Major Leaders and the End of the Cold War

President Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, last president of the U.S.S.R., in 1985

Although the Cold War lasted more than forty years, the tensions between the two superpowers rose and fell over the years as different leaders came to power. Some changes took place in spite of the goals of leadership, as with the rise of communism in Vietnam. Other changes, came as result of changes initiated by the leaders and their governments.

In this topic, you will examine some of the world leaders who influenced events in the second half of the twentieth century. Some were newly-independent countries, like India, which were beginning to have an impact on the world. Others, like China, were ancient countries with new ideologies that transformed their economies to become world powers. Still others, like Britain, were former world empires looking reassert their role in the world. The Soviet Union, under Mikhail Gorbachev, made significant changes which ultimately led to the end of its empire and the end of the Cold War.

Essential Questions

• What roles did Indira Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Deng Xiaoping play in major events in the second half of the twentieth century?
• What were the causes and consequences of the collapse of the Soviet Union?