8- Flashpoints Between East And West Flashcards
Why was Afghanistan important to the USSR? + USA?
- USA saw if SU occupied Afghanistan it would threaten India + Pakistan
- for SU it meant they could control much of West’s oil supplies
- SU invaded coz they did not want to see the collapse of neighbouring states
Who took control of A in 27th April 1978?
People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA)communist party overthrew gov
Who is Nur Muhammad Taraki?
- Secretary of the PDPA
- Became president of the revolutionary council
- Became Prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan
What did PDPA introduce during its first 18 month rule?
- Communist style reform programme
- Thousands of members of the traditional élite- Muslim religious establishment and intellectuals=imprisoned, tortured + murdered
Who took power from Taraki+ when?
- September 1979
- Hafizullah Amin
Why was their insatbilth during Amin’s power?
Coz of the anti-Muslim policies
How did thousands of Muslims respond to the anti-Muslim policies?
- Thousands joined the mujahideen(guerrilla movement)
- Was proclaimed to be a holy mission for Allah+ wanted to overthrow amin
- Mujahideen declared war on jihad- amin supporters
What assistance did Brezhnev offer to Amin in 1978?
Gave out military equipment + advisers. This was part of the SU military assistance programme- increased during the civil war
Why did Amin not want to be relient on the SU?
Wanted to improve links with the USA
Explain what Brezhnev meant by Islamic Fundamentalism?
He was concerned about the growing power of the Muslims + wanted to tell Muslims in SU that SU would not change their ways. SU saw this as a great threat.
When did Brezhnev send troops to A + how many?
25th December 1979- 1 Jan 1980
More than 50,000
Went to restore order+ protect PDPA
How did Brezhnev justify his decision to send troops to A?
- Said they were complying with the 1978 Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation + Good neighbourliness that Taraki had signed
What happened to Amin?
- 27th December 1979, Amin was shot + replaced with Babrak Kamal( had been in exile in Moscow).
- His position depended on SU support.
- Many A soldiers deserted+ joined the mujahideen, then Kamal needed 85,000 SU soldiers
Why was Carter (USA president)under such considerable pressure to respond to the invasion?
- November 1979: seizure of US embassy staff as hostages in Iran by militant Islamic students
- Wanted their former leader, SHAH, to be retired from exile
- Carter failed to solve the problem = US accusing him of being a weak leader
What was the Carter doctrine?
- Made after the invasion
- Policy stated that US would use military force to defend it’s national interests in the Persian Gulf region
- Promised US military aid to all countries bordering A
What was the Rapid Deployment Force?
We’re a quick strike military force that could intervene anywhere in the world with such short notice
What happened after the Carter Doctrine?
- US cancelled shipment of goods to SU
- US companies were forbidden to sell high technology
- Gave assistance to the guerrilas
When was the Moscow Olympics?
1980
What happened at the Moscow Olympics?
- Carter pressured the United States Olympic Committee to boycott the Olympic
- Carter threatened to with hold funding + remove tax benefits
- USOC agreed+ 61 other countries followed US example
What happened after the Olympic were boycotted?
- Alternative event called the ‘Liberty Bell Classic’
- At official Olympic Soviet won 195 medals + 80 gold = US press ridiculed this
- Nicknamed the ‘Misha Bear’ ( SU mascot)the ‘Gulag Bear’
When did détente end?
1980
Relations were at it’s lowest since the Cuban Missile Crisis
Who succeeded Carter in the USA?
Ronald Reagan- 1980
How did Reagan react to the foreign policy?
- He wanted to fight communism
- Change of policy was called ‘Second Cold War’
- Keen to increase Us defence spending
- Wanted to get rid of the humiliation of loss at the Vietnam war
When did Reagan announce his defence policy?
Between 1981-1987
Cost more than a trillion dollars
What was Reagan’s defence policy?
- 100MX missiles
- Construction of new stealth bombers which cannot be detected using satellites
- Development of the neutron bomb
- Put cruise missiles (could not be detected bu radar)in west Europe coz of the SU SS20 missiles
What was the impact of Reagan’s policy?
- R + his advisors thought they could win war against SU using a strategy known as NUTS
- Both superpowers believed in the MAD theory
What was NUTS?
- Nuclear Utilisation Target Selection
- involved directing weapons at the opponent warhead, rather than cities to destroy their nuclear weapons
What was the MAD theory?
- Mutually Assured Destruction
- Belief that nuclear weapons made each side less secure+ less likely to attack
- Enemy would not dare strike first coz opponent will also strike back
When was the ‘Zero option’ proposed + by who?
November 1981 by Reagan
What was the ‘zero option’?
- Reagan was prepared to discuss arms limitation coz SU had economic problems
- This option was used to cancel deployment of new US intermediate-range missiles in Western Europe for SU also dismantling
- Brezhnev rejected offer= US place more missiles in Europe
What was START?
Strategic Arms Reduction Talks
What was happening in Poland?
A trade Union movement Solidarnosc
How did the USA get involved with Poland?
- Gave secret assistance to the trade Union
- The Union leaders were banned + Imprisoned in 1982
- US criticised Brezhnev+ Polish gov for their
- SU left START talks in 1983= Reagan announced as Strategic Defence Initiative( SDI)
When was the SDI announced+ what was it’s nickname?
23 March 1983
‘Star Wars’ programme by the media
What was SDI?
Plan for ground, space and laser armed anti-ballistic missiles system, if deployed would shield against missiles launched at the US, destroying them in the process
Who was Brezhnev’s successor?
Yuri Andropov
How did the Soviet respond to the SDI?
- Andropov realised he would have to spend more money on armaments in order to compete with the US
- SU economy already had problems, so more spending= worse economy
- US had won the race to moon in 1969 + developed shuttle
- SU where behind in computer tech
- SU could no longer compete in the arms race
