Interpretations of the end of the Cold War

H1 History - syllabus 8838, 2027

What this lesson teaches

  • I can judge which causes mattered most in ending the Cold War, and weigh historians' views.

    Syllabus 8838, Theme I, Learning Outcomes. evaluate the causes for the end of the Cold War

Make a guess

Who do you think historians credit with ending the Cold War?

  1. They disagree, crediting Reagan, Gorbachev or ordinary people.
  2. Ordinary people, since leaders just followed events.
  3. Reagan, and most historians now accept this view.
Show the answer

They disagree, crediting Reagan, Gorbachev or ordinary people.

Triumphalists credit Reagan, others credit Gorbachev's choices, and others credit protesters. Strong answers weigh all three.

Historians debate whether Western pressure, Soviet initiative or people power was most responsible for ending the Cold War.

The Western triumphalist view credits American strength. Reagan's build-up, SDI and the Reagan Doctrine raised costs the USSR could not bear and forced it to negotiate. Writers such as Peter Schweizer and Richard Pipes made this case.

The Soviet initiative view credits Gorbachev. Historians such as Archie Brown argue that a different Soviet leader could have responded to pressure with repression, as earlier leaders had. Gorbachev's choices to cut arms, leave Afghanistan and renounce force in Eastern Europe were decisive.

The People Power view credits ordinary people. Solidarity, the Leipzig marchers and those who fled through Hungary forced change that neither superpower planned. Historians such as Timothy Garton Ash wrote about these revolutions from the ground.

Strong answers combine and weigh them. Pressure created problems, Gorbachev chose not to use force, and people seized the opportunity. The debate is about which was most important, and when.

Western triumphalist
American pressure won the Cold War.
Soviet initiative
Gorbachev's choices ended it (Archie Brown).
People Power
Popular movements in Eastern Europe ended it.

Real examples to use

Western pressure: Peter Schweizer, Victory (1994)

Argued that a secret Reagan strategy from 1982 of military pressure and squeezing Soviet income hastened the Soviet collapse.

Soviet initiative: Archie Brown, The Gorbachev Factor (1996)

Argued that Gorbachev's own choices, such as refusing to use force in Eastern Europe, were decisive.

People Power: Poland and Leipzig, 1989

Solidarity's June 1989 election win and the peaceful Leipzig march of 9 October showed ordinary people forcing change from below.

Worked example: Weighing the interpretations in an assertion answer

The view is that American pressure ended the Cold War.

  1. Support: Reagan's speeches and SDI show sustained pressure.
  2. Challenge: Soviet records show Gorbachev chose reform for domestic reasons.
  3. Challenge: Eastern Europeans acted on their own, and US policy in 1989 was reactive.
  4. Judgement: pressure contributed, but Soviet choices and people power were more decisive.

Watch out for this

The three interpretations cannot be combined.

They emphasise different factors. The best answers show how the factors interacted and argue which mattered most.

Check your understanding

Which interpretation stresses Gorbachev's choices?

  1. Western triumphalist
  2. People Power
  3. Soviet initiative
Show the answer

Soviet initiative

Right. Archie Brown is associated with this view.

Sources and context

Background reading for this chapter.

  • Reagan describes an evil empire

    Paraphrase of President Reagan's remarks to the National Association of Evangelicals, Orlando, 8 March 1983.

  • Reagan proposes missile defence

    Paraphrase of President Reagan's televised address on defense and national security, 23 March 1983.

  • A Soviet premier meets the US Secretary of State

    Paraphrase of the US memorandum of conversation between Soviet Chairman of the Council of Ministers Nikolai Ryzhkov and Secretary of State George Shultz, Moscow, 14 April 1987.

  • Gorbachev plans his UN speech

    Paraphrase of notes by Anatoly Chernyaev of Gorbachev's conference with his advisers, 31 October 1988, held in the archive of the Gorbachev Foundation.

  • Reagan at the Brandenburg Gate

    Paraphrase of President Reagan's remarks at the Brandenburg Gate, West Berlin, 12 June 1987.

  • A US government history of the collapse

    Paraphrase of "The Collapse of the Soviet Union", an account published by the Office of the Historian, US Department of State.

  • Reagan's strategy towards the USSR, January 1983

    Extract from National Security Decision Directive 75, "U.S. Relations with the USSR", signed by President Reagan, Washington, 17 January 1983. Secret when issued. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1981-1988, volume III, document 260. A US government document in the public domain.

  • Reagan and Gorbachev at Reykjavik, 12 October 1986

    Extract from the US memorandum of conversation of the final meeting between President Reagan and General Secretary Gorbachev, Reykjavik, 12 October 1986, written by the American notetaker Tom Simons. The summit ended without agreement. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1981-1988, volume V, document 308. A US government document in the public domain.

  • Shevardnadze previews Gorbachev's UN speech, 7 December 1988

    Extract from the US memorandum of conversation of Secretary of State George Shultz's meeting with Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze, New York, 7 December 1988, hours before Gorbachev addressed the UN General Assembly. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1981-1988, volume VI, document 178. A US government document in the public domain.

  • the CIA Director on Eastern Europe, October 1988

    Extract from a memorandum to the file, Washington, 4 November 1988, reporting a meeting of President Reagan's National Security Planning Group on Eastern Europe on 25 October 1988, based on notes by State Department official Tom Simons. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1981-1988, volume X, document 61. A US government document in the public domain.

  • Bush on the opening of the Berlin Wall, 9 November 1989

    Extract from President George Bush's remarks and question-and-answer session with reporters in the Oval Office on the relaxation of East German border controls, Washington, 9 November 1989. A US government record in the public domain; text from the American Presidency Project.

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