UNIT 5 PROGRESS AND UNCERTAINTY1963-1991

COLD WAR PART IINOTES

HISTORY 12

LEPORE

January 1, 2017 (V2)MIDDLE EAST

Arab-Israeli Wars: Palestinian War and Suez War

The Middle East in the 20th Century

the strategic location of the Middle East and its oil resources have made the area attractive to industrial powers in the 20th century

after World War I Britain received Palestine, Transjordan, Iraq and France received Lebanon and Syria as mandates from the League of Nations

after World War II the U.S. and U.S.S.R. try to gain influence in the region

The Creation of a Jewish Homeland – Israel

the creation of the state of Israel from the British mandate of Palestine in 1948 and the subsequent refugee crisis of Palestinian Arabs in the region has created the problem that exists today in the Middle East

1917 Balfour Declaration British promised support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine but promised not to infringe on the rights of non-Jewish Palestinians (Arabs)

1930s Jews flee Nazi Germany and Word War II increased pressure on the British to raise quotas on immigration to Palestine

after World War II the Zionist movement gains momentum as the Holocaust provided sympathy and support for the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine but British needed to consider interests of the Palestinian Arabs

Zionist groups use terrorism (Stern Gang, Irgun) against British to force them to establish a Jewish state > violence erupts between Jews and Arabs

1947 Jewish and Arabs leaders reject partition plan for Palestine and British hand over Palestine to the U.N. May 1948

U.N. partition plan was accepted by the Jews but rejected by the Arabs May 14, 1948 the state of Israel was proclaimed and in response Arab

nations invade Israel to support Palestinian Arabs resistance

Palestinian War May 1948-January 1949

Causes

UN partition plan accepted by Jews but rejected by Arabs May 14, 1948 Jews proclaim the creation of the Jewish state of Israel and

the armies of the Arab League (Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon) attacked the following day

War

Egyptians moved north to destroy the main Israeli forces at Tel Aviv while Jordan’s army advanced towards Jerusalem

Israelis repelled the attacks and counterattacked and held their territory Israel and the Arab states signed a truce in 1949

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Consequences

Israel gains territory and increases the size of its state from that assigned by the UN

Palestinian Arabs are displaced from their territory and become refugees and establish refugee camps in the West Bank (seized by Jordan) and Gaza Strip (seized by Egypt) as well as neighboring Arab nations > the refugee camps become an area of discontent and result in the formation of armed resistance groups against Israel

Israel is subjected to armed raids by Palestinian refugees from neighbouring states especially by the fedayeen (guerrillas) from the Gaza Strip and Sinai

Egypt blockades the port of Eilat, controls the Straits of Tiran and refuse Israel access to the Suez Canal

Suez War October-November 1956

Causes

July 23, 1952 Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser became president of Egypt and emerged as the leading nationalist in the Middle East

Nasser was determined to modernize the Egyptian economy and build up the armed forces in order to maintain the struggle against Israel

Nasser encouraged Palestinians in the Gaza Strip (under Egyptian control) to attack Israeli settlements

U.S. withdrew financial aid for the construction of the Aswan dam after Egypt purchased arms from the Czechoslovakia so Nasser turned to the Soviets for economic aid and established a relationship with the U.S.S.R.

July 26, 1956 Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal taking control of the canal away for the British which was a critical waterway to the Far East

British, French, Israelis developed a plan to regain control of the canal and destroy Egypt’s ability to threaten Israel and stop the attacks by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip > the Israelis would launch a preemptive strike on Egypt and British and French would intervene under the pretense of restoring order

War

October 29, 1956 the Israelis invaded the Sinai Peninsula and the next day British and French planes bombed military targets in Egypt and followed with paratroopers and an amphibious force November 5

the U.S. pressured British and French to halt the campaign as they did not want the British and French to re-establish their influence in the region and wanted to have a balance between Arabs and Jews that would enable the U.S. at the same time to protect Israel and maintain access to Arab oil

the U.N. called for a cease-fire and withdrawal of all foreign forces and sent a peacekeeping force to maintain peace

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Consequences

UNEF occupies the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip to prevent attacks on Israel and end Egyptian threats to Israeli shipping in the Straits of Tiran

Israel withdrew from Egyptian territory (Sinai dessert) but freed the port of Eliat from Egyptian blockade

USSR strengthens its relationship with Egypt and provide economic and military assistance to Arab nations

Palestinian terrorist groups such as El Fatah (Palestinian Liberation Organization in 1964) attack Israel from the Golan Heights in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon

March 1957 U.S. issue the Eisenhower Doctrine which provides the use of American troops to intervene in the Middle East to help against communist aggression

the withdrawal of Israeli forces and presence of U.N. peacekeepers provides 10 years of relative stability in the region

MIDDLE EAST

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Arab-Israeli Wars: Six Day War and Yom Kippur War

Six Day War June 5-10 1967

Causes

May 1967 Egyptian President Nasser asks UN peacekeepers to withdraw, mobilize his forces (as did Syria, Jordan and Iraq) and blocked the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping

June 5,1967 Israel launched preemptive strike against Egypt, Syria, Jordan

War

the Egyptian air force was destroyed and Syrian and Jordanian troops decimated

within six days the Israelis occupied the Sinai Peninsula, West Bank of the Jordan River and the Golan Heights in Syria

Consequences

Israel gains territory as it occupies the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip (Egypt), the West Bank along the Jordan River (Jordan), and the Golan Heights (Syria) and significantly improves its defensive position

Arab nationalism intensifies because Israel occupies former Arab territory especially Old Jerusalem (West Bank) which has religious significance for Muslims

the war heighten tensions between Israelis and Palestinian Arabs and the PLO and other groups increase attacks against Israel prompting Israel to retaliate

the USSR mobilized troops and considered intervening to aid its Arab allies which would have drawn the U.S. into the war and escalate the conflict

Yom Kippur War October 1973-January 1974

Causes

Israel refuses to negotiate the return of Egyptian territory (Sinai Peninsula) unless Egypt recognizes Israel’s right to exist

October 2, 1973 Egyptian and Syrian forces launch a surprise attack on Israel to win back territory and pressure the U.S. into demanding a settlement of the issue

War

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Egyptian forces crossed the Suez Canal and breached the Bar Lev Line and opened the Sinai and southern Israel to attack and at the same time Syrian forces moved onto the Golan Heights with 800 tanks

Israel suffered heavy losses at first but after two weeks of tank battles the Israelis gained the upper hand > rearmed by the Americans the Israelis drove back the Syrians as far as Damascus, the capital of Syria

the Israelis launched a counterattack against Egypt but were prevented from crossing the Suez Canal and occupy more Egyptian territory by U.S. diplomatic pressure

OPEC Arab nations impose an oil embargo against nations supporting Israelthat created an energy crisis in the West and economic recession

October 31 both sides accepted a U.N.-sponsored ceasefire agreement

Consequences

UN sent a peacekeeping force to maintain the peace between Egypt and Israel

the OPEC oil embargo by Arab nations leads to an increase in oil prices in the West that adversely affects the economy and a results in an economic recession in the West

the U.S. sponsors peace talks between Israel and Egypt to resolve the conflict resulting in the Washington Treaty and peace between the two nations

The Camp David Accords and Washington Treaty

Egyptian President Sadat realized Israel could not be destroyed and needed to focus on the economy > Israel’s economy was adversely effected by spending on defence > U.S. wanted a settlement to stabilize the region and protect its access to oil and initiated peace

Sadat paid a visit to Israel in 1977 and Israeli PM Menachem Begin responded by visiting Egypt soon afterward which lead to peace talks at Camp David in September 1978 hosted by President Jimmy Carter

the U.S. pledged economic support for both Israel and Egypt > Israel would receive $3 billion in military assistance and Egypt would receive $1.5 billion as well as $500 million in economic assistance

Washington Treaty March 26, 1979 ended the war between Israel and Egypt, called for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Sinai and return of Egyptian sovereignty in the area, established diplomatic relations between Israel and Egypt, Israel could use the Suez Canal and get oil from Egypt, and required the two nations to live in peace with one another

Washington Treaty had several consequences and significance: it allowed Egypt to concentrate more of its resources on domestic needs it increased Israel’s national security other Arab nations denounced the treaty and aroused hostility towards Sadat > Egypt was expelled from OPEC > Sadat was assassinated in 1981

Civil War in Lebanon

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1975 civil war broke out in Lebanon between Christians who dominated the government and Muslims who were supported by the PLO and Syria

PLO used southern Lebanon as a base to attack Israel so in March 1978 Israel invaded Lebanon in an attempt to protect the villages of southern Lebanon from infiltration by PLO guerillas

during the next three years the Israeli airforce bombed Lebanon 1981 the UN successfully negotiated a ceasefire June 1982 Israel invaded Lebanon in an attempt to destroy the PLO who

were based in Beirut and re-establish Christian rule throughout Lebanon during the siege of Beirut the Israeli airforce bombed apartment buildings

killing civilians and the Israeli army allowed the Christian Phalangists to murder hundreds of civilians in Palestinian refugee camps > as a result the PLO agreed to leave Beirut for Tunisia, Syria, Jordan and other Arab states

1983 Israel began a slow withdrawal of forces but as they retreated south they were attacked by fanatical Shia Muslims who inflicted heavy casualties and spectacular defeats with suicide bombing missions

April 1985 the Israelis withdrew their last forces behind a heavily fortified buffer zone along Lebanon's southern border

