2R The Cold War, c1945–1991 – The ending of the Cold War, 1985–1991 (A-level only) — AQA A-Level History

The ending of the Cold War (1985-1991) examines the dramatic, largely peaceful dismantling of the bipolar international order that had dominated global affairs since 1945. It focuses on the domestic crisis within the Soviet Union, the transformative summit diplomacy between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, the popular revolutions across Eastern Europe in 1989, and the ultimate disintegration of the USSR in 1991.

This topic forms the capstone of the AQA 2R specification, demanding that students integrate deep domestic Soviet history with international diplomatic developments. Mastering this period requires evaluating the interplay of individual agency, systemic economic stagnation, ideological collapse, and the structural pressures imposed by the United States and the wider international system.

• →New Political Thinking: Gorbachev's foreign policy doctrine abandoning Marxist-Leninist class struggle in favor of mutual security, universal human values, and non-intervention.
• →Perestroika and Glasnost: Dual domestic reforms meaning 'restructuring' (economic decentralized autonomy) and 'openness' (freedom of expression and historical critique), which inadvertently undermined Communist Party legitimacy.
• →The Abrogation of the Brezhnev Doctrine: The Soviet decision to terminate military enforcement of communist rule in the Warsaw Pact, humorously dubbed the 'Sinatra Doctrine' (allowing states to do it 'their way').
• →Summit Diplomacy: The series of breakthrough bilateral meetings between Reagan and Gorbachev (Geneva 1985, Reykjavik 1986, Washington 1987, Moscow 1988) culminating in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.
• →Nationalist Fragmentation: The resurgence of ethnic, cultural, and political nationalism within the Soviet republics, accelerated by democratic electoral reforms and the collapse of the central planned economy.

• Identify the specific economic pressures facing the USSR by 1985, including declining growth rates, agricultural failures, and the unsustainable financial burden of the military-industrial complex.
• Explain the concept of 'New Political Thinking', focusing on Gorbachev's shift away from class struggle towards universal human interests and mutual security.
• Evaluate the practicalities that forced Gorbachev's hand, such as the inability to match the US Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) technologically or financially.
• Assess Gorbachev's significance as a leader, contrasting his reformist approach and willingness to negotiate with the stagnation of his predecessors (Brezhnev, Andropov, Chernenko).
• Evaluate the significance of the Geneva (1985) and Moscow (1988) summits in building trust between Reagan and Gorbachev.
• Analyse how Reagan's commitment to the Strategic Defense Initiative ('Star Wars') caused the collapse of talks at Reykjavik (1986) but pressured the USSR economically.
• Assess the importance of the Washington summit (1987) and the signing of the INF Treaty in reducing nuclear stockpiles.
• Explain George H.W. Bush's initial 'pause' in 1989 and his subsequent diplomatic response to the changing Soviet landscape.
• Explain the ideological and practical implications of Gorbachev abandoning the Brezhnev Doctrine.
• Trace the domino effect of the events of 1989, starting with Poland's Solidarity movement and Hungary's border opening.
• Analyse the significance of the fall of the Berlin Wall as both a physical and symbolic end to Soviet control in Eastern Europe.
• Evaluate the internal economic and political weaknesses within the satellite states that made them vulnerable to rapid collapse once Soviet military backing was withdrawn.
• Explain the impact of Soviet economic decline on Gorbachev's decision to withdraw from Afghanistan and cut subsidies to Cuba and Marxist regimes in Africa.
• Analyse how the cessation of superpower funding facilitated negotiated settlements in Central America, specifically Nicaragua and El Salvador.
• Evaluate the significance of the 1989 Malta Summit as a diplomatic milestone that formally acknowledged the end of the Cold War.
• Assess the rapid process of German reunification in 1990 and how Gorbachev's non-interventionist stance enabled it.
• Examine the internal political and economic pressures, including the August 1991 coup, that culminated in the dissolution of the USSR and Gorbachev's resignation.

• 💡When evaluating Gorbachev's significance, explicitly connect his foreign policy decisions (like arms control) to his domestic economic imperatives.
• 💡Use the term 'New Political Thinking' accurately, demonstrating an understanding of how it replaced the Brezhnev Doctrine.
• 💡Contrast the economic realities of the USSR in the 1980s with the ideological claims of the Soviet state to highlight the practical necessity of Gorbachev's reforms.
• 💡When evaluating Reagan's role, balance his hardline anti-communist rhetoric and SDI funding with his willingness to negotiate and build a personal relationship with Gorbachev.
• 💡Use the specific outcomes of each summit to trace the chronological development of the end of the Cold War, rather than grouping them as a single event.
• 💡Contrast the diplomatic approaches of Reagan and Bush to demonstrate a nuanced understanding of the US response to Soviet decline.
• 💡Emphasise the causal link between Gorbachev's foreign policy shifts (ending the Brezhnev Doctrine) and the emboldening of domestic opposition groups in Eastern Europe.
• 💡Use specific examples from different countries (e.g., Poland, Hungary, East Germany, Romania) to illustrate the variety of ways in which communist regimes fell in 1989.
• 💡When discussing the significance of 1989, ensure you link the events back to the broader context of the ending of the Cold War.
• 💡Link regional de-escalation in Asia, Africa, and the Americas directly to Gorbachev's 'New Political Thinking' and the Soviet economic crisis.
• 💡When discussing German reunification, highlight the diplomatic negotiations, such as the Two Plus Four Agreement, that secured Soviet agreement for a unified Germany to join NATO.
• 💡Use the August 1991 coup attempt as a pivotal turning point that fatally undermined Gorbachev's authority and accelerated the collapse of the USSR.
• 💡Integrate precise summit details: Do not just state that 'treaties were signed'. Explicitly name the 1987 INF Treaty, note that it eliminated an entire class of nuclear missiles (intermediate-range, 500-5500 km), and explain its revolutionary inclusion of on-site verification procedures.
• 💡Distinguish between external empire and internal empire: Use precise vocabulary when discussing the Warsaw Pact satellites (Poland, GDR, Hungary, Czechoslovakia) versus internal Soviet republics (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Russia).

