APWH Unit 8.8

Unit 8.8 — End of the Cold War（1900–Present）

Essential Question:
What caused the end of the Cold War?

One-glance Review

• Détente → A temporary relaxation of Cold War tensions in the 1970s

• SALT → Limited nuclear buildup between the United States and the Soviet Union

• Soviet-Afghan War → Weakened the Soviet Union economically and politically

• Ronald Reagan and SDI → Renewed Cold War tensions in the 1980s

• Mikhail Gorbachev → Introduced Perestroika and Glasnost

• INF Treaty → Reduced intermediate-range nuclear weapons

• Eastern Europe → Democratic reform movements spread in 1989

• Soviet Union → Collapsed in 1991, ending the Cold War

Core Ideas

Reform, Pressure, and Collapse

• The Cold War ended because of a combination of:

  • arms-control diplomacy(军备控制外交)

  • economic weakness in the Soviet Union

  • costly military pressure

  • reform movements in Eastern Europe

  • political and economic reforms under Mikhail Gorbachev

• Although tensions sometimes eased, rivalry between the superpowers continued until the Soviet system itself began to weaken.

• In the end, the Soviet Union could no longer sustain:

  • its centralized economy(中央集权经济)

  • its military commitments

  • its control over Eastern Europe

The end of the Cold War was caused not by one event alone, but by long-term Soviet weakness, reform, and the decline of communist control.

KEY TERMS BY THEME

GOVERNMENT: Global

• Ronald Reagan

• Mikhail Gorbachev

• Détente

• SALT

• Perestroika

• Glasnost

• INF Treaty

TECHNOLOGY: Military

• SDI

WAR AND CONFLICT

• Soviet-Afghan War

• Prague Spring

• Berlin Wall

• Warsaw Pact

ECONOMY / POLITICS

• Free Enterprise

• Centralized Economy

• Democratic Reform Movements

1. The Final Decades of the Cold War

Ongoing Rivalry

• During the final decades of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union continued to distrust one another.

• Even though diplomacy continued at times, both sides still supported opposing sides in conflicts around the world through proxy wars(代理人战争).

• These conflicts reflected the deeper ideological struggle between:

  • U.S. capitalism

  • Soviet communism

Importance of Arms Control

• Agreements to limit nuclear weapons became an important step toward ending the Cold War.

• However, the path toward peace was uneven and often interrupted by renewed tensions.

2. Détente and the Return of Tension

What Was Détente?

• Détente was a relaxation of strained relations between nations（国家间紧张关系的缓和）.

• After major crises in the 1960s, such as:

  • the Bay of Pigs

  • the Cuban Missile Crisis

  the United States and Soviet Union entered a period of improved relations in the 1970s.

SALT and Nixon’s Diplomacy

• In 1972, President Richard Nixon visited the Soviet Union.

• Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev signed the SALT

• SALT aimed to freeze the number of intercontinental ballistic missiles (洲际弹道导弹) each side could keep.

• Nixon also visited China in 1972, using diplomacy to balance relations between the two communist powers.

Why Both Sides Wanted Détente

Soviet Problems

• The Soviet Union faced serious difficulties:

  • economic crisis(经济危机)

  • lack of growth

  • limited foreign trade

  • inefficient central controls

  • unrest in Eastern Europe

• Soviet leaders also faced challenges from:

  • the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia

  • border tensions with China

American Problems

• The United States was also under pressure because of:

  • the costly and unpopular Vietnam War

  • economic troubles at home

• Better relations with China might help the U.S. economically and strategically.

The End of Détente

• The United States sold grain to the Soviet Union during this period, helping both American farmers and Soviet consumers.

• But after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979, President Jimmy Carter stopped grain shipments.

• This marked the end of Détente.

3. Soviet-Afghan War

Why the Soviets Invaded

• The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to support that country’s communist government against Muslim fighters.

• The war became long, destructive, and costly.

Effects of the War

• Huge numbers of Afghan civilians died.

• Millions fled to Pakistan and Iran.

• Many others became homeless inside Afghanistan.

• The Soviet army struggled to defeat guerrilla groups(游击队) in Afghanistan’s rough terrain.

Why It Mattered

• The war put severe pressure on the Soviet Union’s already weak economy.

• It also damaged Soviet legitimacy(合法性).

• Soviet leadership became more vulnerable to reform.

• Even though the Soviet Union did not collapse immediately, the war significantly weakened it.

Soviet-Afghan War exposed the limits of Soviet military power and deepened the weaknesses of the Soviet system.

4. Ronald Reagan, SDI, and Renewed Cold War Tension

Reagan’s Hardline Policy

• During the presidency of Ronald Reagan (1981–1989), Cold War tensions increased again.

• Reagan called the Soviet Union the “evil empire”

• He sent military aid and weapons to Afghan fighters resisting the Soviets.

Nuclear Danger

• By the early 1980s, the two superpowers had more than 12,000 nuclear missiles

• A nuclear exchange would not only destroy both superpowers, but much of the world as well.

SDI

• Reagan proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)

• Critics nicknamed it “Star Wars”

• It was supposed to destroy Soviet nuclear missiles before they hit the United States or its allies.

Soviet Reaction

• The Soviets viewed SDI as the start of an arms race in space（太空军备竞赛）

• Soviet moderates worried that competing with the United States in this way would worsen long-term economic problems.

• The plan also strengthened Soviet conservatives who opposed reform.

