Dawn of the Gorbachev Era

March 1985- Gorbachev is named general secretary and inherits

Massive military spending Declining economy Outmoded industrial equipment and transportation system Low productivity Short supply and shoddy quality of consumer goods Near Third World living standards Drunken and absent workforce Corrupt and cynical bureaucracy Inadequate agricultural output Sorry public health (high infant mortality rates and a shrinking life span) Woefully behind in computer and technological industries

Glasnost
A fresh spirit of openness
Full and frank discussion of the Soviet situation Not full freedom of speech
Greater opportunity for citizens to speak their minds

Academics began to write the truth about Soviet society and its past

Perestroika
Restructuring of the Soviet system
Initial reform mirrored the mild Khrushchev and Andropov Administrations which led to Decentralization of the economy More autonomy for the farmers and factory managers Profit incentives and limited market economy Establishment of privately owned businesses Encouraged foreign corporations to participate in enterprises within the USSR

Gorbachev Follows FDR Model

Just as FDR used socialist policies to save capitalismGorbachev could use capitalist polices to save socialism in the Soviet Union Random programs to find the ones that would work New Thinking (Gorbachev) New Deal (FDR)

Domestic and Foreign Policy

Necessity was to draw down vast military forces Slash defense budget Make severe cutbacks in the amount expended to prop up the economies of client states Not achievable unless and until more relaxed international climate and better relations with the West

Gorbachev Looks to Europe

USSR sought to improve relations with Western European nations in hopes of encouraging them to become more independent of their American allies Reagan helps matters by giving a commemoration speech at a cemetery in Bitburg, Germany
SS officers were buried there Angered veterans groups, Jews, and other important constituencies on both sides of the Atlantic

Reagan also helps matters with continued SDI ideology

Euros felt nervous about their own defense and the reliability of the Americans as allies

Gorbachev Looks to Europe

Publicly critical of SDI
Threatened to undermine the arms talks that had recently resumed in Geneva

Declared unilateral halt to its nuclear testing and ceased deployment of new intermediate-range nuclear missiles aimed at Western Europe Announced a desire for improved relations with the European Economic Community
Would allow for bilateral agreements between Eastern and Western European nations

Obvious goal was to get Western Euros to think more independently of the US, but also to create less of a drain on Soviet economy through greater economic ties with the West

Renewed Relations with the US

Andrei Gromyko was removed as foreign minister and replaced with Eduard Shevardnadze
Who was to become the Soviets new symbol of reasonableness and flexibility

Reagan moderated his anti-Soviet rhetoric, pushed for a more constructive relationship with the USSR, and complained that Russian leadership kept dying before he had a chance to meet them VP George Bush attended Chernenkos funeral and delivered a letter inviting Gorbachev to the US for formal talks Gorbachev did not want to meet on US turf Meeting was finally set up for November 1985 in Geneva

Geneva Talks, November 1985

Each superpower leader prepared for the meeting in his own way
Reagan took a relaxed approach hoping to get to know Gorbachev better Gorbachev continued his frenetic pace of reforms and meetings with Euro leaders and talking about nuclear reduction

Meeting produced nothing of substance

Interim agreement on intermediate-range nuclear forces (INF) Decision to look into the feasibility of setting up nuclear risk reduction centers in Washington and Moscow Reagans SDI ideology still provided consternation on the part of Gorbachev Reagan, though, had met the leader of the evil empire and liked him

START
January 15, 1986- Gorbachev proposes the abolition of all nuclear weapons in three stages by the year 2000
Also called for a reduction in conventional weaponry Also stated that the USSR was ready to talk about the removal of all US and Soviet intermediate-range missiles Professed his willingness to accept comprehensive verification measures
On-site inspections would be allowed after serving as an obstacle to arms control for the previous four decades

US and European Reaction to Gorbachevs Proposals

Reagans arms negotiator Paul Nitze liked the idea and wanted to create a grand compromise Reagan was too deeply supportive of SDI to let it go Western European leaders had serious reservations about reducing nuclear stockpiles too sharply
Nervous about removing missile systems from Europe and a nuclear-free world

Espionage Cramps Possible Arms Summit

US arrested Gennadi Zakharov under suspicion of espionage Soviets arrested US journalist Nicholas Daniloff under suspicion of espionage Negotiating climate took a turn for the worse After much haggling, both nations agreed to let go of their political prisoners Result- Gorbachev-Reagan summit established at pre-talks in Reykjavik, Iceland

Reykjavik Summit, October 1986

Most astonishing and bizarre summit in Cold War history Gorbachev came with more to talk about than INF concerns
Called for a 50% reduction of strategic weapons, eliminate their intermediate-range missiles in Europe, commit themselves to adhere to the ABM treaty for at least ten years, and recommence talks aimed at achieving a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty

Reykjavik Summit, October 1986

US was caught off-guard by such sweeping proposals Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Perle and Secretary of State George Schultz counter-proposal
Eliminate all strategic missiles in ten years After this, each side would have the right to deploy defensive systems against the remaining strategic weapons (long-range bombers and cruise missiles)

