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
