Cold War- The End 1970-91 Flashcards
(45 cards)
SALT 1
No further production of strategic ballistic missiles (short range and light, good for combat)
No increase in number of intercontinental ballistic weapons (ICBM)
1972
Effectiveness of SALT 1
Slowed down arms race by placing limits on number of bombers, ICBMs eachside could have
Led to further negotiations ( lead to SALT 2)
Didn’t cover intermediate nuclear weapons which both sides continued to deploy in Europe during late 1970s
Helsinki agreements- 3 categories
1975
Security
Cooperation
Human rights
Helsinki- security
Recognition of Europe’s frontiers
USSR accepted the distance of west Germany
Helsinki- cooperation
Call for closer economic, scientific and cultural links, this would lead to closer political agreement
Helsinki- human rights
Each signatory agreed to respect human rights and basic freedoms (freedom of speech, religion, unfair arrest)
Importance of Helsinki
Helped the USA and the Soviet Union form a stable relationship.
Represented the high point of détente.
Coincided with more US-Soviet cooperation, like the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (1975) – a joint space mission – and trade agreements.
Limits to Helsinki
The Soviet Union continued to focus on Eastern bloc countries and to apply the Brezhnev Doctrine. It treated dissidents (protesters) harshly; scientist Alexander Sakharov was arrested, hospitalised and force-fed.
The human right and security sections didn’t align and interpreted with each other (ussr funded African countries, and then us increased defence money)
The USA continued to prioritise its interests in countries it could influence, like Chile and El Salvador.
SALT 2
Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and
US President Jimmy Carter signed the agreement in Vienna in June 1979.
Each superpower limited to 2250 warheads. SALT 2 counted warheads while SALT 1 simply counted missiles and bombers.
Imposed limits on new launch systems including multi-warhead missiles.
Why did SALT 2 fail
Some West German politicians opposed the treaty, as they feared it weakened the defence of West Germany. They thought that, after the treaty, the USA would be less likely to use its nuclear weapons if West Germany was attacked by the Soviet Union.
Some US politicians thought the treaty made too many concessions to the Soviet Union.
US-Soviet relations soured after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. This meant the US Senate never ratified (approved) the treaty, so it never became official US policy.
Reagan and the ‘evil empire’
He didn’t want detente, wanted to win the Cold War
Described ussr as an evil empire- beef
Kick started arms race again
US tech was way better than USSR, and he spent a lot of money for this
Why could the ussr not keep up with the USA
Its economy was horror, they spent a lot on weapons
Living standards were band in eastern bloc
War in Afghanistan
No tech, couldn’t keep up (didn’t want it as well)
Reagan’s change of heart about Cold War 1985
Suddenly told public he was against the arms race, especially in Europe
Gorbachev was popular. There was ‘gorbymanis’ in west eurpoe and even in the USA
Reagan liked Gorbachev and was prepared to work with him to improve us ussr relations
Even margret thatcher rated Gorbachev
Significance of Gorbachev and Reagans changing attitudes
Represented easing of Cold War tension
Led to greater cooperation
Led to arms control agreement, the INF treatment and START 1
Why did the ussr think the USA wouldn’t involve themselves in the Afghanistan war
In 1968 the Soviet Union sent tanks into Czechoslovakia to put down the Prague Spring. The USA condemned this, but didn’t do anything.
In 1979, the Soviet Union sent troops into Afghanistan, a country with a communist government, to take control after the president was assassinated. This time the USA reacted very strongly.
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
The Soviet Union saw Afghanistan as in its sphere of influence, as it was bordering the Soviet Union. This meant President Taraki’s government had to be communist and Soviet-backed
When President Taraki was assassinated during civil war and replaced by Hafizullah Amin,Soviet Union felt its influence in Afghanistan was threatened
Brezhnev believed wrongly that the
USA and its president, Jimmy Carter, would not object to the invasion.
Brezhnev ordered Soviet troops to invade Afghanistan in December 1979. Barbrak Karmal was made president and Amin and many of his supporters were killed
Soviet troops had to remain in the country to keep Karmal in power. Afghan rebels known as the Mujahideen resisted these troops.
Why was Carter worried about Afghanistan
The USA was worried that the Soviet Union would get more control in the Middle East.
A successful invasion of Afghanistan might mean Soviet influence in Iran. essential to the USA’s prosperity.
Iran could block Middle East oil exports at the Straits of Hormuz. Middle East oil was
Carter doctrine
Jan 1980
He threatened to use force if the Soviet Union attempted to take control of the Persian Gulf.
The USA imposed economic sanctions - there would be no trade with the Soviet Union. This meant the USA would no longer export grain to or import oil from the Soviet Union.
The USA and its allies, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, secretly provided assistance to the Mujahideen. This meant the USA and its allies were directly backing a war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.
In this way the USA ceased cooperating with the Soviet Union and began to confront it instead.
The end of SALT 2
In 1980 the USA broke off diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union and the US Senate refused to sign SALT 2, which had been signed by Carter and Brezhnev in 1979.
• The US began to build up its own conventional and nuclear weapons. It began to develop cruise and Pershing missiles for deployment in Europe.
• The Soviets responded by developing their own medium range weapon, the SS20 missile.
In this way the US-Soviet arms race began to speed up again, as more nuclear weapons were produced and deployed.
Olympic boycotts
USA boycotted 1980 Moscow olympics to retaliate Afghanistan invasion
Then the ussr boycotted the LA 1984 olympics
This ended the cooperation and sporting competition between USA and ussr (detente)
Consequences on USA of the Afghanistan invasion
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan persuaded many Americans that the Soviet Union could not be trusted.
• This helped lead to the election of President Reagan in November 1980. He was an anti-communist with a hard-line (tough) attitude towards the Soviet Union.
Consequences on USSR on Afghanistan invasion
• Soviet Union troops remained in Afghanistan, to keep Barbrak Karmal in power.
• These troops came under repeated attack from the Mujahideen, leading to rising casualties on both sides.
• Pressure was put on the Soviet leadership to end the increasingly unpopular war.
Strategic defence initiative (SDI Star Wars)
Previously, nuclear strategy was based on MAD.
If the USA and Soviet Union would destroy each other (and everyone else) in a nuclear war, it was too risky to start one.
But President Reagan wanted to win the Cold War, so he launched SDi, known as ‘Star Wars’, in March 1983. SDI was a plan to have satellites, lasers and mirrors in space that would destroy Soviet intercontinental nuclear missiles before they reached the USA.
Effect of Star Wars
‘Star Wars’ badly damaged East-West relations.
The Soviet Union argued it broke the 1967
Outer Space Treaty and gave the USA a decisive advantage in the arms race.
In December 1983, Soviet negotiators walked out of the arms control talks in Geneva.
