The Collapse of the Soviet Union and the End of the Cold War

From 1989 to 1991, the world's map and political systems were rapidly transformed. The Cold War, which had lasted about half a century, ended in an unexpected way.

Basic Knowledge

In the 1980s, the Soviet Union was exhausted by economic stagnation and the quagmire of its invasion of Afghanistan (1979-89). In 1985, Gorbachev became general secretary of the Communist Party and promoted perestroika (restructuring), glasnost (openness), and a new thinking in foreign policy. In 1987, the United States and the Soviet Union concluded the INF Treaty (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty). In Eastern Europe, the Revolutions of 1989 spread in succession: in Poland, Solidarity, led by Walesa, won the elections in June; Hungary opened its border; and on November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall fell. In December 1989, U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Soviet leader Gorbachev declared the end of the Cold War at the Malta Summit. On October 3, 1990, East and West Germany reunified (Chancellor Kohl). On December 25, 1991, Gorbachev resigned, the Soviet Union was dissolved, and the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) was established.

In Depth (Background and Effects)

Eastern European countries democratized one after another, including Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution (bloodless) and the execution of President Ceaușescu in Romania (a violent revolution). In 1990, Namibia became independent (the liberation of Africa's last colony), and the Gulf War occurred when a U.S.-led multinational force counterattacked Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1991. In 1993, the EU (European Union) was established under the Maastricht Treaty; the common currency, the euro, was introduced in 1999 (cash circulation began in 2002). In China, on June 4, 1989, the Tiananmen Incident occurred in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, where the People's Liberation Army violently suppressed students and citizens seeking democratization; the Communist Party system was maintained. Deng Xiaoping's policies of reform and opening up (1978-) and the socialist market economy continued, and China continued to grow economically.

Points to Note (Easily Confused)

① Distinguish the construction of the Berlin Wall (1961) from its fall (1989). ② Distinguish Gorbachev (the last leader of the Soviet Union), Yeltsin (the first president of Russia), and Putin (the current president). ③ The Tiananmen Incident (1989, China) and the Malta Summit (1989, end of the Cold War) occurred in the same year but were different events. ④ The sequence was EC (European Community, 1967) → EU (European Union, 1993) → euro (1999/2002).

Practice

1. Which leader promoted perestroika in the Soviet Union?
2. On what date did the Berlin Wall fall?
3. In what year and month was the Soviet Union dissolved?