Presidents and Russia: George H. W. Bush and the Break-up of the Soviet Union
President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev had significantly lessened Cold War tensions during Reagan's second term in office. His Vice-President was George H. W. Bush, a former one-term congressman and one-time CIA Director. Bush was more skeptical of Soviet intentions, and in his first year in office, he was considering a break from Reagan's policies of making nice with the Soviets. In 1989, a number of Soviet satellite nations in Eastern Europe began to challenge the previous Soviet domination of their countries. In 1989, Communist governments fell in Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. Although they remained Communist, governments in Bulgaria and Romania instituted major reforms.
In November 1989, the government of East Germany opened the Berlin Wall, and watched as the wall was demolished by jubilant Berliners. In Moscow, many hardline Soviet leaders urged Gorbachev to crush the dissidents in Eastern Europe, but Gorbachev refused to use the Soviet military. While obviously happy with what was occurring, President Bush avoided the appearance of gloating over what was taking place in Eastern Europe, for fear of inviting Russian retaliation. But he was more than a mere spectator. Bush helped to convince Polish leaders to allow democratic elections and he became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hungary.
Bush called for a meeting with Gorbachev, and the two agreed to hold the December 1989 Malta Summit. The summit took place on December 2–3, 1989, just a few weeks after the fall of the Berlin Wall. It was their second meeting (the two leaders had met during Bush's transition period, along with outgoing President Ronald Reagan, in New York in December 1988.) During the summit, Bush and Gorbachev declared that the Cold War had ended. No agreements were signed at the Malta Summit, but the two leaders discussed the major changes taking place in Europe. They also discussed the reunification of the two Germanys.
After the Malta summit, Bush continued to work for cooperative relations with Gorbachev. He considered the Soviet leader as the key to peacefully ending the Soviet domination of Eastern Europe. Britain and France were wary of a re-unified Germany, but Bush pushed for German reunification along with West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. Gorbachev was also opposed to the idea of a reunified Germany, especially if it became part of NATO, but he agreed to hold talks with the U.S., France, Britain, West Germany, and East Germany, which commenced in 1990. After extensive negotiations, Gorbachev eventually agreed to allow a reunified Germany to be a part of NATO. The Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany officially reunified the country in October of 1990.
While Gorbachev had tolerated the democratization of Soviet satellite states, he opposed and suppressed nationalist movements within the Soviet Union itself. The Soviet Union had occupied and annexed the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia in the 1940s, and many of the citizens of these nations had never accepted Soviet rule. Lithuania's March 1990 proclamation of independence was strongly opposed by Gorbachev. He saw this as the beginning of the end if allowed. The United States had never recognized the Soviet incorporation of the Baltic states, and the crisis in Lithuania left everyone in a difficult position. Bush needed Gorbachev's cooperation in the reunification of Germany. He was also concerned that the collapse of the Soviet Union could leave nuclear arms in dangerous hands. Bush agreed to make mild protests against Gorbachev's suppression of Lithuania's independence movement, but took no action to directly intervene.
In a speech that his critics called the "Chicken Kiev" speech, Bush warned that independence movements that could arise out of secession from the Soviet Union could have devastating consequences that he termed as "suicidal nationalism".
In July 1991, Bush and Gorbachev signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I) treaty. This was the first major arms agreement between the two nations since the 1987 Intermediate Ranged Nuclear Forces Treaty. In the treaty, both countries agreed to cut their strategic nuclear weapons by 30 percent, and the Soviet Union promised to reduce its intercontinental ballistic missile force by 50 percent. The treaty caused massive unrest in Russia. In August 1991, hard-line Communists launched a coup against Gorbachev. The coup was quickly suppressed, but it weakened the power held by Gorbachev and the central Soviet government. Later that month, Gorbachev resigned as general secretary of the Communist party, and Russian president Boris Yeltsin ordered the seizure of Soviet property. Gorbachev remained as the President of the Soviet Union.
