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7-5.5 Burnette
The collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Collapse of the Soviet Union | December, 1991 – all fifteen Soviet republics declared independence, leading to the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War; partly due to economic causes (Cold War expenses) and citizens’ desires for more rights |
| Resistance movements | when the people in Soviet satellite states began protesting against communism because they wanted more political freedom in the late 1980s and early 1990s |
| Eastern Europe | refers to the eastern part of Europe dominated by the Soviet Union during the Cold War |
| Mikhail Gorbachev | last leader of the Soviet Union before it collapsed; put in place reforms that some say led to this collapse |
| Ronald Reagan | U.S. President 1981-1989; some think his military buildup and Strategic Defense Initiative or “Star Wars” helped to bring about the end of the Cold War |
| Communist economic systems | economic system where the government is in total control of land, factories, and natural resources |
| defection | when a person leaves their country or army and goes and joins another one |
| Poland | satellite state, large European country just west of the Soviet Union during the Cold War |
| Solidarity | Polish labor union which sought greater freedoms during the Cold War |
| Lech Walesa | leader of the Polish labor union “Solidarity,” later became President of Poland |
| strikes | when people or labor unions refuse to work in order to protest or to get something they want |
| sit-in | when people or labor unions occupy a place or a factory in order to protest or to get something they want |
| Hungary | small, Balkan country, a satellite state of the Soviet Union during the Cold War |
| East Germany | unfree, communist German Democratic Republic |
| Berlin Wall | wall put up by the communist Soviet Union around Berlin in 1961 to keep East Germans from escaping to democratic West Berlin; its fall in 1989 led to German reunification |
| Space and arms races | competitions between the Soviet Union and the U.S. during the Cold War to be the leader in space exploration and have the most weapons |
| standard of living | how much wealth, comfort, and things a people or persons have |
| Totalitarian | where a government has complete and total control over the people and the people have few or no rights |
| Perestroika | Gorbachev's economic restructuring reform |
| Glasnost | Gorbachev's policy of openness |
| "Evil Empire" | what U.S. President Ronald Reagan called the Soviet Union in 1983 |
| Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) | also known as “Star Wars,” it was designed to build an anti-ballistic missile system to protect the U.S. from nuclear missiles; the Soviets could not match it |
| animosity | strong dislike, unfriendliness, or hatred |
| Superpowers | countries which are so strong militarily that they cannot be challenged by regular countries; during the Cold War the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. were referred to as this. |
| Democratization | Gorbachev's reform which was the process of creating a government elected by the people |
| Lithuania | small, Baltic country, the first to declare independence from the Soviet Union |
| Economic blockade | when one country shuts off another country’s ability to buy and sell goods with other nations |
Created by:
oburnette
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