• Arguing that Gorbachev intended to end the Soviet Union; correction: clarify that his reforms and 'New Thinking' were designed to save and strengthen the socialist system, not dismantle it.
• Ignoring the domestic economic drivers of foreign policy; correction: explicitly link Gorbachev's diplomatic concessions to the urgent need to divert funds from the military to domestic economic restructuring (Perestroika).
• Attributing the end of the Cold War solely to US pressure; correction: balance the narrative by emphasising Gorbachev's agency and the internal systemic failures of the Soviet economy as primary catalysts.
• Error: Claiming the INF Treaty was signed at Reykjavik. Correction: The INF Treaty was signed at the Washington summit in 1987; Reykjavik ended without a formal agreement due to disagreements over SDI.
• Error: Assuming George H.W. Bush immediately continued Reagan's rapid pace of diplomacy. Correction: Bush initiated a strategic 'pause' upon taking office in 1989 to reassess US-Soviet relations before re-engaging.
• Error: Stating that 'Star Wars' was a fully operational defence system. Correction: SDI was a proposed, theoretical missile defence system that never became fully operational, though its economic threat was highly significant.
• Error: Stating that the Soviet Union used military force to suppress the 1989 revolutions. Correction: Gorbachev explicitly refused to use Soviet troops to prop up Eastern European regimes, marking the end of the Brezhnev Doctrine.
• Error: Treating the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe as a single, uniform event. Correction: The collapse occurred differently in each satellite state, ranging from negotiated transitions in Poland to violent revolution in Romania.
• Error: Confusing the collapse of the Eastern European satellite states in 1989 with the collapse of the Soviet Union itself. Correction: The satellite states broke away in 1989, whereas the Soviet Union itself did not officially dissolve until December 1991.
• Error: Claiming the Malta Summit caused the fall of the Berlin Wall. Correction: The Berlin Wall fell weeks before the Malta Summit; the summit acknowledged the changing reality rather than causing the wall's collapse.
• Error: Assuming the US militarily defeated the USSR in proxy wars like Angola and Ethiopia. Correction: The conflicts ended primarily because the USSR could no longer afford to fund its allies, leading to mutual superpower disengagement.
• Error: Confusing Gorbachev's resignation with the fall of the Berlin Wall. Correction: The Berlin Wall fell in November 1989, whereas Gorbachev resigned over two years later in December 1991 following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
• Gorbachev set out from the beginning to dismantle communism and break up the Soviet Union. (Correction: Gorbachev was a committed communist who sought to revitalize, modernize, and humanize Soviet socialism ('socialism with a human face') to ensure its long-term survival, not destroy it.)
• The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI/'Star Wars') was the direct and single cause of the Soviet collapse. (Correction: SDI compounded Moscow's fiscal anxiety, but the Soviet economic crisis was structural, rooted in decades of collectivized agricultural failure, consumer neglect, bureaucratic sclerosis, and the burden of the Afghan War.)

1. 1Day 1-3: Deep dive into Gorbachev's ideological shifts: evaluate the mechanics and unintended consequences of perestroika, glasnost, and New Political Thinking.
2. 2Day 4-6: Chart superpower diplomacy: map the progression across Geneva (1985), Reykjavik (1986), Washington (1987), Moscow (1988), and Malta (1989).
3. 3Day 7-9: Analyze 1989: study country-specific revolutions across Poland, Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Romania, assessing why Moscow did not intervene.
4. 4Day 10-12: The Collapse of the USSR (1990-1991): investigate Baltic independence, the rise of Boris Yeltsin, the August 1991 Coup, and the Belavezha Accords.
5. 5Day 13-14: Essay practice: complete timed essays evaluating the relative weights of Reagan, Gorbachev, internal economic crisis, and popular protest.

• 📋25-mark thematic essay questions evaluating causation (e.g., 'To what extent was economic weakness the main reason for the end of the Cold War?').
• 📋25-mark individual agency essays (e.g., assessing the relative responsibility of Reagan vs. Gorbachev).
• 📋Compulsory multi-source evaluation questions assessing historical interpretations of Soviet policy shifts or summit diplomacy.