Cold War Unit 3 Flashcards
Reasons for Détente - 1969-79
USA
- Large scale anti war protests taking place
- MAD was persuasive
- Social issues to focus on eg civil rights, rich/poor divide
USSR
- QoL improvements needed, arms spending to be cut
- Felt they were nuclear equals w/USA, and they will stop building nukes if USA stops
- Both sides could benefit from not spending so much on arms and focusing on domestic issues
SALT 1 - 1972
Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty
- Negotiated for years, composed of 3 parts
Anti Ballistic Missile Treaty
- ABMs = Missiles that intercept missiles (Missile missiles)
- Only allowed to be stationed in two places, 100/place
Interim Treaty
- Limit agreed for both sides concerning ICBMs and SLBMs (submarine launched missiles)
- ‘Interim’ = Temporary
Basic Principles Agreement
- No nukes on the sea bed, no nuking without talking first
Weaknesses
- Just a bit of paper, wouldn’t stop all out war
- Didn’t take into account new tech like MIRVs (missile trucks)
Led to:
- Spirit of co-operation
- Talks for SALT 2 and Helsinki Accords
The Helsinki Accords - 1975
- 3 baskets agreed on after talks to build on SALT 2
Basket 1 - European borders are inviolable and cant be taken by force
Basket 2 - We will keep working together w/trade, technology and a space program (Apollo-Soyuz)
Basket 3 - Human rights, religion and free speech will be respected across Europe
- Basket 1 was the first time East and West Germany recognize each other
- Basket 3 undermines Soviet authority, but 2 helps build economy so its ok I guess
SALT 2 - 1979
- Worked on since SALT 1
- Treaty agreed between Brezhnev and Carter, but not yet ratified
SALT 2 limited:
- Missile launchers
- Strategic bombers
- Development/testing of new
ICBM tech
Relations fading during SALT 2 and the end of détente
- Growing belief that USSR cant be trusted and agreement is weakness (as Soviet influence grows in El Salvador, Nicaragua and Angola)
-Islam militants take US embassy in Tehran and hold US hostages
- People want revenge, and an
end to détente
- Carter’s administration call for a tougher stance
- USSR invade Afghanistan
- Marks end of détente
Build up to Soviet invasion of Afghanistan - 1978-9
- First, a pro-Soviet government takes control of Afghanistan in 1978
- Toppled in 1979 by Amin and his followers in a coup - Brezhnev ordered invasion when he heard Amin might be trying to get help from the USA
Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan - Christmas Eve 1979
- USSR claimed they had been invited by Amin
- Amin assassinated by commandos (they were
not invited)
- Replaced by pro-Soviet leader Kamal
Why take Afghanistan?
- Pro-Soviet government needs to be there
- Buffer zone against Iranian fundamentalists bordering Afghanistan
- Prevent Afghanistan from getting US aid
Reaction to Afghanistan Invasion
- USA sees a spread of communism
- Carter says this is the biggest act against peace since WW2
- Withdraws SALT 2, ups arms spending
- Said USA will repel, with force, any interference in the Persian Gulf (where US interests were)
- This became known as the Carter Doctrine - Sends arms and funds to anti-Soviet fighters in Afghanistan, starting a proxy war
Consequences of Afghanistan Invasion
- Détente gone
- Reagan claims Carter is weak in election race
- Wins by landslide, says he will be extreme on
communism
Olympic Boycotts
- USA don’t turn up to Moscow 1980, 60 nations support
- Undermines USSR wanting to advertise communism
- Events looked second rate with so many of the best athletes gone
- USSR so annoyed they do the same at LA 1984
Confrontation is more likely - strong anti-communist president, and an increase in tension
Problems Gorbachev Inherits - 1985
- With Brezhnev, arms spending was huge
- Economy weak, QoL poor - Unrest
- Polish union ‘Solidarity’ cause such authority issues they are banned
- Communist control is only kept through fear
- Warsaw Pact troops patrolling, secret police - USSR has had poor leadership for years
- A string of leaders have died quickly after Brezhnev died of illness in 1982
Gorbachev and his new policies - Glasnost and Perestroika
