THE END OF THE COLD WAR

THE END OF THE COLD WAR

Main Idea: President George Bush’s foreign policy commanded broad support BUT his domestic agenda

did not

George Bush Takes Office

His Resume….• 1940s Navy pilot• During the 70s Bush was an

ambassador to the UN & was the 1st diplomatic envoy to the People’s Republic of China

• From ’76-’77 he headed the CIA• ’81-’89 Vice President to Reagan• Reagan leaves office – Americans

wanted a continuation of his domestic policies (low taxes + little gov’t action)

George Bush Takes Office

• Bush wins the election of ’88 (against Dukakis) on his platform of foreign policy. – 54% of the popular vote

Republican nomination: George Bush - “Read my lips: No new taxes!”- Continued Reagan’s domestic policies

Democratic nomination: Michael Dukakis- Pushed to help minorities & the poor- Liberal

The Cold War EndsGorbachev’s Reforms

• Bush continued Reagan’s policy of cooperation with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev

• The Soviet’s economy was struggling from a lack of planning/ $$ spent on arms

• Gorby ordered a PERESTROIKA: restructuring of the economy & allowed some private enterprise & profit-making

• He also called for GLASNOST: openness allowing more freedom of religion & speech, allowing people to discuss politics openly

Revolution in Eastern EuropeGlasnost was now spreading as an ideology throughout Eastern Europe

In 1989 peaceful revolutions replaced Communist rulers with democratic gov’ts in Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania & Bulgaria

• Soon glasnost spread to E. Germany

• Midnight: November 9, 1989 guards at the Berlin Wall opened the gates

• Bulldozers leveled the symbol of Communist repression & within 1 year, East & West Germany reunited

Revolution in Eastern Europe

The Soviet Union Collapses• Gorbachev faced a

ton of criticism from opponents/ traditionalists at home

• August 1991 – a group of Communist officials/ army officers staged a coup: overthrow of the gov’t & arrested Gorbachev, sending troops into Moscow

The Soviet Union Collapses• In Moscow, Russian president

Boris Yeltsin pushed back these troops & was supported by Bush & the U.S., collapsing the coup. Gorbachev returned to Moscow.

• All 15 Soviet republics declared their independence from the Soviet Union!!!– Yeltsin outlaws the Communist

Party in Russia– December 1991 = the end of the

Soviet Union

Revolution in Eastern Europe

• P.882 in your book1. Fill in the 6 speech bubbles accordingly2. Find/ label the territories listed in the box3. Use the book or your phone to draw where the Berlin wall WAS