Context
As an International Baccalaureate diploma candidate I was required to complete an Extended Essay (EE) on a topic that interested me. Ronald Reagan is one of my personal heroes so I chose to write my EE on his greatest battle… the fight against communism. I wanted to look at it from an abstract perspective and use Reagan’s greatest ally Margaret Thatcher as another subject in the EE.
To what extent did policies of Thatcher and Reagan influence the fall of the USSR?
Subject: History
Word Count: 3740
It is hard to believe that less than 30 years ago the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was one of the most powerful countries on the globe. The leader of the anti-capitalist Eastern Bloc, the USSR or Soviet Union sat atop the world of Communist and other left-wing ideologies. The Soviets secured a grip over much of Eastern Europe and spread their government style into almost all of Asia. The United States and the West went through a period of high strung tension and political warfare with the Soviets that if turned combative would have had a cataclysmic effect on the world as we know it. While there had been strong political opposition to the Soviet Union in the Western world, they had never faced more opposition than the 1980’s.
The 1980’s saw the rise of two extremely powerful, popular and provoking conservatives. In the United Kingdom, Margaret Thatcher was serving as the first female prime minister in the nation’s history. Over across the Atlantic was Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th president of the United States. “The American and British conservative revolutionaries of the 1980s” (Aldous) have been seen as the face of their respective country’s conservative parties. Their relationship is said to be “one of the most understood” in modern political history. They represented the reality of the “Special Relationship” between the UK and US. With their shared conservatism came their shared hatred of communism and the Soviet Union.
Both leaders wanted to see an end to the “bloodless scourge” that was communism. For too long the Cold War had ravaged the world on the brink of destruction and the West was fed up. When the two leaders stepped on the global stage together, many believe that their combined efforts could bring the Soviet Union to their knees by making the Soviets recognize democracy and the economic freedoms of capitalism. Reagan and Thatcher took every opportunity to shame, humiliate and crush the Soviet way of life. In 1991 the socialist republics that made up the USSR decided that it was time for independence and a change in government. By December of that year the USSR came to an effective end and was succeeded by 15 sovereign nations throughout Eurasia, the largest and most powerful of them being Russia. Neither Reagan nor Thatcher was able to see the end of the Soviet Union as the head of their respective nations’ governments, but they did play some role in seeing it fall. That is why I pose the question to what extent did policies of Thatcher and Reagan influence the fall of the USSR?
Margaret Thatcher would go on to change the status quo in the United Kingdom. Thatcher grew up in the community of Grantham, where her father, Alfred Roberts, owned a grocery store. Roberts served as an Alderman for the conservative party until Labour defeated him in 1952. Roberts taught his daughter the importance of hard work and that government is not meant to be a crouch. She deplored seeing “the state as nanny” (Hutton) Thatcher took her father’s words and advice as the guiding principles of her life. Thatcher followed her father’s message throughout life, believing there was “no distinction between commercial, political and religious values” (Campbell 2001, 15-16). Thatcher went on to Somerville College, Oxford in 1943 where she studied Chemistry. After graduating in 1947, Thatcher found an attraction to conservative politics. In the 1950 and 1951 general elections Thatcher ran for the Labour seat of Dartford. She was defeated in both bids but caused national attention being the youngest and only female in the race.
In 1954 she ran for the Conservative seat, Orpington by-election. She was unsuccessful at this challenge again. After having twins with her husband, Denis Thatcher, Thatcher decided to take time off to rear her children. Believing it was her time, Thatcher went looking for a Conservative safe seat. In 1958, she was selected as the conservative candidate for Finchley. In 1959 she was finally elected in MP from Finchley and this would launch a political career that would change the world. Her first years in parliament Thatcher served as a ordinary member of parliament, otherwise known as a backbencher. Even as a backbencher Thatcher had immense voice. Her Maiden Speech in the House of Commons received major praise from Conservatives and Labour alike. The conservatives recognized her talent and in 1961 she was promoted to an officer position or frontbench, as the Parliamentary Under Secretary at the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance.
From there on Thatcher became a national star and quickly moved up through the ranks in the Conservative Party. In 1970 she was appointed the Secretary of State for Science and Education by Edward Heath. Thatcher became unpopular when she cut free milk programs in the UK, but many saw her as a leader willing to make necessary change to move the stagnant economy. After the Conservative Party became the official opposition party in 1975 Thatcher was persuaded to run for the leadership. If she were to win the nomination for party leader she would be the first woman in the history to lead a major party in the United Kingdom.