In late 1991, the leaders of three of the Union's founding and largest republics (the Russian SFSR, the Ukrainian SSR and the Byelorussian SSR) declared that the Soviet Union no longer existed. Eight more republics joined them shortly thereafter. Of the former Russian states, Estonia had been the first Soviet republic to declare state sovereignty in 1988. Lithuania was the first republic to declare independence from the Soviet Union on March 11, 1990. The failure of the 1991 August Coup, had nevertheless led to the government in Moscow losing most of its influence over the rest of the nation. Many republics proclaiming independence in the following days and months. The secession of the Baltic states was recognized in September 1991 and the Belovezh Accords were signed on December 8 by President Boris Yeltsin on behalf the Russian SFSR, President Kravchuk of Ukraine, and Chairman Shushkevich of Belarus. Each recognized one another's independence. They created the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) instead of the Soviet Union. Kazakhstan was the last nation to leave the Union, proclaiming independence on December 16. All the republics, with the exception of Georgia and the Baltics, joined the CIS on December 21, with the signing the Alma-Ata Protocol.
On December 25, Gorbachev resigned and turned over his presidential powers, including control of the nuclear launch codes, to Yeltsin, who remained as the president of the Russian Federation until 1999. On the evening of December 25, 1991, at 7:32 p.m., the Soviet red banner was lowered from the Kremlin for the last time and replaced with the Russian tricolour flag. The following day, the Declaration 142-Н of the Supreme Soviet's upper chamber, the Soviet of the Republics, recognized self-governing independence for the former Soviet republics, formally dissolving the Union.
Several of the former Soviet republics retained close links with Russia for economic and military cooperation. Many of the Baltic states and most of the former Warsaw Pact states became part of the European Union and joined NATO. Some of the other former Soviet republics like Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova have not joined NATO, but have expressed interest in doing so.
In January of 1993, Presidents Bush and Yeltsin agreed to sign the START II Treaty, which provided for further nuclear arms reductions in addition to those set out in the original START treaty.
The collapse of the Soviet Union and other Communist governments did not mean an end to conflicts in Central and Eastern Europe however. The Yugoslav Wars broke out in 1991 as several constituent republics of Yugoslavia sought independence.
In November 1989, the government of East Germany opened the Berlin Wall, and watched as the wall was demolished by jubilant Berliners. In Moscow, many hardline Soviet leaders urged Gorbachev to crush the dissidents in Eastern Europe, but Gorbachev refused to use the Soviet military. While obviously happy with what was occurring, President Bush avoided the appearance of gloating over what was taking place in Eastern Europe, for fear of inviting Russian retaliation. But he was more than a mere spectator. Bush helped to convince Polish leaders to allow democratic elections and he became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hungary.
Bush called for a meeting with Gorbachev, and the two agreed to hold the December 1989 Malta Summit. The summit took place on December 2–3, 1989, just a few weeks after the fall of the Berlin Wall. It was their second meeting (the two leaders had met during Bush's transition period, along with outgoing President Ronald Reagan, in New York in December 1988.) During the summit, Bush and Gorbachev declared that the Cold War had ended. No agreements were signed at the Malta Summit, but the two leaders discussed the major changes taking place in Europe. They also discussed the reunification of the two Germanys.
After the Malta summit, Bush continued to work for cooperative relations with Gorbachev. He considered the Soviet leader as the key to peacefully ending the Soviet domination of Eastern Europe. Britain and France were wary of a re-unified Germany, but Bush pushed for German reunification along with West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. Gorbachev was also opposed to the idea of a reunified Germany, especially if it became part of NATO, but he agreed to hold talks with the U.S., France, Britain, West Germany, and East Germany, which commenced in 1990. After extensive negotiations, Gorbachev eventually agreed to allow a reunified Germany to be a part of NATO. The Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany officially reunified the country in October of 1990.
