Gorbachev's 'New Thinking' (Edexcel GCSE History)

How did Gorbachev's 'New Thinking' Lead to the End of the Cold War? - Timeline & Summary

Who was Mikhail Gorbachev?

• On 10th November 1982, Leonid Brezhnev died

  • His cause of death was a heart attack

  • Brezhnev died in office

• Between 1982 and 1985, there was unstable leadership in the Soviet Union

  • Brezhnev's successor, Andropov, died in 1984

  • Andropov's successor, Chernenko, died in 1985

• In March 1985, the Central Committee nominated Mikhail Gorbachev as the new leader of the Soviet Union

  • Gorbachev had risen through the Communist Party and held important roles like the party secretary of agriculture 

• As leader of the Soviet Union, he argued that the country needed to introduce democratic reforms

Why was There a Need for 'New Thinking'?

• By 1985, the Soviet Union had serious economic and social issues

A concept map of the economic and social challenges in the Soviet Union in 1985

• When Gorbachev became leader, the Soviet Union was close to economic collapse

  • He believed that reform would:

    • Save the Soviet economy

    • Increase the happiness of the citizens in the Soviet Union and its satellite states

Perestroika - 'Restructuring'

• To reform the economy, Gorbachev began the process of perestroika 

  • Perestroika is the Russian word for 'restructuring'

• The policies involved in perestroika were:

  • The reduction of military spending

  • The ending of the arms race with the USA

  • The introduction of more capitalist elements in the economy

    • Gorbachev allowed the establishment of small, privately-owned businesses

    • The Soviet Union removed the restrictions on foreign trade, allowing businesses to trade more freely with other countries

  • A reduction in the Soviet control of businesses

Glasnost - 'Openness'

• The second aspect of Gorbachev's reforms was glasnost 

  • Glasnost is the Russian term for 'openness'

• The policies involved in glasnost were:

  • Less restrictions on censorship and freedom of speech

    • The citizens of the Soviet Union could discuss and criticise the government

    • There was less Soviet control of the media

  • The Soviet Union took responsibility for past repression

    • For example, the Soviet government admitted that the Hungarian Uprising and the Prague Spring were peaceful attempts at reform

      • The Soviet Union's admission sparked protests in Hungary and Czechoslovakia

  • The Soviet Union would allow opposition to their government 

    • In 1988, there were discussions about allowing elections

  • A commitment to tackle corruption within the Soviet government

The USA's Reaction to Soviet 'New Thinking'

• Ronald Reagan became president in 1981

  • His first term as president showed his tough stance on the Soviet Union by:

    • Increasing the USA's military spending on programmes such as the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)

    • Becoming more aggressive towards the Soviet Union by calling them an 'evil empire'

• When Gorbachev became the new leader of the Soviet Union, US-Soviet relations began to change

  • Gorbachev announced that the Soviet Union would no longer follow the Brezhnev Doctrine

    • The Soviet Union would no longer control the domestic politics of the satellite states

    • The USA saw the Soviet Union as less of a world threat

    • Reagan believed there was a chance that he could end the Cold War

  • In 1988, Gorbachev spoke at the UN 

    • Gorbachev's speech confirmed the Soviet Union's commitment to reforms and forming a better relationship with the USA

    • Gorbachev and Reagan formed a strong diplomatic relationship

'New Thinking' in Action - the Peace Summits of the 1980s

• Between 1985 and 1989, Gorbachev attended a series of summits with the USA

• The summits resulted in some significant agreements between the Soviet Union and the USA

Key summit meetings between the USA and the Soviet Union, 1985-89