Gorbachev undeniably precipated the fall of the Soviet Union by ending the Cold War

        However, the allowing of free elections and “Velvet Revolutions” had the unintended effect of stirring nationalist sentiments amongst the 14 non-Russian Republics. Glasnost had opened the eyes of the Soviet people to the failings of their system, and the granting of independence to their Eastern European neighbours through the Sinatra Doctrine had aroused their own nationalist sentiments of independence from the Soviet Union. Their simultaneous declarations of independence coincided with Gorbachev’s waning influence and military might to respond, causing the breakup of the Soviet Union.

        By ending the Cold War in Eastern Europe, Gorbachev also faced much political backlash, which undermined his power to do anything to stop the breakup of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev effectively lost his entire supporter base with his policies of reform, both among the conservatives and reformists. Stopping direct Soviet intervention in Eastern Europe, granting free elections, and encouraging Glasnost, amongst other actions, hurt his standing with the conservatives, as they were unhappy with the loss of the Soviet Union’s status as a superpower. The reformers were unhappy with Gorbachev towards the end of his term as party chief, at what they deemed were half-hearted reforms in the Baltic States and his self-appointment as Executive President. Gorbachev also vacillated from the reformers to conservatives when he felt the reformers were becoming too powerful and a threat to his position. It is evident that Gorbachev has lost all support when he faced coups by both the reformers and the conservatives in 1991. He was essentially powerless to react when Yeltsin allowed the breakup of the Soviet Union, leading to his resignation as executive president, a process that all started with his act to end the Cold War.

        However, to say that Gorbachev intended for the fall of the Soviet Union as a result of his decision to end the Cold War would be inaccurate. Rather, the opposite was true; the ending of the Cold War would have consolidated Gorbachev’s reign and the integrity of the Soviet Union. By reducing hostilities with the West, particularly the US, the Soviet Union could then receive more aid from the IMF and World Bank, which could be used to restart the Soviet economy. As mentioned earlier, the release of Eastern Europe would rid the Soviet Union of this economic drain. Politically, ending the Cold War and rebuilding the Soviet Union would elevate Gorbachev to the status of a hero amongst the Soviet people.

        Gorbachev’s only mistake is to believe the problems that the Soviet Union faced were inherently possible to remedy within a communist framework. Decades of suppression have hidden the extent of the problems that the Soviet Union faced from both the Politburo and the masses. With reforms like Glasnost and Perestroika, the lid on top of these problems came off, with every single flaw of the Soviet Union out in the open for all to see and criticize. Rather than solving the problem, Glasnost, Perestroika and ending the Cold War made the problem worse, because the economic problems of the Soviet Union were too deep to remedy.

        In conclusion, though Gorbachev’s actions in ending the Cold War directly led to the collapse of the Soviet Union, it must be remembered that the Soviet Union was already a sinking ship; Gorbachev just believed it salvageable and sought to save it. In so doing, he brought upon its inevitable end instead, and shall go down in history as the man who both ended the Cold War and broke up the Soviet Union.