Debates on the Soviet Union's Collapse

"Many historians mark the beginnings of the collapse as December 1979, when thousands of Soviet troops invaded neighboring Afghanistan. It was the first time the Soviets had intervened in a country outside its Eastern bloc of subject nations. The Soviet invasion brought worldwide condemnation. A decade of detente, or easing of tensions, with the United States and the West quickly fell to a new era of Cold War confrontation. Gorbachev's reforms at home led to hopes for a breakthrough in arms control talks. In the next few years the Soviet Union fell apart. On the night of November 9, 1989, crowds of Germans wielding hammers and pickaxes began to tear down the Berlin Wall, the barrier that had separated East and West Berlin since 1961. By choosing not to intervene, Gorbachev essentially admitted that the Cold War was over. The two Germanys set about to reunite, and other nations of Eastern Europe made plans for independence. Momentum for democracy led Gorbachev to allow multi-party elections and establish a presidency for the Soviet Union. Boris Yeltsin, a regional party boss whom Gorbachev had promoted to help with political reforms, assumed leadership of Russia and promptly dismantled the Communist Party apparatus."--Provided by publisher.