As the world entered the 1980's, there was a general feeling that the Cold War was going to go on forever, even with the somewhat improved relations between the two superpowers. This lessening of tensions was called Détente, in which the United States and Soviet Union mutually began agreeing to reduce their stockpiles of nuclear weapons. Even though this policy did not last long, because of deep distrust on both sides, it did show that there were cracks beginning to form in the Iron Curtain.
The Soviet Union Begins to Crumble
It was clear by the end of the 1980's, however, that even though they still commanded a large army and navy, as well as plenty of nuclear weapons, the U.S.S.R. was beginning to fall apart.
The Soviet economy was seriously struggling under centralized-planning (the government basically micromanages the economy), the pressure of feeding its own citizens, maintaining a military on par with the United States, and holding control of its satellite nations and republics. Countries in Eastern Europe, as well as others like Afghanistan, started openly protesting and rebelling against the Soviet Union, and the brutal ways in which they tried to suppress these uprisings only made things worse. At the same time, the Soviet Union begun to have an identity crisis, and enacted serious reforms to correct its political, economic, and social problems. Under glasnost, the government allowed people to be more vocally critical of the country, and allowed further "openness" in discussing social issues. Continuing with the idea of reform, they began a policy called perestroika to reorganize their failing economy to make it more efficient, and though it had marginal success, it contributed to the end of centralized-planning in the Soviet Union. Additionally, elections and political parties began to be allowed, and coupled with both the social openness, and almost capitalistic changes, the core of communism started to erode, because these were democratic principles. With the U.S.S.R. looking inward to deal with their own issues, their satellite nations continued to pull away from Soviet control, and the Iron Curtain began physically breaking down, with Eastern European countries turning democratic again. They were tired of the decades of continuing totalitarianism and inability to change their government, and wanted to be involved in decision making again, which is a fundamental part of a democracy. Eventually, the Soviet Union was so weak, that it had no choice but to let them go. |
The Fall of the Berlin Wall (November 9, 1989)
The most prolific example of this was when West and East Germans finally had enough, and one day in November, 1989, West and East Berliners began to physically break apart the Berlin Wall with their bare hands and whatever tools they could find. The guards who had been the ones preventing people from doing this exact thing for decades, did nothing to stop them. When it fell, for the first time since World War II, Germans from both sides were able to shake hands, and freely walk over the border into the other side of the same city.
The Berlin Wall had been the literal example of the Iron Curtain, and with its destruction, and the Reunification of Germany not long after, it was obvious that the divide in Europe was finally gone. |
The Collapse of the Soviet Union (December 25, 1991)
As countries continued to break away, and with the departure of the Baltic States, the Soviet Union had obviously become weak and ineffective. Concerned about his ability to lead, hard-line communists tried to remove President Mikhail Gorbachev from power, but failed. Even with the failed coup, however, the mere attempt showed how weak he had become as the leader of what was essentially becoming a democracy.
On Christmas Day, 1991, Gorbachev, the last president of the Soviet Union, resigned his position. The Hammer and Sickle flag was lowered over the Kremlin for the last time, and the Soviet Union came to an end. From then on, the Soviet Union became Russia again, and the Russian Tricolor was raised. Boris Yeltsin became the new President of Russia, and he helped form the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), as a new economic alliance between Russia and some of its old republics. Yeltsin was succeeded by Vladimir Putin, who served a term as President, was ousted from office, but returned in 2012, and has been the Russian President ever since. People all over the world watched in sheer amazement that the Soviet Union simply imploded and ended without much more than a whimper after nearly a half century of conflict and competition. On top of that, they reflected the democratic ideal of a peaceful transition of power, as the United States does with its own president, and that stunned people even more. Just like that, the Cold War ended. |