The Thaw

Thaw in relations

East-West tensions eased after the appointment of Mikhail Gorbachev. After the deaths of three successive elderly Soviet leaders since 1982, the Soviet Politburo elected Gorbachev Communist Party General Secretary in March 1985, marking the rise of a new generation of leadership. Under Gorbachev, relatively young reform-oriented technocrats, who had begun their careers in the heyday of "de-Stalinization" under reformist leader Nikita Khrushchev (1953-1965), rapidly consolidated power, providing new momentum for political and economic liberalization, and the impetus for cultivating warmer relations and trade with the West.
Reagan and Gorbachev during their first summit meeting in the beach house.

On the Western front, American President Ronald Reagan's administration had taken a hard line against the Soviet Union, and persuaded the Saudi Arabian oil companies to increase oil production.[1] This led to a three-times drop in the prices of oil, and oil was the main source of Soviet export revenues.[1] Following the USSR's previous large military buildup, President Reagan ordered an enormous peacetime defense buildup of the United States Military; the Soviets did not respond to this by building up their military because the military expenses, in combination with colectivized agriculture in the nation, and innefficient planned manufacturing, proved a heavy burden for the Soviet economy. It was already staganant and in a poor state prior to the tenure of Mikhail Gorbachev who, despite significant attempts at reform, was unable to revitalise the economy.[2] In 1985, Reagan and Gorbachev held their first of four "summit" meetings, this one in Geneva, Switzerland. After discussing policy, facts, etc., Reagan invited Gorbachev to go with him to a small house near the beach. The two leaders spoke in that house well over their time limit, but came out with the news that they had planned two more (soon three more) summits.

The second summit took place... [continues]

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