May 2000 Israel withdrew its forces from southern Lebanon

Israel - Intifada/Uprising 1987-1988

Causes Jewish settlements continued to be constructed in the West Bank in

violation of the Camp David Accords and provoked demonstrations and protests by Palestinian Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza which turned violent and developed into an uprising in December 1987 and as a result the Israeli government responded with equal aggression and violence

Consequences and Significance

220 Palestinians were killed UN condemned Israel for violating human rights PLO achieved widespread international support when Arafat condemned

terrorism and recognized Israel's right to exist and thus removed a major obstacle to peace negotiations

MIDDLE EAST

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Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988 and Persian Gulf War 1990-1991

Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988

Background: Islamic Revolution in Iran Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi's government was supported by the U.S.

and was dictatorial and repressive 1979 the Shah was overthrown and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader

of the mullahs of the Shiite Muslim sect, returned from exile and seized control and began a fundamentalist Islamic revolution

Khomeini established a Islamic republic based on Islamic principles and set out to rid Iran of Western and secular (non-religious) influence which he believed corrupted Iranian society

Causes Iraqi President Sadaam Hussein feared the fundamentalist revolution

would spread to Iraq and wanted to overthrow Khomeini control of the Shatt-al-Arab waterway that carries waters of the Euphrates

and Tigris rivers to the Persian Gulf control of the oil resources in the region Hussein wanted to establish Iraq as the dominant power in the Persian

Gulf

War September 1980 Iraq attacked Iran and destroyed its oil facilities and

occupied most of southern Iran September 1981 Iran launched a successful counteroffensive and

recaptured the territory lost to Iraq 1984 Iran invaded Iraq and captured the Fao Peninsula in 1986 that

connects the Persian Gulf to the Shatt-al-Arab waterway February and April 1987 Iran attacked the port of Basra but were unable

to seize the city and suffered 50, 000 to 70, 000 casualties by 1988 the stalemate resulted in a cease-fire on August 20 1988

Consequences the Iran-Iraq War had many consequences as both countries were

devastated economically, socially and militarily: Iran's industry and oil production were crippled by Iraqi air attacks > by 1988 it was earning only $6 billion per year from oil exports but needed $10 billion per year to buy arms, food, and other necessities Iraq owed $40 billion to Western Europe as well as money to Arab states

Persian Gulf War 1990-1991

Causes: Economic, Territorial and Political

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Economic Iraq was $80 billion in debt after the war with Iran but Hussein expected that the $40 billion owed to Arab nations would be forgiven 40% of Iraq earnings was spent on military and economic development directed at increasing Iraq's regional power rather than providing jobs for returning soldiers > inflation soared to 40% and consumer goods scarce Hussein hoped to solve Iraq's economic problems by selling more oil but the price of oil fell from $20 to $14 per barrel and Iraq faced a cash shortage

Territorial the Rumailah oil fields extends from Iraq into Kuwait and Hussein demanded ownership of the entire oil field and presented Kuwait with a bill for $2 billion for oil which it claimed Kuwait had illegally sold during the Iran-Iraq War Iraq does not have a port on the Persian Gulf and depends on the port of Basra on the Shatt-al-Arab waterway for traffic in the Persian Gulf and therefore wanted the Kuwaiti island of Bubiyan in order to gain direct access to the Persian Gulf Iraq's territorial and financial difficulties could be solved by the annexation of Kuwait

Political: Hussein wanted to dominate the Middle East and establish himself as the leader of the Arab world (much like Nasser was in Egypt)

Persian Gulf War January-February 1991 August 2 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait UN Security Council condemned the invasion and called for Iraq to

withdraw August 6 the Security Council resolution imposed economic sanctions on

Iraq August 28 Iraq annexed Kuwait and declared it a province of Iraq September and October diplomatic negotiations proved futile U.S. assemble a coalition force of ground troops, ships and aircraft from

25 countries including the Arab nations of Saudi Arabia, Syria and Egypt November 29 Security Council resolution approved the use of force to

expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait and established January 15 1991 as the date Iraq must withdraw its forces from Kuwait but Hussein did not withdraw

Operation Desert Storm with the bombing of Baghdad and other strategic locations

Iraq retaliated by launching Scud missiles on Israel (and Saudi Arabia) in an attempt to draw Israel into the war and break the allied coalition by making it difficult for the Arab nations to be allied with Israel

February 24 the coalition launched a ground offensive against Iraqi forces in Kuwait and southern Iraq and met little resistance and the fighting was over in four days

February 28 Hussein accepted all the12 UN resolutions

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Consequences

April 7 Iraq accepted UN peace terms UN gained credibility for their role 1991 Kurds in the north and Shiite in the south attempted to overthrow

Hussein in a civil war but failed 1992 UN inspectors destroy material used to produce nuclear weapons 1992-1993 U.S. and Britain establish a no fly zone prohibiting the Iraqi air

force from entering northern and southern Iraq to protect Kurds and Shiite

MIDDLE EAST

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Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Background and Causes of the Civil War because of its geographic proximity the U.S.S.R. was interested in the

security of Afghanistan and provided economic and military aid 1973 the monarchy was overthrown by Mohammad Daoud Khan who was

supported by a faction (group) of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) called the Parcham led by Babrak Karmal who promoted democratic reforms that may lead to socialism

the other faction of the PDPA was the Khalq led by Hafizullah Amin who recruited support from the army

Daoud established a dictatorship and repressed all opposition including those who supported his bid to power, attacked Islamic fundamentalists, and moved closer to the pro-American shah of Iran

spring 1978 Daoud began to arrest members of the PDPA and when Mir Akbar Khyber was assassinated anti-government demonstrations followed and Daoud reacted by arresting PDPA leaders

April 27-28 a coup d'etat (military takeover) forced Dauod from power and Parcham and Khalq factions of the PDPA formed the government

December 1978 U.S.S.R. signed a treaty of friendship with the new government signaling its support for the PDPA

the government began a program of radical reform aimed at dismantling Afghanistan's feudal society but the PDPA was unable to present a united front on social or economic issues and internal squabbling hampered its effort to implement reforms especially land reform

land reform created a crisis in the countryside and a resistance movement began within a month of the coup which was backed by most of the mullahs (Muslim religious leaders)

in addition to the disorders caused by land reform the government suffered from factional competition between the Khalq and Parcham with Khalq emerging victorious but within Khalq rivalry between Amin and Nur Mohammad Taraki for leadership of the government developed

Taraki collaborated with the Soviets but was arrested and executed by Amin when this was discovered bringing and end to the regime

the U.S.S.R. distrusted Amin and feared a continuation of civil turmoil and the loss of a potential satellite and as a result invaded Afghanistan December 24 1979 and gained control of the capital Kabul by December 27

Amin was executed and Babrak Kamal was installed as leader of a Soviet puppet government January 1 1980

the U.S. demonstrated its disapproval by refusing to ratify the SALT II agreement and led a Western boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, froze the sale of high-tech equipment and grain to the U.S.S.R.

Afghan War 1980-1988

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by the end of January the Soviets had significant numbers of tanks and fighter bombers but 90% of the countryside was controlled by the rebels known as the mujaheddin

the countryside proved to be unconquerable as it is a wild, inhospitable region covered with deep valleys and mountain escarpments and the Baluchi desert in the south

Soviets trained to fight conventional warfare were ineffective against the guerrilla forces used to the different terrain and the Soviets realized they had their own Vietnam, a war they could not win but could not abandon

by 1985 Soviet troop strength reached 120,000 but the mujaheddin refused to surrender

as the war dragged on Soviet casualties and the economic effect decreased support for the war in the U.S.S.R.

May 1986 Kamal was replaced by Major General Mohammed Najibullah and the Soviets began to withdraw troops and provide hope for an end to the war

as victory eluded them, the casualties mounted and international pressure to withdraw continued Mikhail Gorbachev showed a willingness to withdraw from Afghanistan as part of a growing détente with the West

April 14 1988 the Geneva Accords on the war in Afghanistan were signed by Pakistan and Afghanistan and a declaration guaranteeing the agreement was signed by the U.S. and U.S.S.R. > the accords provided a timetable for Soviet troop withdrawal in 1989 and an end to the war, and the voluntary return of 3.5 million Afghan refugees who fled to Pakistan during the war

February 15 1989 the last Soviet soldiers left Afghanistan and left behind a country still engaged in civil war

Consequences approximately 15,000 Soviet soldiers were killed during the war and it is

estimated that it cost approximately $3.5 billion approximately 15,000 out of 22, 000 villages were destroyed, millions of

animals slaughtered, homes destroyed, irrigation systems destroyed and agricultural areas were riddled with hundreds of thousands of land mines

after the Soviet troop withdrawal fighting erupted between different ethnic groups (Uzbeks, Tajiks, Hazara, Pashtun) and the civil war continued until the Pastun dominated Taliban gained control of Kabul in 1996

winter 2002 Northern Alliance rebels and the U.S. defeated the Taliban it was a factor in the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991

Afghan and Vietnam War Comparison

similarities between Afghanistan and Vietnam: Soviets and Americans did not have support of the local population Soviets and Americans fought against guerrilla forces with conventional tactics and were unable to defeat the guerrilla forces Soviet and American military forces were disillusioned and cynical Soviets and Americans suffered significant casualties and financial costs Soviets and Americans lost world public opinion, support and prestige Soviets and Americans were forced to withdraw their military forces and

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as a result the military lost credibility Superpower Involvement in the Middle East

the U.S. and U.S.S.R. have not had overwhelming success in the Middle East but the U.S.S.R. has experienced less success in maintaining its presence in the Middle East than the USUnited States

the U.S. has maintained a special interest in the Middle East and has had four specific goals in its relationship with the region: to contain Soviet influence to retain access to the oil resources of the Gulf region to limit Arab radicalism to maintain Israel's security and well-being

the U.S.'s commitment to Israel has come into conflict with its attempt to deal with the Soviets and the Arabs

