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Rise and fall of the ussr
Rise and fall of the ussr
The impact of the cold war
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History is replete with examples of the rise and fall of once great empires. December 1991 saw the end of a two super power world with the fall of the Soviet Union. In December, “as the world watched in amazement, the Soviet Union disintegrated into fifteen separate countries” (Cold War Museum). The United States was overjoyed as its enemy was, “brought to its knees, thereby ending the Cold War which had hovered over these two superpowers since the end of World War II” (Cold War Museum). The split of the Soviet Union made extremely large transformations in the world’s political and economic situation, which resulted in a reduction of global nuclear weapons, world economic cooperation, and the commercialization of once classified military technology.
In Moscow on July 31, 1991, President Bush and Gorbashev, the leader of the Soviet Union, signed the START treaty to reduce nuclear weapons on both sides to 6,000—which was a 30-percent reduction of the previous amount being used. This was the first large-scale reduction of nuclear weapons in the history of the Cold War. As a result of this treaty, “The dangerous category of missiles with multiple independently targeted warheads (MIRVs) was reduced by half” (End of the Cold War). On December 25, 1991, Gorbachev resigned from presidency and the Soviet Union was officially broken up. All the former, “dependent republics within the old USSR proclaimed their independence, secured international recognition, and were admitted to the United Nations” (End of the Cold War). As a result of the strong working relationship between President Bush and Michael Gorbashev, as well as the relationship between Baker, the Secretary of State, and Foreign Minister Shevardnadze, the Soviet Union began to drastically reduce its military spending.
This cooperation between Gorbashev and the West led to a backlash by the Soviet military and resulted in a failed coup attempt, which ended Gorbashev’s rule and resulted in the final collapse of the Soviet Union. Russia, no longer the Soviet Union, was now under a new leadership. Boris Yeltsin became the head of Russian republic and continued to integrate with the Western world. Russia took over the permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council and was invited to join the G-7 gathering of the world’s largest economic powers, therefore making it the G-8. This created a level of cooperation and communication between the two countries that did not exist during the Cold War.
This treaty was part of Reagan’s progress to helping end the Cold War. In 1988, President Reagan signed an agreement that got the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan. This was the first time in 33 years that the Red Army left without conflict and effectively ended a war (The Achievements and Failures of the Reagan Presidency). Reagan did something
The major factor that led to the true end of the Cold War was the ongoing personal and diplomatic relationship between Presidents George H. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev. This resulted in the reduction of the Russian military and favorable arms agreements. Key indicators of the substance behind this relationship were the Soviet troop withdrawals from Czechoslovakia, Afghanistan, and Hungary (lifting the Hungarian/Austrian “Iron Curtain” along the border). Subsequently the opening of the Berl...
Gaddis, John Lewis. We Now Know: Rethinking the Cold War: Dividing the World. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1997. Publishing.
ending of the cold war. It has been said that President Ronald Reagan ended the
Odd Arne Westad, Director of the Cold War Studies Centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science, explains how the Cold War “shaped the world we live in today — its politics, economics, and military affairs“ (Westad, The Global Cold War, 1). Furthermore, Westad continues, “ the globalization of the Cold War during the last century created foundations” for most of the historic conflicts we see today. The Cold War, asserts Westad, centers on how the Third World policies of the two twentieth-century superpowers — the United States and the Soviet Union — escalates to antipathy and conflict that in the end helped oust one world power while challenging the other. This supplies a universal understanding on the Cold War (Westad, The Global Cold War, 1). After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union opposed each other over the expansion of their power.
The U.S. and Russia have cold war history and ideology still strong among their constituents. The Cold War was also never really over, hence why assuming geopolitics were no longer relevant was a mistake on behalf of Fukuyama’s The End of History. The history of the U.S. and the Soviet Union are described through international proxy wars heavily relying on strategic locations, geopolitics is imbedded in their relationship. They both are always competing for spheres of influence, now not only in regards to Crimea in Ukraine, but also in Syria. Russia will not forget the financial build up of Western states after WW II, the integration of Warsaw Pact states and the Baltic Republics into NATO (Mead, 2), and the containment policy of states around the world that lead to the dissembling of the Soviet
Gorbachev at this point wanted to leave Afghanistan, as it had turned into a fruitless endeavor that was a burden on the Russian economy. Little was accomplished at this summit, as Reagan was not willing to abandon SDI. However; due to the free nature in which they talked, their personal stances on nuclear weapons came up. As it turned out, they were agreed in their beliefs towards nuclear weapons; they wished to do away with them (Cannon).
