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
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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’
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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
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4
Q

What were the limitations of the Geneva Summit?

A
  • Reagan’s Strategic Defence Initiative caused tension
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5
Q

What was the purpose of the Reykjavik Summit?

A
  • Put Soviet-US relations back on track
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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
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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)
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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
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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)
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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)
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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