5. Mikhail Gorbachev and the Thaw

A New Soviet Leader

• In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev came to power.

• He was more progressive than earlier Soviet leaders.

• He tried to reform the Soviet system rather than preserve it unchanged.

Perestroika and Glasnost

Perestroika

• Perestroika was an effort to restructure the Soviet economy.

• It allowed limited elements of Free Enterprise

• It aimed to improve the failing Soviet economic system.

Glasnost

• Glasnost was a policy of opening Soviet society and politics.

• It gave people greater freedom of expression and political participation.

Reagan and Gorbachev

• Reagan and Gorbachev met three times in two years.

• They developed a working relationship despite difficult negotiations.

• Their diplomacy helped lower Cold War tensions.

6. INF Treaty and Nuclear De-escalation

INF Treaty

• In 1987, the United States and Soviet Union agreed to a new nuclear arms treaty.

• The INF Treaty restricted intermediate-range nuclear weapons（中程核武器）

• This lowered the risk of nuclear war.

Broader Effect

• The treaty eased global fears of nuclear holocaust(核毁灭).

• It also weakened hardline Cold War voices in both countries.

• With less pressure from Soviet conservatives, Mikhail Gorbachev had more room to pursue reform.

The INF Treaty symbolized a major thaw in superpower relations and helped create conditions for the end of the Cold War.

7. The End of the Soviet Empire in Eastern Europe

Soviet Retreat from Eastern Europe

• One part of Mikhail Gorbachev’s reform program was ending economic support for Soviet satellite states in Eastern Europe.

• He also signaled that the Soviet army would no longer rescue communist governments there.

Reform Movements in 1989

• Once people in Eastern Europe gained a small degree of freedom, they demanded more.

• Democratic reform movements swept across the region in 1989

• The Berlin Wall was torn down.

• In 1990, East and West Germany reunited.

Spread into the Soviet Union

• Reform spread beyond Eastern Europe into the Soviet Union itself.

• Republics such as:

  • Lithuania

  • Georgia

  began to overthrow rulers and declare independence.

• The Warsaw Pact dissolved.

8. Collapse of the Soviet Union

Political Downfall

• Mikhail Gorbachev’s reforms ultimately led to his own political downfall.

• In December 1991, the Soviet Union officially ended.

• Russia emerged as the strongest of the former Soviet republics.

Historical Result

• The Cold War was over.

• The nearly five-decade rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union ended.

The Soviet Union collapsed because it could no longer maintain its economy, its empire, and its political system at the same time.

9. New Challenges in the Post-Cold War World

Greater Interconnectedness

• After the Cold War, political alliances changed and economic interactions expanded.

• Increased openness, especially in trade, made the world more interconnected than ever before.

Uneven Results

• This interconnectedness produced:

  • greater wealth for some

  • hardship for others

Major Post-Cold War Problems

The post-Cold War world had to deal with:

• new democracies

• economic inequality

• ethnic conflict(族群冲突)

• genocide(种族灭绝)

• terrorism(恐怖主义)

• environmental degradation(环境恶化)

• global epidemics(全球流行病)

10. Cause and Effect

Causes of the End of the Cold War

• Soviet economic weakness deepened

• Détente and arms-control agreements reduced tensions at key moments

• Soviet-Afghan War drained Soviet resources

• Ronald Reagan increased military pressure on the USSR

• SDI heightened Soviet fears of long-term competition

• Mikhail Gorbachev introduced Perestroika and Glasnost

• Eastern European democratic movements undermined communist rule

• Soviet republics pushed for independence

Effects

• Berlin Wall fell

• Germany reunified

• Warsaw Pact dissolved

• Soviet Union collapsed

• Russia became the strongest successor state

• The Cold War ended

• Global trade and interconnectedness increased

• New conflicts and inequalities emerged

Exam-ready Phrases and Sentences

• Relax tensions through diplomacy

• Limit nuclear weapons

• Increase military pressure

• Weaken the centralized economy

• Restructure the Soviet system

• Open political participation

• Undermine communist legitimacy

• Spread democratic reform

• Collapse of Soviet control

• End superpower rivalry

• Increase global interconnectedness

• Create new post-Cold War challenges

• Détente temporarily reduced Cold War tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union.

• The SALT showed that both superpowers were willing to limit nuclear competition.

• The Soviet-Afghan War placed enormous economic and political strain on the Soviet Union.

• Ronald Reagan increased Cold War pressure through military buildup and the SDI.

• Mikhail Gorbachev’s policies of Perestroika and Glasnost were intended to reform the Soviet Union but instead accelerated its collapse.

• Democratic reform movements in Eastern Europe weakened Soviet control and contributed to the end of the Cold War.

• The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 officially ended the Cold War.

• The post-Cold War world became more interconnected, but it also faced new inequalities and conflicts.

LEQ / DBQ 使用思路

可用论点（Thesis Ideas）

• The Cold War ended because long-term Soviet economic weakness, military pressure, and political reform under Mikhail Gorbachev undermined communist control.

• Although diplomacy such as Détente and the INF Treaty reduced tensions, the decisive factor in ending the Cold War was the internal weakening of the Soviet Union.

• The end of the Cold War resulted from both superpower negotiations and the collapse of Soviet authority in Eastern Europe and the Soviet republics.

• While the Cold War ended with the fall of the Soviet Union, the post-Cold War era introduced new political, economic, and social challenges.

相关笔记

APWH Unit 8.9