End Of The Cold War Flashcards
What happened at the Kabul revolution?
It was the overthrow of the previous government in Afghanistan, the new leader, Taraki, quickly became an ally of USSR.
Many Muslims were angered from the socialist reforms made in Afghanistan
By spring 1979 a civil war broke out between government and Islamic fighters
Taraki was forced to accept Amin as head of the army but the two men became bitter rivals and Amin supporters assassinated Taraki and Amin became president
When was the Soviet Invasion in Afghanistan
December 1979
What happened in the Soviet Invasion 1979?
After Amin gained presidency, Brezhnev ordered the soviet invasion of Afghanistan
Amin was communist but USSR didn’t trust him and he wasn’t popular to many Muslim groups and Brezhnev feared that Muslim groups would take over the country - USSR were concerned that Afghanistan would become an Islamic state and would then influence nearby soviet republics to do the same which would mean those countries would have no interest in becoming USSRs alliances
Karmal, an Afghan communist thought he had enough popular support to start his own government in Afghanistan but needed USSRs help to defeat Amin’s army
Brezhnev believed USA would tolerate the invasion as it had done with Czechoslovakia
Soviet troops killed Amin and many of his supporters and Karmal became president, however the invasion was a disaster for the Soviet Union and Afghanistan because it lasted 10years and 1.5million people died
What did the Carter doctrine say
- He formed an alliance with China and Israel to support afghan rebels, the CIA provided weapons and funds for the Mujahideen which was an Islamic organisation which was fighting the free Afghanistan from soviet control
- He put economic sanctions to stop virtual trade with the Soviet Union
- He ended diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union
Essentially he argued that USA wouldn’t allow USSR to gain control of territory in the oil-rich Middle East. He also took steps to remove soviet troops from Afghanistan
How did SALT 2 end?
As a result of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan the us senate refused to ratify e treaty so it didn’t become law
What happened at the Olympic boycott?
Carter led the 1980 boycott games and around 60countries refused to attend the olympics in Moscow in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. USA set up an alternate games in Philadelphia called the Olympic boycott games
Also in 1984 the USSR and 14 communist countries refused to attend the LA Olympic Games and USSR arranged the Friendship Games as a communist alternative
These events emphasised that détente was dead
What were Reagan’s views when he came into presidency
He had no intention of fixing détente and believed USA should start fighting again
He wanted to win the Cold War
Reagan made a speech called ‘evil empire’ which said that the Cold War was a fight between good and evil and USA fought with gods blessing and it was USAs moral duty to defend America from the evil Soviet Union
What was SDI
Reagans Plan to win the Cold War was to extend the arms race
He proposed a nod,ear umbrella which would stop soviet nuclear bombs reaching USA
His plan was to launch satellites with powerful lasers which would intercept Soviet missiles in space and destroy them
This broke the laws of the outer space treaty
How did Soviet Union respond to SDI?
It created huge problems for USSR for example USA had won the race to the moon and had invented the space shuttle. Also Soviet Union didn’t have enough money to build new weapons and machinery
USSR was also behind in computer technology
Therefore due to SDI USSR had to withdraw from the arms race
How did Gorbachev react to the Chernobyl disaster
He authorised a cover story to say there was no release of dangerous radiation which the west didn’t believe and Chernobyl became an international symbol of the crisis in soviet communism
What was Gorbachev’s plans to revive communism
Perestroika - economic reforms designed to make the soviet economy more efficient (restructuring)
Glasnost - censorship to the press was to be relaxed (openness)
When was the Kabul revolution
April 1978
Why did Reagan change his mind about the USSR
- the public were against another arms race
- he didn’t want USA to seem like a bully and he wanted to save money
- Gorbachev was liked by lots of people in USA and gained approval by Margaret thatcher
- Reagan got on with Gorbachev and believed Gorbachev wanted to end the Cold War
- he wanted the public to like him so he tried to get on with Gorbachev
What was the INF Treaty
It eliminated all nuclear missiles with a range of 500-5500 kilometres
It was important because it significantly reduced the number of missiles, much more than SALT 1
It was a great breakthrough
Why did Gorbachev sign the INF treaty?
- nuclear weapons were highly expensive but added no security for USSR
- Reagan persuaded Gorbachev that USA had no intention of invading USSR
- Gorbachev realised USSRs economy wouldn’t recover if they kept spending it on nuclear weapons
- he believed that disarmament would gain him popularity in the west and would be able to trade with USA
- he believed that political and economic measures would be more effective in guaranteeing Russia’s security rather than military strength
What happened at the Malta summit?
1989
Between bush and Gorbachev
Work on the agreements that were CFE and START 1
What was the CFE agreement
1990
Bush and Gorbachev
It set limits to the non-nuclear forces that the Warsaw Pact and NATO could have in Europe
What was START 1
1991
Bush and Gorbachev
Set limits to the number of nuclear weapons made
Both sides agreed to reduce the number of nuclear warheads to about a third of the amount by destroying them
What was Gorbachev’s attitude to Eastern Europe after bush came into presidency
He wouldn’t favour trade with communist countries over capitalist countries
He was keen for Eastern European countries to enjoy perestroika and glasnost
Gorbachev withdrew Soviet troops from Eastern European bases to save money
What happened at the breakup of the eastern bloc
Eastern European governments were weakened because the soviet army weren’t there to help them
Gorbachev couldn’t contain the eastern bloc with all the reforms he had
What happened at the fall of the Berlin Wall
The communist government was unable to contain its citizens’ desire for freedom once neighbouring states had abandoned communism
After democratic election were announced in Hungary, there were mass movements of East Germans through Hungary to west Germany
The East German government was forced to announce much greater freedom for travel for East Germans. Thousands of east Berliners flooded the checkpoints of the wall demanding entry into West Berlin and they had to let them pass and people started to dismantle the wall
Why did the Warsaw Pact end
After the end of the eastern bloc, it was clear that the Warsaw Pact couldn’t survive
Poland then Hungary then east Germany all rejected communism so couldn’t be part of the Warsaw Pact and the pact served no purpose, it dissolved in July 1991
What was the Soviet reaction to the fall of the Berlin Wall?
Many communists thought this weakened communism and perestroika and glasnost were a bad idea, therefore on 19th August 1991 a group of senior communist government officials organised a coup which removed Gorbachev from power
The new government had plans to revive communism but he lasted three days. Yeltsin had a crucial role in defeating the coup and he described the new government as ‘illegal’ and told Moscow to resist the new regime
Gorbachev returned to presidency on the 23rd of August
What did Gorbachev do in his final days as president
He tried to save communism but the coup damaged Gorbachev’s authority but made Yeltsin a popular hero
He gave Latvia and Ukraine bigger independence by they wanted full independence so it weakened Gorbachev even more
Gorbachev officially announced the dissolution of the Soviet Union and his resignation on 25th December 1991. The Cold War was over!
What happened to the Baltic states at the end of the Cold War
They declared themselves independent in 1990 and USSR accepted that
Why did Gorbachev scrap the Brezhnev Doctrine
He believed openness would make the eastern bloc better
The USSR had to improve trade relations with the west to rebuild economy
Cost of troops and military hardware was crippling the USSRs economy
