds oil supply

Persian Gulf War

Bush amassed a military build up in the Persian Gulf to defend Saudi Arabia from invasion Bush persuaded the UN to isolate Iraq and imposed economic sanctions to force them out of Kuwait
Soviets supported this measure as Bush and Gorbachev met in Helsinki to discuss the crisis- agreeing to work together to secure Iraqi withdrawal

Bush then doubled the number of US troops in the Persian Gulf to 500,000 and converted the force to an offensive one UN passed Resolution 660 which called for Iraqi withdrawal no later than January 15, 1991
Gorbachev became uneasy about the situation and attempted to broker a peace between the US and its principal client state in the region, but to no avail as he lacked the leverage to bring the two combatants together

Persian Gulf War

January 16, 1991- the US invaded Iraq and within six weeks Kuwait was liberated and much of Iraq was destroyed Result- significant alteration of the balance of power in the Middle East The US moved quickly to implement peace talks between the Arab states and Israel Soviet presence in the Persian Gulf was obliterated because of their own internal unrest and their newfound support of the US

End of the Cold War

November 1990- an agreement to reduce conventional forces in Europe was signed by the members of NATO and the Warsaw Pact
The CFE Treaty committed both sides to substantial reductions in the numbers of troops, tanks, and aircraft deployed on the European continent and marked the culmination of many months of difficult negotiations and the realization of a dream that had begun with the original MBFR talks in 1973

July 1, 1991- the Warsaw Pact was formally dissolved

Marked the end of the very embodiment and symbol of Communist military might during the Cold War

End of the Cold War

Summer 1991- START became a reality
Agreement was reached to reduce strategic arms and reverse the nuclear arms race by both superpowers

July 1991- Bush traveled to Moscow for yet another summit in which the two presidents signed the historic START treaty
Soviets would reduce their stockpiles by within seven years The US agreed to reduce theirs by 1/3 within the same amount of time

The arms race was effectively over after four decades of competition among the superpowers which had struck fear in the citizens of the world Summer 1991- little doubt that the Cold War itself was over
All its major components had been either eliminated or resolved
Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe The German Question Superpower contest for influence in the Third World The arms race