The End of the Cold War

A focused answer to the H2 History end-of-the-Cold-War dot point on Gorbachev. Glasnost, perestroika and new thinking, the aims behind the reforms, their unintended consequences, and how far they ended the Cold War.

A focused answer to the H2 History end-of-the-Cold-War dot point on Reagan. The Second Cold War, the military build-up and Strategic Defense Initiative, the pressure on the Soviet economy, the turn to diplomacy, and how far it ended the Cold War.

A focused answer to the H2 History end-of-the-Cold-War dot point on the Soviet collapse. Economic failure, nationalism, the failure of reform, the August 1991 coup, the dissolution of the union, and its meaning for the Cold War.

A focused answer to the H2 History end-of-the-Cold-War dot point on 1989. The withdrawal of Soviet force, popular movements, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the chain reaction across the bloc, and the significance for the Cold War.

A focused answer to the H2 History end-of-the-Cold-War dot point on the historiography. The internal-decline, agency and external-pressure explanations, how they interact, and how to build a balanced judgement about why the Cold War ended.