Why did the Cold War end, and what reshaped global power as a result?
Topic 8.8 End of the Cold War: the causes and consequences of the end of the Cold War, including the collapse of the Soviet Union, reforms like glasnost and perestroika, and the emergence of a new global order.
A focused answer to AP World History Topic 8.8, explaining the end of the Cold War: Gorbachev's reforms of glasnost and perestroika, the fall of the Berlin Wall and Soviet collapse in 1991, economic and military strain, and the consequences for the new global order.
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What this topic is asking
Topic 8.8 covers the end of the Cold War. It asks you to explain the causes of the collapse of the Soviet system - Soviet economic stagnation, the strain of the arms race, Gorbachev's reforms (glasnost and perestroika), and reform movements in Eastern Europe - and the consequences, above all the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and the emergence of a new, United States-dominated global order.
What "the end of the Cold War" means
Why the Soviet system failed
The causes were economic, political, and reformist.
The collapse of communism and the Soviet Union
The system unraveled quickly.
- Eastern Europe, 1989. With Gorbachev unwilling to use force to prop up communist regimes, reform movements swept the Soviet bloc. The Berlin Wall fell in November 1989, and communist governments across Eastern Europe collapsed, mostly peacefully.
- The Soviet collapse, 1991. Reform spun out of control, nationalist movements in the Soviet republics demanded independence, and after a failed hardline coup, the Soviet Union dissolved at the end of 1991 into Russia and other independent states.
The end came faster and more peacefully than almost anyone had expected.
Consequences: a new global order
The Cold War's end reshaped the world.
- A sole superpower. The collapse left the United States as the world's only superpower and ended the bipolar order.
- Transition and turmoil. Former communist states faced wrenching transitions to markets and democracy, with economic hardship and, in places like the former Yugoslavia, ethnic conflict.
- A new era. The end of the Cold War opened the way to accelerated globalization (Unit 9), but also to new conflicts and instabilities, showing that the "new world order" was far from peaceful.
Try this
Q1. Name the two reform policies introduced by Gorbachev that unintentionally hastened the Soviet collapse. [Recall]
- Cue. Glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring).
Q2. Explain the most important underlying cause of the end of the Cold War. [Short explanation]
- Cue. The Soviet command economy stagnated and could not match Western prosperity or sustain the costly arms race and military commitments, so the system was failing economically, which Gorbachev's reforms then exposed and accelerated.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of College Board exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AP 2019 (style)3 marksBriefly identify ONE cause of the end of the Cold War. Briefly explain ONE reform that contributed to the Soviet collapse. Briefly explain ONE consequence of the Cold War's end.Show worked answer →
A Short Answer Question (SAQ), 3 points, one per bullet.
A. Identify: the Soviet economy stagnated and could not keep up with Western economic and military spending, weakening the Soviet state.
B. Reform: Gorbachev's reforms of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) loosened controls and unintentionally accelerated the unraveling of the Soviet system.
C. Consequence: the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the world's sole superpower and ended the bipolar world order.
Each bullet must be concrete.
AP 2022 (style)6 marksEvaluate the most significant cause of the end of the Cold War in the period c. 1900 to the present.Show worked answer →
A Long Essay Question (LEQ), scored on the 6-point causation rubric.
Thesis (1): "The most significant cause of the end of the Cold War was the failure of the Soviet economy, which could not sustain the arms race or satisfy its people, though Gorbachev's reforms and the rise of reform movements in Eastern Europe were essential triggers."
Contextualization (1): situate the end in decades of superpower rivalry and Soviet economic strain.
Evidence (2): Soviet economic stagnation and military overspending; glasnost and perestroika; the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989; the Soviet collapse in 1991.
Analysis (2): explain HOW economic failure undermined the Soviet system, then add complexity by weighing it against the role of reform and popular movements."
Related dot points
- Topic 8.2 The Cold War: the strategies and confrontations of the Cold War, including containment, the arms and space races, proxy wars, and crises such as Berlin and Cuba.
A focused answer to AP World History Topic 8.2, explaining the Cold War: the policy of containment, the nuclear arms race and mutually assured destruction, the space race, proxy wars in Korea and Vietnam, and crises like the Berlin Blockade and Cuban Missile Crisis.
- Topic 8.3 Effects of the Cold War: the global effects of the Cold War, including military alliances, nuclear proliferation, the Non-Aligned Movement, and superpower intervention in the decolonizing world.
A focused answer to AP World History Topic 8.3, explaining the effects of the Cold War: military alliances like NATO and the Warsaw Pact, nuclear proliferation, the Non-Aligned Movement of nations refusing to take sides, and superpower intervention in newly independent states.
- Topic 8.4 Spread of Communism After 1900: the spread of communism through revolution and the varied paths and effects of communist movements, including the Russian and Chinese revolutions and their economic and social policies.
A focused answer to AP World History Topic 8.4, explaining the spread of communism: the Russian and Chinese revolutions, the policies of Stalin and Mao including collectivization and the Great Leap Forward, the human costs, and communism's varied paths and effects worldwide.
- Topic 9.5 Economics in the Global Age: the economic changes of globalization, including free-market neoliberalism, multinational corporations, free-trade agreements, and the rise of new economic powers.
A focused answer to AP World History Topic 9.5, explaining economics in the global age: the spread of free-market neoliberalism, the rise of multinational corporations and global supply chains, free-trade agreements and blocs, and the emergence of new economic powers like China and India.
- Topic 7.9 Causation in Global Conflicts: applying the historical reasoning skill of causation to the global conflicts of the twentieth century, including the world wars and their causes and consequences.
A focused answer to AP World History Topic 7.9, the causation reasoning skill applied to Unit 7: explaining the causes and effects of the world wars, distinguishing long-term from immediate causes, and how to structure a causation essay on twentieth-century conflict.
Sources & how we know this
- AP World History: Modern Course and Exam Description — College Board (2020)