Ronald Regan became president of the U.S. in 1980. He labeled the Soviet Union as an "evil empire", and increased military spending to combat them. In fact, this increase was the greatest increase in military spending during peace in American history. Reagan Also in 1980, the United States led a boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games, which took place in Moscow. Sixty-five nations took part in the boycott, but four years later the Soviets boycotted the 1984 Olympic Games that took place in the United States. An oil glut took place at this time also. The United States had persuaded Saudi Arabia to increase oil production, which resulted in an overabundance of oil and lowered prices. This hurt the Soviet Union as one of its major exports was oil, and it raised tension between the U.S. and Soviet Union. The Poland Solidarity Movement was a major debacle at this time. The Solidarity Movement was a non-communist controlled trade union located in Poland, and it gained support when Pope John Paul II visited his native land. The communist suppressed this movement though, and the U.S. Sanction Poland for doing so. In addition, Regan controversially supported the Contras Revels in Nicaragua who were fighting the communist government. In 1983, an airplane flight headed for Seoul, South Korea was shot down by the Soviet Union when it flew into the Union’s airspace due to a technical error. All 269 people on board were killed, including the sitting U.S. Congressman, Lawrence McDonald. At first, the Soviets denied the incident ever occurred, but later proclaimed that it was thought to be a spy plane from the United States. This was one of the tensed moments during the Cold War, as the Soviet Union was blaming the United States for trying to provoke a war.
Until Brezhnev was removed from office, the arms and economic race heightened. The Soviet's had a larger stockpile of nuclear weapons and a larger military overall. The United States had depended on having better quality weapon's then the Soviets in the past, but the gap between the qualities of the weapons were narrowing. The U.S. did have an advantage though, as it had more powerful allies, such as the United Kingdom, and Japan. The Soviet Union basically had its Eastern Bloc and a few other underdeveloped nations scattered in Africa and Asia. Increasing tensions, Regan stationed cruising missiles throughout Western Europe that could reach Moscow in ten minutes. Regan also was developing the Strategic Defense Initiative, dubbed "Star Wars" by critics, that would shoot down incoming missiles.
With Leonid Brezhnev being removed from office in 1982 because of his old age, a new leader was needed for the Soviet Union. Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko briefly served as leaders, but died shortly after assuming leadership. Mikhail Gorbachev became General Secretary in 1985. When he entered office, the Soviet economy was stagnant, and foreign trade was falling. Gorbachev moved to reform the Soviet economy. He allowed the creation of private businesses, which would provide more foreign investment. Gorbachev eased the grip the government had on its people and allowed more freedoms. As a result, relations with Western Nations increased, especially with the United States, and tensions began to ease. Reagan and Gorbachev met at many summits, and discussed such things as reducing their nuclear arms stockpiles, or removing long range ballistic missiles. Before leaving office, Reagan gave the most famous speech of his presidency at the Berlin Wall, in which he demanded, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." Soon after the Berlin Wall, the symbol of the Cold War, and the “iron curtain” that had fallen over Europe, did fall, and West and East Berlin borders were open once again.
With Regan leaving office, George H. W. Bush took office, and continued most of Regan's policies when dealing with the Soviet Union. Bush and Gorbachev started the START I (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) program, which reduced military stockpiles even further. At this point, the communist regime ban to falter, as the Soviet Union proclaimed that it would not interfere in its Eastern Bloc allies' affairs. Soon, countries in the Soviet Union began having mostly peaceful revolutions, and the communists were losing power. Gorbachev even consented to the re-unification of East and West Germany. There was a coup attempt to remove Gorbachev from office, but it failed, although it did greatly weaken the regime. Russia, the main proprietor in the Union threatened to secede. The Soviet Union officially dissolved on December 25th, 1991. In it's place, the Commonwealth of Independent States was formed. It was a loose alliance, and countries kept their sovereignty.
The Cold War defined most of the twentieth century, and affected people in all corners of the world. Most of all, it affected how the United States and the Soviet Union handled one another when it came to diplomacy. Ultimately, communism fell, and the United States reigns supreme (sort of) today.
Works Cited
- "Timeline: Soviet war in Afghanistan." . BBC News, 17/02/2009. Web. 10 May 2010. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7883532.stm>.
-
Simikin, John. "Ronald Reagan." Spartacus Educational. John Simikin, n.d. Web. 10 May 2010. <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAreagan.htm>.
-
"The Rise and Fall of Mikhail Gorbachev." TIME. TIME, n.d. Web. 10 May 2010. <http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1971363,00.html>.
-
van Hosel, Frans. "The Soviet Union and the United Sates." Soviet Archives Exihibit. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2010. <http://www.ibiblio.org/expo/soviet.exhibit/intro2.html>.
-
Kreis, Steven. "Leonid Brezhnev, 1906-1982." The History Guide Lectures on Twenteth Century Europe. N.p., 14/05/2004. Web. 10 May 2010. <http://www.historyguide.org/europe/brezhnev.html>.
-
"Strategic Defense Initiative." Infoplease. The Columbia Electronics Encylcopedia, n.d. Web. 10 May 2010. <http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0846897.html>.
-
"Berlin Wall History." Berlin Wall Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2010. <http://www.dailysoft.com/berlinwall/history/index.htm>.
-
Tristam, Pierre. "The 1980 Olympics Boycott Over the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan." About.com. About.com, n.d. Web. 10 May 2010. <http://middleeast.about.com/od/afghanistan/a/me080803.htm>.
-
"Fall of the Soviet Union." The Cold War Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2010. <http://www.coldwar.org/articles/90s/fall_of_the_soviet_union.asp>.
-
"1980s oil glut." World Lingo. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2010. <http://www.worldlingo.com/ma/enwiki/en/1980s_oil_glut>.