ch 1, the cold war Flashcards
the cold war was based on what understanding?
The Cold War was based on the following understanding:
a) that the destruction caused by the use of atom bombs is too costly for any country, to bear.
The logic is simple yet powerful.
b) In the event of a nuclear war, both sides will be so badly harmed that it will be impossible to declare one side or the other as the winner.
This is called the logic of deterrence.
how did the NIEO originate?
The challenge for most of the non-aligned countries - a majority of them were categorised as the Least Developed Countries (LDCS) – was to be more developed economically and to lift their people out of poverty.
Economic development was also vital for the independence of the new countries.
Without sustained development, a country could not be truly free.
It would remain dependent on the richer countries including the colonial powers from which political freedom had been achieved.
The idea of a New International Economic Order (NIEO) originated with this realisation.
what did the Summit discuss?
The summit discussed 3 important factors :
(i) cooperation among these five countries
(ii) growing Cold War tensions and its widening arenas,
(iii) the dramatic entry of many newly decolonised African countries into the international arena.
what was the Cuban missile crisis?
1) In April 1961, the leaders of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) were worried that the United States of America (USA) would invade communist-ruled Cuba and overthrow its President Fidel Castro.
2) Cuba was an ally of the Soviet Union and received both diplomatic and financial aid from it. -Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union, decided to convert Cuba into a Russian base.
3) In 1962, the USSR placed nuclear missiles in Cuba. The installation of these weapons put the US, for the first time, under fire from close range.
4) Three weeks after the Soviet Union had placed the nuclear weapons in Cuba, the Americans became aware of it.
5) The US President, John F. Kennedy, and his advisers were reluctant to do anything that might lead to full-scale nuclear war between the 2 Countries, but they were determined to get Khrushchev to remove the missiles and nuclear weapons from Cuba.
when did the Second World War end?
The second world war ended when the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, causing Japan to surrender.
the disintegration of the USSR lead to the formation of the Commonwealth of independent States (CIS) explain.
1) . Russia was now accepted as the successor state of the Soviet Union.
2) . Russia inherited the Soviet seat in the UN Security Council.
3) Russia accepted all the international treaties and commitments of the Soviet Union.
4) It took over as the only nuclear state of the post-Soviet space and carried out some nuclear disarmament measures with the US.
state the reasons for the Soviet Union disintegration?
There are several reasons which led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. These were
1) Internal weaknesses of Soviet political and economic institutions failed to meet the aspirations of the people.
2) The economy of the Soviet Union became stagnant. The Soviet economy used much of its resources in maintaining a nuclear and military arsenal.
3) The Soviet Union too became stagnant due to rampant corruption, the unwillingness to allow more openness in government, and the centralisation of authority in a vast land.
4) A section of the society was not happy with the reforms of Gorbachev. It was believed that the reforms introduced by Gorbachev were at a very slow pace.
5) Another reason for the collapse of USSR was the rise of nationalism and the desire for sovereignty within various republics including Russia and the Baltic republics.
