The Collapse of Soviet Control
History: Cambridge International GCSE The Twentieth Century (Option B), topic 6.5.3
The Soviet Collapse in Eastern Europe
Gorbachev wanted to encourage civil liberties and freedom, whilst maintaining Soviet influence.
The end of the Brezhnev Doctrine
- Gorbachev needed to revive the Soviet economy.
- The Arms Race and Warsaw Pact costs were both a large part of the Soviet budget.
- Gorbachev also believed in increasing civil liberties and freedom.
- The Brezhnev Doctrine ended officially in December 1988.
Glasnost
- Gorbachev thought that his Glasnost and civil rights policies would end the protests happening in Soviet satellite states like Poland.
The trigger
- On the 7th of December 1988, Gorbachev addressed the United Nations Assembly.
- He ended the Brezhnev Doctrine and effectively said that the USSR would not use the Warsaw Pact armies to keep control of their satellite states.
The Fall of the Berlin Wall
Gorbachev's speech in December 1988 indicated some willingness to change from the Soviet Union. Protests began in East Germany in Summer 1989 and the Berlin Wall fell. This was a symbolic marker of the fall of communism.
Why did the Berlin Wall fall?
- In an interview in 2009, Gorbachev said 'If the East German leader had not been so stubborn, he would have introduced democratic changes. But the East German leaders did not initiate their own perestroika. Thus, a struggle broke out in their country.'
Why did the Berlin Wall fall? 2
- At a parade in East Germany on the 7th October, representatives of twenty-eight different regions of East Germany were marching in front of Gorbachev. He says, 'They’re talking about democracy and change. They’re saying, ‘Gorbachev, stay in our country!’ Then Rakowski remarked, "If it’s true that these are representatives of people from twenty-eight regions of the country, it means the end." I said, "I think you’re right."'
The summer of 1989
- Throughout the summer of 1989, demands for change had been growing across East Germany. The most notable protests happened outside the Stasi (secret police) headquarters in Leipzig.
The collapse of the wall
- 7th October 1989 - Gorbachev attends the parade and believes that 'it means the end'. He sees people marching for the democratic reforms of glasnost and perestroika, but the East German leader was resisting.
- The first section of the Berlin Wall was taken down by protestors on the 9th of November 1989.
- The governments in Romania, Czechoslovakia, and Bulgaria would collapse before the end of 1989.
Krenz and the mistake
- The East German leader resigned and was replaced.
- East Germans could already travel to West Germany through Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
- In a press conference, an East German government official incorrectly announced the opening of checkpoints through the Berlin Wall, without any clear instructions.
- Crowds of East and West Berliners gathered at the Wall.
- Border guards, unsure of what to do, eventually let people through, leading to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The importance of the wall's collapse
- The Berlin Wall, forcibly keeping people in East Germany, was one of the strongest symbols dividing East and West. Its collapse was symbolic of the wider thaw in relations between the USA and USSR globally.
Test yourself on The Collapse of Soviet Control
When did the Brezhnev Doctrine officially end?
Which of the following are correct?
According to Gorbachev, what was a considerable economic burden?
When did the Berlin Wall fall?