WINNING THE COLD WAR

RONALD REAGAN’S POLICIES AND OTHER KEY PLAYERS

TESSA DALLO

INCREASE IN DEFENSE SPENDING •  President Reagan’s budget in 1983 was very provocative and

started a lot of criticism

•  People thought the deficits and depredations will have an irreversible impact on the economy

•  There was a 20% increase in defense spending

•  It went from $325 billion to $340 billion within a year •  By 1987, defense spending hit $456.5 billion

INCREASE IN DEFENSE SPENDING •  After a while, the Soviets felt they were unable to keep up with

the technology that the United States' money was going to

•  Norman R. Augustine, the former chairman of Lockheed Martin Corporation said, “They were much more convinced we could make it work than many of us were, frankly, and certainly more than much of our media.”

•  Soviets thought Reagan was spending more on weapons then they even could

INCREASE IN DEFENSE SPENDING •  This ultimately caused the surrender of the Soviet Union

•  Many people thought Reagan outsmarted the Soviets •  Both the US and USSR bluffed about their capabilities

•  Caused the arms race

“THE EVIL EMPIRE” •  Ronald Reagan first named the Soviet Union in 1993 in his

speech at the British house of Commons

•  Reagan wanted to take an aggressive stance against the Soviet Union to match and exceed any of their capabilities

•  His strategy was meant to "write the final pages of the history of the Soviet Union"

“THE EVIL EMPIRE” •  In his speech, Reagan discussed deploying nuclear-armed

missiles in Western Europe in response to Soviet nuclear-armed missiles in Eastern Europe

•  These missiles were later used as bargaining chips in talks with Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev

•  They agreed to reduce nuclear arsenals and eliminate short-range missiles

“THE EVIL EMPIRE” •  During his second term in office, Reagan revisited Mikhail

Gorbachev in Moscow

•  Here, Reagan told reporters that he no longer believed the Soviet Union was an “evil empire”

•  He claimed when he used this term, it was “another time, another era”

•  Overall, it is agreed that Reagan’s anti-Communist political allies caused the ultimate collapse of the Soviet Union

STRATEGIC DEFENSE INITIATIVE •  Proposed by Ronald Regan through a television address

on the 23 of March, 1983

•  A plan of defense against potential nuclear attacks from the Soviet Union

•  The named “Star Wars” was coined because part of the plan was based in space

STRATEGIC DEFENSE INITIATIVE •  Intended to intercept Soviet intercontinental ballistic

missiles to defend the United States

•  It required advanced technology, which was unavailable at the time

•  Included both space and earth-based laser systems that would track the soviet missiles

•  This technology was thought to be infeasible because it was ambitious and technologically overwhelming

STRATEGIC DEFENSE INITIATIVE •  Although it would prove to be a difficult task, arms officials

claimed that if it could be pulled off, SDI would be an effective deterrent for Soviet missiles

•  Others argued that it only furthered an arms race •  The technology for SDI was continually tested, but after the

collapse of the Soviet Union in 1933, the circumstances of U.S. defense had changed

NEGOTIATIONS WITH GORBACHEV •  After Reagan called the Soviet Union the “Evil Empire,” it

caused distress in many Soviets

•  Then when Gorbachev took office in 1985, he regarded Reagan as “not simply a conservative, but a political dinosaur”

•  Gorbachev did not want any help from Reagan

NEGOTIATIONS WITH GORBACHEV •  Gorbachev wanted the Soviet Union to take a different

direction, away from the Big Lie

•  The Big lie was an anti-communist propaganda film in 1951 •  It was produced by the US Army •  The film begins with a quote by Adolf Hitler: "The great

masses will more easily fall victim to a big lie than to a small one“

•  This film compares the Communist regime to the Nazi regime

NEGOTIATIONS WITH GORBACHEV •  Reagan recognized that Gorbachev’s goals strayed from

tradition and was revolutionary

•  Gorbachev’s plans also interested Americans •  This caused Reagan to create a plan of his own

•  He met with Gorbachev in an attempt to establish a beneficial relationship

•  This would allow Reagan to manage conflicts more easily so conflicts would not escalate

•  Regan wanted to establish trust between him and Gorbachev

NEGOTIATIONS WITH GORBACHEV •  Reykjavík Summit

•  A meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev that took place in Iceland in 1986

