The End of the Cold War

Chapter 18, Section 5

The USSR Declines

• Fears that USSR would dominate did not come true

• Signs of weakness were visible from the beginning

• Stalin filled labor camps with “enemies of the state” (Soviet-organized labor camps were called the “gulag”)

Have you ever been late to work?

In the Stalin era, a person who arrived late to work three times could be sent to the Gulag for three years.

Have you ever told a joke about a government official?

In the Stalin era, many were sent to the Gulag for up to 25 years for telling an innocent joke about a Communist Party official.

If your family was starving, would you take a few potatoes left in a field after harvest?

In the Stalin era, a person could be sent to the Gulag for up to ten years for such petty theft.

Click icon to add pictureMaria Tchebotareva

Trying to feed her four hungry children during the massive 1932-1933 famine, the peasant mother allegedly stole three pounds of rye from her former field—confiscated by the state as part of collectivization. Soviet authorities sentenced her to ten years in the Gulag. When her sentence expired in 1943, it was arbitrarily extended until the end of the war in 1945. After her release, she was required to live in exile near her Gulag camp north of the Arctic Circle, and she was not able to return home until 1956, after the death of Stalin. Maria Tchebotareva never found her children after her release.

Ivan BurylovSeeking the appearance of democracy, the Soviet Union held elections, but only one Communist Party candidate appeared on the ballot for each office. Fear of punishment ensured that nearly all Soviet citizens “voted” by taking their ballot and ceremoniously placing it into a ballot box.

In 1949, Ivan Burylov, a beekeeper, protested this absurd ritual by writing the word “Comedy” on his “secret” ballot. Soviet authorities linked the ballot to Burylov and sentenced him to eight years in camps for this “crime.”

Arrest of a so-called “rich peasant” in 1930. This peasant, Mikhailov, had attempted

escape from a state-owned farm where he had been sent into exile.

Trial of so-called “rich peasants” in 1929. Stalin’s drive to seize all private land in the 1920s and 1930s met significant resistance. Some victims were shot, some

were arrested and sent into the Gulag camps, and many were exiled to remote parts of the country.

Reforms Give Way to Repression

• Khrushchev became the leader after Stalin• Allowed greater

freedoms of speech

• Freed political prisoners

• Insisted on command economy

Nikita Khrushchev & Joseph Stalin, 1936

• Hungary tried to break away – Khrushchev sent in tanks

• Czechs tried to break away – Brezhnev sent in tanks (“Soviet Winter” overcame “Prague Spring”)

Soviets Crush Prague Spring…

Command Economy Stagnates

• Soviets rebuilt industry after WWII using equipment from Germany

• Government poured resources into science and technology

• Sputnik I – first artificial satellite 1957• (First: “Space Race”, and then?...)

Sputnik 1

Laika the Space Dog!

• Russia had to import grain to feed its people (they used to export it)

• Consumer goods were not as good as Western ones

• Television sets, shoes, etc were inferior to Western ones

• Cars, washing machines, etc were out of reach for most

The “Space Race”

“The Kitchen Debate”

• Central economic planning lead to inefficiency and waste

• Bureaucracy decided when and how much to produce

• Consumers’ needs were not met• Workers made low wages but were

guaranteed a job for life– no incentives to make better-quality goods

• U.S. and Western Europe BOOMED in these times

• U.S.S.R. and Eastern Europe SUFFERED.

Cracking Under the Burden of Military Commitments

• Soviet-American relations swung between confrontation and détente

• Both sides maintained huge military budgets

• U.S.S.R. could not keep up with Reagan’s “Star Wars”

War in Afghanistan

• Soviet-supported government tried to modernize nation (What reforms would this entail?)

• Afghan landlords / warlords and Muslim conservatives took up arms against government

• Soviet troops moved in (1979)

• Soviet troops battling mujahedin (Muslim religious warriors) in mountains of Afghanistan = U.S. troops battling guerrilla fighters in Vietnam

• Mid-1980’s: U.S. begins to smuggle arms to mujahedin

• Soviets struggled in war; morale was bad at home (sound familiar?...)