The conservative Thatcher did not believe that she would see a woman ever become the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, but she knew that if she did not try she would be letting her people down. She stood against Edward Heath to take over the leadership of the Conservative Party. She won the election on the second ballot after painting Heath as weak and not able to make those tough decisions especially when it came to matters involving socialist policies which were becoming increasingly popular in the majority Labour Party. Her address as party leader led many to praise Thatcher’s moral politics
“Mr. President, serious as the economic challenge is, the political and moral challenge is just as grave and perhaps even more so, because economic problems never start with economics. They have much deeper roots in human nature and roots in politics, and they do not finish at economics either [Thatcher 1975b, 31].”
The first female Leader of the Opposition in British history she proved to be an indomitable opponent for male counterparts. After keeping the Labour government and their two prime ministers on its feet for 4 years. She became known as the hardliner against communist and left-wing forms of government. She had gained such a notorious reputation that she was dubbed “The Iron Lady” by a soviet journalist named Yuri Gavrilov. As a small girl her father taught her the importance of pulling yourself up by the bootstraps and making a way forward possible on your own accords and not with the help of the government. For her communism was a “mockery” of the values she had been taught. Too much government intervention only led to the down fall with people. When she was titled the Iron Lady she wore it with pride not in embarrassment.
Thatcher decided that it was time to end Labour rule and called a vote-of-no-confidence. After winning the parliamentary vote she would go on to be elected the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. She did not stop her crusade against communism and what she believed to be communist sentiments in the UK. When Ronald Reagan stepped onto the world stage in 1981 Thatcher would have a partner in her ideological war.
Ronald Reagan was born on February 6, 1911 in the small country town of Tampico, Illinois. As a young boy, Reagan grew up in extreme levels of poverty as well dealing with an alcoholic father. He attended Eureka College in Eureka Illinois, where he wasn’t a superb student but immense popularity among the student body and was elected class president his senior year. After graduating college, Reagan went to work as a news broadcaster and was highly successful known for being able to deliver his lines entirely from memory. As his radio career began to take off, Reagan traveled down to Southern California to the Warner Bros studio. This was the start of Reagan’s acting career and his life in the limelight.
Eventually, as Reagan’s career took off, he started to earn an admirable reputation within the acting community and was elected president of the Screen Actors Guild. Reagan served as president of SAG from 1947 to 1952 making dramatic changes to the organization while at its helm. As president of SAG, Reagan started to develop many of his anti-communist sentiments. The Red Scare was travelling through Hollywood and many people in the profession were being dragged into the crisis by Senator Joseph McCarthy, the leader of the anti-communist movement in the 50s. Up until this point Reagan had been a lifelong Democrat, like his father but as the American people started to become more fearful of the Soviet Union, Reagan started to realign his political affiliation.
As years passed Reagan started to become considerably more conservative and became a national spokesperson for conservatism and the Republican Party. During the 1964 Presidential election Reagan campaigned for conservative icon Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona. Goldwater would be the biggest political influence of Reagan’s entire career. He learned how to avoid some of the crucial mistakes Goldwater made in his failed bid for the presidency including exciting more voters than your key constituent base.
In 1966 Reagan finally decided to make his first political run to become Governor of California. Reagan ran as the Republican candidate against the incumbent political pro Edmund “Pat” Brown. When Reagan won this election, he was propelled to the national stage and instantly considered a presidential possibility for the 1968 election. Reagan battled communism as best he could at the state level, implementing many employment laws to decrease communist party membership. Reagan did make that 1968 presidential bid, but he lost to another Californian former Vice President Richard Nixon who went on to win the general election. Reagan would run again in 1976 but was not able to win the nomination against incumbent president Gerald R. Ford. Many believed that after his 1976 loss Reagan would not be able to make a comeback.
Reagan decided that he would run one final time in 1980 against incumbent president Jimmy Carter who was suffering from low approvals and a lack of support among his own party. The Iran hostage Crisis was in full swing and the American people were terrified of the communist enemy that seemed to be growing stronger. In a time when the Soviet Union and communism were back into eyes of the American people Reagan saw his opportunity to win. Reagan had been the anti-communist candidate for years and people knew him as such.
