The Cold War Thaws
From Brinkmanship to detente
Near the end of the war, both Russia and the United States switched their policies of Brinkmanship to a more relaxed, less tense policy called the policy of Detente. This period of peace also features the SALT 1 Treaty and the Helsinki Accords. However, Russia later attacked Afghanistan which cause Jimmy Carter to aid the now Mujahideen with arms and money. Reagan, the president after Carter, opposed detente and The SALT II treaty was abandoned.
Soviet And Chinese Split
Russia and China split during the Cold War due to their different interpretation of Marxism. China followed Maoism and Russia followed Leninism. Russia thought that China would follow in its footsteps in the world's affairs and China was sick of being in the shadow of Russia. Angered with China, Khrushchev cut off his aid and secrets to China. This caused a gap between the two countries that increased in size as the two countries started to fight each other. However, they did not cut each other off completely, but just enough that they were no longer allies anymore.
The End of the Cold War
Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev, a Ukrainian who was raised in a peasant family, studied law and later joined the Communist Party of Russia. He then climbed the ranks and eventually became the president of Russia after Khrushchev. He had two major policies, one being Glasnost and the other, Perestroika. When Gorbachev came into power as the first president in 1990, one of his major goals was to establish more peaceful relations with foreign countries, which began with him ordering Soviet troops out of Afghanistan. He also played a pivotal role in the re-unification of Germany when he allowed the Berlin Wall to be dismantled, rejoining West and East Berlin into one again. Gorbachev ended up being the last leader of the Soviet Union, resigning in 1991, as his policies of glasnost and perestroika along with re orientating Soviet strategic aims helped end the Cold War and, inadvertently, break up the Soviet Union.
Glasnost
Gorbachev's policy which gave the Russian people increased rights and freedoms that they have never had, including the freedom of speech. He sought to reduce the government's restrictions on its people. Gorbachev gave the freedom of the press to the Russian people along with the freedom of religion. This definitely had a huge impact on the Russian people and how they felt at that time.
Perestroika
Gorbachev's policy of "restructuring" Russia. He introduced an effective system that accelerated the economy as well as make socialism work more effectively in the country's consumer market in order to make Russia more prosperous. He abolished the system of pricing that was implemented by the rulers before him and de-monopolized certain businesses to further bolster the economy. The overall ultimate goal is to create a semi-free market which would help Russia in its time of need. It is often thought that perestroika itself helped cause the downfall of the Soviet Union, since its implementation furthered nationalism in Russia's constituent republics which then led to public resistance to the system.