Unit 8: Topic 8 - End of the Cold War Flashcards
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Soviet response to the Bay of Pigs. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev shipped nuclear missiles to Cuba in 1962, and justified his actions because the US had given nuclear missiles in 1961 to Turkey, a US ally that shared borders with the Soviet Union. The US President ordered the US Navy to prevent a Soviet missile shipment to Cuba, an order that threatened nuclear war. The crisis resolved with the Soviets and the US removing their missiles in Cuba and Turkey.
Detente
Term used to describe the period of time where tensions started to relax between the Soviet Union and the United States. After settling the crises of the 1960s, such as the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Bay of Pigs, the 1970s saw an improved relationship between the nations. For example, in 1972, President Nixon and the Soviet leader signed the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT).
Soviet-Afghan War
Soviets invaded Afghanistan to support the country’s communist government that was under attack. The Soviet army couldn’t defeat the guerilla groups and withdrew in 1989, however, a civil war continued in Afghanistan. Millions of Afghans died, became homeless, or fled out of the country. For the Soviet Union, the war put stress on its centralized economic system and left its government vulnerable to reform.
Miracle on Ice
The underdog US hockey team beat the Soviet multiple-time Olympic champions team in an Olympic hockey game. Americans saw the extremely unpredicted event as an ideological win in the Cold War.
Chernobyl
The worst nuclear disaster in history. The accident took place in the Soviet Union in 1986 and caused severe contamination, radiation sickness, and long-term radiation-induced illnesses. Millions of acres of land were contaminated and there were long-term negative health effects on animals and humans in the area. As a result, the Soviet Union created an exclusion zone.
Strategic Defense Initiative
A US missile defense program in response to growing tensions with the Soviets over nuclear missiles. The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) was supposed to destroy Soviet nuclear missiles targeting the US or its allies. The Soviets didn’t have a similar system and felt threatened.
Glasnost
The policy of granting more freedom and opening up society in the Soviet Union. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev favored this policy, along with perestroika, after he became leader in 1985.
Perestroika
The attempts to permit elements of free enterprise through a restructured Soviet economy. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev favored this policy, along with glasnost, after he became leader in 1985.
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was created to prevent people from escaping Soviet-controlled East Berlin for an Allies-controlled West Berlin. The wall separating East and West Germany fell in 1989 following the democratization of other European states.
Tiananmen Square
Large public square in Beijing, China. Site of a 1989 conflict between students protesting for democratic reform and the Chinese military defending the leadership of Deng Xiaoping.
Deng Xiaoping
Leader of communist China from Mao Zedong’s death in 1976 to his own death in 1997; instituted the Four Modernizations to introduce capitalist reform in China.
Leonid Brezhnev
Soviet Union leader known for developing the Brezhnev Doctrine, which declared the right of the Soviet Union to intervene in Warsaw Pact countries, and using the policy of detente with the US in the 1970s. He also expanded the Soviet Union’s military capabilities while impoverishing the rest of the Soviet economy.
Ronald Reagan
US President (1981-1989) most known for reducing the threat of war between the US and the Soviet Union through his effective communication abilities and is often credited for the demise of Soviet communism. Reagan worked to convince Soviet leaders that cooperation with the US would benefit the Soviets and promoted democracy and openness in the Soviet Union.
Richard Nixon
US President (1969-1974) that ended the Vietnam War and established a direct relationship with the People’s Republic of China. He signed the SALT agreement with the Soviet Union that helped ease tensions between the two powers.
Mikhail Gorbachev
The last Soviet leader and most known for ending the Soviet Union’s control over Eastern Europe through progressive reform policies such as glasnost and perestroika. He established friendlier relations with the US and worked with President Reagan to end the Cold War before his policies and resignation led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
