Changes

Reagan's game plan had been to only meet with the Soviets on his terms, when the power had shifted in America's favor. By the 1985, that was happening. In the Strategic Defense Initiative's embryonic stage, it had new partners: [[Japan]], [[Germany|West Germany,]] [[Italy]], [[Israel]], and the United Kingdom. In Poland, Solidarity had refused to surrender. In Nicaragua, the anti-communist freedom fighters fought on. In [[Africa]] and [[Southeast Asia]] anti-communist CIA covert operations were underway. In Afghanistan, the simple goal of making the Soviets retreat in disgrace was working. The Reagan war plan was now beginnng to converge; the military build-up, the cover actions, the economic sanctions, and the Strategic Defense Initiative.

Reagan's game plan had been to only meet with the Soviets on his terms, when the power had shifted in America's favor. By the 1985, that was happening. In the Strategic Defense Initiative's embryonic stage, it had new partners: [[Japan]], [[Germany|West Germany,]] [[Italy]], [[Israel]], and the United Kingdom. In Poland, Solidarity had refused to surrender. In Nicaragua, the anti-communist freedom fighters fought on. In [[Africa]] and [[Southeast Asia]] anti-communist CIA covert operations were underway. In Afghanistan, the simple goal of making the Soviets retreat in disgrace was working. The Reagan war plan was now beginnng to converge; the military build-up, the cover actions, the economic sanctions, and the Strategic Defense Initiative.

The combined effects on the Soviet economy was costing the Soviet empire billions. The Soviets had increased defense spending by 45 percent, billions were lost in hard currency, billions more was spent on bolstering nervous third world communist dictators and all they had to show for it was dead young Russian and other Soviet citizens shipped home from the battlefields of Afghanistan. Reagan's leverage had worked and the Kremlin was now backed into a corner. After less than five years of Ronald Reagan, the hardliners of the Soviet leadership could no longer hide the economic damage of their rule. This gave the reformers an opening. [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] has elected by a one vote majority in the [[politburo]] and that vote was by Andrei Gromyko, the Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs, who had met with Reagan six months earlier and told him that he knew that Reagan's goal was the destruction of the Soviet Union. The politburo went with a reformer such as Gorbachev because they knew the only way they could compete with the United States and meet the Reagan challenge is by changing. So Gorbachev was brought into power in response to Ronald Reagan. So Reagan was really responsible for bringing Gorbachev into power.

The combined effects on the Soviet economy was costing the Soviet empire billions. The Soviets had increased defense spending by 45 percent, billions were lost in hard currency, billions more was spent on bolstering nervous third world communist dictators and all they had to show for it was dead young Russian and other Soviet citizens shipped home from the battlefields of Afghanistan. Reagan's leverage had worked and the Kremlin was now backed into a corner. After less than five years of Ronald Reagan, the hardliners of the Soviet leadership could no longer hide the economic damage of their rule. This gave the reformers an opening. [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] was elected by a one vote majority in the [[politburo]] and that vote was by Andrei Gromyko, the Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs, who had met with Reagan six months earlier and told him that he knew that Reagan's goal was the destruction of the Soviet Union. The politburo went with a reformer such as Gorbachev because they knew the only way they could compete with the United States and meet the Reagan challenge is by changing. So Gorbachev was brought into power in response to Ronald Reagan. So Reagan was really responsible for bringing Gorbachev into power.

Eventually, the ten year war in Afghanistan against Reagan-supported Afghan freedom fighters exhausted the resources and morale of the Soviet [[Socialism|socialist]] system. With more than 15,000 Soviet military personnel dead, the Soviets withdrew their forces in 1989 and admitted to a humiliating defeat. It was payback for the [[Vietnam War]]. Also in 1989, the Reagan-supported Polish Solidarity organization was legalized and allowed to participate in elections which sparked off a succession of peaceful anti-communist counter-revolutions in Central Europe and [[Eastern Europe]].

Eventually, the ten year war in Afghanistan against Reagan-supported Afghan freedom fighters exhausted the resources and morale of the Soviet [[Socialism|socialist]] system. With more than 15,000 Soviet military personnel dead, the Soviets withdrew their forces in 1989 and admitted to a humiliating defeat. It was payback for the [[Vietnam War]]. Also in 1989, the Reagan-supported Polish Solidarity organization was legalized and allowed to participate in elections which sparked off a succession of peaceful anti-communist counter-revolutions in Central Europe and [[Eastern Europe]].