The Influence of Gorbachev and Reagan on the Fall of Communism and the End of the Cold War
The collapse of the Soviet empire in 1991 was a complex historical event, influenced by multiple leaders and movements. This essay will look at the influences of the Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev and the American president Ronald Reagan. The importance and influence of the two on the fall of Communism is still a debated topic. A short overview of the ideas that academics have about the duo will be given and a new perspective will be put forward: neither Reagan nor Gorbachev were actually necessary to bring down Communism.
Academics, such as Brown (2007, 1-17), have already extensively written on the topic of Gorbachev’s Glasnost and Perestroika …show more content…
With the dead of Mao Zedong in 1976 the communists in China were granted a new leader: Deng Xiaoping. The relationship between China and the Soviet Union were already unstable following conflicts in the 60’s and 70’s between the two communist superpowers, while China and the United States were improving theirs. As Deng rose to power he distinguished himself through policies of “reform and opening” (Jian, 2010). Deng wanted to make China a functioning state again, through which ideology mattered less to him: “Black cat or white cat, so long as it catches mice, it is a good cat.” He wanted to start cooperation with Carter’s United States, who was glad to accept a potential ally against the Soviet threat. The new Chinese economic system made the juxtaposition between Communism and Capitalism vague and alterable. Deng reformed the Chinese market and served as an example for the rest of the world as he showed that there were alternative economic systems for Communist …show more content…
Gorbachev and Reagan were certainly extremely influential and important for the fall of Communism and the end of the Cold War, yet they were not indispensable. As argued their policies contributed to an acceleration of an event that eventually would have occurred without their interference as well. Instead of vital visionaries they must be seen as catalysts of history. The actual fall of Communism must be seen in a gigantic web of historical and social events. The importance of events in China, Western Europe and even inside Soviet satellite states should not but underestimated, that would be ignorant. Those developments are the actual underlying causes of the fall of Communism, Gorbachev and Reagan both merely accelerated that what was coming inevitably. As Herbert Spencer stated, men are merely a creation of
The collapse of the Soviet empire in 1991 was a complex historical event, influenced by multiple leaders and movements. This essay will look at the influences of the Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev and the American president Ronald Reagan. The importance and influence of the two on the fall of Communism is still a debated topic. A short overview of the ideas that academics have about the duo will be given and a new perspective will be put forward: neither Reagan nor Gorbachev were actually necessary to bring down Communism.
Academics, such as Brown (2007, 1-17), have already extensively written on the topic of Gorbachev’s Glasnost and Perestroika …show more content…
With the dead of Mao Zedong in 1976 the communists in China were granted a new leader: Deng Xiaoping. The relationship between China and the Soviet Union were already unstable following conflicts in the 60’s and 70’s between the two communist superpowers, while China and the United States were improving theirs. As Deng rose to power he distinguished himself through policies of “reform and opening” (Jian, 2010). Deng wanted to make China a functioning state again, through which ideology mattered less to him: “Black cat or white cat, so long as it catches mice, it is a good cat.” He wanted to start cooperation with Carter’s United States, who was glad to accept a potential ally against the Soviet threat. The new Chinese economic system made the juxtaposition between Communism and Capitalism vague and alterable. Deng reformed the Chinese market and served as an example for the rest of the world as he showed that there were alternative economic systems for Communist …show more content…
Gorbachev and Reagan were certainly extremely influential and important for the fall of Communism and the end of the Cold War, yet they were not indispensable. As argued their policies contributed to an acceleration of an event that eventually would have occurred without their interference as well. Instead of vital visionaries they must be seen as catalysts of history. The actual fall of Communism must be seen in a gigantic web of historical and social events. The importance of events in China, Western Europe and even inside Soviet satellite states should not but underestimated, that would be ignorant. Those developments are the actual underlying causes of the fall of Communism, Gorbachev and Reagan both merely accelerated that what was coming inevitably. As Herbert Spencer stated, men are merely a creation of