Reagan had become known as “The Great Communicator” because of his soft spoken but charismatic speaking style. His debate performance kept President Carter on his toes and made the American people very aware of the situation of the country. He was able to look into the homes of millions of Americans and appear as if he was talking to each one personally. With the situation in Iran, the President was already on the defensive about his foreign policy, so Reagan was able to use his anti-communist propaganda to crush his opponent. Reagan also painted the democratic party as believing in socialist principles which citizens weren’t the fondest of. His campaigning techniques were proving to be too strong for Carter to handle. Reagan went on to win of the greatest presidential landslides in US history, suring up the strong support he had from the American people.
Anti-Communist sentiments had been felt in the United States ever since the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia but after McCarthyism and the Red Scare, Americans were ready for an end to the “leftist radicals.” The American people were tired of the long and stagnant process of that became known as the war of words. When Reagan came into office he promised the American people that the war with the communists would end once and for all. Reagan believed that the best way to deal with the soviets was to make them coware to our strength and ability to win any conflict.
Reagan wanted the United States to be prepared for anything with the USSR and the best way to do this was by building up the United States military arsenal, especially the nuclear weapon stockpile. Under the Carter administration the United States made strides with the USSR to decrease both nations nuclear stockpiles. The SALT talks began under President Richard Nixon in 1969 and are seen as the first major sit down between the two nations over nuclear weapons.
The SALT agreements were not seen by Reagan as the most appropriate stance the United States needed to take against communism. Reagan wanted to play hardball with the soviets, making sure they knew the US was not afraid to stand up for their ways and beliefs. While Reagan did not believe shrinking the nuclear arsenal was the best stance for the United States, Reagan would have done everything to avoid nuclear warfare and saw nuclear weapons as “inherent evils.” (Dyson) Unlike Reagan, which Thatcher saw as the “cornerstone of Western defense” (Dyson)
Thatcher realized that the Soviet Union would not back down to democracy without a fight. According to most sources the USSR’s defense budget had continuously went up every year Thatcher was a leader of the Opposition. To her, it seemed as though the Soviets were determined on communist denomination of the world and there was no way in she would allow that. Thatcher had become the most vocal member of British politics on Communism. While Thatcher knew that the United Kingdom could not deter the USSR on her own she would not cower to her most avid enemy and she was not going to negotiate. Thatcher “doesn’t really believe that there’s any such thing as useful negotiation. She doesn’t see politics as it is, which is a lot of give and take” (Young, 1989: 381) The best path she saw to do this was forming a united Europe.
A united Europe could stop the Soviet Union from further expanding the communist ideology in the into Eastern Europe or the Baltic region. One way of keeping Europe united to make sure that West Germany was economically strong and more stable than East Germany. Thatcher wanted to do everything in her power to show that the East was in a state of disarray and that the people there were suffering at the hands of a leftist government. With the rising number of dissent and a call for a united Germany, public opinion was in her favor. She was not alone in her fight however. Her conservative counterpart over the pond was calling for democracy throughout Germany and was ready to see whatever needed to happen to get it done.
In 1986 Reagan visited West Berlin which had seen a very prosperous rise after major investment by the United States and other western allies. When he arrived, he gave a speech condemning the Berlin wall saying, “I’d like to ask the Soviet leaders one question… why the wall is there?” Reagan saw the wall as the last symbol of power the Soviets had in Western Europe and he knew that if he could convince the people to fight for a united Germany it would deliver a serious blow to the USSR. The separation of Germany and of Berlin was a constant talking point for Reagan, being the main subject in one of his most iconic speeches.
Near the end of his second term Reagan gave one of the most charged and awe-inspiring speeches of his life. “Secretary General Gorbachev, if you seek peace–if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe–if you seek liberalization: come here, to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” These words were a direct call for the leader of the Soviet Union to end divided Germany. By doing this Reagan was able to shift all the blame to the USSR while he would be able to reap the benefits. Public opinion was instantly galvanized by the speech and Reagan’s daring nature. It was in the headlines for weeks and just added to Reagan’s anti-communist character.