- Said ‘We cannot go on like this’ , wanted to reform communism
Perestroika (Reconstruction)
- Introduced practices into state and economy from the book of capitalism that made it successful
Glasnost (Transparency/Openness)
- More state openness and less corruption
- People can give their opinion on the government to help them run the USSR better
- Brezhnev Doctrine dropped - satellites can deal with their own domestic affairs (Led to all states leaving communism)
- Arms spending down, withdrawal from Afghanistan
American Reaction
- Reagan sees Gorbachev isn’t trying to expand, but reform and co-operate
- Saw opportunity to end cold war while still staying true to his goals
- Brezhnev was passive, so Reagan used his
aggression to get what he wanted
Gorbachev’s New Thinking in the Summits (Geneva, Reykjavik etc…)
Geneva 1985
- No agreement, but relationship established
Reykjavik 1986
- Gorbachev worried about the danger of nukes
- Proposes to phase them out if SDI is given up, but this doesn’t happen
- Relations still increase
Washington 1987
- Gorbachev tries to agree on disarmament rather than SDI
- Intermediate Range Nuclear Force Treaty
- Land based 500–>5,500km missiles banned
- First formal agreement from the summits
Moscow 1988
- Details surrounding IRNF cleared up
Malta 1989
- Gorbachev meets with new President George Bush
- Nothing new, but both sides see the beginning of the end of the Cold War, with less conflict and mistrust
End of Soviet control in Eastern Europe 1989-90
- With no Brezhnev Doctrine, every satellite left the Warsaw
Poland - June 1989
- ‘Solidarity’ legalized and win in landslide
East Germany - Sep–>Nov 1989
- September - huge migration east to west happens, 125000 in one day
- October - Gorbachev refuses to help put down demonstrations
- November - Berlin wall falls, formal reuniting in 1990
Hungary - May 1989
- Promises democracy, free elections held later in year
Czechoslovakia - November 1989
- ‘Velvet Revolution’ overthrows communism
Romania and Bulgaria - December 1989
- Romanian government overthrown, leader executed
- Bulgarian leader resigns on live TV, elections held next year
Yugoslavia - December 1990
- Self destructs into 5 independent states
- Croatia
- Serbia and Montenegro
- Bosnia-Herzegovina
- Kosovo
- Macedonia
Impact of the fall of the Berlin Wall
- Families reunited
- Symbol of conflict and tension gone
End of Warsaw Pact
- Represented communist military power
- Conflict in 1989 led to co-operation stopping in 1990 and break up in 1991
- Hugely significant
- Symbol of tension and Soviet control gone, as well as the power to manage eastern Europe
Europe Reunited
- Iron Curtain ceased to exist with both the fall of the Wall and the satellite states getting independence
- Division between capitalism and communism gone, tensions disappear
Satellite Independence
- States governed themselves for the first time in decades, with no Moscow run economy or policies
- Every member immediately abandons communism
Gorbachev Falls from Power
- Hardliners blame him for losing control
- Situation got worse with every independent satellite
- Coup staged by hardliners, led by Boris Yeltsin
- Severely weakens Gorbachev’s authority
- Leaders of Soviet republics take advantage and create the Commonwealth of Independent States
- Gorbachev couldn’t go on like this and resigns Christmas Day 1991, and the Soviet Union falls with him
THE END
Ronald Reagan, his Doctrine and SDI
- Reagan promised a tougher line on communism
- Described them as an ‘evil empire’
- Boosted arms spending 21% (Tridents
developed) - Reagan Doctrine
- Anti-communist governments will be supported, and anti-communist fighters helped
- US forces invade Grenada and topple communism
Strategic Defence Initiative
- Star Wars
- Satellites in orbit with lasers to shoot USSR missiles
- Violated 1967 Outer Space Treaty and started a ‘Second Cold War’
- Created to force Soviet investment into finding a response, Reagan knew their economy was weak, so this put massive pressure on the USSR
- This pressure was one of the reasons for Gorbachev’s New Thinking
