History- Chapter 3: The End of the Cold War, 1970-91

how many American soldiers died during the Vietnam war?

nearly 60,000

what was Detente?

period of reduced tensions between the USA and USSR.

name 2 reasons why America wanted Detente.

-large scale demonstrations agains the Vietnam was internally.
-large scale demos against social inequality, triggered by assassination of Martin Luther King Jr in 1968.
-building nuclear weapons is expensive.

why did the USSR want Detente?

dealing with poor living standards and needed to devote more time and money to internal issues.

What was Ostpolitik?

West Germany wanting to improve relations with East Germany.

what does SALT 1 stand for, and when was it?

Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty 1, May 1972.

what was agreed as a part of SALT 1?

-no further production of strategic ballistic weapons
-no increase in amount of ICBMs
-no new nuclear missile launchers
-new Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBMs) only allowed as replacements.
-Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM) limited both sides to 2 ABM deployment sites, max 100 missiles at each site.

how did SALT 1 improve international relations?

it publicly displayed USA and USSR's better relations and led to President Nixon visiting Moscow shortly after SALT 1, and Brezhnev visiting Washington in 1973.

what and when were the Helsinki Accords?

where NATO and Warsaw Pact nations met to build on co-operations established in SALT 1 - 1975

what was agreed as part of the Helsinki Accords?

-borders cannot be altered by force - East and West Germany officially accepted each other.
-USA agreed to buy oil from USSR, USSR agreed ti buy wheat from USA.
-all disputes to be settled peacefully, through UN if necessary.
-no country to interfere with international matters of another country.
-all countries to respect human rights, including freedom of speech, religion, movement and information.

what was the effect of the Helsinki Accords on international relations?

-helped USA and USSR form stable relationship
-represented high point of Detente
-led to same year (1975) joint space mission - Apollo-Soyuz

when did Brezhnev and Carter sign SALT 2?

June 1979

what was agreed as a part of SALT 2?

-each superpower was limited to 2250 warheads
-imposed limits on new launch systems.

why did SALT 2 fail?

-West German politicians disagreed- worried it would lead to lack of US military support against USSR.
-some US politicians thought treaty was more beneficial to USSR.
-some wanted restoration of US power via getting rid of Detente.
-treaty removed from Senate by President Carter after Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, meaning it was never official US policy.

how did SALT 1 & 2 maintain nuclear deterrence?

by ensuring that neither side had first strike capacity (ability of annihilate all of the other side's weapons in one strike.

When was the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan?

24th December 1979

why did the USSR invade Afghanistan?

-Soviets saw Afghanistan as within their sphere of influence, as it is at its border.
-Iran had a revolution as was now fundamentalist. Soviets determined to stop this spreading.
-Communist gov overthrown, but Soviets did not trust new leader Amin (although he was a communist)
-rumours spread that Amin was looking to USA for support against potential overthrowing.

when was Amin assassinated, and who was he replaced by?

27th December 1979, replaced by Babrak Kamal (pro-Soviet)

how long did Soviet forced remain in Afghanistan for, and why?

almost 10 years, to resist Mujahideen

what was the American response to the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan?

-saw it as spreading Communism
-President Carter withdraw Salt 2 from the Senate

when was the Carter Doctrine?

January 1980

what was stated in the Carter Doctrine?

-banned trade to and from USSR (imposing economic sanctions)
-the USA would repel by force, if necessary, any threats to US in Persian Gulf (if Communism were to spread to Iran, they could stop Middle East oil exports, which were essential to USA.

when did the USA and USSR boycott the Olympics?

-USA boycotted 1980 Moscow Olympics in retaliation of USSR Invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.
-USSR boycotted 1984 LA Olympics.

when was Ronald Reagan elected?

November 1980

when was the 'evil empire' speech?

March 1983

what was said in the 'evil empire' speech?

that the USA represented the forces of good, and the USSR represented the forces of evil.

by what percentage did Reagan manage to increase military spending by in:
-1982?
-1983 + 84?

