Ronald Reagan was the ultimate Cold War warrior. He characterized the Soviet Union as “The Evil Empire.” (Jennings and Brewster, p. 479.) His goal was to eliminate communist Russia as an international force. He was fortunate that the USSR contained the seeds of its own destruction.
By the 1970s, domestic economic problems were overwhelming Russia. Too much of the country’s resources had been devoted to its “military-industrial complex,” including the space race. Industrial production was poor; there were housing shortages and, in many respects, food was scarce. (Id. at pp. 505-521.) “The whole country was stagnating.” (Id. at 506.) Shortages in basic needs were rampant in other Communist countries as well. (Harrison, p. xi.)
In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev became the general secretary of the Communist Party. He recognized his country’s problems and decided there must be reforms to improve the Soviet standard of living if the communist system was to survive. (Jennings and Brewster, pp. 506-507.) Gorbachev instituted a three-part reform program: glasnost (meaning openness; allowing some freedom of expression and historical truth for dismantling “The Great Lie [of Stalin]”); perestroika (economic restructuring); and, demokratizatsiya (democratization). Gorbachev created the “Memorial Campaign” that documented the horrors of the Stalin years, known as “The Great Terror,” and built a monument to Stalin’s victims. (Id.)
In 1987 President Reagan saw a possible opening in Soviet-American relations and visited Berlin. He gave a speech at the Brandenburg Gate in the Berlin Wall. Reagan challenged Gorbachev with these famous words: “If you seek liberalization, come here to this gate, Mr. Gorbachev. Open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” It was several years after that invitation that the Berlin Wall came down.
In 1989, Gorbachev announced that the Soviet Union would no longer sponsor communist leadership in Eastern Europe. As a result, latent freedom movements that had previously been repressed by the USSR spilled over into the satellite countries. In Poland, Walesa and Solidarity rose to play a more powerful role. In East Germany, citizens physically knocked down the Berlin Wall with hammers, chisels and pick axes. In Romania, there was a violent overthrow of President Nicolae Ceausescu. In Czechoslovakia, Vaclav Havel led the “Velvet Revolution.” Similar events occurred in Bulgaria and Hungary.
In 1990, following the example of Eastern Europe, the three Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia announced their independence from Moscow, and other Soviet republics demanded greater sovereignty. Nine of the 15 Soviet republics agreed to sign a new union treaty, granting far greater freedom and autonomy to individual republics. (http://www.inthe80s.com/coldwar.shtml); (http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/fall-of-soviet-union )
But in August 1991, before the treaty could be signed, conservative communists tried to oust Gorbachev in a coup d’etat. Boris Yeltsin, the President of the Russian Republic, and his supporters defeated the coup, thereby undermining support for the Communist Party. The Soviet Union ended its existence in December 1991, when Russia (and most other republics) formed the Commonwealth of Independent States: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Constituent states formed independent countries: the area known as Czechoslovakia became the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Yugoslavia divided into Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovenia, and Serbia. (Id.)
Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace for his leadership role in ending the Cold War and promoting peaceful international relations.
“American/Soviets,” by C.C.C.P., features an intro in which Reagan and Gorbachev are playing chess in an attempt to solve the problems in a more peaceful way. (https://youtu.be/OykVR5LsZMU)
G: Good evening this is Mr. Gorbachev
R: Hello Gorby, this is the White House, Ronald Reagan speaking
G: Hello my old friend, how are you today?
R: Fine! It’s time for our daily chess-match. Are you ready ?
G: Yes, my last move yesterday was the Queen from A6 to B6.They both send their weapons into space
their people’s problems they seem to displace
the arms-race is what they can’t negotiate
why ain’t it chess about what they debate?What went wrong on the Gulf of Iran?
Why did the Russians invade Afghanistan?
Why not save the money for the armamentsand be chess-partners in the tournament ?
Reagan and Gorbachev play chess on T.V.
the senate is giving a party on the sea
the nuclear war will forever be banned
it’s only their kings which they have to defend.
“Wind of Change,” was performed by the Scorpions and written by Klaus Meine, vocalist of the Scorpions (1990). (https://youtu.be/eVmpNZ31CXw) “The lyrics celebrate the political changes in Eastern Europe at that time” …such as the fall of the Berlin Wall, the increasing freedom in the communist bloc (which would soon lead to the fall of the USSR), and the clearly imminent end of the Cold War. “Many listeners of the song who are not acquainted with Moscow are often confused by the meaning of the opening lines of the song, which are: “I follow the Moskva Down to Gorky Park, Listening to the wind of change.” The Moskva is the name of the river that runs through Moscow, and Gorky Park is the name of an amusement park in Moscow. The Scorpions were inspired to write this song on a visit to Moscow in 1989, and therefore included references to the aforementioned landmarks.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_Of_Change)
I follow the Moskva
Down to Gorky Park
Listening to the wind of change
An August summer night
Soldiers passing by
Listening to the wind of changeThe world is closing in
Did you ever think
That we could be so close, like brothers
The future’s in the air
I can feel it everywhere
Blowing with the wind of changeTake me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away (dream away)
In the wind of changeWalking down the street
Distant memories
Are buried in the past forever
I follow the Moskva
Down to Gorky Park
Listening to the wind of changeTake me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow share their dreams (share their dreams)
With you and me
Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night (the glory night)
Where the children of tomorrow dream away (dream away)
In the wind of change (the wind of change)The wind of change
Blows straight into the face of time
Like a storm wind that will ring the freedom bell
For peace of mind
Let your balalaika sing
What my guitar wants to sayTake me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow share their dreams (share their dreams)
With you and me (with you and me)
Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away (dream away)
In the wind of change (in the wind of change)
“Heresy,” was written by Neil Peart (1991) and sung by Rush. It reflects on the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe. (https://youtu.be/_R2VQxOsBaw )
All around that dull grey world
From Moscow to Berlin
People storm the barricades
Walls go tumbling inThe counter-revolution
People smiling through their tears
Who can give them back their lives
And all those wasted years?
All those precious wasted years
Who will pay?All around that dull grey world
Of ideology
People storm the marketplace
And buy up fantasyThe counter-revolution
At the counter of a store
People buy the things they want
And borrow for a little more
All those wasted years
All those precious wasted years
Who will pay?Do we have to be forgiving at last?
What else can we do?
Do we have to say goodbye to the past?
Yes I guess we doAll around this great big world
All the crap we had to take
Bombs and basement fallout shelters
All our lives at stakeThe bloody revolution
All the warheads in its wake
All the fear and suffering
All a big mistake
All those wasted years
All those precious wasted years
Who will pay?