I.               The Soviet Union (USSR) Under Brezhnev: 1964-1982

A.     Stagnation

1.     Conservative leaders believed that Khrushchev’s program of de-Stalinization posed a threat to the Communist Party’s dictatorial powers.

2.     Now led by Leonid Brezhnev, the Communist Party clamped down on Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Andrei Sakharov, and other outspoken dissidents.

3.     Brezhnev’s hard-line policies led to a prolonged period of political repression and economic stagnation.

B.     Détente

1.     President Richard Nixon initiated a policy of détente to reduce tensions with the Soviet Union. The two superpowers agreed to limit nuclear arms and expand trade.

2.     The Helsinki Accords marked the high point of Cold War détente. The accords ratified the European territorial boundaries established after WWII and committed the signers to recognize and protect basic human rights. 

A.     Poland and Solidarity

1.     The people of Poland were the first to test Gorbachev’s new policies.

2.     Led by Lech Walesa, Polish workers formed a democratic trade union called Solidarity.

3.     Pope John Paul II provided crucial support for the Solidarity labor movement in Poland.

4.     In 1989, Polish voters overwhelmingly rejected the Communist Party and elected Solidarity candidates. This marked the first time the people of a nation peacefully turned a Communist regime out of power.