Chapter 22 - The Summits Between the USA and the USSR Flashcards
1
Q
What was Gorbachev’s view towards America?
A
- Believed national security required political and economic process, not military expansion
- Believed in end to confrontation between superpowers
- Ended Soviet belief that war inevitable between Capitalist and Communist states
2
Q
How was the Geneva Summit presented to the world?
A
- 3000 journalists covered it
- Both leaders wanted it to look like a success
- Joint statement = ‘A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought’
3
Q
What were the successes of the Geneva Summit?
A
- Both would aim to cut offensive nuclear weapons by 50%
- Both hoped to eliminate medium-range nuclear missiles
- Discussed collaborating to end nuclear proliferation to other countries
- Discussed ban of chemical weapons
- Agreed to meet in both Washington and Moscow
4
Q
What were the limitations of the Geneva Summit?
A
- Reagan’s Strategic Defence Initiative caused tension
5
Q
What was the purpose of the Reykjavik Summit?
A
- Put Soviet-US relations back on track
6
Q
What were the failures of the Reykjavik Summit?
A
- No concrete agreements on arms reductions
- R wanted to eliminate nuclear weapons, G refused until R abandoned plans for SDI
- G convinced R never intended to compromise
7
Q
What were the successes of the Reykjavik Summit?
A
- Showed both wanted arms reduction and both had limits to what they would abandon
- G removed disarmament from demands on SDI in future summits
- Worked hard to draft agreements to be discussed at future summits
- Discussed human rights and humanitarian issues (just exchanged ideas)
- 1 year later, Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty signed (helped further arms reduction)
8
Q
What were the successes of the Washington Summit?
A
- INF treat signed (most significant step by USA and USSR to end arms race)
- G decided to withdraw from Afghanistan
- Gave people sense of optimism regarding nuclear reductions
9
Q
What were the terms of the INF treaty?
A
- Ended all use of intermediate-range ballistic and cruise missiles
- Those that could travel 500-5500km to be destroyed by June 1991
- By 1991 deadline, USA had destroyed 846 weapons, USSR 1846 (as USSR had more)
10
Q
What was the significance of the INF treaty?
A
- First time USA and USSR agreed to remove whole class of nuclear weapons
- First time both accepted each other had right to verify removal on each other’s territory
- USSR made no demands for treaty to be conditional on USA withdrawing from SDI
- USSR made no demands to keep 100 SS-20 missiles as defence against China
- USSR accepted British and French nuclear weapons to be excluded from treaty
11
Q
What was the expectation of the Moscow Summit?
A
- Sign START (initially proposed in Geneva to limit nuclear weapons to 5000 per side)
- Reagan’s last year in office = big things expected
12
Q
What were the limitations of the Moscow Summit?
A
- Focus on cultural exchanges and human rights
- Signed 7 agreements on fishing rights and human exchange programmes
- No headway made on START
- Relatively unimportant
13
Q
Why was the Moscow Summit important to Reagan?
A
- Gave him access to Russian people
- Addressed students of Moscow State University
- Spoke of freedom of USSR from under chains of totalitarian rule and made supportive comments towards USSR
- Built G’s support within USSR
14
Q
Why did Reagan introduce SDI?
A
- March 1983 = R directed military, scientific and industrial communities in USA to research how to eliminate nuclear weapons
- Believed defence system against ICBMs could be created so USSR would reduce number of ICBMs
- SDI proposed creation of anti-nuclear defence system that could destroy nuclear weapons in space before they reached targets
15
Q
What was the significance of SDI for the USA?
A
- SDI would give US nuclear monopoly
- Critics called it ‘Star Wars’
- (as saw it as impossible)
- (as Reagan had called USSR ‘evil empire’ from fear it could extend warfare into outer space)
16
Q
What was the significance of SDI for the USSR?
A
- Never developed BUT G feared USA having this tech
- Soviets feared SDI would work = continued to heavily fund nuclear weapons programmes = stay competitive / deter West from taking action
- G couldn’t overcome massive spending = SDI instrumental in internal collapse of USSR
- G had to justify improved relations with USA whilst they were building anti-Soviet weapons system
17
Q
What was the significance of SDI for Western Europeans?
A
- Divided
- Britain and France sceptical = neither saw as real threat BUT knew it could increase Cold War tensions
- NATO leaders supported (especially Thatcher and West German Chancellor Kohl)
- Alarmed communist hardliners when G willing to abandon demands against SDI for nuclear agreements
18
Q
A
