End of the Cold War

G2 Elective History - syllabus K230, 2027

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Why did the Cold War end? Connect Soviet shortages, military costs and Gorbachev's reforms, then distinguish Eastern Europe's changes in 1989 from the USSR's breakup in 1991.

• Background: cooperation and continuing rivalry

  The superpowers reduced some risks while continuing to compete; detente was a limited easing of tension.

• Why the Soviet economy struggled to improve living standards

  Factories could meet official targets without making enough reliable goods that people wanted. Shortages and disappointing living standards then increased demands for change.

• Why maintaining Soviet power became costly

  Keeping large forces and supporting allied governments used resources also needed for daily life. Resistance to Soviet influence made those commitments politically costly too.

• How the United States increased the pressure in the 1980s

  American economic and technological capacity made renewed military competition difficult for the USSR to sustain.

• Why Gorbachev's reforms weakened the system he hoped to improve

  Economic restructuring failed to deliver rapid recovery while political openness made criticism and organised alternatives possible.

• Why communist control collapsed across Eastern Europe in 1989

  Local opposition gained room to act when Soviet leaders stopped using force to preserve allied communist regimes.

• Why the USSR itself broke apart in 1991

  Economic crisis, republican challenges and a failed hard-line coup destroyed the authority needed to hold the union together.

The 1960s and 1970s overview is non-examinable background for all three courses. The optional detente exercise develops that background. Source exercises build evidence-reading skills; this chapter is not a prescribed source-based case study.