Mikhail Gorbechev

• Came to power in 1985

• Wanted change for his country

• Signed arms control treaties with U.S.

• Pulled Soviet troops out of Afghanistan

He called for glasnost

• (Openness)• Ended censorship• Encouraged people to discuss

country’s problems openly

He urged perestroika

• (Restructuring of the government and the economy)

• Reduced size of bureaucracy• Backed limited private enterprise –

allowed farmers to sell produce on free market

• Put factory managers in charge, not central planners

An Empire Crumbles

• Shortages grew worse• Prices soared• Factories closed– high

unemployment• Critics demanded more changes

An Empire Crumbles…

Eastern Europe Revolts

• Baltic states declare independence (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) – 1991

• Poland, Bulgaria, others break away from U.S.S.R.

• Soviet hard-liners try to overthrow Gorbachev, who decides to resign

Baltic Independence

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• End of 1991, remaining Soviet republics separated to form 12 independent nations

• (Largest is Russia)• (Next largest: Kazakhstan and

Ukraine)• U.S.S.R. ceases to exist, after 69

years.

Changes Transform Eastern Europe…

• Gorbachev introduced glasnost and perestroika, and U.S.S.R. began to crumble

• Eastern European nations again demanded an end to Soviet domination

• This time they got it!

Nationalists Resented Russian Domination

• 1950’s and 1960’s: revolts erupted in Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, elsewhere

• 1980’s: demands for change erupted once again

• This time, they are successful!

Hungary Quietly Reforms

• Saw trouble in Czechoslovakia• Remained loyal to Warsaw Pact,

were allowed to make modest economic reforms (1970’s: beginnings of market economy)

• Economic trouble lead to greater discontent– under spirit of glasnost, began to openly criticize communist government

• 1988 – 1989: under public pressure, the communist government allowed greater freedoms

• New political parties• Western border with Austria was

opened

Poland Embraces Solidarity

• Poland led the way in new surge of resistance

• 1980: shipyard workers go on strike• Lech Walesa organized Solidarity

(independent labor union / political party)

• Soviets pressured Poland to arrest its leaders

• Walesa became hero; Pope visited Poland

East Germans Demand Change

• Government there did NOT want glasnost

• 1988: Government banned Soviet publications (too subversive)

• East Germans could see West German TV, knew what things were like on other side of Berlin Wall

• Thousands fled to Austria when Hungary opened border

Communist Governments Fall

• Late 1980’s: Gorbachev said he would not interfere with Eastern European reforms

• Poland legalized Solidarity, had free elections in 1989 (Lech Walesa elected president)

• Began transition to market economy

• By 1989 everyone, everywhere took to streets demanding reform

• One by one, communist governments fell

• Vaclav Havel (human rights activist and writer) elected president in Czechoslovakia

• Berlin Wall torn down; East began reunification with West

• Most changes happened peacefully• Not in the case of Romania, where

Nicolae Ceausescu refused to step down and was overthrown and executed

Nicolae Ceausescu

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Czechoslovakia Splits• Formed in 1918 at end of Austro-

Hungarian empire• Czechs and Slovaks had lived

separately, with Czechs dominating government

• Divided by Nazis, reunified under communist control after war

• 1989: Slovaks called for independence and got it in 1992 – Slovakia and Czech Republic

Communism Declines Around the World

• China moved more towards capitalist economy but strengthened Communist one-party rule

• Communist Vietnam opened itself up to world: travel, tourists, coffee

• North Korea, on the other hand, hunkered down in grim isolation

What Happened in Cuba?

• Suffered since they no longer had Soviet support

• Suffered because of economic sanctions with U.S.

• Waiting game now (what will happen when Fidel dies?)

United States as Sole Superpower

• U.S.’s biggest rival was gone• Emerged as world’s leading military

power (and used that power from time to time)

• Some objected: “We are not the world’s policeman”; others think we should be even more aggressive

• When U.S.S.R. was around, world thought America’s power was good. Now many are not comfortable with it.