The End of the Cold War

Question 1

What is meant by the word detente?

Answer 1

A period of peace between two groups who had previously been at war, or had been hostile towards one another.

Question 2

When was SALT 1 passed?

Answer 2

1972

Question 3

What were the terms of SALT1?

Answer 3

1) No further production of strategic ballistic weapons (short-range, lightweight missiles)
2) No increase in number of ICBMs (though new ones could be added to replace old ones)
3) No new nuclear missile launchers. New submarines that could launch nuclear missiles only allowed as replacements for old ones
4) Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty limited both sides to two ABM deployment areas

Question 4

How effective was SALT 1?

Answer 4

It succeeded in slowing down the arms race, led to further negotiations which culminated in SALT2, ensured neither side had a clear advantage over the other, BUT did not cover intermediate nuclear weapons and both sides continued to place these in Europe in the 1970s.

Question 5

When was the Helsinki Conference?

Answer 5

1975

Question 6

What were the three baskets in the Helsinki Accords?

Answer 6

1) Agreements about European borders
2) International cooperation
3) Human rights

Question 7

Why were the Helsinki Accords significant?

Answer 7

1) Helped the USA and USSR form a relationship
2) Represented the high point of detente
3) Coincided with more US/Soviet cooperation and trade agreements

Question 8

When was the joint US/Soviet space mission?

Answer 8

1975

Question 9

When was SALT2 signed?

Answer 9

1979

Question 10

Why did SALT 2 fail?

Answer 10

1) Some opposition from West German politicians who felt it would weaken their defenses
2) Some US politicians thought it gave too many concessions to the Soviets
3) Invasion of Afghanistan soured relations and meant the US Senate never ratified the treaty

Question 11

What were the terms of SALT 2?

Answer 11

1) Each superpower limited to 2250 warheads (counted warheads, whereas SALT 1 just counted missiles and bombers)
2) Imposed limits on new launch systems including multi-warhead missiles

Question 12

When did Reagan become president of the USA?

Answer 12

1981

Question 13

When did Gorbachev become the leader of the Soviet Union?

Answer 13

1985

Question 14

Who described the Soviet Union as the ‘evil empire’?

Answer 14

Reagan

Question 15

When did Reagan and Gorbachev meet?

Answer 15

November 1985, at the Geneva Summit

Question 16

Why did Reagan’s opinions about the Soviet Union change?

Answer 16

1) He met Gorbachev and got on with him well
2) Public opinion was against the arms race
3) Gorbachev was popular, even in the USA

Question 17

What were Perestroika and Glasnost?

Answer 17

Soviet policies aimed at restructuring the economy and providing more openness and freedom to the Soviet people.

Question 18

When was the Reykjavik Summit?

Answer 18

October 1986

Question 19

What was agreed in Reykjavik?

Answer 19

1) Reagan and Gorbachev agreed to work together to cut down the number of nuclear weapons they had
2) Gorbachev wanted an end to the SDI, but Reagan didn’t agree to this

Question 20

When was the INF Treaty signed?

Answer 20

December 1987

Question 21

What were the terms of the INF Treaty?

Answer 21

Got rid of all 500-5500 km nuclear missiles (Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces) owned by each superpower.

Question 22

When was the invasion of Afghanistan?

Answer 22

December 1979

Question 23

Why did the Soviets invade Afghanistan?

Answer 23

1) Believed Afghanistan was in the Soviet sphere of Influence
2) Revolution in Afghanistan led to the Soviet influence being threatened
3) Brezhnev believed the USA would not object

Question 24

What happened when the USSR invaded Afghanistan?

Answer 24

The leader was replaced by a pro-Soviet leader. The previous leader and many supporters were killed. The Mujahideen resisted this and the Soviets had to stay in Afghanistan to fight them.

Question 25

Who was leader of the USA during the invasion of Afghanistan?

Answer 25

Jimmy Carter

Question 26

Why was Carter worried about the invasion of Afghanistan?

Answer 26

1) Fear that it might lead to the Soviets getting more control of the middle east
2) Fear of potential Soviet influence in Iran
3) Fear that this could lead to the USA’s oil supplies being interrupted

Question 27

What were the consequences of the invasion of Afghanistan?

Answer 27

1) The Carter Doctrine
2) The end of SALT 2
3) Olympic boycotts
4) The election of Reagan
5) The Second Cold War

Question 28

What was the Carter Doctrine, and when was it announced?

Answer 28

January 1980:

1) Carter threatened to use force if the Soviets attempted to take control of the Persian Gulf
2) Economic sanctions on the USSR
3) Secret assistance to the Mujahideen

Question 29

When were the Moscow Olympics, that the USA boycotted?

Answer 29

1980

Question 30

When were the Los Angeles Olympics, that were boycotted by the Soviet Union?

Answer 30

1980

Question 31

When was SDI launched?

Answer 31

1983

Question 32

What was the nickname for SDI?

Answer 32

Star Wars

Question 33

What was the SDI?

Answer 33

The plan to develop lasers in space that could shoot down ICBMs.

Question 34

What was the impact of SDI?

Answer 34

1) Damaged US/Soviet relations
2) USSR argued it broke the Outer Space Treaty
3) Soviet negotiators walked out of arms control talks in December 1983 in Geneva
4) The USSR spent more money on weapons, and deepened their economic problems

Question 35

When did Gorbachev announce the end of the Brezhnev Doctrine?

Answer 35

December 1988

Question 36

When did the Berlin Wall fall?

Answer 36

November 1989

Question 37

What were the consequences of the withdrawal of the Brezhnev Doctrine?

Answer 37

1) Hungary opens its borders to East Germans
2) Fall of the Berlin Wall
3) Communism falls in Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Romania

Question 38

What was the significance of the fall of the Berlin Wall?

Answer 38

1) Germany was reunified.
2) Soviet Union withdrew troops from what had been East Germany
3) British, French and US troops remained in West Germany
4) Led to the end of the Warsaw Pact
5) Soviets withdrew from the eastern bloc
6) Ex-Warsaw Pact members joined NATO

Question 39

What was START?

Answer 39

Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (1991). Agreed to reduction of nuclear warheads by a third, additional undertaking to continue to further reduce.

Question 40

When was the Warsaw Pact formally dissolved?

Answer 40

July 1991

Question 41

When was the dissolution of the Soviet Union announced?

Answer 41

25 December 1991