What Caused the End of the Cold War?

by Christopher Clark

Mikhail Gorbachev

The end of the Cold War began to run from 1980 to the eventual fall of the USSR in 1991. There are a variety of factors that can be looked at to determine which caused the end of the Cold War to the greatest extent. Whilst it is true that economic problems were important in the end of the Cold War, there are also others to look at such as leadership and events in Eastern Europe. It will be argued that the leaders were the most crucial reason for the end of the Cold War.

In terms of economic problems, these were those that began to plague the Soviet Union from the early 1980s onwards. The USSR was losing more and more ground to the West in their technology and were failing to reach the production that was necessary, especially in agriculture. The cost of the military side of the Cold War was proving too extensive for them to be able to manage. The US was spending at a much greater rate than the USSR was able to keep up with, and their economy was much more successful. This was crucial as it meant that the USSR was also not able to financially support their allies in the same way as before. Their control in Easten Europe was firmly rooted in their ability to fund others’ economies. With this being lost it meant that they were struggling to keep control of their satellite states to the same extent. With the lack of overall money in the USSR’s economy, the decision was made by Gorbachev to decrease spending on the military, this was a definitive sign that they were rolling back on their military involvement. As the US continued to spend more, the USSR was slowing it down and pulling their way out of the war. This was crucial as it signalled that the USSR would no longer be able to be militarily involved to countries in Eastern Europe. The Soviet army had been previously used to suppress revolutions and this was no longer as possible. Whilst these economic problems were crucial in the slow fall of the USSR, many of the decisions were taken by leaders, such as Gorbachev. Overall, these economic problems were a significant factor in the end of the Cold War, but it was the leaders’ decisions towards these that were more crucial.

Secondly, the crises in Eastern Europe were the signal that the USSR had fallen, before it was even announced. The first of these was in Hungary, following the visit of Gorbachev when he was impressed with their reforms, where their leader was deposed by Kadar, and the new President, Grosz, said that Hungary was, ‘open, integrated into the world’. This was demonstrative that the USSR was losing control over the countries that it used to have absolute power over, but more crucially that those countries wanted to move themselves away from the USSR and liberalise. Following this events in: Poland, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania and most crucially East Germany. Whilst Romania demonstrated that there was a willingness to turn to violence in order to leave the Soviet bloc, East Germany was symbolic of the end of the USSR. It was always viewed as a magnifying glass over the Cold War, and one of the USSR’s closest allies. Thus, when the protests began occurring, when the government began to disintegrate and finally when the war fell, it was at this point when it was recognised that the war was over. The USSR was now seen as over, it had little left to try and keep hold of, with East Germany gone, their dream of spreading Communism had gone. These events were crucial in showing that the Cold War was ending and eventually over, but the role of leaders in these events was more important. The policies of Gorbachev inspired countries to act and start their own governments. 

Finally, the role of leaders, both in the USSR and the US was crucial in the end of the Cold War between 1980 and 1991. Examining the role of Reagan is important as well as that of Gorbachev’s, as actions taken by Reagan helped to end the war as well, though not directly. The most crucial of these was the increased spending on the military, and the USA’s nuclear arsenal. This was something that the USSR could not match with their economic struggling, and Gorbachev knew this. As Reagan spent more and more, Gorbachev spent less. Andropov and Chernenko had failed to address the economic problems earlier and so it fell to Gorbachev to make more changes. This is where he made some of the most crucial steps in ending the Cold War. The introduction of more liberal policy, those of glasnost and perestroika, were crucial in inspiring countries in Eastern Europe to act, feeling that Gorbachev would not intervene in their countries. Perestroika was the aim to restructure the economy and society, which many believed to mean that the USSR was to make countries more liberal, but actually it was to keep the economy central. The second reform was that of glasnost, openness, which meant that people would be allowed more individual freedom. This was taken so that people would be allowed to start living less in fear of the USSR, and thus could run their own countries. This was crucial as it meant people began to push for their countries to be led by people chosen by the people. The final important leader was Yeltsin, who resigned from the Politburo in 1987 and began criticising the actions of Gorbachev for not being radical enough. This signalled that the USSR did not have the power it used to have as someone could publicly criticise the leader and not be killed. Overall, leaders were the most significant reason for the end of the Cold War, Gorbachev could have stopped the revolutions in Eastern Europe if he chose, but did not and other leaders pushed the USSR into collapse, or criticised it for not acting fast enough.

In conclusion, I disagree with the statement that economic problems were the most significant reason for the end of the Cold War between 1980 and 1991. Whilst they were important, especially in contributing to events in Eastern Europe, the role of leaders, especially Gorbachev, were the most significant reason. Without his increasing liberalisation, and his failure to take action against revolutions in Eastern Europe, it would be unlikely that the Cold War ended when it did.