The end of the Cold War

• Gorbachev faced many problems to fix as the USSR's economy was poor due to the arms race, people had little freedom and the chernobyl accident damaged their reputation
• The fall of the Berlin wall and the end of the Warsaw pact were a symbol of the end of the cold war
• Following the fall of the Berlin wall, families were reunited and Germany was one country again, not under control of any superpowers
• Gorbachev was blamed by hard-line communists for the end of the warsaw pact
• In 1991, a coup was staged against Gorbachev and while he remained in power, the coup damaged his authority
• Gorbachev was taken to so much advantage which he could not stand, so he resigned in 1991, which immediately collapsed the Soviet Union
• The end of the warsaw pact allowed countries to be independent for the first time in decades. Their economy was no longer for the benefit of the USSR
• Following the end of the warsaw pact, europe was reunited and the ' iron curtain ' was lifted
• Gorbachev giving the satellite states freedom to govern themselves decreased tensions around Europe, as they would no longer fear the USSR and their past invasions e.g. Hungary and Czechoslovakia
• In 1989, Gorbachev refused to help East Germany put down demonstrations, in which people were forcing their way through borders, eventually leading to the fall of the Berlin wall
• In 1989, Czechoslovakia went through the ' velvet revolution ', which overthrew the communist government and a new non-communist government was put into place
• In 1989, the communist government of Bulgaria, Mladenov resigned and the year later free elections were held