The Cold War came to an end because the Soviet bloc was fatally undermined by popular protests in Eastern Europe. How far do you agree with this view?

The Cold War came to an end because the Soviet bloc was fatally undermined by popular protests in Eastern Europe. How far do you agree with this view?
It can be argued that popular protests did play an extremely significant role in the end of the cold war. This view is supported in source 10, which links the protests to the end of the Soviet Union, which then ended the Cold War. Source 11 on the other hand focuses on the role of Gorbachev and Reagan played. Source 12 puts has a more structuralist view emphases on the economic failings of the Soviet Union, which undermined them. This essay will argue that despite popular protests, it was a combination of factors that led to the end of the cold war.
The role of popular protests in undermining the Soviet Union is underlined in Source 10. Jones argues that the changes in the USSR began due to ‘opposition of the communist way.’ Due to the fact that the state controlled blocs did not meet the needs of the people this can be a factor in order to initiate protests. Jones goes on to say that ‘in Poland many people pushed for religious freedom,’ and many Eastern European countries ‘wanted a government that would act in the interests of its citizens.’ As Gorbachev introduced Glasnost, or political freedom, this can be argued to cause popular protests, as it was now legal. Also, Glasnost weakened the authority in the Soviet system, making that the main differentiator between communism and capitalism; now with glasnost in place the two have become more similar. With Glasnost in effect this caused protests all over Eastern Europe in initiating the protests, most notably being in Poland, East Germany, Romania and, Czechoslovakia. Despite the popular protests being a key factor in the dismantling of communism, if it wasn’t for Gorbachev, perhaps the protests may not have happened. The USSR was no longer willing to support unpopular communist governments, who were in danger of becoming a financial drain and a political embarrassment.
