COLD WAR 70-91

Question 1

Why did detente happen?

Answer 1

1/The cuban missile crisis frightened both superpowers, they had come to close to nuclear war. Detente enabled them to improve relations which would reduce chance of nuclear war.
2/ arms race was expensive both countries especially the USSR wanted to reduce spending.

Question 2

why did Salt 1 happen?

Answer 2

Detente, the idea of linkage with the economic problems of the soviet union made ideas of limiting the arms race quite attractive, Salt 1 was the culmination of these desires.

Question 3

When did SALT 1 happen?

Answer 3

May 1972

Question 4

what were the agreements of SALT 1?

Answer 4

ABM systems only allowed at two sites containing 100 missiles each.
Agreement on offensive arms imposed a five year freeze on ICBMS
Allowed satellites

Question 5

What was not agreed at SALT 1?

Answer 5

No restriction on development of weapons.

Question 6

What was the importance of Salt 1

Answer 6

Showed both sides wanted to maintain the nuclear balance to ensure that neither side had nuclear superiority.

Question 7

how effective was salt 1

Answer 7

effective for the short term but neither of the superpowers kept to the agreement, both sides continued to develop weapons around the agreements.

Question 8

What was the purpose of the Helsinki agreement?

Answer 8

it was another attempt to keep detente developing

Question 9

who was the helsinki agreement signed by and when?

Answer 9

Nixon, Brezhnev and 33 other nations.

July 1974

Question 10

What were the key features of the Helsinki agreement?

Answer 10

Security- acceptance of Europes existing borders and USSR accepted existance of West Germany.
Cooperation- was a call for closer links in business, science and socially.
Human Rights- the us and ussr agreed to respect human rights including freedom of speech, religion and from unfair arrest.

Question 11

What was the aim of the Salt 2 treaty?

Answer 11

to place greater limits on arms.

Question 12

when was salt 2 signed?

Answer 12

June 1979

Question 13

What was agreed at the Salt 2 treaty?

Answer 13

to limit every type of rocket and warhead.

limit of 2400 strategic nuclear weapon systems

it would last until 1985

Question 14

What went wrong with the SALT 2 treaty?

Answer 14

US refused to ratify it because they were concerned about the 2000 soviet troops stationed in Cuba, in 1979 NATO placed long-range missiles in Europe.

Question 15

Why did detente end?

Answer 15

Due to pressure at the end of the 70’s and because of Soviets invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979.

Question 16

what happened to afghanistan in April 1978?

Answer 16

Afghanistan became communist under the leader of Taraki.

Question 17

Why did people rebel in Afghanistan?

Answer 17

Due to the new communist gov, there were many changed to marriage and land reform. There was instability due to anti-muslim policies so thousands of Afghan muslims joined the Mujahedeen, they wanted to overthrow the new government and start a holy war.

Question 18

What were the key features of the Afghanistan invasion?

Answer 18

• Civil war broke out on the 25th of December 1979 more than 50,000 soviet troops were sent to afghanistan to restore order and protect the government.
• On the 27th Amin was shot and replaced by the deputy prime minister Kamal, his position was entirely based on Soviet Military support.

Question 19

What did The Carter Doctrine state?

Answer 19

January 1980-
Policy stated that the US would use military force if necessary to defend its national interests in the persian gulf.
Also promised military aid to all countries bordering afghanistan and the rebels fighting the soviet invaders.

Question 20

What was the importance/ significance of the afghanistan invasion?

Answer 20

Marked the end of detente as us refused to ratify Salt 2 treaty as a result of the invasion.

Question 21

Did the Afghanistan invasion improve or worsen relations?

Answer 21

Worsened relations because due to the invasion, detente ended which stopped progression in improving relations. As a result, the carter doctrine was announced which caused friction between the superpowers as the US were openly stating they would go to war with USSR if necessary. The US did not trust the soviets involvement and thought their motives were centred around the persian gulf, the ussr would of been angry at the US for their threats of war and for supporting the rebels. Therefore, this caused relations to worsen as tension rose between the two superpowers.

Question 22

What was Ronald Reagan’s approach as leader of the US?

Answer 22

He was keen to challenge the USSR and re-establish the US as the leading superpower.
He had a tougher approach than carter and in one of the speeches he made referred to the USSR as the ‘evil empire’.
He was strongly anti-communist

Question 23

What did Reagan do when he came to power?

Answer 23

He made a massive spending increase on military and weapons development which cost over a trillion dollars.
In 1981 he launched the project SDI (strategic defence initiative) this was defence that could shoot down soviet missiles.

Question 24

What was the soviet reaction of reagan’s actions?

Answer 24

They saw it as a threat of nuclear war because they knew that the USA had a tactical advantage, the Soviets would have to spend more money on armaments rather than facing their economical problems.

Question 25

When Gorbachev became leader of the USSR in 1985 what was his approach?

Answer 25

He wanted to improve the living conditions in the USSR and move towards greater political freedom without ruining communism.
He did not wish to keep up with the US spendings on arms as he knew it would lead to the collapse of the Soviet economy.

Question 26

What did Gorbachev do?

Answer 26

In 1985 he made reforms for
PERESTROIKA Economic reconstructuring- for example he allowed people to trade with the West and keep the profits they made like in capitalist West. This allowed the ussr to produce more goods and to raise living standards.

GLASNOST Openness- People who had spoken out against the communist government were let out of prison and there would be more freedom of speech. Banned books were allowed to be read and people could find out what terrible things Stalin did when was leader of the ussr.

End to arms Race- He pushed for change to arms spending and wanted arms limitation talks.

Question 27

What was Reagan’s reaction to Gorbachev?

Answer 27

Reagan was please with himself, he felt like he was winning the arms race and did not trust Gorbachev.

