4. The Cold War raged between the USA and Soviet Union
for almost 50 years. Then suddenly in 1989 it came
to an end with the collapse of the Soviet Union.
5. In 1985, the Soviet
Union gained a new
leader; Mikhail
Gorbachev.
Gorbachev introduced
reforms which reduced
Soviet control of
Eastern
Europe, including
ending the Brezhnev
Doctrine.
6. All across Europe,
countries which had been
members of the Soviet
Union underwent changes
and revolution.
These reforms –
sometimes peaceful,
sometimes violent caused the Communist
empire to disintegrate.
7. In Poland there had
been campaigns against
Communism throughout
the 1980s.
These were led partly
by the workers’
movement Solidarity
and also the Catholic
Church (led by Polish
Pope, John Paul II.
8. Changes which were
happening elsewhere in
the Soviet Union allowed
Solidarity to stand in
the 1989 elections.
Solidarity easily
won, ending Communist
rule. And the Soviet
Union did nothing to
stop this.
9. Events in Poland showed
other Eastern European
countries that they
could make changes.
Hungary saw huge changes
in 1988. First the
Communist leader, Janos
Kadar was sacked. Then
other political parties
were allowed.
10. From 1989, Hungary
started allowing
people to travel
freely to the West.
This allowed people
from East Germany to
go to Hungary then
the West; 125,000
chose to do so in one
day alone.
11. East Germany was hugely
weakened by Gorbachev’s
policies and also
Hungary’s actions.
East Germans started to
openly protest against
the
Communists, something
which had never happened
before.
12. On November 9, 1989
‘people power’ finally
won as the Berlin Wall
was dismantled.
East and West Germans
helped knock down
sections of the wall and
were able to cross the
border without fear.
13. Czechoslovakia also saw
major changes too in
November 1989.
There were huge
demonstrations led by
Civic Forum. The
peaceful nature of the
changes meant this was
called the ‘Velvet
Revolution’.
14. The most violent revolution
took place in Romania.
Leader Nicolae Ceausescu
refused any changes, even
as protests grew larger.
There were riots and fights
across the country until
Ceausescu was executed on
Christmas Day, 1989.
15. By the end of
1989, there were no proSoviet governments left
in Eastern Europe.
The map of Europe was
redrawn; first in 1990
with German unification.
Others followed, such as
the Czech Republic and
Slovakia.
16. Problems continued in
what remained of the
Soviet Union.
Further demand for
change – especially in
Russia – led to the
Soviet Union being
officially dissolved in
December 1991. The Cold
War was over.
17. Problems continued in what remained of the Soviet
Union. People were very poor and demanded change –
especially in Russia.
18. Eventually it became
clear that the
Soviet Union could
no longer continue.
In December 1991 the
Soviet Union was
officially
dissolved. The Cold
War was over.
