Quick questions on Why the Cold War ended, the historiographical debate, explained: H2 History

The first explanation locates the cause inside the Soviet system. On this reading, the Cold War ended because the Soviet Union could no longer afford to wage it. The centrally planned economy was stagnating, falling further behind the West, and unable to sustain both its military commitments and its people's living standards. The system's legitimacy was eroding, its empire was a drain rather than an asset, and the costs of competition had become unbearable.

The second explanation stresses the decisions of individuals, above all Gorbachev. On this reading, decline created pressure but did not dictate the response; a different leader might have met the crisis with repression and retrenchment rather than reform. Gorbachev's specific choices, his new thinking that rejected inevitable conflict, his pursuit of arms reductions, and crucially his renunciation of force in Eastern Europe, determined that the Cold War ended when it did and that it ended peacefully. This explanation foregrounds contingency and choice: the end of the Cold War was not inevitable in its timing or its peaceful character, and human agency was decisive.

The third explanation credits Western, especially American, pressure. On this reading, the renewed confrontation of the early 1980s, the Reagan military build-up and the Strategic Defense Initiative, raised the cost of the arms race for an already strained Soviet economy and helped force the Soviet leadership toward reform and accommodation. In its strongest, triumphalist form this explanation holds that Western strength won the Cold War. In a more moderate form it treats external pressure as one contributing factor that sharpened a crisis whose roots lay elsewhere.

The strongest judgement ranks the factors and explains their relationship. Internal decline was fundamental, because it created the unsustainable situation that demanded change. Agency was decisive in form and timing, because Gorbachev's choices determined that the change took the shape of a peaceful end rather than a violent crackdown or a slow muddling-through. External pressure was contributory, helping to sharpen the dilemma but neither necessary nor sufficient on its own.

State the three main explanations for the end of the Cold War. [4 marks]

Explain why historians disagree about whether the West won the Cold War. [12 marks]

"The end of the Cold War was inevitable." How far do you agree? [20 marks]