Why did the cold are end 1979-1991 Flashcards
1
Q
why did détente (relaxation of tensions )develop after the cuban missile crisis
A
- cuba scared them because how close they came to nuclear war, needed to pull back from the brink
- l very expensive to build nuclear missiles, costs 100s of billions of $, as well as funding army, research, sugar and space race
- so very unpopular, people suffer as in the 1970s worlds economy isn’t going well
2
Q
how did detente improve within germany and space
A
- 1960s billy brandt chancellor of west germany formed closer tires with communists in east germany
- known as Ostpolitik (east politics) - in 1972 east and west germany officially recognised each other’s frontiers
SPACE
- july 1975, apollo and soyuz (russia ) spacecraft docked in space and astronauts mets together
- symbolic shows times have changed
3
Q
how did detente improve with usa and china
A
- ping-pong diplomacy, after visits by us and chinese table tennis teams
- 1971 us accepted communist china as a representative of the UN
- in 1972 nixon visited chairman mao in peaking
4
Q
how did detente improve with the helsinki conference 1975
A
Augusts 1975 when carter was us president it said:
- west recognised frontiers of eastern europe and soviet ‘sphere of influence’
- greater freedom for western journalists and guarantees of basic human rights
- 21 days notice of military man overs near frontiers
- trade co-operations, usa buy oil from ussr and ussr buys wheat from us
- sharing of scientific knowledge e.g. in medicine
5
Q
how did detente improve with salt
A
1969- usa and ussr begin army negotionations
1972- salt 1 signed
1974- comes into effect
- stops production of strategic ballistic weapons (short range)
- 5 year production freeze in intercontinental ballistic weapons
- both sides limited to 100 anti ballistic missiles and there was starlight verification to check
- doesnt limit bomb
6
Q
what were the relationship difficulties before Afghanistan
A
- 1975- helsinki agreement
- soviet union didnt stick to it which frustrated carter - 1974-1979 SALT
- after SALT ran out it would be replaced by SALT 2 but the process of deciding SALT 2 was very difficult
- because of distrust and suspicions between parties - 1970s Soviet tried to spread communism
- to countries like south america and africa
- annoyed carter
7
Q
why’d di the soviet union invade Afghanistan
A
- soviets concerned with the spread of islam
- in 1979 soviets are friends with afghanistan gov (because they aren’t muslim)
- but there is a civil war in afghanistan between the gov and the mujahideen (who are muslim and bin ladin was in it)
- so soviet concerned and invade on christmas day 1979 to ‘help their gov friend’ - america sees this as communism spreading
- afghanistan is also rich in oil, which is the world’s most important commodity
8
Q
how successful was the afghanistan invasion
A
- soviet troops killed by mujahideen guerrillas
- 500,000 causualties by 1988 - extremely expensive
- anti-war protests in the ussr
- isolated ussr strengthened us-sino relations
- gorbachev agreed to retreat in 1979
9
Q
how did afghanistan affect relations- 1980
A
- president carter said it was a ‘threat to world peace’ and issued the carter doctrine
- similar to truman but specific to middle east - assistance given to mujahideen e.g. weapons like stingers
- carter put pressure on US senate not to ratify salt 2 because they dont trust vussa
- salt 2 never came into being - US cancelled grain shipments to USSR in protest
- 1980 summer olympics in moscow, USA didnt send athletes
DETENTE ENDED AND REGAN ELECTED IN 1981
10
Q
what was ronald reagan like
A
- very anti- communist
- described ussr as the evil empire - reagan’s doctrine confronted brezhnev doctrine by aiding any country that opposed communism
11
Q
what was reagan’s peace through strength strateg
A
- plan to make america safe, it had to be stronger than the ussr
- immediately restarted arms race and increased defence spending by 35% - bought:
- B1 long range bombers
- stealth bomber
- MX missile (most powerful nuclear missile)
- trident nuclear submarine - commisioned the neutron bomb project
- deployed pershing and cruise intermediate nuclear missiles in euope which were accurate and powerful
this was extremely expensive and new so russia couldn’t compete ALSO STAR WARS
12
Q
what was reagan’s strategic defence initiative 1983
A
1983, nicknamed ‘star wars’
- plan was to construct a laser defence defence field around the USA
- soviet missiles could be blasted in space by lasers before reaching US - in seemed a huge increase in the arms race and the USSR couldn’t compete
- SDI threated the principal of MAD theory so made nuclear war more likely
- in 1983 Russians walked out of the start talks in a protest at star wars
13
Q
how did reagan aid international communist fighting
A
- sent stinger missiles to mujahideen in afghanistan
- weapons and money given to the contras in nicaragua ( where a left wing gov was in place)
- secret support given to solidarity in plans
4.Grenada
1983 - reagan ordered invasion because they had cuba help build a new airport
- left wing gov overthrown and 18 us troops killed
14
Q
what happened at redan’s peace talks
A
- he offered ‘zero option’ to russia in 1981
- stated to take all nuclear weapons out of europe
- but russia refused because it gave america a huge advantage - reagan looked like he sought peace and portrayed russia negatively
- 1982 america and uses begin START (strategic arms reduction talks) to limit intermediate range and nuclear missiles
- stops in 1983 they stop because russia walk out as they think america is hypocritical for having star wars
- again makes america look good and russia bad
15
Q
what was gorbachev like – 1985
A
- relations bad but gorbachev new soviet leader
- fairly young, a realist and knows change is needed - he recognised problems like
- bankrupcy, afghanistan, human rights, living standards and communist bureaucracy - he had 2 policies :
- perestroika= economic restructuring
- make it freer and more competitive - Glasnost= openness
- relax censorship, laws, more freedom, friendlier political stance - soo he needed to end the arms race and the cold war to accumulate money to do this
