End Of The Cold War
22 November 2004 (Lecture
#36)
o
This
stresses out the Soviet system, highlighting their economic deficiencies
o
Allowed
to travel around Europe to study economists – puts him in touch with the
average man
o
Gorbachev
made economic minister and his reforms fix short-term problems
o
Made
General Secretary in 1985 because party leaders realized new ideas were needed
to fix the system
o
1)
Glasnost – “openness” – attempt to foster economic success through
liberalization
o
2)
Perestroika – “restructuring” – tries to motivate people by making the economy
more like capitalism by lifting some socialist controls (price controls, etc.)
o
3)
Made it clear he would not use force to maintain communism in Eastern Europe
§
Allows
other countries to make changes to their systems without worrying about
invasion by the Red Army
§
Gorbachev
did not intend to break up the Soviet system
·
He
wanted to invigorate the system through economic reform
·
Instead,
states begin to leave communism
o
Poland
is the first to go – nobody changed in the past four years because they feared
the policy was superficial
o
As
borders open in formerly communist countries, West Berliners go through them to
get to democratic East Germ.
o
Politburo
meets to decide whether to issue temporary passes, etc.
§
Man
who issues their statement just answers questions and does not understand his
statement
§
He
basically tells the nation they can cross the border on international TV
§
Politburo
does not know what to do as 10,000s mass and cross the wall
o
Gorbachev
wakes up the next day and is shocked – asks the German Politburo how they could
have let the people leave communism through such a large flood gate
o
Many
break off into ethnic groups (new countries)
o
Russia
draws the line at Chechnya – decides it cannot let any more people go or
nothing will be left
Conclusions