End 1970-1991 Flashcards
What was Detente in the 1970s?
Deliberate steps taken to ease the tension between the Superpowers.
Salt I (1972) → ABM’s split on two sites and limited to 100 missiles. Balances and restrictions were placed in ICBMs.
Helsinki Accords → Made WW2 borders inviolable. Human Rights. Economic cooperation.
Undermined by USSR action in Angola, the Prague Spring and the eventual invasion of Afghanistan.
SALT II → Promised further limits on ICBMs and strategic bombers but was cancelled after the USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan.
What was the importance of Reagan and Gorbachev’s attitudes?
Reagan sought to “win” the Cold War. He wished to roll back Communism.
Gorbachev wanted reform and “New Thinking”.
What was the consequence of “New Thinking”?
It would bring about an end of costly Cold War spending and open the door for political and social reform in the USSR and across the Warsaw Pact.
→ Perestroika: Reform
→ Glasnost: Openness.
What was the importance of the INF Treaty (1987)?
Developed a security link between the Superpowers.
It led to an entire category of nuclear missiles being eliminated by NATO and by the USSR.
It reduced Cold War spending for both Superpowers.
What was the background to the USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan?
The USSR backed and pro-Soviet government was under threat when Hafzullah Amin took control in 1979. The fear of an eventual Islamist takeover led to the USSR invading in December 1979.
Babrak Kamal was installed as leader of Afghanistan but the USSR then had to fight an unwinnable war in trying to defend him for the next ten years.
What was the importance of the invasion of Afghanistan?
It ended Detente and was a cause of what historians called “The Second Cold War”.
The USA’s attitude to Communism once again hardened and in the medium term this helped Ronald Reagan get elected as President in the 1980 election.
What were the consequences of the Carter Doctrine and Olympic Boycotts?
The Carter Doctrine was a reaffirmation of the Truman Doctrine and led to gradually more foreign policy spending under Reagan.
The Olympic Boycott led to a much smaller Olympics, with far fewer countries attending. It revealed the soft cultural power the USA had in directing the attitudes of its allies. The USSR responded by boycotting the Los Angeles Games of 1984.
What was the story of Reagan’s Second Cold War?
Reagan was elected on the principle of winning the Cold War. He used provocative language of “good” vs. “bad” is best illustrated by his description of the USSR as an Evil Empire in 1983.
Reagan funded anti-Communist groups in South America and increased defence spending: 13% in 1982 and a further 7% in 1983.
He put further economic pressure on the USSR with his far-fetched “Star Wars” plan in 1983.
What did the Second Cold War mean for the USSR?
Gross economic spending and a threat to the status quo at the very time it was facing an unwinnable war.
What were the consequences of the SDI?
The USSR felt compelled to spend money on its own missile defence systems. It also revealed the massive divide between the Superpowers as the USSR could not match the USA’s computer systems and ambition.
The SDI was a violation of the Outer Space Treaty, which had been in place since 1968.
What was the impact of “New Thinking” on Eastern Europe and Gorbachev’s loosening grip?
His new ideas made negotiations with the USA possible. INF 1987.
Perestroika led to more trade between Communist and non-Communist countries and this made reformers in Poland (Solidarity) and Hungary bolder in challenging their continued membership of the Warsaw Pact.
He ended the war in Afghanistan.
Glasnost created more openness in the USSR with the work of the government being televised for the first time.
National identities began to form right across Eastern Europe and this led to Nationalist protests against the Warsaw Pact.
What was the importance of the fall of the Berlin Wall?
The embodiment of the collapse of the USSR’s control over Eastern Europe.
It demonstrated that the Red Army would no longer interfere with the will of the people in a European State.
It led to the reunification of Germany and Europe along the principles of Capitalism and Social Democracy.
What was the background to the collapse of the USSR?
Perestroika and Glasnost gave confidence to Nationalist movements across Europe and even a Russian movement within the USSR.
→ Hardliners in Gorbachev’s government blamed him for the collapse of the Warsaw Pact. His position became more difficult when, in 1990, States within the USSR itself (E.g. Latvia and Lithuania) declared independence.
→ A coup was attempted but Boris Yeltsin blocked it.
→ In this moment of weakness, the States of the USSR all declared freedom from the USSR and Gorbachev resigned with Yeltsin taking over straight away as President of a new Russia.
What was the importance of the end of the Warsaw Pact?
It was the falling apart of the Cold War.
The end of military and economic intervention in Eastern Europe by the USSR.
The spread of liberal and democratic principles led to Francis Fukuyama declaring “The end of history”.
