Symbolic End of the Cold War

November 9 marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall that divided the Communist East and the Democratic West Germany. Berlin was located in East Germany; and the wall separated and contrasted the freedom of the western sector with that of the communist system of the eastern sector.

When President Ronald Reagan told Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall, many were skeptical it would actually happen. However, the growing wave of public demand for reform swept through East Germany and forced the wall down in November of 1989. It would signal the beginning of the end of the Cold War and ushered in changes throughout Eastern Europe.

One by one, countries in the Soviet Bloc grew restless and stirred with democratic movements. Some were peaceful, such as the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, and some were more violent, like the ousting and execution of strongman Nicolae Ceausescu in Romania. With old borders crumbling, East and West Germany were reunited once again, despite fears by some of a revived and strong Germany.

Eventually, the pro-democracy movement spread to the Soviet Union. Gorbachev valiantly attempted to hold the union together, but the forces were too strong. Popular reformist Boris Yeltsin gained power and influence in Soviet politics as he gradually wrestled control away from Gorbachev. In a last gasp bid, Soviet hard-liners attempted a coup by putting Gorbachev under house arrest, but they ultimately failed as Yeltsin and Moscow citizens rallied together.

Yeltsin and pro-democracy reformers emerged victorious. In December 1991, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine signed a pact ending the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) and forming the Commonwealth of Independent States. Gorbachev would officially resign a few weeks later on December 25, 1991. The Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, a 45-year superpower struggle, ended peacefully, ushering in a new era in U.S.-Russia relations and forever changing the geopolitical balance of power.

Students should write a report or presentation (see links below) that cites at least three resources and addresses the following essential questions for critical thinking (you can create or substitute others):

• How did the policies of Ronald Reagan help end the "Cold War"?
• How did life in the eastern sector differ from life in the western sector of Berlin?
• What pressures from inside the Iron Curtain and East Germany led to the fall of the Berlin Wall?
• How did the fall of the Berlin Wall impact the rise of democracy in countries behind the Iron Curtain?

Click Topics tab > The Reagan and Bush Administrations (c. 1981 - 1993) > End of the Cold War

Use our custom ProQuest models for written or PowerPoint reports written and PowerPoint-style reports.

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