Reykjavik Summit, October 1986

Gorbachev counters US proposal
Suggested the elimination of all nuclear weapons within ten years- not just ballistic missiles

Reagan responded positively hoping to secure his place in US history as the president who ended the Cold War Tentative agreement to cut nuclear arsenals in half by 1991 and completely by 1996 Situation goes FUBAR- Gorbachev insisted on SDI research to be confined to the laboratory during the ten-year period and Reagan refused No accord was reached and the summit ended in failure

Reykjavik Fallout
Both superpower leaders unhappy East-West relations suffered a setback
Blame game ensued

Western European nations miffed over not being consulted over complete nuclear elimination Gorbachev visit to US looked undoable

Soviet Post-Reykjavik Woes

Perestroika reforms were met with obstacles
Anti-alcohol campaign backfired Slow moving reform within huge bureaucracy
Pitted radical reformer Boris Yeltsin against moderate Egor Ligachev with Gorbachev in the middle

Afghanistan still posed serious problems

Mounting death toll Huge expenditure weighing on Soviet economy

Chernobyl nuclear accident

Reactor exploded killing dozens of people and causing nuclear fallout in Belarus and Ukraine

US Post-Reykjavik Woes
US Senate swayed in favor of the Democrats
Now both Houses were in direct opposition to Reagans Republican policies

Iran-Contra Affair
CIA assisted rebel freedom fighters in Nicaragua through private aid from wealthy citizens and foreign governments (circumventing US law) US hostages in Lebanon led to a secret deal with the Iranian government in which they received US antitank and antiaircraft missiles in return for Iranian efforts to get the hostages released Lt. Colonel Oliver North arranged for money from sale of arms to Iran to aid freedom-fighters in Nicaragua
Apparently illegal activity due to government fundsnot private

US journalists began to piece together the illegal activity and Reagan was doomed
Popularity plummeted as the public believed he either lied to them or had no clue what was going on in his own administration

Gorbachev and Reagan Look to Each Other to Right their Own Ships
Gorbachev realized that Perestroika wasnt working and that economic progress was going to require more time, more radical reforms, and more serious cuts in defense spending Gorbachev also realized that Reagan would not let go of SDI
Could wait until Reagan was gone or make headway on other important nuclear arms agreements

February 1987- Gorbachev decided to make headway now

Economy was in seriously bad shape Had a relationship with Reagan already Figured Iran-Contra scandal would produce a humiliated Reagan who would be willing to do something great before leaving office

Gorbachevs New Proposals

February 1987- Gorbachev announced that the USSR was prepared to negotiate an end to all intermediate-range missiles in Europe
Irrespective of SDI

US faced with a scary proposition

USSR would still have a large conventional advantage in Europe and a number of intermediate-range missiles in Asia and shorter-range missiles in Europe

US couldnt refuse something they themselves had advocated some six years earlier (Reagans zero-option proposal in 1981) Global zero-zero Agreement- US and USSR announced that they had agreed in principle to an arrangement whereby each nation would destroy all missiles that had ranges of 300 to 3,400 miles, with full onsite inspection and verification
First time in history that a whole category of weapons was eliminated through negotiation

Remaining Issues
INF treaty would only reduce the superpowers nuclear warheads by 4% More discussion or agreements were needed on strategic weapons and SDI Gorbachev was taken aback by Reagans advice on democracy and human rights Geneva delegates were to work out an arrangement by which both sides would pledge to uphold the 1972 ABM treaty for a specified period of time
Research and testing of space-based systems would be permitted, but only to the extent authorized by that treaty

SDI Fades Into Historical Lore

Gorbachev realized (as did Reagan) that SDIs days were numbered
Huge cost Democratic Congress resistance to fund such a program Length of time to perfect

Soviet Pull-Out of Afghanistan

Gorbachev saw no value in Third World regional conflicts
Negotiated settlement began in 1986 Soviets engineered the ouster of Karmal and replaced him with a more pliable and accommodating Najibullah Called for national reconciliation of all Afghan forces
US supplied rebels with Stinger antiaircraft missiles and the conflict continued

Peace talks were stalled

February 1988- Gorbachev announced the Soviet pull-out of Afghanistan over the next ten months
US still wanted to provide weapons for rebels symmetrical to Soviet support for Najibullah

Soviets agreed (no choice really) and a year later Foreign Minister Shevardnadze apologized to the world community for the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

Dtente on the Rise

Summer 1988- Reagan arrived in Moscow for his fourth summit with Gorbachev
Formal signing of INF accords Maintenance of the momentum of the new dtente Aid Gorbachev to shore up his sagging support in the USSR

The two leaders walked through Red Square, embraced at Lenins tomb, and attended the Bolshoi Ballet (where they played the American National Anthem) Better than Brezhnevs version of peaceful coexistence where there would be an end to the arms race, but each nation would still have its nuclear stockpiles with continued competition and conflict over regional issues Seemingly, Cold War was about to end thanks to Gorbachevs vision of reform and nuclear arms reductionnot just yet though!