President Ronald Reagan based his Middle East policy on the assumptions that the threat to security in the oil-producing countries of the Gulf was the main problem for the U.S., the Arab-Israeli conflict was now less acute, the Gulf region and the Arab-Israeli conflict can be dealt with in isolation, and the Middle East must be defended against Soviet expansion

the U.S. supported Israel's attack on Lebanon in May 1982 which was an attempt to destroy the PLO and weaken Palestinian nationalism and thereby facilitating the absorption of the West Bank into Israel

the fighting in Lebanon however demonstrated that Israel's stability was questionable and its aggressive stance to its national security could make it a liability rather than an asset to the U.S.

uncritical support of Israel had damaged American credibility in the eyes of the world and dealt a serious blow to the U.S.'s prestige in the Arab worldUSSR

although it was of strategic concern the U.S.S.R. had less success in maintaining a presence in the Middle East than any other region

the U.S.S.R. divided the region in two areas when shaping policy: the Central East which includes Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan the Near East which includes Israel and the Arab countries

the major concern for the U.S.S.R. was rivalry with the U.S. presence in the area and the vulnerability of its southern border so the deployment of American missiles in Turkey and Iran for example would threaten Soviet security and therefore during the 1960s the U.S.S.R.'s primary concern was to keep these areas free of American missiles

communism did not gain much appeal in Arab states in part because of religion because communism is atheistic (the belief there is no God)

the U.S.S.R. began its presence in the Middle East in 1955 with the signing of an arms agreement with Egypt and maintained the alliance until it was ended by President Sadat in 1974

the Soviets supported the Arab states in the 1967 Six Day War and 1973 Yom Kippur War against Israel

the Soviets remained a major arms supplier and economic partner to Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s

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with the exception of Iraq the U.S.S.R. did not have a single reliable long term ally in the Middle East

US vs USSR in the Middle East the Middle East has not been an area of intense superpower conflict

because the area is dominated by regional disputes which transcend the East-West conflict and the superpowers' priorities although different are often compatible so for example the Americans agreed not to install missiles in the Gulf region and the Soviet did not interfere with US access to oil

the critical ongoing problem in the Middle East is the Palestinian problem and until the problems of Palestinian autonomy and Israeli security are resolved there will not be a peace settlement

Oslo Accord (refer to map GF p. 223)

September 13 1993 PLO leader Yassir Arafat and Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin signed the Oslo Accord which called for the gradual withdrawal of Israel from Gaza and the gradual extension of autonomy (self-rule) to the West Bank (both seized by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War)

the most contentious issues of Palestinian refugees, borders and Palestinian statehood were not dealt with and reserved for future talks

the peace accord was a major step towards resolving tensions in the Middle East

Rabin and Arafat shared the 1993 Nobel Prize for Peace November 4 1995 Rabin was assassinated by an Israeli student named

Yigal Amir

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CHINA

Mao Zedong and the People's Republic of China (PRC) 1949-1960

Civil War 1946-1949

after World War II the U.S. urged Chiang Kai-shek to broaden the base of the Kuomintang to include other parties including Mao Zedong’s Communists to avoid a civil war

the Soviets supported Chiang instead of Mao because Mao wanted all foreigners to leave China and felt Mao’s communist movement was too weak to be of permanent value and urged Mao to negotiate with Chiang

subsequently an uneasy truce developed between the Communists and Kuomintang for most of 1946

Mao developed a model whereby the peasants would be his soldiers in a social revolution and wage a guerrilla war

1946 the Soviets left Manchuria and allowed the Chinese Communist access to the resources left behind > Kuomintang rushed into the north to counter the Communist threat and fighting broke out

the civil war resulted in a military victory for the Communists in 1949 and Chiang Kai-shek and Nationalists/Kuomintang fled to Taiwan where they came under the protection of the U.S.

October 1, 1949 Mao proclaimed the People’s Republic of China (PRC)

The People’s Republic of China (PRC)

PRC now had to gain diplomatic recognition from other nations but only the Soviets extended immediate recognition while the U.S. recognized Taiwan

nations withheld recognition because Mao wanted to export revolution and in a speech in 1949 stated his support for all wars of national liberation

the U.S. were moving towards recognizing the PRC when the Korean War started in 1950 > Chiang’s forces in Taiwan were now deemed necessary to the U.S. defence perimeter which was an important factor in the containment of communism

the Soviets and China signed a mutual defence treaty in 1950 aimed against the U.S. and its ally, Japan > the Soviets gave up their claim to Lushun and their interests in Manchurian industry and railways, provided a $300 million loan, agreed to build and operate model factories, supply technical information, send scientist and technicians to help reconstruct China’s industry > Stalin hoped to dominate Mao

Mao’s immediate problems were political and economic as he inherited a backward nation devastated from years of fighting

Mao’s first task was to establish a strong central authority in Beijing (Leninist idea of democratic centralism) and China was divided into six military regions > centralization proceeded rapidly as there was no opposition to the PRC and the Communists were a symbol of nationalism

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and greeted by the peasants as their own

Taiwan was the only immediate threat to the PRC as Chiang prepared for a return to the mainland > U.S. intervention in Korea in 1950 seemed to be the first step in a counter-revolution against the PRC and U.S. success in Korea hardened Chinese landowner class in its resistance to land reform

Mao gained controlled of the cities almost as easily as the countryside as many services were not working, food was scarce, massive unemployment existed, factories and shops were closed

intellectuals and teachers were singled out for reeducation and the remaining assets of the middle class were seized

the Korean War brought new problems and new opportunities for the PRCin the middle of its efforts to stabilize control of the cities as the cost of the war in human and other resources further drained them

the U.S.S.R. and U.S. took action to limit China’s influence in Asia asthe U.S.S.R. normalized relations with Japan and Krushchev visited India and Afghanistan and promised aid to Third World nations while the U.S. began giving aid to the French in Indo-China and established an island containment perimeter from Japan through the Philippines and Australia

as a result of this Soviet and American policy in Asia the PRC modified its policy of supporting revolutions in Africa and Latin America and based its policy on five principles: policy of coexistence, respect for each other’s boundaries, promise not to subvert national governments, equal treatment of other states, and renouncement of expansionism

Agricultural and Industrial Reforms 1949-1960

Agricultural Reforms/Collectivization the aim of land reform was to abolish private ownership and redistribute

the land on an equitable small-plot basis, later the plots would be merged into collectives and finally communes to take advantage of economies of scale (large scale production) but the mergers would be gradual and voluntary (unlike Stalin's collectivization)

cadres were sent into villages to create enthusiasm for the reforms and identify the landowners to be re-educated in class struggle

by 1952 the initial reorganization of the farming sector was complete but redistribution did not solve the problem of inadequate yields or rural poverty even though grain production did increase 13% per year and peasants marginally improved standard of life

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Five Year Plan 1953-1957 agricultural surpluses were needed to pay for the nation’s industrialization

and the government hoped to revitalize industry by implementing Soviet-style five year plans

the first Five Year Plan (1953-1957) was to produce energy and hydroelectric power and emphasized heavy industry > the U.S.S.R. provided financial aid and technical assistance but it was not adequate

a state planning commission modeled on the Soviet Gosplan was established to provide control over all production processes > industrial growth was designed for the interior of the country and new factories established close to raw materials and markets

by 1957 production in farm machinery, trucks, tractors and jet planes had doubled and production increased in steel, coal, cement, and electricity but light industry suffered

growth in industry came at the expense of the peasantry as it revitalized cities and attracted millions of people and as a result the urban population increased from 60 to 100 million and caused major problems > growth of the cities led to increased bureaucratization and political cadres began to see themselves as a new urban elite

industrialization had a significant effect on the party hierarchy as some party leaders became comfortable in the urban centres and consequently the party began a split into a group of right-wing conservatives who favoured industrial and economic growth and a group of left-wing radicals who favoured rural development

the neglect of the farming sector during the first Five Year Plan could not be ignored and it was necessary to increase yields to keep pace with population growth and pay for industrial development

the conservatives preferred a gradual approach but Mao wanted to increase the pace of collectivization to combat Chinese kulaks so he overrode the party and appealed to the masses to revitalize the revolutionary spirit of social change and as a result millions of peasants responded and by 1960 almost all farms had been organized on a village-collective basis > within a few months 100 million households had merged into 485 000 collectives

One Hundred Flowers Campaign Spring 1956 by 1956 the government controlled most farms and industries but Mao

was concerned with the bureaucratization of the Communist party and its apparent abandonment of its rural roots as well as the new political and economic elites that had risen to challenge the authority of the party

May 2, 1956 Mao called for “one hundred schools of thought” and encouraged writers and artists to comment on society

Mao was attempting to rid the party of its conservative elements but the campaign got out of hand as pent-up criticism was directed at the party and socialism as a system and as a result in the autumn of 1956 Mao ordered repressive measures against the intellectuals who were critical of the government and consequently lost their jobs and underwent reeducation

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as a result of the campaign Mao and the party learned that not all the people were united behind the socialist system

Great Leap Forward 1958 1958 Mao launched the Great Leap Forward which promoted industrial

and agricultural development and was a reversal of the philosophy of the Five Year Plan and thus a criticism of the Soviets

Mao believed urban unemployment could be solved by sending millions in the cities to the countryside where they could be the vanguard of local communities > peasants could participate in industrial growth by establishing their own backyard businesses in the off-season by manufacturing the fertilizers, tools, etc, they required for farming

