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End of the Cold War Overview

May 4, 2025

Heimler's History: End of the Cold War

Objective

  • Explain the causes and effects of the end of the Cold War and its legacy.

Ronald Reagan's Role in the End of the Cold War

  • Speeches:

    • Reagan's global speeches aimed to depict the Soviet Union as on the brink of collapse.
    • Significant speeches include the 1982 British Parliament where he proclaimed that Marxism-Leninism would be left on the "ash heap of history."
    • 1983: Labeled Soviet Union as an "evil empire."
  • Diplomatic Efforts:

    • Initial détente under Nixon's era, disrupted during Carter's presidency.
    • Gorbachev's reforms:
      • Glasnost: Political freedoms.
      • Perestroika: Limited free market practices.
    • INF Agreement: Destruction of intermediate-range missiles.
    • Withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan.
  • Limited Military Interventions:

    • Reagan Doctrine: Support for any anti-communist regimes, regardless of their governance style.
    • Nicaragua:
      • U.S. backed the Contras against the communist Sandinistas.
      • Congress stopped support due to Contras' human rights abuses.
    • Iran-Contra Affair:
      • Sale of weapons to Iranian Contras to fund the Nicaraguan Contras.
      • Illegal as Congress held budgetary authority.
      • Reagan's administration found aloof, but Reagan himself not directly implicated.
  • Military Buildup:

    • Increased U.S. military spending and innovation.
    • Development of B-1 bomber, MX missile, and expansion of Navy.
    • Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), dubbed "Star Wars," aimed at missile defense through space-based lasers.

End of the Cold War

  • Reagan left office before the Cold War ended; successor George H.W. Bush oversaw its conclusion.
  • Soviet Influence Diminishes:
    • Gorbachev reduced Soviet influence in Eastern Europe.
    • 1989: Non-communist leader elected in Poland, followed by changes in other Eastern European nations.
    • Fall of the Berlin Wall.
    • 1991: Collapse of the Soviet Union.

Post-Cold War Diplomatic Efforts

  • START Treaties:
    • Reduction of nuclear warheads.
    • START I: Reduced warheads to 10,000 each.
    • START II: Further reduction to 3,000 and U.S. offered economic aid to Russia.

Legacy

  • Significant reduction in nuclear arms.
  • Shift in diplomatic and military policies post-Cold War.

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