The whole idea Communism was based on meant the Communist economy was neglected, this meant that they had no means of support, especially when the USA stopped trading with them. The USSR finally decided that they did not have the technological ability to keep up with the USA, and when Reagan announced his laser defence system, the USSR decided to just give up trying and spend the little money on saving themselves from poverty. This shows that the USSR were low on money, showing a not-so “super”power, and that the USSR was weakening and in line for a fall.
Corruption was the next thing to hit the USSR, Brezhnev was the worst USSR leader (in terms of leadership, not what they did). Brezhnev started up the Arms race again, wasting billions of Russian Roubles in building many ICBM’s and SLBM’s, wasting money Russia should’ve been using saving themselves from poverty. Brezhnev was a corrupt as anything, completely ignoring the foundation of Communism and living in a huge mansion, with lots of money and riches. Brezhnev however, did play a part in Détente, but SALT 2 was never ratified, as, or Christmas day 1979, Brezhnev invaded Afghanistan. This really tore Communism apart as all trading and meeting with the USA ended, meaning SALT 2 was never ratified.
The USA also played a part in the end of the Cold War, with their movie star president, Ronald Reagan recently elected and already a hater of Communism, the Cold War was expected to start again, even with Russia in just an economic danger zone. This period is referred to as the 2nd Cold War, and it played a big part in the end of the main Cold War. Ronald Reagan had a very aggressive tone towards the USSR, refusing to even trade with them, which would really damage the USSR in the disaster Brezhnev managed to place it in. Andropov took over Brezhnev, and although he was not as stupid of a leader as Brezhnev, he was never the best, as a war of words started between him and Reagan, Andropov comparing Reagan to Hitler and even Darth Vader! This war of words was known as the 2nd Cold War.
A major part of the end of the Cold War was Reagan’s unveiling of his “Star Wars” plan, this made the USSR realise that they had no chance of ever competing with the USA, reducing a USSR threat, which also relaxed the USA’s aggression.
Then came the man who lead his own country to defeat, but who intentionally did it, realising it was for the best, Gorbachev. Gorbachev came to power during the time Russia was on the bring of collapse, the economy was a disaster, the lack of freedom and competitive wage and the war in Afghanistan with the Mujaheddin meant that support and morale was almost destroyed.
Gorbachev began to end the Cold War as soon as he was elected. He introduced two new things to the USSR, Perestroika and Glasnot, these two things allowed people to run their own businesses, earning their own money and repairing the economy, slowly at first, but soon many shops and restaurants appeared. The second one, Glasnot allowed freedom to the people, a freedom of speech and people could not be arrested for having a “wrong” opinion.
Gorbachev was very realistic, and even extremely friendly to the USA, throwing hostile Reagan off a little, but soon the two would be working togetherto bring the INF treaty, a treaty that said both sides would dismantle nuclear weapons and soon end the cold war.
In conclusion, I think Gorbachev made the biggest contribution and was the reason for the end of the Cold War. Gorbachev really got the USSR’s economy going again, and with a Communist hater like Reagan, someone who kept building weapons may have even caused a war. So, in my opinion, although he was not well liked by his country at the time, I think Gorbachev ended the Cold War and avoided what may have been an inevitable war.
