The major reason for the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s was ____________________.
A) Ronald Reagan's launching of the Strategic Defense Initiative
B) a major nuclear power plant disaster in the Soviet Union that virtually destroyed the Soviet economy
C) a chain of industrial failures in Soviet client states initiated by American covert actions undertaken by the CIA on orders from President Reagan
D) the rise to power of Mikhail Gorbachev

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The rise to power of Mikhail Gorbachev was a major reason for the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s. Gorbachev introduced a series of reforms, including glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring), that led to greater political and economic freedom in the Soviet Union, but also exposed the weaknesses of the Soviet system and contributed to its collapse.

The Major Reason for the Disintegration of the Soviet Union