How and why did the Cold War come to an end around 1991?
Analyze the end of the Cold War, including Reagan's military buildup and diplomacy, Gorbachev's reforms, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the collapse of the Soviet Union (NGSSS SS.912.A.7, Reporting Category 3).
An EOC-level answer on the end of the Cold War for the Florida US History exam: Reagan's military buildup and diplomacy, Gorbachev's reforms of glasnost and perestroika, the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, with worked stimulus questions.
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What this topic is asking
The decades-long Cold War ended swiftly and largely peacefully around 1991. The NGSSS benchmark SS.912.A.7 wants you to analyze how and why the Cold War ended: Reagan's military buildup and diplomacy, Gorbachev's reforms, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the collapse of the Soviet Union. This is a Reporting Category 3 topic the EOC tests with an image (the Berlin Wall), a quotation, or a question about the causes of the Soviet collapse.
Reagan and the pressure on the Soviet Union
Gorbachev's reforms
Gorbachev meant to save the Soviet system, but greater openness instead exposed its failures and unleashed demands for freedom and independence that the government could no longer contain.
The fall of the Berlin Wall
The collapse of the Soviet Union
In 1991 the Soviet Union itself dissolved, breaking apart into Russia and other independent republics. The communist superpower that had defined four decades of American foreign policy simply ceased to exist. The Cold War was over, and the United States stood as the world's lone superpower.
Try this
Q1. Explain how Reagan's policies helped bring about the end of the Cold War. [2]
- Cue. A massive military buildup strained the Soviet economy as it tried to keep up, and tough rhetoric combined with later diplomacy and arms talks with Gorbachev increased pressure on the Soviet system.
Q2. Explain the purpose and unintended result of Gorbachev's glasnost and perestroika. [2]
- Cue. They were meant to reform and revive the failing Soviet system through openness and economic restructuring, but loosening control instead unleashed demands for freedom that helped lead to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of FLDOE exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
FL EOC (US History, style)1 marksThe fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 is widely seen as a symbol of theShow worked answer →
A single-select item (Reporting Category 3, SS.912.A.7).
Correct answer: the end of the Cold War and the collapse of communist control in Eastern Europe.
Markers reward connecting the fall of the wall to the end of the Cold War and the freeing of Eastern Europe. Distractors saying it began the Cold War, or started World War II, place the event in the wrong era.
FL EOC (US History, style)1 marksSoviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) were intended toShow worked answer →
A single-select item (Reporting Category 3, SS.912.A.7).
Correct answer: reform and revive the struggling Soviet system, though they ultimately helped lead to its collapse.
Markers reward identifying glasnost and perestroika as reform efforts that loosened control and unintentionally hastened the Soviet collapse. Distractors saying they tightened dictatorship, or started the Cold War, misstate their purpose.
Related dot points
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An EOC-level answer on the conservative resurgence for the Florida US History exam: the rise of modern conservatism, the election of Ronald Reagan, Reaganomics and supply-side economics, the response to the Great Society, and the changing political landscape, with worked stimulus questions.
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An EOC-level answer on technology and globalization for the Florida US History exam: the computer and internet revolution, the shift from manufacturing to a service and information economy, globalization and free trade (NAFTA), the effects on American workers, and modern immigration, with worked stimulus questions.
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Sources & how we know this
- US History End-of-Course Assessment Test Item Specifications — Florida Department of Education (2013)
- US History Reporting Category Statements — Florida Department of Education (2013)