End of Cold war era
Artifacts
NOvember 9, 1989- Demolition
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1972-1991-Détente
The meaning of Detente is the relaxation of tensions between countries, this what Richard Nixon, a president during that time, was trying to do with Leonid Brezhnev to reduce the possibilities of a nuclear war. Nixon and Brezhnev had both agreed that friendlier relations and better living conditions was an obvious necessary, also to reduce the option of possibility of M.A.D (Mutually Assured Destruction). This agreement symbolized the beginning of a new era complete with peace, hospitality, and friendships and the end of an old one full of fear, mistrust and hate, an attempt at peace between Nixon and Brezhnev.
-Stefanie Bartels |
1991-Disbandment of the USSRDuring the very final parts of the Cold War specifically around 1995, Communist Mikhail Gorbachev, was elected leader of the communist government. What Gorby didn’t know is that his plans for enforcing communism would really end up unwinding them, and he would eventually resign because of it. During his leadership Gorby introduced several methods, the first is called “Glasnost.” It would allow more trust and freedom of speech in the Soviet government, as well as freer disclosure of information, and greater accountability. Gorby’s second method was called “Perestroika”, it rebuilt the economy, so goods would become cheaper, and restructure the political government. In the end of his time in office, Gorby realized the USSR could not sustain itself and needed to be disbanded, this was one of his final methods before he resigned, and so it is one of the methods that is most remembered.
-Julia Watson |
1983-1989 Solidarity in PolandLech Walesa was the first leader of communist Poland, who enforced solidarity, and pushed for an independent labor union. For his many efforts Walesa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983. Walesa pushed for democratic freedom in Poland, but unfortunately he resigned during the first elections. Although later in 1989 he ran again for president, Walesa moved in quickly soon after that, seeing as he won the majority of votes in communist Poland. This lead to the replacement of communism, and the beginning of a democratic government for Poland. As Walesa commonly told his followers, “We hold our heads high, despite the price we have paid, because freedom is priceless.”
-Julia Watson |
February 21, 1972- Opening
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1969-1979 - SALT I & II TalksOne of the steps to ending the decades long war was the SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) I and II talks. These talks between the U.S. and USSR, were designed to place limits especially on weapons, the first talk was to limit the number of long-range missiles and a five year long prohibition of offensive weapons. The second talk settled strict limits on the total number of nuclear weapons per country the goal of this limit was to reduce the number of what the country already had, this talk lasted from 1974-79. These talks were a huge step forward in the Cold War because it showed that both countries had recognized that boundaries need to be set in order to move forward in the future.
-Stefanie Bartels |
america boycotts the 1980 summer olympics |
As the Cold War was ending The Olympics were beginning, and with the beginning of the olympics came the beginning of the boycotts. America started the boycotts because, Soviet Russia invaded Afghanistan in December of 1979. America was allied with the Afghans during this time, and so it came across as a direct offense. Soon after America began to boycott the Olympics, so did many other countries worldwide, until finally about 50% of the countries involved in the Olympics had boycotted them. This ended up being very tragic for many athletes worldwide, who had trained for a monumental amount of their life, to go to the Olympics. Although the impact of the boycott was mixed it was clear that Russia felt deeply offended, and even proceeded to boycott the next Olympic of 1984 in The U.S.A.
-Julia Watson |
Ping Pong Diplomacy
In April 1971, the U.S. table tennis team traveled to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for a week after China’s communist government invited them. It came as a surprise to everyone because no Americans had been invited to China since the communist takeover in 1949. China decided to open doors to America by inviting them to a friendly table tennis and hoped to ease the tensions between the two countries. Later, in June of 1972, President Nixon made a visit to China to begin talking about the
re-establishment of diplomatic relations. The “ping pong diplomacy” worked because it helped improve relations
and it also created a short-lived craze of table tennis.
-Josie Parks
re-establishment of diplomatic relations. The “ping pong diplomacy” worked because it helped improve relations
and it also created a short-lived craze of table tennis.
-Josie Parks
Egon Krenz
Egon Krenz was last communist leader of East Germany, his term lasted from October 1989 through December 1989. His term ended only about a month after the fall of the Berlin Wall, when he was forced resign. He had wanted to retain the communist state of Germany but was unsuccessful in his attempt. After he resigned he was sentenced to six and a half years in prison for his part in government crimes, this includes manslaughter. He was only in office for about 3 months but he had experienced a huge move forward with the fall of the Berlin Wall.