•  Reagan and Gorbachev discussed the banning of all ballistic missiles, but Reagan wanted to continue the Strategic Defense Initiative

•  The meeting resulted in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between the U.S. and the Soviet Union

OPCVL

ORIGIN

•  This is a political cartoon that appeared in The Independent, a British newspaper

•  It was created in March of 1988 by Nicholas Garland

PURPOSE •  This political cartoon

represents Gorbachev as a bird to demonstrate his peaceful nature

•  He does not want to deal with the riots and independence movements that were taking place in Europe and Asia during this time

•  Additionally, the “riot” bird is ignorant to Gorbachev’s programs of Glasnost (openness) and Perestroika (reconstruction) while Gorbachev waits for them to work

VALUE •  The cartoon is accurate

in their peaceful representation of Gorbachev

•  Rather than involving himself in the riots, he kept the peace, eventually earning him a Nobel Peace Prize in 1990

•  This is also one of many (over 50) cartoons of Gorbachev Garland created, so the viewer knows he is passionate about the subject

LIMITATION •  Since the creator of the

cartoon is British and it was made for a paper with liberal leanings, it was created to fit its audience and has bias

•  Also, his programs have not fully took off yet, so if this cartoon was created a few years later, it could look different

IMPACT OF EASTERN EUROPEAN INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENTS •  The revolutions of 1989 caused the end of Soviet rule in

Central and Eastern Europe

•  They lasted from the 9th of March 1989 until the 27th of April 1992 in various Communist countries

•  Europe •  China •  Russia

•  New crossing points were forced open in the Berlin Wall by the people and sections of the wall were torn down to symbolize their oppression. Guards were unaware of what was happening, and just stood and watched Germans tear down the wall.

IMPACT OF EASTERN EUROPEAN INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENTS

•  The Chernobyl disaster in 1986 is thought to have catalyzed the revolutions of 1989

•  The Soviet Union spent 18 billion rubles on containment and decontamination, nearly causing bankruptcy

•  Out of the multiple countries that participated in these revolutions, Romania was the only European country that used violence to overthrow Communism

•  There were 14 countries that declared independence from the Soviet Union between 1990 and 1991

POPE JOHN PAUL II

•  Born on the 18th May, 1920 in Poland

•  He is known as Saint John Paul the Great •  He helped to end communist rule in Poland and then

eventually all of Europe

•  He visited 129 countries in his lifetime in order to unite those of all religions

POPE JOHN PAUL II •  He was the first non-Italian pope since 1523

•  There were multiple assassination attempts and plots to kill Pope John Paul II

•  Once he was shot by a Turkish gunman and lost three-quarters of his blood in 1981

•  In 1982, a tried to stab him with a bayonet during his trip to Portugal

•  Then again in 1995, there was an Al-Qaeda plot where a suicide-bomber tried to kill Pope John Paul II

MARGARET THATCHER •  Born on the 13th October, 1925 in England

•  She was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990

•  Her nickname was “The Iron Lady”

•  It was associated with her rigid politics and leadership style •  Her policies are known as Thatcherism

•  Thatcherism: the logical reversal of the post-war consensus. Major political parties agreed with Keynesian economics, nationalized industry, and watchful regulation of the economy.

MARGARET THATCHER •  Her initiatives were mean to reduce unemployment during a

current recession

•  Emphasized deregulation •  Reduced the power and trade unions

•  She was not very popular in her first term until victory in the Falklands War

•  As the economy recovered, she was re-elected for a second term in 1883

•  In 1984, she barely escaped an assassination attempt

•  She was elected for a third term in 1987

LECH WAŁĘSA

•  Born on 29th September, 1943 in Poland

•  He was: •  A Polish politician •  A labor activist •  Co-founded Solidarity: Soviet bloc’s first independent

trade union •  The second President of Poland from 22nd December,

1990 until 22nd December 1995

LECH WAŁĘSA •  He allegedly collaborated with the communist secret police

•  He was arrested multiple times as a union activist and arrested once more after Solidarity was outlawed