Mao’s proposal required a shift towards light industry as he believed this would provide consumer goods that would spur peasants to greater productivity and the higher yields would sustain growth in heavy industry > there would be simultaneous developments in agriculture, light industry, and heavy industry > backyard furnaces to make iron and steel tools were constructed

conservatives thought that the Great Leap Forward was irrational and doomed to fail as they believed China did not have the resources to make progress in all areas at the same time

organizational problems, poor quality, and droughts adversely affected the program

Mao also accelerated the merging of village collectives into regional communes and by the end of 1960 750,000 collectives had merged into 24,000 communes around 5000 households (30, 000 people) apiece

Mao hoped the communization would be the first step of the withering away of the state since self-sufficient communes would have little need for party apparatus

unrealistic work assignments and harvest quotas ended the program local officials reported crop yields and industrial growth that did not exist

and shortfalls in food production were evident in 1958 > lack of harvesters and the chaos of forced reorganization had taken their toll on the farms

the party moved to end the communization movement and reassert its central authority so private ownership was reintroduced to stimulate production and by 1960 most of the communes had been abandoned

partly as a result of the failure of the Great Leap Forward Mao resigned as President but remained as Chairman of the Communist Party a powerful position so he still retained much influence and power

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CHINA

Foreign Policy and the Cultural Revolution

Foreign Policy

China-USSR Relations and the Sino-Soviet Split China and the U.S.S.R. had friendly relations since the 1949 revolution but

several factors caused the relationship to deteriorate by the 1950s and eventually resulted in a split between the two communist nations by 1960

the Chinese resented the lack of Soviet assistance during the Korean War, the slow return of railways and industries in Manchuria seized after World War II and intention to treat China as another satellite

Stalin’s death in 1953 led to a rift between China and the Soviets as Mao felt that he should be the leader of the world’s communist movement but the Soviet’s would not permit it

Mao was angered at not being consulted about Khrushchev’s de-Stalinization speech to the Twentieth Congress in 1956

Mao opposed Khrushchev’s foreign policy of promoting communism in Asia because he thought that China not the U.S.S.R. should be the leader of communist nations in Asia

Mao objected to Khrushchev's policy of peaceful coexistence which he interpreted as promoting the U.S.S.R. as the leader of all communist nations

1957 the Chinese attacked the island of Quemoy which was held by Chiang Kai-Shek but the U.S.S.R. did not support China

although the Soviets provided aid to China they were not prepared to make China a rival global power so they did not support China in its border war with India in 1959

Khrushchev criticized Mao’s opposition to peaceful co-existence and the Great Leap Forward

China criticized Khrushchev's visit to the U.S. in September 1959 which they saw as a sign of weakness and when Khrushchev visited Beijing a few days later for the tenth anniversary of the PRC he was criticized by the Chinese for his opposition to the Great Leap Forward

December 1960 Khrushchev ordered all Soviet technicians and scientists in China to return home and the split between the two nations was complete

Sino-Soviet Dispute during the 1960s the Sino-Soviet dispute developed into a power struggle

as a result of the inability of the Chinese and Soviets to resolve key issues:Moscow maintained the ideological leadership of the communist world China wanted to initiate its own policies in the Third World and resented Soviet influence in especially in IndiaChina resented their military dependence on Moscow partly due to the Soviets unwillingness to assist them in developing nuclear technology > developed the atomic bomb in 1964 and the hydrogen bomb in 1967

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long standing border grievances existed between China and the Soviets > 1964-1969 there were 4000 incidents between them

Mao was concerned about the Soviet’s after Krushchev was replaced by Leonid Brezhnev and issued the Brezhnev Doctrine in 1968 that stated the Soviet Union had a responsibility to intervene in other socialists countries in the interest of communist solidarity as the Czechoslovakian experience demonstrated > the doctrine was established after Soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia in 1968, known as the Prague Spring, to stop a revolution

March 2 1969 fighting broke out between Soviet and Chinese border patrols on the Usuri River and as one million Soviet troops mobilized along its northern borders China began to seek a rapprochement (renew friendly relations) with the U.S.

President Richard Nixon viewed the Sino-Soviet split as an opportunity to step in between the two communists powers and mend its own relationship with China as well as future political and economic advantages

October 1971 the PRC replaced Taiwan in the UN and took its seat in the Security Council in October 1971 which the U.S. sponsored although it still supported Taiwan's independence

February 1972 Nixon became the first U.S. president to visit the PRC and during the visit the U.S. and China issued a statement of joint opposition to attempts by outside nations establishing hegemony (control) in East Asia that was intended to be a warning to the Soviets

Cultural Revolution 1966-1976

the Cultural Revolution initiated by Mao was essentially a power struggle between radical and conservative factions within the Communist party and was Mao's final battle against the Party and bureaucracy > he encouraged students to travel the country and identify revisionists and hoped to instill the decentralized idea of a peasant revolution in their minds > the students were joined by workers who established their own governments in the cities

its stated goal was to enforce socialism in the country by removing capitalist, traditional and cultural elements from Chinese society, and to impose Maoist orthodoxy within the Communist Party

Mao blamed the Party for China's continuing backwardness and that it was corrupt, privileged and elitist

Mao was supported by Defence Minister Lin Piao and his wife Chiang Ch'ing

Mao’s strategy was to use youth to raise the consciousness to the dangers of modified capitalism therefore the revolution began in universities and spread to schools

millions of students called Red Guards campaigned across the country criticising authority and corruption within the party with their Little Red Book which contained quotes from Mao about serving the people and self-discipline and were given free provisions and transport and the PLA was ordered to assist them

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summer of 1966 the movement gained momentum and youths from towns and villages traveled to Beijing to receive Mao’s blessing and on August 18 one million Red Guards attended a rally in Tiananmen Square with Mao

students destroyed public buildings and government files and empowered by the army brought anarchy

factory workers joined the movement in the winter of 1966 and industrial production was paralyzed

the Red Guards established local councils that refused to recognize any authority but their own

January 5 1967 Shanghai workers carried out their own revolution and established their own dictatorship of the proletariat

by the summer of 1967 central authority had been replaced by a chaos of local council, production had come to a halt, the economic progress to date had been destroyed and the nation appeared headed for a civil war

September with the nation on the verge of a civil war Premier Zhou Enlai ordered the PLA to restore order by force and approximately 400,000 were killed and millions sent to correctional camps for re-education

17 million people were sent out to work brigades in the country and the government backlash was hardest on students and intellectuals

Aftermath of the Cultural Revolution the Cultural Revolution began as a power struggle between radicals and

conservatives in the Communist party and it continued after the Cultural Revolution officially ended in 1969

the radicals received their support from the unions, militia and Communist Youth League and the key leaders were Mao's wife Chiang Chi'ing and three other politicians from Shanghai and were referred to as the Gang of Four

the radicals believed in a class struggle and agreed with the conservatives for the need for economic growth but they also thought that the elimination of the bourgeoisie must accompany it

the conservatives received support from the Party, government administration and the armed forces and were led by PM Zhou Enlai

the conservatives wanted to achieve political stability in order to focus on economic growth and development

January 1974 radicals embarked on a campaign April 1976 Zhou Enlai died and when police tried to remove wreaths

placed in his memory in Tiananmen Square 100,000 people rioted a display of public support for Teng Hsiao-Ping and other conservative leaders > the radicals blamed the riots on Teng and he was removed as Minister of Public Security

September 9 1976 Mao died and the radicals prepared to seize power October 7 the Politburo elected PM Hua Kuo-feng as Chairman of the Party

and as a result now controlled the Party, the government, and the army the Gang of Four was arrested and imprisoned on the same day

Mao Zedong – Success and Failure he guided the revolution from its early days, through the civil war with the

Nationalists and the Japanese invasion to political victory in 1949

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he rid the China of imperialists and set it on a course toward modernization

he was a strong populist leader but was unable to create a popular massgovernment

near the end his idea of an agrarian socialist utopia was at odds with his idea of a modern industrial power

CHINA

Economic Reform

China After Moa and Economic Reforms

Mao’s death in 1976 started a power struggle within the Communist party that was to last until 1978 between the radicals and conservatives

the radicals wanted to continue the ideological revolution and create a socialist utopia while the conservatives wanted to focus on economic development and rapprochement with the West

by December 1978 the conservative Deng Xiaoping who was the Vice-Chairman of the Communist Party, state vice-premier, Chief of Staff of the PLA emerged as the leader of China

Xiaoping favoured the conservative approach and encouraged foreign trade regardless of the dangers of foreign influence > China’s resources would have to be traded for equipment and technology if China was to become an industrial power

the liberalization of the economy was not accompanied with political reforms as the government suppressed students and intellectuals who demonstrated for democratic freedoms

early 1980s a modest return was made to a form of private enterprise in which the market system operated and profits could be made to improve the standard of living

even though only 16% of the businesses and factories were permitted autonomy in wages and hiring the effect was significant > as consumer goods entered the market inflation soared and the unemployment rose to 20% and only a 1% growth in the GNP and as a result the government returned many resources to central control

in a major break with the immediate past Xiaoping reinstated an Open Door trading policy with the rest of the world and special economic zones were established to conduct foreign trade and foreign investors received preferential status in China’s market > within the zones price and profit were used to guide transactions

opening up parts of China for trade created a demand for consumer goods and for the first time China had a trade deficit which reached $40 billion

1987 saw the beginning of normalized relations with the Soviets politically and socially Xiaoping brought a Western flavour to China in his

efforts to develop a more balanced approach to modernization but criticism of the system was not permitted and student demonstrations in

