The End of an Era WHAP/Napp
“Under U.S. President Ronald Reagan and the Soviet General Leonid Brezhnev, the rhetoric of the Cold War remained intense. Massive new U.S. investment in armaments, including a space-based missile protection system that never became operational, placed heavy burdens on the Soviet economy, which was unable to absorb the cost of developing similar weapons. Soviet economic problems were systemic; shortages of food, consumer goods, and housing were an ongoing part of Soviet life. Obsolete industrial plants and centralized planning that shifted initiative and responsiveness to market demand led to a declining standard of living relative to the West. Government bureaucrats and Communist Party favorites received special privileges, including permission to shop in stores stocked with Western goods, but the average citizen faced long lines and waiting lists for goods. Soviet citizens contrasted their lot with the free and prosperous life of the West depicted in the increasingly accessible Western media. The arbitrariness of the bureaucracy, the cynical manipulation of information, and deprivation created a generalized crisis in morale.
Despite the unpopularity of the war in Afghanistan and growing discontent, Brezhnev refused to modify his rigid and unsuccessful policies. But he was unable to contain an underground current of protest. In a series of powerful books, the writer Alexander Solzhenitzyn castigated the Soviet system and particularly the Stalinist prison camps. He won a Nobel Prize in literature but was charged with treason and expelled from the country in 1974. Self-published underground writings (samizdat) by critics of the regime circulated widely despite government efforts to suppress them. The physicist Andrei Sakharov and his wife Yelena Bonner protested the nuclear arms race and human rights violations and were condemned to banishment within the country. Some Jewish dissidents spoke out against anti-Semitism, and more left for Israel and the United States.
By the time Mikhail Gorbachev took up the reins of the Soviet government in 1985, weariness with war in Afghanistan, economic decay, and vocal protest had reached critical levels. Casting aside Brezhnev’s hard line, Gorbachev authorized major reforms in an attempt to stave off total collapse. His policy of openness (glasnost) permitted criticism of the government and the Communist Party. His policy of perestroika (‘restructuring’) was an attempt to address long-suppressed economic problems by moving away from central state planning toward a more open economic system. In 1989 he ended the war in Afghanistan which had cost many lives and much money.” ~The Earth and Its Peoples
Main Points of Passage:
Notes:I. The Collapse of Communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe
A. Collapse of communism in Soviet Union and Eastern Europe (1989-1991)
B. End of Cold Waràdiplomatic negotiation, U.S.A.’s widening lead in arms race, increased unrest in Eastern Europe, internal disintegration of U.S.S.R.
C. Communism in China, Cuba, North Korea, Vietnam but greatly diminished
II. 1980s in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe
A. Détente had come to an end in 1979, with USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan
B. Another point of tension was the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua (1979)
C. Soviets supported SandinistasàU.S. sponsored their enemies, the Contras
D. Latest arms treatyàSALT II (1979), went unratified
E. USSRàstagnationàShortages of consumer goods were extreme
F. War in Afghanistan was a disappointing failure
G. Dissident movement – during 1970s – grew larger, louder, more determined
H. Alexander Solzhenitsyn and physicist Andrei Sakharov and Elena Bonner
I. Eastern bloc became dangerously restless
J. In Poland, shortages and labor disputes led to àtrade unionàSolidarity
K. At first, Solidarity’s goalàimprove conditions of Poland’s working classà under leadership of Lech Walesa, Solidarity became a political movement
L. Walesa was arrested, and Solidarity was driven undergroundàbut Solidarity made it increasingly difficult for USSR to maintain control
III. China: More Fortunate
A. Mao’s death in 1976 led to great changes
B. 1978, after power struggle, Deng Xiaoping came to power in China, having defeated so-called Gang of Four (which included Mao’s widow, Jiang Qing)
C. Deng instituted a “four modernizations” program, focusing on industry, agriculture, technology, and national defense
D. Commented whether a cat is black or white no difference, must catch mice
E. Opposition to Mao’s anticapitalism, Deng allowed limited free-market
F. China experienced a fabulous economic growth throughout the 1980s
G. But when student members of pro-democracy movement gathered at Tiananmen Square in 1989, Deng order the army in to stop the protests
IV. Mikhail Gorbachev (In Office: 1985 – 1991)
A. Deadly accident at the nuclear reactor in Chernobyl, Ukraine, in 1986
B. The Afghan War raged on