•  Despite his arrests, he continued to fight for his beliefs •  He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 along with many other

awards and also has an airport named after him

DENG XIAOPING •  Born August 22nd, 1904 and died February 19th, 1997

•  He was a Chinese communist leader •  Most powerful leader in China after the death of Mao

Zedong •  He wanted to include elements of the free enterprise system

into the Chinese economy •  In the 1920s, he worked in France

•  While in France, he decided that he would join the Communist party of China upon return to his country

DENG XIAOPING •  Then he became a political commissar for the Red Army and

participated in the Long March

•  He was important in the role of China's economic reconstruction that followed the Great Leap Forward during 1957-1960

•  Meant to turn China into a socialist society through industrialization and collectivism

•  It is thought to have caused the Great Chinese Famine

DENG XIAOPING

•  His death had reactions similar to the death of Mao Zedong

•  The main difference was that Mao Zedong’s death included names such as “the death of Mao the great leader and teacher,” but Xiaoping was simply addressed as “comrade”

MIKHAIL GORBACHEV

•  Born on March 2nd, 1931 in Russia

•  He was: •  A Soviet official •  General secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet

Union •  President of the Soviet Union

•  He became the youngest and most active member of politburo during the 1980s

•  Politburo: the committee for policymaking within the Communist Party

MIKHAIL GORBACHEV •  After trying to democratize and restructure the economy,

communism and the Soviet Union suffered a downfall

•  Created his policy of glasnost and stressed the need for perestroika

•  Glasnost: Openness •  Perestroika: Reconstructing •  Expanded freedoms of expression and information

•  He won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 for ending the Soviet Union’s postwar dominance

CITED SOURCES

Anderson, Nick. "Mikhail Gorbachev." The Cold War Museum. N.p., 2010. Web. 8 Mar. 2017. <http://www.coldwar.org/articles/80s/mikhail_gorbachev.asp>.

Artwork of Star Wars (SDI) satellites in action. Photography. Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopædia Britannica, 25 May 2016. quest.eb.com/search/132_1249806/1/132_1249806/cite. Accessed 7 Mar 2017.

"Deng Xiaoping." Britannica LaunchPacks, Encyclopædia Britannica, 18 Dec. 2015. packs.eb.com/social-studies/148080/article/29927. Accessed 17 Feb. 2017.

Gorbachev and Reagan / Photo / 1987. Photograph. Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopædia Britannica, 25 May 2016. quest.eb.com/search/109_105739/1/109_105739/cite. Accessed 7 Mar 2017.

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History.com Staff. "Perestroika and Glasnost." History.com. A&E Networks, 2010. Web. 8 Mar. 2017. <http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/perestroika-and-glasnost>.

"Lech Walesa: 'Poland today is beyond anything I could have imagined in 1989'" CNN.com. CNN Publishers, 6 June 2014. Web. 22 Feb. 2017.

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CITED SOURCES

Pope John Paul II. Photographer. Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopædia Britannica, 25 May 2016. quest.eb.com/search/115_880103/1/115_880103/cite. Accessed 7 Mar 2017.

Ravenal, Earl C. "Reagan’s 1983 Defense Budget: An Analysis and an Alternative." Cato institute. N.p., 30 Apr. 1982. Web. 3 Mar. 2017. <https://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/reagans-1983-defense-budget-analysis-alternative>.

Reagan, Ronald. "“Evil Empire” Speech (March 8, 1983)." Http://millercenter.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2017.

"Reagan's Defense Buildup Bridged Military Eras ." Washingtonpost.com. N.p., 2004. Web. 3 Mar. 2017. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26273-2004Jun8_2.html>.

Ronald Reagan. Photograph. Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopædia Britannica, 25 May 2016. quest.eb.com/search/139_1897038/1/139_1897038/cite. Accessed 7 Mar 2017.

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Talbott, Strobe. "Reagan and Gorbachev: Shutting the Cold War Down." Brookings.edu. N.p., 1 Aug. 2004. Web. 3 Mar. 2017. <https://www.brookings.edu/articles/reagan-and-gorbachev-shutting-the-cold-war-down/>.

The Big Lie. Prod. U.S. Army. U.S. Army, 1951. Propaganda Film. YouTube. Bright Enlightenment, 2014. Web. 8 Mar. 2017. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdx8VjmBVfs>.