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Tiananmen Square in 1987 were crushed and organizers were sent to correctional camps

Attempts at Political Reform: Tiananmen Square 1987-1990

China’s economy boomed during the 1980s but by 1987 it was overheating and by 1988 it was out of control > while productivity grew 20% per year the critical infrastructure of support to industry (energy, transportation, etc) lagged behind

to create a greater amount of goods the government allowed prices to fluctuate in a free market but this policy resulted in inflation and caused deep discontent among the third of China’s population that existed on fixed incomes > the cost of living increased 30% to 80% in 1988

Xiaoping responded to the economic crisis by returning to centralized price controls and imposed quotas on industries thus monopoly control was returned to the state in order to bring stability and re-establish economic order

the inflation of 1988 caused a conservative reaction and Xiaoping had to admit that the radicals were correct and that reform had caused hardship for the people and so there was a renewed emphasis on ideology and intolerance and marches and demonstrations were made illegal

some members of the government however continued to make demands for political reform such as Zhao Ziyang and supporters who favoured private ownership that would remove political interference in the market place

PM Li Peng opposed Ziyang and argued that concentrated authority would guarantee individual freedoms as Li feared a return to the days of the Cultural Revolution

the debate was brought to a head by the death of party secretary Hu Yaobang April 8 1989 who was a liberal

the fortieth anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Republic was used by Ziyang to push for new reforms and the occasion was the Qinming festival (honouring the dead) April 1989

initial student demonstrations began as a demand to attend Yaobang’s funeral and then grew to a 10,000 strong student demonstration on Tiananmen Square to demand political reforms and intellectual freedoms

hard-liners remembered what occurred when Mao had encouraged student activists during the Cultural Revolution and Xiaoping and his government were deeply afraid of what could happen if political reforms were authorized

by late April 100,000 students gathered in Tiananmen Square to demand political change but the government rejected their demands

a split developed in the Politburo near the time of Gorbachev’s mid-May visit and coincided with a hunger strike by a thousand students that was receiving much publicity > workers’ organizations joined the students

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May 4 the students demanded an independent council and Ziyang supported their cause

May 18 more than one million people had joined the demonstrations and on May 19 the government imposed martial law

the people of Beijing responded to the imposition of martial law by coming into the streets and taking control of the city

June 3 Xiaoping ordered the People’s Liberation Army to restore order after foreigners and journalists were expelled from the Beijing

the troops entered the central districts of Beijing firing indiscriminately at students and civilians

by midnight 50,000 troops blasted through the barricades that were erected around Tiananmen Square > during the next few days an estimated 4500 or more civilians and 1000 soldiers died

over 30,000 people arrested during 1989-1990 (many executed), censorship of the press was re-imposed and foreigners were subjected to surveillance

approximately 564,000 graduating students were assigned jobs at the grass roots level in the countryside where they could be re-educated

1990 600,000 first-year students were forbidden to mix with more senior classes and had received intensive ideological and military training

consequently one off the top groups of intellectuals in China had been destroyed to re-establish government authority throughout the land

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END OF THE COLD WAR

Détente 1963-1979

Prague Spring

October 1964 Khrushchev replaced by Leonid Brezhnev as general secretary of the Communist Party and faced with the challenge of improving relations with the West and asserting control over the Soviet bloc in Eastern Europe

January 1968 Alexander Dubcek replaced Novotny as party secretary in Czechoslovakia and introduced political, cultural, and social reforms referred to as the Prague Spring

March censorship of the press, radio and tv were abolished, and non-communist organizations tolerated

April rights to travel abroad, freedom of speech, free press were guaranteed

although Dubcek continued to support the Warsaw Pact his attempts to promote what he called “socialism with a human face” concerned Moscow as Czechoslovakia was essential to the security of the Soviet bloc

August 28 1968 the Soviets invaded Czechoslovakia because they were concerned that if the Prague Spring were allowed to continue other members of the Soviet bloc would attempt similar reforms and they would lose control and thus become less secure > Gustav Husak replaced Dubcek

1968 Brezhnev Doctrine introduced which proclaimed the right of the USSR to determine when intervention might be necessary in order to preserve socialism and protect against counter-revolution within the Eastern bloc

Why did the Cold War End?

the failure of communism and collapse of the USSR in 1991 is regarded as the main reason for the end of the Cold War but other factors contributed as well such as the arms control agreements during détente (1968-1979 and 1985-1988) and the1989 revolutions in Eastern Europe

Détente 1963-1979

détente (relaxation of tension) refers to the warming of relations between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. and relaxation of tension during the Cold War and describes the Soviet-American relations from the late 1960s to 1979

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one of the reasons for détente was the nuclear parity (equality) between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. in nuclear weapons

after the Cuban Missile Crisis the Soviets began an intense military build up and by the late 1960s the American military superiority was less significant

Beginning of Détente – Partial Test Ban Treaty 1963

after the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962 the U.S. and U.S.S.R. agreed on the Partial Test Ban Treaty which limited nuclear testing in the atmosphere, under water, and in outer space but the superpowers continued to stock pile their nuclear arsenals throughout the 1960s

Major Developments during Détente 1968-1979

1968 Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty 1968 U.S., U.S.S.R., and Britain signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation

Treaty which limited the spread of nuclear weapons and technology and was the first significant achievement of détente > by March 1970 97 countries signed with the exception of France, Egypt, Japan, Israel and South Africa

1972 Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I) by 1969 the Soviets had tripled its stock of ICBMs and increased its supply

of submarine-launched ballistic missiles which ended U.S. superiority the U.S. changed its goal as a result of the end of its superiority and in the

early 1970s rather than increasing the numbers of the same weapons the Americans embarked on a program designed to develop innovation and nuclear technology

a new anti-ballistic missile program was created and also the Multiple Independent Targeted Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) was developed which would give the ICBM three to ten separately targeted nuclear warheads

to check this dangerous and expensive arms race the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. began to discuss the possibility of limiting the number of strategic weapons in the late1960s

May 26 1972 the U.S. and U.S.S.R. signed the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks Agreement (SALT I) which limited both sides to 200 ABMs (anti-ballistic missile) each and 2 defensive systems

ABM was designed to intercept and destroy incoming missiles before they reached their targets and equality in ABMs would preserve strategic balance of power and limit the possibility of either side gambling on a first strike

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limits were also placed on offensive weapons as the American ICBMs were frozen at 1054 while the U.S.S.R. was allowed to expand its arsenal to 1618

although the U.S.S.R. retained superiority in total numbers of weaponry the U.S. had superiority in weapons not covered by treaty limitations (eg MIRVs)

SALT I was a historic agreement in the limitation of strategic weaponry but because many types of weapons were left unregulated it did not stop the arms race as the U.S.S.R. was anxious to develop the MIRV and the U.S. developed the Trident submarine, the MX and cruise missiles

1979 Strategic Arms Limitations Talk (SALT II) after SALT I was signed the U.S.S.R. and U.S. began talks on SALT II which

would control weapons technology and intended to achieve nuclear parity the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. would be allowed 2400 strategic missiles (1320

could be equipped with MIRVs), the U.S. would be allowed 525 strategic bombers and the Soviets 160 > instead of a freeze on nuclear weapons the agreement placed limits on the number of weapons both sides could build

1974 President Gerald Ford and Brezhnev agreed in principle to limit strategic missiles and the agreement would come into effect in 1979

SALT II was criticized by the U.S. Senate and following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979 President Jimmy Carter asked Congress to delay approval of SALT II > despite the failure to ratify the agreement the U.S. and U.S.S.R. maintained the spirit of the agreement until 1985

Helsinki Accords 1975 August 1 1975 the U.S., U.S.S.R., Britain and France and 31 other nations

signed the Helsinki Accords in which they agreed to the following provisions: European frontiers or borders were recognized and accepted which was a victory for the U.S.S.R. and eased tension regarding Eastern Europe promote international cooperation in economics, science, and technology respect human rights and permit freedom of movement and allow freedom of choice in private and professional associations > aimed at Soviets and to provide hope to people of Eastern Europe and the U.S.S.R.

Helsinki Accords was a significant accomplishment of détente as the acceptance of boundaries seemed to indicate the beginning of a peaceful era

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arms control agreements in the 1970s did not prevent the development of a world with two superpowers determined to maintain first-strike capability and a situation of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) was maintained as both sides raced to develop new nuclear and conventional weapons

Other Examples of Détente

1970s Ostpolitik (new Eastern policy) improved relations between West and East Germany (American and Soviet allies)

October 1971 China replaces Taiwan in the UN Security Council 1972 U.S. recognition of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Feb 1972 President Nixon visits China March 1972 Nixon visits Soviet Union May 1973 Premier Brezhnev visits U.S. January 1973 ceasefire agreement and American withdrawal from Vietnam

End of Détente

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan ended détente and a with the election of President Ronald Reagan in 1980 the development of nuclear weapons escalated and ushered in a new era of the arms race during the 1980s

Détente 1963-1979

1963 Partial TestBan Treaty

U.S., U.S.S.R., Britain agreed to ban nuclear testing in the atmosphere, under water and, space

1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

U.S., U.S.S.R., Britain agreed to limit spread of nuclear weapons

1972 Strategic ArmsLimitation Talks (SALT I)

U.S. and USSR agreed to limit ABMs (anti-ballistic missile) to 200 each and 2 defensive systems

it maintains the balance of power and limits possibility of a first strike

1975 Helsinki Accord Western nations accept and recognize Eastern European borders

promote international cooperation in economics, science, technology

USSR to respect human rights and permit freedom of movement

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1979 Strategic ArmsLimitation Talks (SALT II)

