History Cold War

• Western Economic strength


  • Allowed them to sustain large military spending as well as show the East a better quality of life
  • Example of the threat of the Strategic Defence Initiative. Whilst militarily a little implausible it was backed by formidable finance and technology
  • Importance of the Marshall Plan in the immediate post-war period in ensuring economic stability and growth in the West
• Soviet economic weakness


  • Soviet economy was geared to heavy industrial production and servicing its large military
  • The lack of quality consumer goods did not show a superior economic model
  • Some East European states looked to the West to modernise their economies and even borrowed large sums of money during détente, which was not encouraging economically
  • When another arms race beckoned, Gorbachev recognised that the Soviet Union could not compete
• Defeat of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan


  1. Soviet Union intervened to rescue a sympathetic Marxist government

  2. They got bogged down in a war with the Western funded and armed Mujahedeen

  3. War was expensive and used up valuable resources

  4. Eventual Soviet withdrawal showed the limits of Soviet military power
• Role of Mikhail Gorbachev


  • Became leader of the Soviet Union in 1985
  • Wished to reform the Communist system to better the lives of the people
  • His policies of Perestroika and Glasnost encouraged people to criticise the political system
  • Engaged with the US in a desire to reduce risk of conflict so he could readjust the Soviet economy
  • Was behind the decision to withdraw Soviet military from Afghanistan in 1988
  • His decision to withdraw Soviet military support for the satellite state regimes was very important
• Role of Ronald Reagan

  • Rejected détente and brought a combative approach to the Cold War
  • Openly critical of the 'evil empire' his Presidency saw growth in military expenditure as well as the proposed 'Star Wars' programme, which threatened a new arms race
  • Could be personally charming and changed tack after meeting Gorbachev and receiving intelligence that the Soviets genuinely believed they were going to be attacked
• Collapse of communism in Eastern Europe


  1. With the loss of Soviet military support the East European states rejected Communism

  2. Poland elected Solidarity into government in 1989. Other states soon followed
• American policy in isolating Cuba


  Pushed Cuba towards the Soviet Union
• Eisenhower stepped up the political and economic isolation of Cuba in 1961


  The Soviet Union stepped in
• American policy


  Effectively forced Castro to swap dependency on the USA for reliance on the USSR
• Khrushchev's action in installing nuclear bases in Cuba

  Provoked the USA
• Khrushchev's action in installing nuclear bases in Cuba

  Was a direct response to the existence of US bases in Turkey
• American foreign policy


  Was more to blame than Khrushchev in causing the Cuban Missile Crisis
• Khrushchev's Domestic Position


  His desire both to secure a foreign policy victory and to ensure that Cuba remained loyal to the Soviet Union in the face of increasing Chinese influence, led him to approach Cuba with the request to place missiles there
• Castro had got rid of a pro-Soviet group in May 1962


  Khrushchev was keen to reassert Soviet authority over Cuba
• Placing missiles in Cuba


  Would allow Khrushchev to reassert Soviet authority over Cuba
• Castro's introduction of communism in Cuba


  Made any cooperation between Cuba and the USA impossible due to the US policy of containment
• Castro signing a trade agreement between Cuba and the Soviet Union in 1960


  Placed Cuba firmly in the Soviet camp in relation to the Cold War
• The placing of Soviet missiles in Cuba


  Led directly from Castro's actions
• The Soviet Union placing missiles on Cuba

  Hoped to achieve parity with the United States in the Arms Race
• Kennedy had written an article in March 1962 where he had made clear his belief that he was entitled to use a nuclear strike


  Khrushchev saw the placing of Soviet missiles in Cuba as a reasonable counter measure
• Khrushchev's Secret Speech undermined rather than promoted successful soviet policies in Eastern Europe, which was all about maintaining Soviet control in Eastern Europe thus Soviet security
• Russian Communists worried about a loss of Russian control and a global influence and eventually Khruschev paid the price with his removal of power
• Soviet policy with respect to Poland was mostly successful, with the Polish government making only minor adjustments to Soviet Communist policy
• The success of soviet policy with respect to Hungary was somewhat mixed, as the Soviets were willing to allow the Poles more autonomy but not the Hungarians, who sought freedom and Western-style democracy
• The success of soviet policy in Berlin was most successful, as the Soviets achieved their primary aims of maintaining Communism and their control of the eastern bloc
• Compared to Poland, the Berlin crisis was handled with much less finesse and regard to the reputational damage to Communism in the watching world
• The real aim of the Berlin Wall was to prevent East German citizens 'voting with their feet'
• If the USSR had to maintain Communism by force, this could only work for so long, as evidenced by the 140 plus people who died trying to escape in the name of freedom