The Cold War Demise of the USSR Causes/Consequences of the USSRs Demise The arms build-up (SDI). Ethnic unrest in the Soviet Union. Independence movements in former Soviet satellites. Global decline of communism. The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) The Red Army Enforcer Gorbachevs Reforms glasnost (= openness) Think glass because you can see through it perestroika (=restructuring) Think structure/stroika Ethnic Unrest in the USSR Ethnic groups, once living in fear of the red army enforcing Soviet unity, begin to break away as Moscow relaxes its control. Independence Movements in Satellites Soviet-controlled countries, once forced into the Warsaw Pact to provide a buffer against Germany, begin to pull away. The Failure of Communism What brought down the USSR? A combination of several factors: The arms build-up and SDI. Gorbachevs internal reforms. Ethnic unrest in the Soviet Union. Independence movements in former Soviet satellites. Global decline of communism. The Wall Falls, 1989 A wave of rebellion against Soviet influence occurs throughout its European allies. Polands Solidarity movement breaks the Soviet hold on that country. Hungary removed its border restrictions with Austria. Riots and protests break out in East Germany. East Germans storm the wall. Confused and outnumbered, border guards do not fight back. The wall is breached. Eventually East and West Germany are reunited in 1990. The USSR Dissolves August 1991 Soviet hard-liners try to stage a coup detat and re-establish control. Gorbachev appears weak. On December 25, 1991, Gorbachev yielded as the leader of the USSR, declaring the office extinct. He turned the official powers over to Boris Yeltsin, president of Russia. The following day, the Supreme Soviet, the highest governmental body of the Soviet Union, recognized the collapse of the Soviet Union and dissolved itself. Boris Yeltsin (far left) stands on a tank to defy the 1991 coup. Rocky beats Ivan Drago.