Reasons the Cold War ended - Role of Ronald Reagan

1. The Cold War
1945-1989
Role of Ronald
Reagan
Reasons the Cold War ended

2. Reasons the Cold War ended
In today’s class I am learning to:
• Describe the actions of Ronald
Reagan as leader of the USA
• Analyse the impact these actions
had on ending the Cold War

3. Reasons the Cold War ended
Ronald Reagan gained
fame in America as a TV
and film actor. He then
became Governor of
California.
Reagan later ran
(twice) to be the
President. He was
elected in 1980 and in
1981 became the 40th US
President.

4. Reasons the Cold War ended
Reagan was famously
anti-Communist, and
this was a feature of
his political
campaigns.
This included being an
opponent of détente
(the period in the
1970s when the USA and
USSR built better
relations).

5. Reasons the Cold War ended
One notable action that
Reagan took as
President was to
significantly increase
US military spending.
This included the
development of new
nuclear technology,
including the new
Pershing missile
system.

6. Reasons the Cold War ended
Reagan’s increase of
US military spending
was not something the
USSR could not afford
to match.
As the Soviet
military fell further
behind the USA, this
significantly
weakened them and
helped end the war.

7. Reasons the Cold War ended
However, détente was
ended in 1979 by
President Jimmy
Carter, before Reagan
came into office.
It is possible any
President would have
increased military
spending, limiting
Reagan’s influence.

8. Reasons the Cold War ended
His most famous
military action was
the Strategic Defence
Initiative – nicknamed
‘Star Wars’.
This anti-missile
system aimed to use
lasers in space and
ground missiles to
destroy nuclear
missiles.

9. Reasons the Cold War ended
The prospect of Star
Wars working
terrified the USSR.
If it succeeded, it
would mean the
Soviets’ nuclear
weapons were useless,
giving America a huge
advantage in the Cold
War, and forced them
to seek peace.

10. Reasons the Cold War ended
Although the Soviets
worried about the
impact of Star Wars,
many scientists
publicly said it was
an impossible task.
Reagan also claimed
he would share the
technology with the
Soviet Union.

11. Reasons the Cold War ended
Reagan regularly spoke
about the end of the
Soviet Union.
In a 1983 speech, he
called the USSR the
“Evil Empire” and also
once said that
Communism would end up
on the “ash heap of
history”.

12. Reasons the Cold War ended
However Reagan also had
worries. The 1983 Abel
Archer NATO training
exercise was wrongly
seen by the Soviets as
the start of an attack;
they prepared for war.
Reagan worried that a
nuclear war could still
happen, so wanted to
see a peace agreement.

13. Reasons the Cold War ended
When Gorbachev became
Soviet leader, Reagan
believed this was an
opportunity.
UK Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher – a
very close ally of
Reagan – once said that
Gorbachev was “a man
one could do business
with”.

14. Reasons the Cold War ended
Between 1985 and 1988,
they met four times. At
the 1986 Reykjavik
summit, they agreed to
try to abolish all
nuclear weapons.
In 1987, they did sign
Intermediate-Range
Nuclear Forces Treaty,
which ended a class of
nuclear weapon.

15. Reasons the Cold War ended
By meeting with
Gorbachev, Reagan
built better
relations with him.
Agreements they
reached on weapons
reductions made the
world safer, and
lessened the need for
a Cold War, helping
end the conflict.

16. Reasons the Cold War ended
However there were
still tensions
between both sides.
This included over
issues such as the
division of Berlin.
Most famously, during
a 1987 visit to
Berlin, he demanded
that “Mr. Gorbachev,
tear down this wall!”

17. Reasons the Cold War ended
Reagan also took
various actions to
prevent the spread of
Communism.
Publicly and
secretly, he sent US
troops into countries
such as Grenada and
Nicaragua. Some of
these actions broke
US law.

18. Reasons the Cold War ended
He also met with
members of the
Mujahedeen, who were
fighting against the
USSR in Afghanistan.
The USA provided a
significant amount of
funding and weaponry to
the anti-Soviet
fighters.

19. Reasons the Cold War ended
Reagan’s willingness
to use the military
made it difficult for
Communism to expand.
The Soviet Union
hoped to see the rise
of world Communism;
by stopping this, it
weakened the USSR,
helping achieve the
end of the Cold War.

20. Reasons the Cold War ended
World communism was
still a significant
force. The world’s
most populated
country (China) was
Communist, as was the
world’s largest
country (the USSR).
Other parts of the
world had Communist
governments too.