IB Unit IX : The “ Third Cold War” and the Collapse of Communism 1979-1991

1. IB Unit IX: The “Third Cold War” and the Collapse of Communism 1979-1991

2. The Weakening of Détente Events begin to confirm Nixon’s comment: “détente does not mean the end of danger … détente is not the same as lasting peace”. USSR intensified its efforts to intervene and support sympathetic regimes in the Middle east, Africa, and Asia Carter champions human rights in Eastern Europe and Soviet physicist Andrei Sakharov

3. The Weakening of Détente (cont’d) 1976: Moscow places SS-20 medium-range missiles in Eastern Europe NATO responds in 1979: US would deploy its Pershing and Cruise missiles in Europe by 1983 if no agreement with the USSR was reached Deployed in 1983 despite protests from the Greens and the political left

4. SS-20; Pershing Missile (This two-stage, surface-to-surface missile is sometimes credited with helping to win the Cold War. It was so accurate it was capable of hitting an area the size of this missile display)

5. Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan 24-27 December 1979: 50,000 Soviet troops airlifted to Kabul Next few weeks  85,000 more Background: April 1978 a coup (by the local Afghan Communist Party) overthrew the monarchy Regime began radical reforms which provoked widespread opposition from conservative forces in the countryside

6. Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan

8. The headquarters of the Soviet 40th Army in Kabul, 1987. Before the Soviet occupation, the building was Tajbeg Palace, where HafizullahAmin was killed.

9. Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan (cont’d) USSR increasingly worried about the impact this revolt would have on Islamic fundamentalism in the Muslim republics in southern Russia If successful – feared it would be another link in the global encirclement of the USSR (fearful of China) Soviets argued they were acting defensively (like East Germany ‘53; Hungary ‘56 & Czechoslovakia ’68)

10. Western Response to the Invasion Seen as a new and highly threatening development in Soviet foreign policy Condemned by 104 nations in the UN Carter: banned grain exports and high technology equipment  USSR Senate refused to ratify SALT II US athletes boycotted the 1980 Olympic summer games  Moscow

11. President Jimmy Carter and Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev sign the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT II) treaty, June 18, 1979, in Vienna.

12. Operation Cyclone July 3, 1979: U.S. President Carter signed a presidential finding authorizing funding for anticommunist guerrillas in Afghanistan After the invasion in December, Carter announced, "The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan is the greatest threat to peace since the Second World War.”

13. A mujahideen resistance fighter

14. Mujahideen convene outside a Soviet garrison, preparing to launch a mortar attack.

16. The Solidarity crisis in Poland 1980-1982 Poland was the key country in the Soviet bloc: 1) militarily it provided the main route to the West 2) it provided 1/3 of the combined forces of the Warsaw Pact 3) it had the largest population of the satellite states – 36 million

17. The Solidarity crisis in Poland 1980-1982 Summer of 1980: Poland faced a major economic crisis Rising oil costs; recession in the West – was no market for their goods; also failed to modernize 1980: strikes break out in Gdansk over price increases Government made far-reaching concessions and recognized the Solidarity movement in August as an independent trade union

18. 1980 strike at Gdańsk Shipyard, birthplace of Solidarity

19. The Solidarity Movement Strengthens Threat of a national strike Solidarity allowed national membership – reaches 8 million Supported by Polish intellectuals and the Roman Catholic Church and its Polish Pope (John Paul II) Brezhnev & Warsaw Pact nations want to  troops PM Stanislaw Kaniaconvinced Brezhnev he could restore order himself US warnings were also probably a powerful deterrent

20. Lech Wałęsa

22. 1981: Solidarity Calls for Further Drastic Change At the ninth Congress of the Polish Communist Party – delegates attacked party leaders and began to dismantle the party organization Soviets agree not to invade if martial law is imposed by General Jaruzelski(Kania’s successor) US continues its call to allow Poland to solve the crisis itself No Soviet intervention

23. Polish United Workers' Party's newspaper TrybunaLuduannounces the declaration of martial law in Poland

24. T-55A on the streets during Martial law in Poland

25. General Jaruzelski & Stanislaw Kania

26. The “Third Cold War” threatened Ostpolitik By 1980Ostpolitik was beginning to degenerate into open appeasement of Moscow and Eastern Europe France and the FRG condemned the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan BUT don’t join US & UK to criticize it further or the Polish government’s reaction to Solidarity France & FRG  “détente cannot take another shock like that!”