U.S. and USSR agreed to place limits (not a freeze) on weapons both sides could build

U.S. and U.S.S.R. 2400 strategic missiles, U.S. allowed 525 bombers and U.S.S.R. 160 bombers

Other Examples 1970s Ostpolitik improved relations between West and East Germany

October 1971 China replaces Taiwan in the UN Security Council

1972 U.S. recognition of the People’s Republic of China (PRC)

Feb 1972 President Nixon visits China March 1972 Nixon visits Soviet Union May 1973 Premier Brezhnev visits U.S. January 1973 ceasefire agreement and

American withdrawal from Vietnam

END OF THE COLD WAR

Bipolar to Multipolar World

Bipolar to Multipolar World

by 1975 the bipolar world of the U.S. and U.S.S.R. began to change as both experienced domestic challenges that threatened their international status

signs of the gradual disintegration of the superpower blocs appeared during the 1960s and three factors contributed to the change the large number of newly non-aligned countries resulting from the decolonization process the reluctance of Western European nations to act as pawns in the Cold War and their subsequent overtures to Eastern Europe on nuclear disarmament in Europe

the emergence of China as an independent power after its split with the U.S.S.R. in 1962 along with the growing economic power of Japan and Western Europe

these factors paved the way for a new multipolar system of international relations

although the U.S. and U.S.S.R. still dominated China, Japan and Western Europe were strong forces

Domestic Challenges and Problems in the USSR and the US

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USSR 1964-1982 Soviets poured large sums of money into armaments and in

the 1970s achieved parity with the U.S. in some types of weaponry but the defence spending was at the expense of the manufacture and distribution of consumer goods which remained relatively scarce and of poor quality

during the 1970s the average Soviet citizen had a standard of living comparable to the average North American worker in the 1920s

housing did not keep pace with immigration from rural areas and it was difficult to find accommodation in the cities, only 1 in 46 Soviets owned a car (waiting period of 10-15 years) and as agriculture continued to deteriorate under Brezhnev food shortages persisted and citizens had to endure long line ups daily to obtain necessary items > meat and fresh produce were in short supply

difficulties with food supply persisted despite annual investments of $78 billion and subsidies of $50 billion to keep the retail prices down

the collectivization of agriculture led to a lack of incentive and denial of responsibility among workers on state farms and chronic inefficiencies and enormous wastage due to poor storage, distribution networks, and lack of efficient transportation created a dependency on foreign grain

Brezhnev’s successors Yuri Andropov 1982-1984 and Konstantin Chernenko 1984-1985 continued to oversee a stagnant economy

United States mid-1970s the U.S. faced several domestic and international challenges Americans demanded the government take a leading role in policing the

world but also provide quality consumer goods at reasonable prices U.S. industry was no longer able to compete in the world markets for

automotive, steel, or textile products and competition from Asia especially Japan, Korea, Taiwan forced American industry to become more innovative

the automotive industry was under siege as the 1970s energy crisis made fuel economy imperative and Japanese cars were more fuel efficient

the combination of skyrocketing energy prices and trade imbalances led to a recession in the U.S. by 1980

President Carter’s term in office saw the end of détente but also the notion that the use of nuclear weapons does not need to destroy humanity

National Security Advisor Brzezinski believed the Soviets were a global threat and needed to meet the threat militarily while Secretary of State Cyrus Vance believed peace could be achieved by negotiation and economic ties with the U.S.S.R. and as a result of these two competing views Carter adopted a humanitarian approach on foreign policy and focused on the human rights issue in the U.S.S.R.

Carter's encouragement of Soviet dissidents infuriated Brezhnev and lessened any opportunities for meaningful negotiations between them

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the most serious rupture in American-Soviet relations at the end of the 1970s occurred when Brzezinski used improved U.S.-Chinese relations to outmaneuver Soviet policies in the Third World and in arms control

January 1 1979 Carter and Deng Xiaoping exchanged diplomatic representations and ended 30 years of U.S. non-recognition of China

Brzezinski capitalized on this opportunity and American exports to China nearly doubled in 1979 and the increased trade was viewed as a major victory by the Americans who now faced world-wide competition from Japan

the Chinese used the relationship to imply American support in the Chinese invasion of Vietnam and thus disrupted Soviet-American relations while SALT II agreements remained unratified

when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan détente ended, the U.S. boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics and refused to ratify SALT II

1980 Ronald Reagan became president and seemed to symbolize the frustration and aggressive nationalism of the American people and focused on the “evil empire” of the U.S.S.R. adopted a hard line in foreign policy

Reagan argued the Soviets continued to produce arms at a time when the U.S. was preoccupied with domestic issues and equip the U.S. to fight a protracted war with conventional as well as nuclear weaponry

the Reagan administration believed that a nuclear war could be won believing that the U.S. economy could afford a massive military buildup

the Reagan administration ignored budget deficits it was running and the subsequent increases in interest rates

the result for the American economy was devastating as factories became less competitive and workers faced increased prices and fewer jobs and Reagan refused to raise taxes

the government's share of the GNP (Gross National Product) increased to 25.2% its highest degree of involvement since World War I

END OF THE COLD WAR

Détente 1985-1989

The Nuclear Arms Race in the 1980s

United States after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in December 1979 NATO asked the

U.S. to deploy cruise and Pershing missiles in Western Europe to counter the perceived threat from Soviet SS-20s ( cruise missile) > cruise missiles are guided by computers, launched by mobile launchers, fly below radar and therefore difficult to defend against

1981 Reagan claimed the Soviets had achieved military superiority rather than equality and put all arms control negotiations on hold for the first year and a half of his presidency and focused on a nuclear defensive strategy

1983 Reagan announced the U.S. plan to develop the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) which would provide a defensive shield and protect the U.S. from incoming Soviet missiles > SDI was contrary to the terms of the ABM treaty which was part of SALT I (still in effect) and renewed the arms race

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the U.S.S.R. was concerned about SDI and it was a point of contention in attempts to hold arms negotiations

USSR 1971-1984 Soviets increased defense spending 5% per year and during

the 1980s the quality, sophistication, and capability of Soviet aircraft, subs, warships and missiles improved significantly but by 1985 the spending of defence was causing serious problems in the economy

Attempts at Arms Control Negotiations 1979-1985 U.S. and U.S.S.R. were unable to agree on arms control

because they could not agree on issues such as the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and NATO's nuclear policy so the arms race continued to escalate

1981 Reagan proposed the zero option in which the U.S. would not deploy missiles in Europe if the Soviets dismantled their SS-20s but the Soviets refused fearing French and British missiles would remain giving NATO an advantage

November 1981 Reagan proposed the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) in place of SALT in an effort to reduce the number of ballistic missiles as well as nuclear warheads but no limits were placed on cruise missiles or bombers areas which the U.S. maintained superiority

no progress on arms control was made until Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the U.S.S.R. in 1985

Détente Renewed and Arms Control Agreements 1985-1989

Reasons for Detente 1985-1989 a new era of détente emerged as a result of several factors:

Reagan was concerned about his historical legacy and wanted to erase the unpopular anti-communist stance he developed in his first term Gorbachev inherited a backward economy and USSR spent significant amount of money on the military at the expense of consumer goods and he wanted to implement domestic reforms > glasnost and perestroika

1985-1989 Arms Control Agreements

Summit Meeting Results/AgreementNovember 1985Geneva

Reagan and Gorbachev agreed that a nuclear war could never be won and must not be risked

no agreement was reached but the meeting established a friendly relationship between the two nations that laid the groundwork for future negotiations

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October 1986 Reykjavik

Gorbachev proposed a 50% reduction of strategic missiles and limit testing of the SDI to the lab but Reagan rejected the proposal because he did not want to abandon the SDI

December 1987 Washington

December 8 1987 Reagan and Gorbachev signed the Intermediate-range Nuclear Force (INF) Treaty which was the first Soviet-American disarmament treaty

it required the destruction of 1600 Soviet and 400 U.S. missiles and was viewed as a positive beginning to a new era of American-Soviet friendliness

May 1988 Moscow the main topic of discussion at the meeting was human rights and no concrete agreement was reached on START

December 1988 New York

in a speech to the UN Gorbachev pledged to reduce Soviet armed forces by 10%, withdraw 50,000 troops from Eastern Europe, and reduce Soviet tanks in East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary by 50%

he also reiterated his commitment to restructure the Soviet economy in an atmosphere of openness which he called glasnost

Bush and Gorbachev - Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) 1991

Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START)

July 31, 1991Moscow

U.S. and the USSR agreed not to deploy more than 6,000 nuclear warheads atop a total of 1,600 ICBMs, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and bombers

START negotiated the largest arms control treaty in history, and its final implementation in late 2001 resulted in the removal of about 80% of all strategic nuclear weapons then in existence

END OF THE COLD WAR

Gorbachev's Reforms 1985-1989

Gorbachev’s Reforms: Perestroika and Glasnost

March 11 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev became the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party

Gorbachev replaced aging and unimaginative members of the Politburo (executive committee that controls policy) with younger people who had technical expertise and created a Politburo that supported his policies

radical left and conservative right of the party attacked Gorbachev’s reforms

Perestroika and Glasnost the cornerstones of Gorbachev’s reform program were glasnost

(openness) and perestroika (restructuring) which were to be enhanced by uskorenie (acceleration) and demokratizatsiya (democratization)

