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Y223: The Cold War in Europe 1941–1995

The end of the Cold War 1984–1995: Soviet decline, Gorbachev and the end of communism

  • 3 things to know
  • Unit group 2

Overview

Recall questions on Soviet economic and social problems, eastern Europe in the 1980s, glasnost and perestroika, the Sinatra Doctrine, Afghanistan, the summits, the revolutions of 1989, German reunification, the 1991 coup, Yeltsin and Yugoslavia.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Key term

What happened in the coup of August 1991?

Evaluation

Why did the Soviet Union accept a reunified Germany within NATO?

Key term

What economic problems faced the Soviet Union by the mid-1980s?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What economic problems faced the Soviet Union by the mid-1980s?

    Model answer

    Growth had stagnated, agriculture and consumer industries were chronically inefficient, defence swallowed a huge share of national output, and the fall in oil prices removed the export earnings that had disguised the decline.

  2. 2

    What social problems added to Soviet decline?

    Model answer

    Housing and consumer goods were poor and queues routine, corruption was widespread, alcoholism was rife and life expectancy for men was actually falling.

  3. 3

    What difficulties faced eastern Europe in the 1980s?

    Model answer

    The satellite economies were burdened by inefficient heavy industry and by hard currency debts to western banks, and their governments had lost any real popular legitimacy.

  4. 4

    How did western influence weaken communist rule?

    Model answer

    Western broadcasts and consumer prosperity offered a visible alternative, and the human rights commitments of Helsinki gave groups such as Charter 77 and Solidarity a legitimate basis for protest.

  5. 5

    Explain why the arms race put such pressure on the Soviet Union.

    Model answer

    Matching American spending consumed resources a stagnant economy could not spare, and the prospect of competing with a space-based missile defence made the burden look unsustainable.

  6. 6

    Explain what glasnost meant in practice.

    Model answer

    It meant openness: relaxed censorship, honest reporting of problems and of the Stalinist past, and public criticism of officials, which Gorbachev hoped would expose obstruction to reform.

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BThe caliphate was abolished in 1924.
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