End of The Cold War Flashcards
Economic - in the 1950s what did most Eastern European countries focus on?
Heavy industries rather than consumer goods
Economic - What did the increase in oil prices during the 1970s make it difficult to do?
To get credit for foreign exchange & investment
Economic - what was the technological gap between the USA and USSR?
SU - 8800 computers
USA - 6 million
Economic - in the 1980s how much of SU GNP was spent on military?
25%
Economics - what was the comparison between the USA and the Warsaw Pact?
USA economy was bigger than the economies of the Warsaw Pact
Economic - what did SU leaders continue to do?
Use Cold War policies despite economic issues
Economic - how did Reagan’s overspend strategy effect soviet behaviour 1981-1985?
It didn’t!
RP - how was Reagan towards the USSR?
Strident attitude towards USSR (uncompromising anti communist)
RP - what did Reagan call the Soviet Union in 1983?
The evil empire?
RP - why was reagan’s military policy the largest peacetime military build up?
In 1985 - 30% of the federal budget was spent on military
RP - what did Reagan develop?
The stealth bomber & trident missile
RP - what did Reagan’s doctrine affirm?
U.S. Willingness to assist anti communist groups > Afghanistan & the Mujahideen
RP - how much aid did Reagan provide the Mujahideen with?
$687 million of aid = largest covert action
RP- what other countries did Reagan support in the fight against communism?
Nicaragua - military aid given to the CONTRA group to remove their left wing gov.
Grenada - 1983 US Troops helped
RP - what happened in 1984 which undermined the balance of terror?
The development of SDI - Strategic Defensive Initiative
RP - what did the U.S. deploy to counter the SU SS20s?
IRMS (intermediate range missiles) in Western Europe
RP - what did Reagan restrict to safeguard US advantage?
Trade & access to technology oil & gas
GP - what was Gorbachev’s political stance known as
New political thinking
GP - how was Gorbachev different from other leaders?
He was well travelled young & had a new outlook
GP - what did Gorbachev’s policy of Perestroika mean?
Reduction of military spending to revive the soviet economy
GP - what did Gorbachev’s policy of Glasnost mean?
Policy of openness that encouraged the people to our forward new ideas & initiatives
GP - what did Gorbachev’s policy of democratisation mean?
An attempt to get more people involved in the communist party & political debate
GP- what did Gorbachev have no desire to do?
He had no desire to end communism but respected the SOVEREIGNTY of the countries in the Eastern Bloc
GP- what type of relations did Gorbachev want to pursue?
Super power relations based on cooperation rather than confrontation
Moral Bankruptcy - what did Marxism Leninism justify?
Communist rule over the Eastern Bloc
- It represented the working class
- Dictatorship of the proletariat was necessary to protect the working class & build a society superior to capitalism
Moral Bankruptcy - what did the Brezhnev period (1964-1982) show?
Communist party failed to represent the working class & create a society better than the West
Moral Bankruptcy - what was the problem with many communist parties?
They were extremely corrupt members ruled to preserve their privileges rather than the working class
Moral Bankruptcy - how much did the average soviet worker earn compared to a communist party member?
Avg. Soviet worker = 165 roubles a month
Communist PM - 900 roubles a month
Moral Bankruptcy - what did the dictatorship of the proletariat create?
A society which was inferior to the west economically poorer & politically restrictive
Gorbachev Reagan Thaw - what happened to Reagan’s attitude during his second term?
1985-1989 his attitude changed DRAMATICALLY!!
GRT - what was Reagan prepared to do?
Negotiate with Gorbachev.
GRT- when was the Geneva Summit?
1985
GRT- what was discussed at the Geneva Summit?
Arms control
GRT- what did Gorbachev want?
The SDI to end as the SU did not have the finance or technology to compete with the USA - Reagan refused to abandon plans!!
GRT - what did the Geneva Summit 1985 establish?
Established dialogue & they agreed to meet again to discuss reducing arms
GRT - when was the Reykjavik summit?
October 1986
GRT - what did Gorbachev propose at the Reykjavik summit?
Elimination of all nukes - there was still disagreement over SDI as Reagan saw it as essential for US security
GRT - how did the Reykjavik summit end?
No agreement but focus on arms reduction = better than SALT Treatiea
GRT - when was the INF treaty?