Question 28

When was the Geneva Summit held?

Answer 28

November 1985

Question 29

What were the agreements of the Geneva Summit?

Answer 29

To speed up arms talks
To work towards the abolition of chemical weapons.
To be more active on issues of human rights.

Question 30

What was the importance of the Geneva summit?

Answer 30

It showed both superpowers were keen to end arms race however Reagan refused to give up SDI. It also showed a slight improvement of relations because both wanted to meet again and discuss arms limitations.

Question 31

What were the key features of the Reykjavik Summit?

Answer 31

They met in October 1986 and agreed that the disarmament process would still continue, the following year of 1987 in December the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty was introduced which eliminated nuclear missiles with ranges of 500- 5500 km.
Bother nations could inspect each others military installment.
Reagan again refused to give way on SDI.

Question 32

What was the importance of the Reykjavik Summit?

Answer 32

The INF treaty paved the way for more radical disarmament in the future and therefore made the end to the arms race look promising.

Question 33

What were the agreements of the Moscow Summit?

Answer 33

In May 1988 they agreed to half the amount of long-range nuclear weapons.
There were more arms control talks
They promised to reduce troops in Europe and Gorbachev withdrew troops from Afghanistan.

Question 34

What was the importance of the Moscow Summit?

Answer 34

It was important because the end of the ‘cold war’ looked like it would be in the near future, the following year in December at the Malta Summit, it was announced the cold war was officially ended.
The summit improved relations, both presidents continued to make agreements with one another with no conflict.

Question 35

What was the Sinatra doctrine?

Answer 35

In the 80’s, the percentage of Soviets below the poverty line was far greater than in West Europe. The Soviet economy could no longer stand the strain of supporting forces in Eastern Europe, So in 1989 Gorbachev accepted that members of the warsaw pact could make changes on their own without outside interference- this was known as the Sinatra Doctrine.

Question 36

What was the importance of the Sinatra Doctrine in the collapse of communism.

Answer 36

It was the first time since the formation of the Warsaw pact that these countries had real political freedom, they were free to make changes to their own countries without communist interference.

Marked the end of the Brezhnev Doctrine, the soviet union could no longer intervene in the affairs of communist countries to strengthen communism.

Countries began to have more of a capitalist influence rather than communist.

Marked the beginning of the end for communism.

Question 37

What country was the first to make changes in 1989 the year of freedom?

Answer 37

Poland began its reforms and the first non-communist government was elected.

Question 38

What country followed poland?

Answer 38

Hungary began free elections and opened its borders, which created a gap in the iron curtain.

Question 39

What was the significance of the year of freedom for the collapse of communism?

Answer 39

Satellite States began to vote in non-communist governments so there were less and less states that remained communist, they finally had their own freedom.

Question 40

What caused the fall of the Berlin Wall?

Answer 40

There were mass demonstrations in East Germany calling for change in the system of the government. Over 1 million people in East Berlin demanded democracy and free elections.
Gorbachev did nothing to stop the demonstrations and informed leaders that the Soviet Union would not become involved in its internal affairs.
The berlin wall was officially removed on the 9th of November 1989 which opened orders from east to west.

Question 41

When were the borders officially opened between East and West?

Answer 41

The 9th of November 1989- East German government announced the opening of borders into the West.
People began to dismantle the wall and relatives were reunited formally on the 3rd of October 1990.

Question 42

What was the significance of the events in germany in the collapse of communism?

Answer 42

East and west Germany were finally reunited after 20 years of separation due to the iron curtain. It marked the end of the divide between the communist east and the capitalist west, they could finally join as one whole country again, Germany therefore had a capitalist influence, hence leading to the collapse of communism.

Question 43

What was the INF Treaty?

Answer 43

The intermediate Nuclear Force Treaty of 1987 was a breakthrough in the disarmament process.

Question 44

What was agreed under the INF treaty?

Answer 44

Eliminated nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with a range of 500- 5500 km.
The treaty also allowed both nations to inspect each others military installments.

Question 45

What was the significance of the INF treaty?

Answer 45

paved the way for more radical disarmaments in the future.

Question 46

Who introduced star wars and what was its official name?

Answer 46

The Strategic Defence initiative also known as SDI which was introduced by Ronald Reagan in 1983

Question 47

What was star wars?

Answer 47

SDI was a plan for a ground and spaced based missile system that would create a shield for american land-based missiles.

Question 48

What was the Soviet Union’s reaction to Star Wars?

Answer 48

The Soviet Union saw this as a US preparation for a first-strike attack. Andropov saw that SDI would give America an advantage in any conflict, so the Soviet Union would have to increase spending on armaments to compete with the us.

Question 49

How was star wars important in international relations?

Answer 49

Star Wars was important in worsening international relations because it increased rivalry between superpowers. The soviet Union knew they would have a tactical advantage in any crisis so they would have to increase their spending on armament, this rose tension as both superpowers competed for nuclear superiority in the arms race. The USSR lacked trust in the US as development of SDI was a threat of nuclear war that could be used at any moment, increasing tension.

Question 50

What was the war of words?

Answer 50

When both sides openly condemned the others and any idea of reconciliation seemed dashed. Reagan called the Soviet Union an evil empire in June 1982 when he was making a speech to the House of commons in Britain. Later that year, the ussr president Andropov called Reagan a liar and compared him to Hitler. Propaganda appeared which reminisced the early years of the cold war and any progression in relation seemed to disappear.

Question 51

What happened at the olympic games?

Answer 51

The US boycotted the olympic games in 1980 in retaliation to events in Afghanistan and then in 1984 the ussr boycotted the olympic games in LA stating the USA had manipulated the games for political purposes.