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perestroika was the most significant because it involved the restructuring of both the political and economic systems

perestroika had to be supported by policies of democratization and openness (glasnost) to counteract the bureaucratic inertia (lack of progress)that had resulted in economic stagnation while accelleration meant the country had to get moving again and set production targets that encourage an increase in the quality of manufactured goods

Agriculture RAPO maintained collectivization Gorbachev was criticized for not decollectivizing agriculture which was

done in China and resulted in increased production Gosagroprom (agricultural ministry) unable to increase agricultural

production effectively and as a result 1989-1990 winter it was often impossible for people to obtain butter, meat, or fresh fruit and vegetables

Private Enterprise one of the key elements of Gorbachev’s economic reform was the

encouragement and reward of private enterprise as represented in the Enterprise Law introduced in June 1987

the Enterprise Law established the independence of small business operations from the state ministries and Gosplan (planning committee)

but the state could order as much as 50-70% of the enterprises output and ministries began to demand more and more of the enterprises production and left little or nothing for private sale and as a result neutralized one of the key elements of economic reform

cooperative ventures also faced challenges as there was hostility towards those who achieved higher incomes by their own efforts and the Ministry of Finance stifled incentive by imposing high taxes

one of the primary problems of Gorbachev’s attempt to adopt some characteristics of a market system is the absence of a history of private enterprise as Soviet citizens had little or no experience with individual responsibility for his or her own economic well-being

Challenges to Gorbachev's Leadership from the Left and Right it became apparent that without significant political changes economic

progress was not possible Gorbachev’s changes in personnel in his first year were not sufficient to

pave the way for his reform movement and structural change in the system was necessary if economic progress was to be achieved but once middle managers realized the impact of reorganization on them they resisted

the first serious challenge to Gorbachev’s leadership occurred at the 1987 plenum (assembly) of the Central Committee from Boris Yeltsin the leader of the Party in Moscow who supported radical reform

Yeltsin was impatient with the pace of change and the power of the conservatives and criticized the Politburo for moving too slowly on reform and how it should be implemented

Gorbachev fired Yeltsin and believed Yeltsin wanted to revolutionize rather than restructure the Soviet system

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the conservatives were encouraged by Yeltsin's dismissal and became even more vocal in their resistance to reform

March 1988 conservative criticism of Gorbachev’s reforms culminated in the publication of a letter that suggested Gorbachev's de-Stalinization program and liberalization had destabilized society

Central Committee secretary Yegor Ligachev praised the letter publicly and hoped to discourage reform and promote the election of anti-reform delegates at the upcoming Nineteenth Party Congress

April Gorbachev counterattacked at a Politburo meeting and confronted Ligachev and his supporters and demanded an explanation for their attack on perestroika

Pravda newspaper attacked Ligachev and supported Gorbachev and stated perestroika was essential for the renewal of Soviet society

Glasnost (openess) Gorbachev’s glasnost permitted greater freedom of expression and of the

press but there were still limits despite its limitations glasnost allowed a view of Soviet society not

possible before Gorbachev as crime, alcoholism, and prostitution were regular topics in the Soviet media and it was possible to criticize medical care, government construction projects and the government’s involvement in Afghanistan

glasnost also promoted a discussion of ethnic concerns and historical disputes that led to instability in a number of areas such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Soviet southwest

under Stalin local ethnic identities were discouraged and Russian culture and language promoted to bind the diverse nation together

after Stalin’s death the nationalities issue emerged as an undercurrent of destabilization as non-Russians viewed Russification as a threat and began to express grievances about language, religion, and immigration

Gorbachev inherited this nationalistic discontent when he came to power in 1985

Structural Changes

June 28 1988 the Nineteenth Party Congress met and Gorbachev used the conference as a platform to promote his program of radical reform and to institutionalized the concepts of democratization and glasnost as it became evident that economic reform required political reform

Gorbachev proposed a major restructuring of the Soviet political system as the party apparatus would be cut by 50% which would result in a substantial reduction in personnel, elimination of departments that duplicated government services, and removal of party functionaries from local economic problems

the reforms Gorbachev planned to implement in the U.S.S.R. promised to radically change both the political and economic structure of the Soviet Union

however by late 1988 national unrest spurred on by glasnost and democratization threatened the stability of the Soviet Union and along

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with the lack of improvement in access to consumer goods the rising unrest signaled serious dangers to Gorbachev’s program of reform

END OF THE COLD WAR

1989 Revolutions in Eastern Europe

Background to Revolutions: Poland and Solidarity

rising food prices caused rioting in 1970 and 1976 but the Polish government was able to contain labour unrest and maintain some economic stability from 1970-1976 because of aid from the U.S.S.R., credit from Western banks and world demand for coal

workers were supported by the Catholic Church which provided the focus of resistance to the Communist > Karol Wojtyla cardinal-archbishop of Cracow became pope October 1978 (Pope John Paul II)

July 1980 Polish government imposed substantial price increases that provoked strikes throughout the country

August 14 strikes were held in the shipyards in Gdnask led by Lech Walesa

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the workers refused wage increases and wanted recognition as a trade union

August 17 the Gdnask strikers received symbolic support from the Church when a mass was conducted outside the shipyards

August 31 Walesa achieved the Gdansk Accord which granted the workers' right to establish independent unions, right to strike, better working conditions, radio broadcasts of mass, relaxed censorship and easing of political control > by September these terms were extended to all unions

September 22 1980 unions throughout Poland united and formed Solidarity to establish greater bargaining power

the Soviets did not intervene because Polish nationalism was strong and any intervention would be met with fierce resistance and they were also preoccupied with Afghanistan

autumn 1981 as the economic crises continued the government wanted concessions from the workers but Solidarity wanted a say in the management of the country in return > price of food and tobacco increased

October 1981 General Jaruzelski became general secretary and by the end of November it was obvious Jaruzelski was not going to allow Solidarity any real power and talks between the government and Solidarity reached an impasse and strikes staged throughout the country since autumn escalated

December 12 some national leaders of Solidarity proposed a national day of protest to be followed by a national vote on the Communist leadership, free elections, and the military relationship between Poland and the Soviet Union

December 13 1982 Jaruzelski imposed martial law as this was a direct challenge to the government’s authority > communications were cut, transport of goods was halted, factories occupied, strikes were outlawed and Solidarity leaders arrested

U.S. imposed economic sanctions to force the government to make reforms

August 1984 many political prisoners were released and the U.S. lifted many of the sanctions

Poland continued to suffer economic difficulties and its foreign debt increased to $30 billion in 1986 contributing to the already great difficulties the Poles had in obtaining the necessities of life

Factors in the Fall of Communism in Eastern Europe 1989

1989 liberation movements in Eastern Europe signaled the end of the Cold War and the collapse of communism in the U.S.S.R.

SolidaritySolidarity movement in Poland had massive support and paved the way for the liberation of Eastern Europe from Soviet domination and

Communism

economic failure of communism

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Eastern European nations experienced the same economic problems as the U.S.S.R. which was economic stagnation and an economy unable to meet the needs of the people in consumer goods

technologydevelopments in communications made it difficult for authoritarian regimes to censor information and communications networks accessed by peoplefax, radio, tv, internet provided information about the West and raised peoples expectations

Mikhail Gorbachevthe political and economic reforms referred to as glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) initiated by Gorbachev after 1985 had a significant impact on the events in Eastern Europe in 1989Gorbachev’s policy of glasnost (openness) encouraged freedom of movement in Eastern EuropeGorbachev renounced the Brezhnev Doctrine and was unwilling to use force to crush reform movements as was the case by previous Soviet leaders in Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968

nationalism

nationalism was a strong force in Eastern Europe and in nations like Poland and Czechoslovakia it contributed to the liberation of these countries from Soviet domination > anti-Russian sentiment

1989 Revolutions in Eastern Europe

during 1989 Gorbachev passively watched Eastern European nation one after another break away from communist and Soviet domination

the domino effect that the West feared was occurring in reverse as the well planned movements against communism in Poland and Hungary were followed by spontaneous movements against communism in East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Romania

the changes occurred with no interference from Moscow and little or no resistance from the communist governments of the Eastern European nations and except in Romania the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe was not violent

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Poland

April 5 1989 Solidarity leaders signed an accord with the government that provided for the restoration of its legal status and free and open elections

June 4 election was a major defeat for the Communist party as Solidarity won 99 of 100 seats in the upper house and all 161 seats in the lower house

the election results contributed to the resignation of President Wojciech Jaruzelski as leader of the Communist party July 29 1989

August 19 1989 President Jaruzelski designated a Solidarity leader Tadeusz Mazowiecki as prime minister

December 1990 Lech Walesa became President

Hungary

by 1985 Party leader Janos Kadar began to democratize Hungary but the Communist party was divided on the issue of reforms and when the liberals gained control of the Party in May 1988 Kadar was replaced by Karoly Grosz

the Communist party's control began to erode when it announced that non-communist parties would be tolerated in early 1989

May 2 1989 Hungary began to cut the barbed wire of the Iron Curtain that sealed off its border with Austria in a symbolic move

the Communist party's popularity began to decrease as a variety of liberal parties emerged > Alliance of Free Democrats, Democratic Front

October 7 1989 the Communist party formally disbanded and reconstituted itself as the Hungarian Socialist party which vowed to follow democratic procedures and reform its programs to meet the needs of the people

March 1990 election Democratic Forum won and Jozsef Natal became PM

East Germany

as the barbed wire between Hungary and Austria came down many East Germans sought permission from the Hungarian embassy to make their way through Hungary to Austria and then to West Germany

during the summer of 1989 6000 East Germans arrived in Vienna via Budapest but as the number of East Germans attempting to flee to West Germany via Hungary increased the East German government tightened restrictions to cut the flow of refugees in September and as a result East Germans responded by going to the embassy in Prague

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by October 1 trains were transporting young East Germans to Prague to gain sanctuary at the West German embassy before going to West Germany

as the number of refugees increased demands grew for the lifting of travel restrictions and for democratic reforms and demonstrations occurred in several East German cities and under pressure from its own people and the Hungarian government the government allowed 30,000 people to emigrate

October 18 the Communist party replaced hard liner Erich Honecker with Egon Krenz as leader but the change in leadership and easing of travel restrictions did not stem the flow of refugees which was the largest migration of East Germans since the Berlin Wall was constructed in 1961

November 4 1989 500 000 people demonstrated in East Berlin demanding democratic reform and on November 7 the East German cabinet resigned

November 9 the government opened the Berlin Wall during the first free election campaign West German parties established in

East Germany and Helmut Kohl's Christian Democrats campaigned on German reunification and was elected

German Reunification U.S.S.R. did not want a reunited Germany to be part of NATO and France

was concerned about German strength West German Chancellor Kohl met with Gorbachev in February and July

1990 to discuss German reunification and these negotiations resulted in Gorbachev's approval to German reunification as a sovereign state with membership in NATO and in return Kohl pledged financial support in the reconstruction of East Germany and aid to the U.S.S.R.