-Stefanie Bartels
-Stefanie Bartels
Summaries
As the Cold War came to an end, so did communism for many European and North-Asian countries, which lead to countries being able to form more open and trusted political relationships, it was also very beneficial for America. Lech Walesa became the first leader of communist Poland to enforce Solidarity. After he won the election, (after failed attempts, due to the communist patriots) Walesa finally replaced communism, and started a new democratic government in Poland between the years of 1990 and 1995. For his many anti-communist efforts before presidency, Walesa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and he will always be remembered as the first anti-communist president of Poland. As Walesa commonly told his followers, “We hold our heads high, despite the price we have paid, because freedom is priceless.” After Walesa left office, Mikhail Gorbachev was elected to lead the communist government, and although he didn’t know it he would end up diminishing communism, through his various methods. His most popular methods were called “Glasnost” and “Perestroika.” There methods actually enforced, more freedom and trust between the Soviet government; slowly breaking the communist government down until even the USSR had to disband. In conclusion the end of the Cold War ended many things within itself, whether it be the USSR or Communism itself, and an ultimate feeling of increasing trust and freedom between countries.
-Julia Watson
-Julia Watson
For the first time in about 40 years, towards the end of the cold war, the U.S. and Russia both agreed on something, that relations needed to improve and living conditions needed to improve. Richard Nixon was trying to reduce the likelihood of a nuclear outbreak by agreeing with Leonid Brezhnev that living conditions needed improvement and a better relationships between countries that could eventually lead to less money needed to be spent on weapons. Another scenario that would be avoided through this detente was a nuclear winter, a state where soot clouds full of debris, dust and soot would engulf the sky covering up the sun, leading to plants dying off, all snowballing into a possible extinction. This was just one of the many things that led to the end of the Cold War, bringing everyone to restore at least a small amount of trust in one another. Another thing that led to the relaxation of tensions was the demolition of the Berlin Wall. This happened when the new leader of Russia, Gorbachev, after Chernenko, visited East Berlin and announced to the people “to take democracy if they wanted it”. After that Erich Honecker the communist leader of East Berlin at that time was forced to resign and give up his spot to Egon Krenz. On November 9, 1989, Krenz reopened the free travel between Ear and West Berlin. Thousands gathered at the wall and began literally breaking down the wall, freeing up the passage between East and West Berlin. This was a huge symbol in the end the Cold War because it showed two completely opposing sides coming together, putting aside their differences for the better of the citizens. The end of the Cold War was a huge symbol of peace because two countries who had been at war with each other for 45 years finally broke their quarrel and attempted to lower their threats towards each other for the good of their countries.
-Stefanie Bartels
Nearing the end of the Cold War, rapid changes and “the relaxing of tensions between East and West” (Détente) were taking place and better relations in order to reduce the possibility of war were beginning. President Nixon, in search of better relations with China, traveled there in 1972 where he opened Chinese markets to American exports. The trip was a total success and in a way, Nixon brought America and China together with their fear of the rise of Soviet military powers. Nixon’s travels to China were a great example of Détente and the beginning of the end of an era filled with mistrust. The better relations of America and China were known as the opening of China and the communications with China are still in place today. Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) were also a great start of the better relations between countries because both SALT I and SALT II were agreements to start limiting the arms race. The first SALT talk with the US and the USSR came to a consensus to place a limit to the amount of long-range nuclear missiles either side could have in it’s inventory. A five year postponement of limiting the amount of offensive weapons allowed in America and the Soviet Union was agreed upon. The first SALT talk was very important because it was the first agreement to limit the arms race, signifying the beginning of better relations between countries. The second SALT talk was similar to the first one but put a more precise limit on the amount of nuclear missiles allowed in each country. The goal of this precise limit was to reduce the amount of weapons each country already had. The SALT II talk lasted from 1974 to 1979. Both the SALT I and II talks were a huge step in the end of the Cold War because it showed that both America and the Soviet Union had recognized that boundaries had to be set in order to improve relations and to move forward in the future. Both the opening of China and the SALT I and II talks were huge improvements that symbolized the end of an era of fear and distrust.
-Josie Parks
-Josie Parks