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Zorluk: OrtaThe End of the Cold War

“If we look at the economy and the state of our resources, it is clear that we can no longer sustain the confrontation with the West. The foreign policy of a state is directly linked to its internal well-being. For decades, our diplomatic efforts were geared toward military rivalry, which drained our resources and isolated us from the global economy. The new political thinking must recognize that national security cannot be achieved through military means alone. We must seek cooperation, arms control, and the integration of our economy into the international system. Only by restructuring our foreign policy can we hope to address the critical domestic stagnation that threatens the very foundations of our union.”

Source: Eduard Shevardnadze, Soviet Foreign Minister, address to the Soviet Foreign Ministry, July 25, 1988

Which of the following historical explanations for the end of the Cold War is most directly supported by the excerpt?

  1. A
    The Cold War ended primarily because United States military escalation and the Strategic Defense Initiative unilaterally forced a total collapse of Soviet political authority.
  2. The end of the conflict was driven by a combination of internal Soviet economic stagnation and the strain of trying to maintain military parity with the West.Cevap
  3. C
    The collapse of the Soviet Union was caused solely by grassroots democratic uprisings in Eastern Europe, which compelled Soviet leaders to unilaterally disarm.
  4. D
    The easing of tensions resulted from the Soviet Union's rapid and successful transition to a free-market economy, which eliminated the ideological basis for the Cold War.

Cevap

The end of the conflict was driven by a combination of internal Soviet economic stagnation and the strain of trying to maintain military parity with the West.
The correct answer is correct because the Soviet Foreign Minister acknowledges that internal economic stagnation and the severe strain of keeping up with Western military competition made the continuation of the confrontation unsustainable, demonstrating that the Cold War's end was shaped by both internal decline and external pressures.

Adım Adım Çözüm

1
Analyze the stimulus document for key themes regarding Soviet foreign and domestic policy.
The document highlights that the Soviet Union could no longer sustain the confrontation with the West due to internal economic stagnation and the resource drain caused by military rivalry.
Understanding the author's argument is essential for identifying the historical causes of the Cold War's end.
2
Evaluate the causal factors of the end of the Cold War mentioned in the options.
The correct explanation must balance the role of internal economic/political decline (domestic stagnation) and external pressures (military rivalry/confrontation with the West).
AP U.S. History requires students to analyze multiple causes rather than attributing major events to a single factor.
3
Select the option that matches the balanced causal explanation supported by the text.
The option stating that the end of the conflict was driven by a combination of internal Soviet economic stagnation and the strain of trying to maintain military parity with the West is selected.
This option accurately reflects Shevardnadze's dual focus on domestic economic failure and the unsustainable burden of external military competition.

Anahtar Kavram

The relative roles of internal political and economic factors, alongside external military and diplomatic pressures, in bringing about the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Tahmini Süre:1m 30s
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Konular

The End of the Cold War

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