Who won the Cold War?

President Ronald Reagan(left) and
former General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev (right)

After finishing the Cold War unit, you start to wonder if the United States did contribute to the fall of the Soviet Union and the containment of communism. It is indeed true that the Soviet Union was suffering from an internal economic crisis that stemmed from the stagnant economy and the increased expenditure on military. It seems as if the Soviet Union dug its own grave by falling into an economic trap from creating a rivalry with the United States during the Cold War. However, here are few of the reasons why I believe the Soviet Union collapsed due to the pressure from the United States.

Towards the end of the Cold War, President Ronald Reagan's contributions to containment of communism became apparent as the external factors began to cause the fall of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union, even with the increased economic deficits, continued its rivalry with the United States. In 1983, President Reagan proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative which is later known as "Star Wars". The plan suggested that the United States would create a space-based machine powerful enough to destroy nuclear ballistic missiles. To retaliate this incredible but somewhat implausible task, the Soviet Union increased the budget to its military department which left the rest of the economy with a shortfall. The Soviet Union's weakened control over its satellite states due to its depressed economy allowed the borders of the Soviet satellite states to be opened, which has always been closed before to block the East Berliners from escaping.

Along with President Reagan's unintentional attempt to deplete the Soviet strength in the Iron Curtain, he threatened Mikhail Gorbachev with the "Tear down this wall!" speech in West Berlin. Two years later, the Eastern Bloc finally broke down as the Berlin Wall came down and the Soviet Union released control over the East Berliners. Not only did President Reagan help overcome the Berlin struggle, but he also aided the Afghans who were at that time occupied by the Soviets. Reagan's military contribution as well as the billions of dollars from the federal budget he to help the Afghans allowed the Soviets to back out of Afghanistan without a victory. It was inevitable that the Soviet Union would have another blow from its foreign loss.

Let's talk about a peaceful way the United States used to internally break the Soviet Union. By the end of the Cold War, the world already turned into a place where people could connect globally. The American rock and roll movement influenced the American children but it also influenced the children of the Soviet Union. While the older generation of the Soviet Union wanted to transcend communistic ways to the next generation, the younger generation was amidst the cultural assimilation. As the view points of the people changed in the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union had a dramatic yet transition from Soviet Union to the country of Russia.