The End of the Cold War
Dr. Spielvogel struggles with organization of this last chapter of his text, but we can glean some information from the first reading. The most important is this question:
If a single personality ended the Cold War, whose was it? (Reagan or Gorbachev?) Explain your answers (if you want to google the names and end of cold war you can find cool information that aids in the understanding).
posted by Was @ 8:41 AM
16 Comments:
It was definitely Gorbachev. The U.S. leaders had been trying to work the Soviets for a while. It was the Soviet leaders who never would try to change in any way. It was you listen to them with no "highway" choice. Gorbachev was willing to listen to what his peaple wanted and change the country from less communists to leaning more or a democratic side.
gabster,
Churchill prdicted that communism would kill itself off when he prior to the 1954 Geneva Summit. Once a cold war warrior, he decided that communism was innately (born within) weak and self-destructive.
With that said, can I give Gorbachev sole credit, or was he the personality when the obvious happened?
Plus, his goal was to restructure and reform communism. Was that admirable?
PS I just offer the thoughts to force all to rethink solutions.
I think it was Gorbachev. He worked hard to reform the Soviet Union's economy. Also he approached things differently frm Reagan. Reagan fell back into old Cold War ways. He renewed the arms race by building up his military, created a new hard to detect missle and was part of the SDI. Gorbachev's ideas were more peaceful. He had his "new thinking" and intiated the INF Treaty. Gorbachev, it seems, worked harder than REagan tomake achange without reopening old tension between the US and SOviet UNion.
Gorbachev was the one that ended the Cold War. He realized that the Soviet Union was having economic troubles and tried to fix them. He also started to turn away from commnism and give people more freedom. Reagan escalated the war by building the U.S. military forces and becoming a member of the SDI. Also because of Reagan building our forces he also made the U.S. into the largest debtor nation. I believe that is what Spielvogel said at least. While on the other hand Gorbachev started reforms to try and stable his economy.
Gorbachev ended the cold war. His "New Thinking" allowed for many changes and reforms. One of the changes was the INF treaty which weakened the arms race. Gorbachev also allowed greater autonomy in Eastern European states creating more trust between the US and the Soviet Union. And like amanda said, he also gave the people more rights. Although these rights led to nationalist movements, they also lessened communisum.
If only one person ended the Cold War, it would have to have been Gorbachev. Gorbachev realized the USSR's economic troubles and realized that bringing the arms race down would help the economy as well as reducing the tensions between the United States. The presidents of the United States, at the time of the Cold War, wanted to bring an end to the Cold War; however, the Soviets had other priorities (with the exception of Khruschev.) But it was Gorbachev who finally brought the Cold War to an end.
k fitz...that is interesting. I believe you grasped Gorbachev and Reagan's goals and aspirations.
You guys all have good thoughts.It seems like, though, some of you think it is greater than a single personality. How so?
Ummm only if i had to chose one it would be Gorbachev because he tried to change the Soviets economy with his plan of "new thinking". also u couldnt givee credit to Reagan because he increased the tension with renewing the arms race and building up the military. so i think Gorbachev worked harder than any other american president or Soviet laeder to bring the cold war to an end.
It matters your perspective. I can see it both ways personally. Reagan was an "agressor". Meaning that he hit things head on. Using his head and the resources he was given to get the job done. True he came up with ways that seemed warlike(arms race and SDI), but it was for the betterment of his own country. In this case Gorbachev was taken on problems in the Soviet economy with "New Thinking". He tried to come with reforms that would benefit the people. Two extremes (peace and force), but both of their goals, however, was to terminate the Cold War and to renew detente. They were on the same page trying to rebuild our their own countries from mistakes that were made. Trying for one to regain the trust and respect of the people.
excuse some bad grammar.
Hmmmmmm....after reading everyone elses comments (hehehehe) I agree that Gorbachev was responsible for ending the Cold War. Before, I wasn't really sure what anyone did to end the Cold War, but now I see that because of his reforms ("New Thinking") The Soviet and United States could somewhat come to terms and become civil. While on the other hand, Regan just made it worse by building up the military.
Hey...did anyone make a group on Quizter for our class? I did a search for it, but nothing came up.
Also, in case you didn't see my comment on the previous post, me and a couple more people might start a study group at the Tropical Smoothie in Greenbrier. E-mail me if you are interested (mu5icfreak@yahoo.com) We will most likely meet on Fridays, but we're not certain on the time yet. Hope to hear from you!
i also believe that gorbachev helped end the cold war, but to place the result of that time period squarely on his shoulders seems like a bit of a stretch. sure, he lessened tensions and tried to limit nuclear arms, but who really benefitted more from less nuclear weapons? if the SU had no missiles, they couldnt reach us with them, but also if the US dont have missiles we cant reach them. that leaves the might of the military on how many men and aircraft u have. that creates a situation where the US could not respond quickly if the SU invaded a country in europe. the soviets would have had an ideal oppurtunity for invasion if reagan had gone the way gorbachev wanted him to.gorbachev was creating a situation where if an aggressive dictator came in after his death, WWIII could have broken out. also, the time period seemed to indicate that communism was going to die out anyway due to a lack of incentives and the centralized government, so it really didnt matter who was in office right? maybe reagan, by NOT limiting the US's nuclear weapons, ended the cold war by not giving the SU that golden opportunity.
I say it was both, Reagan and Gorbachev. Reagan was an "aggressor" and Gorbachev he was open for change. It was good that Reagan and Gorbachev had a friendly relatioship. Reagan's New Nuclear Weapons forced the Soviet Union to arm up causing them to use more resources. Gorbachev wanted the people to be open"Glasnost", knowing the truth(am i not right?..correct me if i'm wrong please).
after reading all of your post, there isn't much i can say, but i think it depends on your perspective. the neo- conservatives think that reagon ended the cold war, while the liberals think it was gorbachev. i look at it from both perspectives, so i believe it was both. if the ussr had another hardliner, i dont think the cold war would have ended, and if the us president had been less firm, i still dont think the cold war would have ended. i think it was the combined personalities of both that truly ended the cold war.
this is good stuff.
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