In the speech Reagan also attacked the living conditions and the human right abuses practiced in East Berlin. The eastern part of the city was under the iron fist of Moscow; self-rule was almost unheard of. Reagan cried out that the people of East Berlin were under intense scrutiny from their Soviet “overlords.” In the East most checkpoints with dogs and armed guards were posted throughout the entire city especially at locations where you could leave the city. Political expression was subjugated and the personal freedoms that people enjoyed in the west were non-existent. Reagan made the argument that Berliners were being separated from their brethren on the other side of the wall. He made it clear that there was no difference between an East German or West German. The only thing that divided them was the ugly grey wall that stood as the barrier between their united culture.
After Reagan’s speech in West Berlin, it seemed to reignite the hopes of the citizens in the city. As time progressed the Soviet Union found it harder to answer calls on why the Berlin wall was needed. The people of East and West Berlin became increasingly more disturbed by the unnecessary separation in Germany. In 1989 after intense pressure from the global community the Soviet Union finally struck the Berlin wall down and began the process of reunifying Germany.
Reagan eventually decided that he would have to fight against communism with more than words. In 1983 Reagan made the tough decision to invade the small island nation of Grenada, which was currently controlled by a communist government. Grenada had been under a left-wing government for the past 4 years and Reagan had trouble allowing a nation supported by the Soviets so close to our mainland. The biggest problem Reagan encountered with the invasion of Grenada was the close ties with a major US ally, the United Kingdom. Grenada had just earned her independence a decade before and many were weary if they could hold on to it.
After gaining independence in 1974 from the United Kingdom, Grenada set up a democratic government led by Eric Gairy. Gairy was a member of a left wing Labour party but after only 4 years of governing his government was overthrown in 1979 and replaced by the Maurice Bishop who led a Marxist-Leninist coup to insert a government even more left than the previous. Under Bishop the island nation started to align with the Easter bloc led by the Soviet Union. Reagan did not want another Cuba, so he decided he needed to sort this problem out.
Even though Grenada was not under UK rule it was still in very close contact with the British government. Thatcher and Reagan had a particularly strong relationship at this point and “their view of the Soviet Union” as a hostile state that had taken advantage of a misguided, overly nuanced Western policy of detente was identical”(Young, 1989: 251), but when Reagan decided to invade many saw it as the first strain to the conservative sweethearts friendship. While she publicly supported the invasion as a stance against communism she privately disagreed with the invasion. She was not given much notice by the Reagan administration and she felt that Reagan had violated the strong bond that was forming between their countries. Reagan believed that the strain he put on the relationship between himself and Thatcher was necessary and could be repaired in due time. Ending the communist regime was his primary objective and no even his British counterpart could stop that.
The invasion of Grenada only lasted three days and is considered one of the most successful military engagements conducted by the United States. The US suffered a relatively small number of casualties in the engagements involving the islands. Reagan was able to accomplish his goal with relative ease but not with a slew of public backlash from the global community who saw his actions as overly aggressive and self-serving. Reagan did not take offense from this though considering the invasion was extremely popular back home. While this was a small indirect defeat to the Soviet Union, it proved to the world that Reagan was not a man afraid of conflict if it meant standing up for what he believed in. Even before he took the oath of office, Reagan knew the time of Soviet military dominance was over in 1980 saying… “the time has come for the United States to seize the initiative, to give them some problems to worry about.” (Leng) This meant that the USSR would not be able to strong-arm Reagan into their demands without him fighting back.
Throughout their tenures, the schism forming between Reagan and Thatcher started to affect any possibility of a joint effort to end the communist threat in the East. Secretary Gorbachev on the other hand saw the problems forming in his country. Many of the soviet nations were crying out for independence and Gorbachev saw that the major divides between the separate republics were tearing at the seams. After constant consultation and reflection Gorbachev decided it was time for the dissolution of the USSR. After almost seven decades on the world stage the most powerful communist nation no longer existed.
When the USSR fell in 1991, neither Reagan nor Thatcher held a position of power. As private citizens, they saw their greatest adversary fall. Even through their differences, they never wavered on their hatred of the Soviet Union and were able to share this moment of accomplishment together. While their goal was ultimately reached they were not the ones to make such a success happen. Through my research I have come to the conclusion that it was ultimately Gorbachev that made dissolution possible.
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