![]() On the Western front, President Reagan's administration had taken a hard line against the Soviet Union. Reagan and Gorbachev during their first summit meeting in Geneva, 1985 ![]() Under Gorbachev, relatively young reform-oriented technocrats, who had begun their careers in the heyday of " de-Stalinization" under reformist leader Nikita Khrushchev, rapidly consolidated power, providing new momentum for political and economic liberalization, and the impetus for cultivating warmer relations and trade with the West. ![]() See also: Glasnost, Perestroika, Foreign policy of the Ronald Reagan administration, Geneva Summit (1985), Reykjavík Summit, and Intermediate Nuclear Forces TreatyĪfter the deaths of three successive elderly Soviet leaders since 1982, the Soviet Politburo elected Gorbachev Communist Party General Secretary in March 1985, marking the rise of a new generation of leadership. While the exact end date of the Cold War is debated among historians, it is generally agreed upon that the implementation of nuclear and conventional arms control agreements, the withdrawal of Soviet military forces from Afghanistan and Eastern Europe, and the collapse of the Soviet Union marked the end of the Cold War. Seeking to bring an end to the economic stagnation associated with the Brezhnev Era, Gorbachev initiated economic reforms ( perestroika), and political liberalization ( glasnost). The beginning of this period is marked by the ascent of Mikhail Gorbachev to the position of General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. It was characterized by systemic reform within the Soviet Union, the easing of geopolitical tensions between the Soviet-led bloc and the United States-led bloc, and the collapse of the Soviet Union's influence in Eastern Europe, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. ![]() The time period of around 1985–1989 marked the final period of the Cold War. ![]()
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