After the détente of the Nixon years faded with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (1979), Cold War tension rose again. Within ten years, the Cold War was over, and few had predicted how fast it would end.
Key idea
Ronald Reagan built up defense and called on the Soviets to "tear down this wall" (1987); he and Mikhail Gorbachev signed the INF Treaty (1987); the Berlin Wall fell (November 9, 1989), and the Soviet Union dissolved in December 1991.
Why it works
Reagan called the Soviet Union an "evil empire," raised defense spending and proposed a space-based missile defense. Gorbachev, who took power in 1985, faced a failing economy and a costly war in Afghanistan; he launched glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring). The two leaders met five times; the INF Treaty (December 8, 1987) was the first to eliminate a whole class of nuclear missiles. In 1989 Gorbachev let the peoples of Eastern Europe choose: Poland's Solidarity movement won elections, and on November 9 East Germany opened the Berlin Wall. Germany reunited in 1990. After a failed coup by hard-liners in August 1991, the Soviet republics broke away, and on December 26, 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist.
| Explanation | Evidence its supporters cite |
|---|---|
| U.S. pressure | Reagan's military buildup and missile defense plans strained a Soviet economy that could not keep up |
| Soviet economic weakness | Low growth, shortages, falling oil prices and the cost of Afghanistan |
| Gorbachev's choices | Glasnost and perestroika, and his refusal to use force in Eastern Europe in 1989 |
| The people of Eastern Europe | Solidarity in Poland, mass protests in East Germany and elsewhere |
Work it through
Worked example: Ordering the end
Order: the Soviet Union dissolves; the INF Treaty; the Berlin Wall falls; Gorbachev takes power.
- Gorbachev takes power: 1985.
- INF Treaty: 1987.
- Berlin Wall falls: 1989.
- Soviet Union dissolves: 1991.
Answer: 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991: two years apart, easy to remember.
Common mistake
Students credit a single person or cause. Historians weigh U.S. pressure, the Soviet economy's weakness, Gorbachev's reforms and the people of Eastern Europe; they debate the balance. Practice here asks what each explanation argues and when things happened, not which is right.