27. Further Appeasement Willy Brandt actually condemned Solidarity for threatening the stability of the Polish regime! December 1981: when martial law was declared – Schmidt went out of his way to avoid criticizing it By the time Pershing and Cruise missiles were deployed in 1983 – Schmidt had been replaced by Kohl (Kohl is also careful w/ Ostpolitik)

28. Cold War Alliances (1980)

29. The War in Afghanistan Continues – Changes in Soviet Leadership War of attrition continues to the end of Brezhnev’s rule 1982 Brezhnev dies, succeeded by Andropov 1984 Andropov dies, succeeded by Chernenko 1985 Chernenko dies, succeeded by Gorbachev (March)

31. Mikhail Gorbachev Stalin’s Legacy & the USSR: meant the USSR remained an authoritarian one-party state Economically focused on production of military hardware – nothousing, transport, food, consumer goods, and health care Gorbachev on eve of his succession – “We can’t go on living like this”

32. Mikhail Gorbachev General Secretary to the Politburo Youngest leader to have the position since Stalin – also the first university-educated leader since Stalin

33. Problems Facing Gorbachev • 1) collapse of détente led to a new and expensive arms race w/ the US • 2) 1983 – Reagan announced the development of “Star Wars” or SDI • The USSR, like the US in the 1960s, was suffering from global over-stretch • Afghanistan • Angola & the Horn of Africa  support left-wing regimes

34. President Reagan delivering the March 23, 1983 speech initiating SDI

35. “Star Wars”

36. Problems Facing Gorbachev 3) Soviet economy was stagnating – needed technological and financial input from the West Since 1975 the USSR’s industrial production rate had been dropping Also far behind the West in developing new technologies

37. Gorbachev’s Plans Wanted to restore détente and resume arms negotiations – BUT Wanted to end the Cold War because it was too costly and impeded his domestic programs He did not follow the Marxist-Leninist revolutionary ideology He no longer believed Communism would eventually triumph over the West

38. Gorbachev’s Plans He worked towards international cooperation and a real co-existence between the two rival systems Believed time the principles and values of each system would converge rather than conflict

39. Perestroika and Glasnost 1) Perestroika: (restructuring) Aimed at restructuring the economy 2) Glasnost: (openness) was the principle that every area of the regime should be open to public scrutiny Involved greater “democratization” with more people involved in the Communist Party and political debate

40. Perestroika and Glasnost (cont’d) Gorbachev intended to use these strategies to make the Soviet system more productive and responsive Decided to abandon the arms race and negotiate reductions (knew USSR couldn’t match SDI) He also called for a “new thinking” in international affairs – said there would be “no winners” in a nuclear war (like climbers roped together on a mountainside)

41. Reagan-Gorbachev Summits 1) Geneva Summit (Nov. 1985) 1st meeting No substantial progress – but the two did agree that “a nuclear war cannot be won and must not be fought”

42. Geneva Summit (Nov. 1985)

43. Geneva Summit (Nov. 1985)

44. Reagan-Gorbachev Summits 2) Reykjavik Summit (Oct. 1986) Discussions of the “Zero Option” & SDI Gorbachev wants SDI “confined to the laboratory” – Reagan refused to concessions Talks end w/out agreement BUT covered the most sweeping arms control proposals in history Gorbachev declared it “an intellectual breakthrough” in US-Soviet relations

45. 2) Reykjavik Summit (Oct. 1986)

46. Reagan-Gorbachev Summits 3) Washington Summit (Dec. 1987) An Intermediate-Range Nuclear Force (INF) Treaty was signed – actually abolished weapons  land-based missiles of intermediate and shorter range Important 1st step in reducing stockpiles – 1st time agreement was reached on inspection of the destruction of missiles

47. 3) Washington Summit (Dec. 1987)

48. 3) Washington Summit (Dec. 1987)

49. INF Treaty • Specific missiles destroyed: • United States • Pershing Iband Pershing II • BGM-109G Gryphon • Soviet Union • SS-4 'Sandal' • SS-5 'Skean' • SS-12 'Scaleboard' • SS-23 'Spider' • SS-20 'Saber' • SSC-X-4

50. Reagan-Gorbachev Summits 4) Moscow Summit (May 1988) Last Gorbachev-Reagan Summit Marked by the June 1 exchange of the instruments of ratification which implemented the INF Treaty Arms reduction negotiations continue; still SDI disagreement Red Square, Reagan & the “evil empire”