While Gorbachev had tolerated the democratization of Soviet satellite states, he opposed and suppressed nationalist movements within the Soviet Union itself. The Soviet Union had occupied and annexed the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia in the 1940s, and many of the citizens of these nations had never accepted Soviet rule. Lithuania's March 1990 proclamation of independence was strongly opposed by Gorbachev. He saw this as the beginning of the end if allowed. The United States had never recognized the Soviet incorporation of the Baltic states, and the crisis in Lithuania left everyone in a difficult position. Bush needed Gorbachev's cooperation in the reunification of Germany. He was also concerned that the collapse of the Soviet Union could leave nuclear arms in dangerous hands. Bush agreed to make mild protests against Gorbachev's suppression of Lithuania's independence movement, but took no action to directly intervene.
In a speech that his critics called the "Chicken Kiev" speech, Bush warned that independence movements that could arise out of secession from the Soviet Union could have devastating consequences that he termed as "suicidal nationalism".
In July 1991, Bush and Gorbachev signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I) treaty. This was the first major arms agreement between the two nations since the 1987 Intermediate Ranged Nuclear Forces Treaty. In the treaty, both countries agreed to cut their strategic nuclear weapons by 30 percent, and the Soviet Union promised to reduce its intercontinental ballistic missile force by 50 percent. The treaty caused massive unrest in Russia. In August 1991, hard-line Communists launched a coup against Gorbachev. The coup was quickly suppressed, but it weakened the power held by Gorbachev and the central Soviet government. Later that month, Gorbachev resigned as general secretary of the Communist party, and Russian president Boris Yeltsin ordered the seizure of Soviet property. Gorbachev remained as the President of the Soviet Union.
In late 1991, the leaders of three of the Union's founding and largest republics (the Russian SFSR, the Ukrainian SSR and the Byelorussian SSR) declared that the Soviet Union no longer existed. Eight more republics joined them shortly thereafter. Of the former Russian states, Estonia had been the first Soviet republic to declare state sovereignty in 1988. Lithuania was the first republic to declare independence from the Soviet Union on March 11, 1990. The failure of the 1991 August Coup, had nevertheless led to the government in Moscow losing most of its influence over the rest of the nation. Many republics proclaiming independence in the following days and months. The secession of the Baltic states was recognized in September 1991 and the Belovezh Accords were signed on December 8 by President Boris Yeltsin on behalf the Russian SFSR, President Kravchuk of Ukraine, and Chairman Shushkevich of Belarus. Each recognized one another's independence. They created the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) instead of the Soviet Union. Kazakhstan was the last nation to leave the Union, proclaiming independence on December 16. All the republics, with the exception of Georgia and the Baltics, joined the CIS on December 21, with the signing the Alma-Ata Protocol.
On December 25, Gorbachev resigned and turned over his presidential powers, including control of the nuclear launch codes, to Yeltsin, who remained as the president of the Russian Federation until 1999. On the evening of December 25, 1991, at 7:32 p.m., the Soviet red banner was lowered from the Kremlin for the last time and replaced with the Russian tricolour flag. The following day, the Declaration 142-Н of the Supreme Soviet's upper chamber, the Soviet of the Republics, recognized self-governing independence for the former Soviet republics, formally dissolving the Union.
Several of the former Soviet republics retained close links with Russia for economic and military cooperation. Many of the Baltic states and most of the former Warsaw Pact states became part of the European Union and joined NATO. Some of the other former Soviet republics like Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova have not joined NATO, but have expressed interest in doing so.
In January of 1993, Presidents Bush and Yeltsin agreed to sign the START II Treaty, which provided for further nuclear arms reductions in addition to those set out in the original START treaty.
The collapse of the Soviet Union and other Communist governments did not mean an end to conflicts in Central and Eastern Europe however. The Yugoslav Wars broke out in 1991 as several constituent republics of Yugoslavia sought independence.