C. Gorbachev’s responseàattempt a thorough reform of the Soviet system
D. Perestroika (“restructuring”), tried to strengthen the Soviet economy
E. Allowed limited free enterprise: loosened rules regarding private property
F. Gorbachev allowed political and cultural liberalization at the same time
G. Glasnost (“openness”) provided for greater freedom of the press and media
H. Hope that greater freedoms, greater motivation in economic sphere
I. Gorbachev began to loosen the Soviet Union’s grip on Eastern Europe
J. Stance toward Eastern Europe contributed to a Nobel Peace Prize in 1990
K. Gorbachev informed East European communist leaders that the Soviet Union would not go to the financial expense of supporting them militarily
L. Solidarity was allowed to take part in nationwide elections in 1989, winning a huge victory and bringing a noncommunist leadership to power
M. Hungarian Communist Party voted itself out of existence
N. November 1989 was the great climax
O. In Czechoslovakia’s “Velvet Revolution,” Vaclav Havel’s dissident movement, Civic Forum, swept to power
P. East German Communist Party collapsed
Q. Romania’s communist leader, Nicolae Ceausescu, was executed
R. In October 1990, the map of Europe would be dramatically redrawn by the unification of Germany
S. Liberal politicians, such as Boris Yeltsin, began to oppose Gorbachev, calling for greater reforms and a complete break with communism
T. On other side, in August 1991, the hard-line communists struck
U. Staged a three-day coup, placing Gorbachev under house arrest
V. Thanks to popular resistance and bold leadership of Boris Yeltsinà Gorbachev was brought back to power, but only for a few months
W. Unlike in Eastern Europe, where “revolution from below” spurred collapse, in the USSR it was the political leaders who acted as architects of demise
X. On December 25, 1991, Gorbachev resigned as leader of the Soviet Unionà At the same time, he declared an end to the USSR itself
Complete the Review Quilt Below (Place Key Points in Each Box):
Mikhail Gorbachev: / Glasnost: / Perestroika: / Soviets and Afghanistan:Solidarity: / Lech Walesa: / Gorbachev and Eastern Europe: / End of Cold War:
Deng Xiaoping: / “Four Modernizations”: / Tiananmen Square: / Vaclav Havel:
Boris Yeltsin: / 1989: / 1991: / Free Market Reforms:
Questions:
1. How did the demise of the communist regimes in Eastern Europe tend to differ from the collapse of the USSR?(A) In most East European countries, revolutions were sparked by popular protest, whereas in the USSR, political elites largely caused the collapse.
(B) In the USSR, popular uprisings instigated the ultimate collapse, whereas in Eastern Europe, political leaders decided to change the form of government.
(C) The USSR collapsed purely for economic reasons, whereas in Eastern Europe, communist regimes collapsed mainly as a result of ethnic conflict.
(E) East European regimes collapsed as a result of economic exhaustion, whereas the USSR's breakdown was caused by ethnic warfare.
(E) The reasons for Soviet and East European collapse differed very little.
2. Which Soviet leader was a leading force in imposing economic, diplomatic, and political reforms after 1985 that contributed directly to the demise of Soviet socialism?
(A) Nikolay Bukharin
(B) Leonid Brezhnev
(C) Mikhail Gorbachev
(D) Nikita Khrushchev
(E) Lavrenty Beria
3. Which independent developing-country regime entered what is best termed as a dependent economic relationship with the Soviet Union that lasted until the collapse of the USSR in the early 1990s?
(A) Ghana
(B) Egypt
(C) India
(D) Zaire (Congo)
(E) Cuba / 4. The "Great Revolution for a Proletarian Culture" in China is best described as
(A) A massive Deng Xiaoping-era program for technical training of peasants in industrial techniques
(B) The strategic retreat during the 1930s led by Mao Zedong from southern China to base areas to the north and west
(C) A 1960s-era campaign where mass mobilizations of youth were employed to target and repress "capitalist roaders" in positions of authority and continue the violent revolutionary struggle for a communist society
(D) Student demonstrations for political reform in 1989 brutally suppressed by Chinese authorities
(E) Present-day migration of rural workers into industrializing zones along the coast to labor in factories producing consumer goods for export
5. What was the Truman Doctrine?
(A) Truman's commitment to lend aid to countries threatened by the communist takeover
(B) Truman's promise that the United States would go to war to protect any nation from communist takeover
(C) Truman's oath to protect Poland from absorption into the Soviet bloc
(D) Truman's declaration of war on North Korea
(E) Truman's public refusal ever to use atomic weapons after Hiroshima and Nagasaki
6. A Geneva peace conference regarding Vietnam in 1954 determined
(A) That France had no further jurisdiction in Vietnam
(B) That Vietnam would temporarily be divided at the 17th parallel
(C) All of the above