December 1987
GRT - what happened at the INF treaty?
G&R meet for the 3rd time all IRMS were removed from Europe as G was told it would be impossible to create a missile shield
GRT - when was the Moscow Summit?
May 1988
GRT - what happened at the Moscow Summit?
No significant progress on nuclear issues but there were agreements on trade & technology
Popular Pressure in EE - when was the polish crisis?
1980-1981
PPEE- why was there a polish crisis?
Polish economy was in decline & consumer goods prices were raised
PPEE- what free trade union emerged?
Solidarity
PPEE- what did Pope John Paul stir up?
A Roman Catholic majority
PPEE- what did Jaruzelski believe?
Under the Brezhnev doctrine he could rely in the SU so he led a hard line mil start governor which imposed Martial Law to surpass strikes
PPEE- what was the Sinatra doctrine,
1980s policies changed
PPEE - what did Gorbachev do in 1988?
Publicly denounced Brezhnev doctrine & put in an alternative whereby he was willing to accept change in EE
PPEE- when was the Polish Revolution?
1989
PPEE- what spurred the polish revolution?
1980s economy was failed to revive. Soviet authorised changes which led to inflation creating opposition to communism
PPEE- what did Jaruzelski do?
Abandoned his approach & agrees to multi party elections which led to the creation of government led by LECH WALESA (1990)
OI - why was Thatcher important?
Uncompromising anti communist who supported Reagan’s policies
OI - what did Thatcher allow Reagan to do?
Station nuclear weapons in Britain refusing to criticise him about a limited nuclear war in Europe
OI - how did thatcher help Reagan with the united front?
Help pirate an assertive foreign policy
OI - what did Thatcher do to prevent tensions
She remained reserved & have a speech in Kiev in regards to reservations about a united Germany
OI - what did Pope John Paul II play a key role in?
Supporting resistance towards communism in Poland
OI - who was Pope John Paul II & what authority did he have?
Head of the Catholic Church & polish national = huge moral authority
OI - what sort of statements did the Pope make?
In favour of human rights = implicit challenge to communism
OI- what was the Pope’s key religious message that supported the end of communism
God’s spirit would come down & renew the face of the land
OI - who did the Pope support?
Solidarity & during the strikes they used religious imagery
OI - who did the Pope invite to the Vatican in 1981?
Lech WALESA
OI - when did the pope visit Poland & how was he received?
More popular than communist leaders
1979 1983 1987
END OF SU - what did Gorbachev begin to actively encourage?
Democratisation in the Satellite states 1989
ESU - what happened as a result of democratisation?
Reform in Poland
Pressure for reform in Czechoslovakia & Hungary
ESU- what did the Hungarian government agree to?
Multi party elections in 1989
ESU - what did the Hungarian multi party elections lead to?
April 1990 - democratic government elected
ESU - what happened in Czechoslovakia?
The Velvet Revolution led by Havel which ended communism
ESU - when was the fall of the Berlin Wall?
November 1989
ESU- why did the Berlin Wall fall?
Build up of people pressure thousands fled East Germany through Czechoslovakia to get to the West
ESU - what did German reunification mean for the SU?
The loss of influence over the East - potential threat to SU as Germany may want to expand again
ESU - what did Bush do to ease SU fears?
He made sure that Germany would not expand causing any threat as if it was part of NATO it would not be allowed
ESU - when was Germany reunified?
OCT 1990
ESU - how did the SU finally collapse?
Compromised 15 republics as pressure grew for independence
ESU- what did Gorbachev propose?
A federation
ESU - why was the federation not successful?
Disintegration of the East - Gorbachev had very little authority to create a federation
ESU - when did the Soviet Union end?
1991
Economic - what were the problems with state controlled industries?
In Eastern Europe they were inefficient both in quality& quality of goods
Who was leader of East Germany?
Honecker
What is the term given to the death of lots of leaders?
Gerontocracy
Why did the SU shoot down the Koran KAL 007 in 1983?
They assumed it was a spy plane
How many passengers died because of the 007 shooting?
269 passengers
What did the youth scream on Gorbachev’s visit to East Germany in 1989?
Save us Gorby save us!
What did Honecker’s allies do in 1987?
They deserted him throughout the uprising
