Salt 1 Treaty

Question 1

What was SALT 1 and when was it signed?

Answer 1

nuclear arms agreement between the USA and USSR, signed in 1972. It aimed to limit the growth of nuclear weapons during the Cold War.

Question 2

What were the key terms of SALT 1?

Answer 2

• No new nuclear missile launchers
• Limitations on the number of ICBMs (Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles) and SLBMs (Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missiles)
• Agreement on Anti-Ballistic Missiles (ABMs) — both sides were allowed only two ABM sites each

Question 3

Why was SALT 1 significant?

Answer 3

First time the superpowers agreed to limit nuclear weapons
• Marked the beginning of détente (the easing of Cold War tensions)
• Showed mutual interest in avoiding nuclear war

Question 4

Why is it important that Nixon visited?

Answer 4

first-ever visit by a sitting U.S. president to the Soviet Union.
• It symbolised a high point in détente, the period of relaxed tensions during the Cold War.
• Nixon and Brezhnev signed key agreements, including:
• SALT I (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty) — limiting certain types of nuclear weapons.
• Agreements on trade, science and space cooperation, and avoiding nuclear war.