July 1 1990 East and West Germany were united economically October 2 1990 East and West Germany were reunited politically December 2 Kohl was elected Chancellor of the reunited Germany Germany's task then became the reconstruction of the eastern region

where decades of central planning had resulted in a stagnant economy

Bulgaria

Bulgarian dissidents began to voice concern about environmental pollution opening the door to other criticisms of the government

November 10 1989 partly because of economic problems Communist party leader Todor Zhivkov resigned

December 10 the Union of Democratic Forces led a demonstration in Sofia and as a result forced the new leader Petar Mladenov to promise free elections in the spring and to relinquish absolute power

Czechoslovakia

October 28 1989 10 000 people demonstrated in Prague and were met by armed police and temporary order was imposed by Party leader Milos Jakes

November 20 more than 200 000 people demonstrated in Prague demanding free elections and calling for a general strike

November 25 the Communist party leadership resigned their positions

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November 27 the Czechoslovakian work force participated in a general strike

demonstrations continued and a group called Civic Forum was established and was determined to create political opposition to the Communist party

December 7 Ladislav Adamec resigned as PM and replaced by Marian Calfa

December 10 negotiations between Civic Forum and the Communist party resulted in the resignation of Gustav Husak as president

December 29 election Vaclav Havel became the new president and demanded free parliamentary elections be held in the new year and the new parliament would select the president > Alexander Dubcek became premier

1992 the Czechs and Slovaks separated creating the new nations of the Czech Republic and Slovakia

Romania

Nicolae Ceausescu was the brutal and repressive leader of Romania December 17 demonstrations occurred in Timisoara to protest the arrest

of the Reverend Toekes and the army met the demonstrators with tanks and shot thousands of unarmed men, women and children > a mass grave was discovered after the incident and tensions increased

December 22 demonstrations were held again but this time the soldiers refused orders to shoot the protesters

December 25 Ceausescu and his wife were arrested in a coup and executed

May 20 election Ion Iliescu became the new president

END OF THE COLD WAR

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Collapse of the USSR 1990-1991

Economic, Nationalist and Political Problems

economic, nationalist, and political difficulties threatened throughout the winter of 1990-1991 to tear the Soviet Union apart

economic reforms attempted under perestroika failed to revive the centrally planned system

inefficiencies in harvest, transportation and distribution systems created a food shortage and resulted in food rationing

Gorbachev refused to allow private property or conversion to the free market

October 1990 a Five Hundred Day Plan to convert the economy to capitalism over a 500-day period was rejected and instead a currency reform aimed at removing excess rubles from the system and reducing inflation was implemented but this further eroded the confidence in the banking system and wreaked havoc with the private sector of business

separatist movements resulting from nationalist forces threatened the existence of the Soviet Union as all 15 republics declared their sovereignty

January 1991 Gorbachev ordered the Red Army to stop the independence movement in Lithuania as he was determined to retain control and as a result 13 people were killed by the Red Army

Gorbachev claimed no knowledge of the action and as a result lost credibility

February 1991 Lithuanians voted 90% in favour of establishing an independent state despite intimidation from Moscow

political challenges faced Gorbachev as well as nationalist challenges Gorbachev consolidated his power during 1990 to give him more control

than any other Soviet leader since Stalin Yeltsin, leader of the Russian Republic, posed a serious challenge > he

advocated private property and conversion to a free market system Foreign Minister Eduard Schevardnadze resigned because he believed

that a dictatorship was being developed

Attempted Coup August 1991

July 1991 Gorbachev was invited to the G-7 conference which he hoped to be able to obtain financial assistance to stabilize the Soviet economy but he was not able to secure a loan > Yeltsin ridiculed Gorbachev for his failure

Gorbachev proposed the Union Treaty between the republics and the central government that would give the republics more autonomy and set August 20 as the implementation date

the conservatives opposed the treaty and published a letter opposing Gorbachev’s plans using extreme language and their obvious defiance of the state was a precursor to the coup attempt

August 19 while Gorbachev was on vacation in the Crimea eight senior party officials (refer to GF p.306) staged a coup d’etat and seized control

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of the government in Moscow and Gorbachev was placed under house arrest

the turning point occurred when Yeltsin climbed on a tank and rallied the crowd in front of the Russian Parliament and denounced the Committee

Yeltsin's supporters set up barricades around the building forcing the coup leaders to use the army against its own people

the coup leaders were divided over using violence and announced it had given up on August 22 and Gorbachev returned to Moscow on the same day

Yeltsin and Gorbachev worked out a power sharing agreement but it was clear Yelstin had emerged from the power struggle as the stronger leader

the coup failed because communications lines were not cut, potential enemies of the revolution were not arrested, and troops were not strategically placed

the coup attempt had a number of significant consequences: Yeltsin emerged from the coup attempt stronger than Gorbachev and enhanced his stature as his actions were viewed by many Russians as having saved the day while Gorbachev was unable to do anything because he was under house arrest and consequently became a “lame duck” leader the Red Army was politically discredited and lost most of its influencethe independence movements in the republics gained momentumultimately the coup signaled the end of the Soviet Union as Moscow was unable to control the republics and the Soviet Union began to fall apart

The Commonwealth of Independent States

December 1 1991 Ukraine voted in favour of independence which led to the other republics to leave the Soviet Union

December 8 Yeltsin of Russia, Leonid Kravchuk of Ukraine, Stanislav Shushkevich of Belarus met in Minsk, Belarus and agreed to dissolve the Soviet Union > Russia, Ukraine and Belarus (formerly Belorussia) were the original three republics of the USSR that was created in 1922

the Soviet Union was replaced by the Commonwealth of Independent States a loose federation of sovereign (independent) states designed to empower these areas while at the same time link them economically

December 21 meeting in Alama Ata, Kazakhstan the Commonwealth of Independent States was declared the successor of the Soviet Union and now included eleven of the former Soviet republics > Georgia joined in 1994

December 25 1991 Gorbachev resigned as president of the Soviet Union bringing to an end the Soviet Union

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Factors in the Fall of Communism and Collapse of the USSR

Political Stagnation

Communist Party officials lived a privileged life and wanted to maintain itand did nothing to encourage reform of the political system

the party’s leadership was unwilling to abandon communist ideology in order to bring about necessary changes

Military Spending/Arms Race

military spending varied from 15%-25% of the Gross National Product (GNP) (U.S. spent 5%-7%) which placed a heavy burden on the Soviet economy

the Soviets were unable to excel at both consumer and military production the USSR was forced to spend a large portion of its national wealth in the

arms race with the U.S. which they could not afford

Nationalism

about 50% of the population of the USSR was not ethnically Russian USSR repressed ethnic/nationalist desires by imprisoning leaders,

censoring the press > imposed policy of Russification which non-Russians resented

Gorbachev’s policy of glasnost had the unintended effect of unleashing ethnic nationalist forces in the republics

Afghanistan

the war undermined the strength of the economy opposition to the war developed following the introduction of glasnost

Mikhail Gorbachev

Gorbachev’s economic and politic reforms - perestroika and glasnost - lead to demands for greater economic and political freedoms

Gorbachev’s policy of glasnost unleashed ethnic nationalism and led to demands for independence by the republics

Failure of Perestroika/Economy

economic growth was low throughout 1980s 1985-1990 many basic consumer items rationed and Soviets had to

endure line-ups for consumer goods

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Gorbachev’s economic reforms - Perestroika - did not improve the economy

Eastern European Revolutions 1989

the demand for change and opposition to the Communist Party in Eastern Europe that liberated them from Soviet control influenced the people in the republics of the USSR (i.e. domino effect)

Boris Yeltsin

as President of the Russian Republic Yeltsin undermined Gorbachev’s power

Yeltsin lead Russia’s move to independence Yeltsin was instrumental in opposing the coup in August 1991 which

earned him popularity and credibility at the expense of Gorbachev

Left and Right Opposition

the left/radical reformers (Yeltsin) supported reforms but felt that Gorbachev did not go far enough

the right/conservatives (Ligachev) opposed reforms and felt Gorbachev had gone too far

the left/right opposition divided the party

August 19-22 1991 Coup Attempt

the failed coup attempt by right wing hardliners in the Communist Party undermined Gorbachev’s power

the coup gave independence movements in the republics momentum and signaled the end of the Soviet Union

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