Tag Archives: Gorbachev
Collapse of communism in eastern Europe
This is the final revision episode (for now!) in the series examining the Cold War for GCSE and IGCSE students. Focusing on the collapse of communism in eastern Europe it assesses the effect of the Solidarity movement in Poland, and the role of Gorbachev, in bringing about the end of Soviet dominance in the region. The second part of the podcast goes on to explore the specific experiences of major eastern European countries in the lat 1980s and early 1990s.
The podcast begins with Poland, where massive popular opposition to the government led to the establishment of the Solidarity trade union in the Gdansk shipyards. The rise of Solidarity is described, along with the subsequent government clampdown under the government of Jaruzelski. The impact of Solidarity is considered.
The second section looks at the USSR under the leadership of Mikhail Gorbachev. His two key policies of perestroika and glasnost are explained, and their impact of Soviet foreign policy is assessed.
In the final section of the podcast, I describe the process through which the states of eastern Europe freed themselves from communist rule. The most popular exam questions on the collapse of communism focus on asking WHY a certain event contributed to the end of the system, or ask to what extent a particular event was responsible. Remember that to answer any of these questions you need to support your reason with solid evidence, and explain exactly WHY it contributed to the collapse of communism.
Losing Soviet control over eastern Europe – video documentary
These three videos present the events that led to the end of communism in the Eastern Bloc.
PART 1 – Gorbachev, the attitude of Honecker, Hungary 1989, Poland 1989, Warsaw Pact Summit 1989, the economic and political situation in East Germany, the crossing of East Germans through Hungary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akGjJcl3GDw
PART 2 – East Germany’s 40th anniversay demonstration, fall of Honecker, fall of the Berlin Wall, the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASEC3m1wULE
PART 3 – Uprising in Romania leading to the end of Ceausescu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFrA9Ga0Mwo
‘Tear down this wall!’ – the story behind Reagan’s message to Gorbachev
On 12 June 1987, US President Ronald Reagan made a speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin in which he called on the USSR’s leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, to ‘Tear down this wall!’
Fascinating story of the pilot who landed a private plane near Red Square in 1987
On the 28th May 1987, an eighteen year-old amateur pilot from Hamburg in West Germany illegally landed a private aircraft near Moscow’s Red Square.
The relationship between the USA and the USSR in the 1980s
Gorbachev’s involvement in nuclear disarmament negotiations between the Soviet Union and the USA. The USA’s plans to develop ‘Star Wars’ and the collapse of talks at the Reykjavik in 1986. From Curriculum Bites.
Glasnost and Perestroika
The differences between the two terms ‘Glasnost’ and ‘Perestroika’ and the effects of these policies, from Curriculum Bites.
The Berlin Wall and the fall of East German communism
An explanation of the dramatic fall of the Berlin wall in November 1989. From Curriculum Bites.
The first McDonald’s in the USSR opened in 1990
On the 31st January 1990, fast food chain McDonald’s opened its first restaurant in the Soviet Union on Moscow’s Pushkin Square.
The collapse of the Soviet Union
These two videos detail the events following Gorbachev coming to power in the USSR, and the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union.
The first clip opens with an overview of the USSR’s political, economic and social situation in the 1980s. In response, Gorbachev introduced the policies of perestroika and glasnost. The impact of new technology including satellite television and extensive telephone networks is examined in terms of its impact on the Soviet Union. The rest of the video looks at the discussions that took place between the USSR and the USA’s President Reagan with regards the nuclear arms race and, more importantly, the issue of disarmament.
The second video begins with an explanation of why total independence for the Soviet States was unacceptable to the leadership. The power struggle between Yeltsin and Gorbachev is then presented, along with details of the coup that led to Gorbachev’s house arrest and subsequent release thanks to Yeltsin. The clip ends with the Slav states decalaring independence from the USSR, followed by an illuminating interview with President Bush who received Gorbachev’s final phone call as General Secretary of the Soviet Union on Christmas Day, 1991.