Throughout the Cold War there were numerous incidents on both sides which exacerbated the threat of an all out war. However, there were also several attempts at bringing about an end to the Cold War. One of the greater attempts came from Georgi Malenkov following the death of Stalin in 1953. Stalin had previously appointed several young fanatical Stalinists in a new politburo called the Party Presidium. This move limited the power that Malenkov and Nikita Krushchev had while at the same time giving more power to Stalin. Immediately following Stalin’s death Malenkov cut membership in the new politburo and threw out the young recently appointed Stalinists. Malenkov also announced that any new policies would come from...
The end of the Cold War was one of the most unexpected and important events in geopolitics in the 20th century. The end of the Cold War can be defined as the end of the bipolar power struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union, which had existed since the end of the World War II. The conclusion of the Cold War can be attributed to Gorbachev’s series of liberalizations in the 1980s, which exposed the underlying economic problems in the Soviet Union and Eastern bloc states that had developed in the 1960s and 70s and prevented the USSR from being able to compete with the US as a superpower. Nevertheless, Reagan’s policies of a renewed offensive against communism, Gorbachev’s rejection of the Brezhnev doctrine and the many nationalities
Failure of the Détente Between the Superpowers The French word ‘détente’, which the Oxford English Dictionary describes as “the easing of strained relations, especially in a political situation” (www.oed.com), first appeared in this context when a German newspaper used it to describe the visit of a British monarch at the beginning of the 20th century (Froman, 1991). In this essay, I will attempt to explain the cold war détente between the superpowers of the USA and the USSR in the 1970’s, concentrating first on its positive developments between 1971 and 1973 and then on the events that lead to its ultimate failure, symbolised by the soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. The first real steps of relaxation of tensions were taken with the Moscow summit and the signing of the SALT 1 (Strategic Arms Limitations Talks) agreement in May 1972. The SALT agreement was a staring point for attempts to control nuclear arms, to restrict the impact and spread of nuclear weapons and to secure a balance due to ‘Mutual Assured Destruction’ (the notion that a nuclear attack from one side would lead to a retaliation from the other and therefore both sides would be greatly damaged) between the two superpowers and were to be followed up by further arms limitations talks within the next five years (Kent and Young, 2004). Also, agreements were reached on lowering the risk of accidental confrontation and on cooperation in science, health and environmental issues.
WWII has a ripple effect across the globe causing changes both internationally and domestically. Internationally, The sun finally began to set over the British Empire with the majority of her majesties colonial possessions gaining independence in the years following the war. Britain’s stage left exit from its hegemonic role resulted in the start of a new “Great Game” between two burgeoning superpowers. A new world order began to take shape with the United States and USSR vying to establish their own hegemony.
With the shock of two destructive world wars and then the creation of the United Nations, whose aim is to preserve peace, it is unconceivable for these two nations to fight directly in order to promote their own ideology. But the US and the USSR end up to be in competition in numerous ways, particularly in technological and industrial fields. In the same time they start to spread their influence over their former allies. This phenomenon have led to the creation of a bipolar world, divided in two powerful blocs surrounded by buffer zones, and to the beginning of what we call the Cold War because of the absence of direct conflicts between the two nations.
“While stands the Coliseum, Rome shall stand; When falls the Coliseum, Rome shall fall; And when Rome falls - the World.” Lord Byron. This essay will discuss the similarities of military, economics and systems of government between the Roman Empire of the 6th century BCE and the United States of America of the 20th century. History has revealed that all superpowers fall eventually, although much time has passed since the glory days of Rome we see in 2015 the largest superpower in charge, the United States. There are many similarities that can be drawn between the American superpower and the Roman Empire such as the same founding of government and both dominated in military, as well as economic similarities. This leads to the conclusion that because the rise to power between the two powers was so similar, the downfall will be equally parallel.
Despite this disagreement, Gorbachev and Reagan reached many agreements on issues regarding disarmament and sent a message to the world that the two biggest conflicting powers had ended their near-40 year dispute. Although at the outset of his presidency, Reagan sought to resolve the Cold War primarily through the use of money, it was his mouth that got the job done. The policy of containment had successfully stifled the Soviet empire and provided an opportune time for Reagan to end the war, and Gorbachev's willingness to comply provided him with the means to do so. Ultimately it was their special relationship, the inevitable implosion of the Russian economy, and President Reagan's fearlessness in demanding progress that brought an end to the Cold War.