Reasons the Cold War ended - role of Mikhail Gorbachev

1. The Cold War
1945-1989
Role of Mikhail
Gorbachev
Reasons the Cold War ended

2. Reasons the Cold War ended
In today’s class I am learning to:
• Describe the actions of Mikhail
Gorbachev as leader of the USSR
• Analyse the impact these actions
had on ending the Cold War

3. Reasons the Cold War ended
There were numerous
changes in the USSR’s
political leadership in
the 1980s.
Leonid Brezhnev died in
1982. His replacement,
Yuri Andropov died in
1984. And then new
leader Konstantin
Chernenko died in 1985.

4. Reasons the Cold War ended
Traditionally, Soviet
leaders were very old.
Therefore the next
choice was different.
Mikhail Gorbachev was
54 years old when he
became the Soviet
leader in 1985. He was
the youngest ever
Soviet leader.

5. Reasons the Cold War ended
Gorbachev introduced a
series of changes which
aimed to transform the
Soviet Union.
One reform was called
Perestroika. This
allowed more private
ownership of business.
This led to changes
such as shops and
restaurants opening.

6. Reasons the Cold War ended
The biggest symbol of
this economic change in
January 1990.
The first McDonalds
restaurant – a major
symbol of American
capitalism – opened in
Moscow. There were huge
queues for people
wanting to visit.

7. Reasons the Cold War ended
Reducing central
government control
over the economy was
a big change, moving
away from the usual
Communist model.
This undermined the
very nature of the
Cold War, helping end
the conflict.

8. Reasons the Cold War ended
However this did not
introduce a full
Capitalist system
into the USSR.
The government still
retained control of
most of the Soviet
economy, meaning that
Communism still
dominated.

9. Reasons the Cold War ended
The Soviet Union was a
secret state.
Information was
strictly limited and
newspapers – such as
Pravda - controlled by
the government.
As a result, many
Soviet people had a
limited idea of life in
their own country.

10. Reasons the Cold War ended
The most shocking
example of this
happened in April 1986.
The Chernobyl nuclear
power plant exploded.
However it took 36
hours before the USSR
announced what had
happened, or evacuated
people from the area.

11. Reasons the Cold War ended
Gorbachev believed
there needed to be
fewer secrets in the
Soviet Union. In 1986,
he introduced a policy
called Glasnost.
This word literally
means ‘openness’ and
led to wider
availability of
information.

12. Reasons the Cold War ended
Glasnost led to various
changes. Books which
had been banned were
again made available.
Newspapers were allowed
to be more critical of
the government, and the
public could have more
free speech. More US
films were also allowed
to be shown.

13. Reasons the Cold War ended
Another major change
which was overseen by
Gorbachev was Soviet
withdrawal from the
Afghan War.
USSR troops first went
into Afghanistan in
1979. They began to
leave in 1988 and were
finally all withdrawn
by 1989.

14. Reasons the Cold War ended
The Soviet Union had
been characterised by
strong government
control of both the
economy and people.
Gorbachev’s reforms
hugely changed this,
altering the very
nature of the USSR
and inevitably ending
the Cold War.

15. Reasons the Cold War ended
Gorbachev made these
decisions, but they
were forced upon him.
Growing public
complaints, economic
problems and Afghan
military weakness
meant changes would
have had to have been
introduced by any
leader.