-1982- 13%
-1983 + 84 - 21%

what was the Reagan Doctrine?

Reagan promised to support any anti-Communist governments in the world

when was the Strategic Defense Initiative announced?

March 1983

what was the Strategic Defence Initiative?

Reagain wanted powerful lasers put into space to shoot down Soviet intercontinental missiles before they reached USA.

what treaty did the Strategic Defence Initiative break?

1967 Outer Space Treaty

what was the USSR's response to the Strategic Defence Initiative?

-already dealing with poor living standards
-economy 20% of US economy
-struggling to deal with anti-Communist protest in East Europe, especially Poland where 'Solidarity' demanded reforms.
-basically shit themselves.

When did Mikhail Gorbachev become the leader of the USSR?

1985

what did Gorbachev do to reform Communism in USSR when he took power?

-Perestroika ('Reconstruction'): reorganising state + making a freer economy to include practises that make Capitalism successful.
-Glasnost ('openness/transparency'): allowing opposition + giving people a better understanding on how the country was run.
-Swapped Brezhnev Doctrine: USSR no longer got involved in domestic affairs of other countries and could not afford to maintain Warsaw Pact due to extreme opposition from 'Solidarity' and the Catholic Church.
-reduced spending on arms and withdrew from Afghanistan

when was the Geneva Summit, and what happened?

-Nov 1985
-Gorbachev and Reagan meet for the first time
-no formal agreement, but good working relationship and mutual desire to improve relations established.

when was the Reykjavik Summit, and what happened?

-October 1986
-Gorbachev worried about threat nuclear weapons posed on the world (due to Chernobyl disaster happening in April 1986), so he proposed USSR phase out of nuclear weapon production if USA gave up SDI.
-no formal agreement, but improved relations

when was the Washington Summit, and what happened?

-December 1987
-Intermediate-Range Nuclear Force Treaty (INF) signed: abolish all land-based missiles with a range of 500-5,500km
-by 1991- USA abolished 846 weapons, USSR abolished 1,846 weapons.

when was the Moscow Summit, and what happened?

-1988
-no formal agreement, but discussions made about INF treaty.

what did Gorbachev announce to the UN in late 1988?

-reduction of Warsaw Pact troops
-removal of Soviet forced in Afghanistan

when was the Malta Summit, and what happened?

-1989
-Gorbachev met new US president, George Bush.
-no agreements made, but both saw it as an end to the Cold War.

when and how did Poland leave Communism?

-June 1989
-Solidarity legalised in April 1989 and won landslide victory

when and how did Hungary leave Communism?

-May 1989
-promises of a new democratic government, through which free elections were held in October 1989

when and how did East Germany leave Communism?

-September-November 1989:
-11th Sep: 125,000 East Germans cross border from Hungary to Austria (border dismantled earlier that year)
-October: Gorbachev refuses to help East German gov put down demonstrations.
-November: East German gov announce fall of the Berlin Wall. Reunification of East + West Germany officially in 1990.

when and how did Czechoslovakia leave Communism?

-November 1989
-'Velvet Revolution' (known for lack of violence) overthrows Communist gov.
-Anti-Communist Vaclav Havel elected president.

when and how did Romania leave Communism?

-December 1989
-violent revolution led to secret police firing on demonstrators.
-Communist leader Ceausescu tries to flee and fails
-Army join rebellions by Christmas 1989
-same day (Christmas): Ceausescu and wife shot by firing squad
-only Eastern European country to end Communist control violently
-1990 democratic elections won by National Salvation Front

when and how did Bulgaria leave Communism?

-December 1989
-Communist leader resigns
-free elections held following year

when and how did Yugoslavia leave Communism?

-December 1990
-Slovenians voted independence. Yugoslavia breaks up into:
>Croatia >Macedonia
>Serbia >Bosnia
>Montenegro
-all declare independence during 1990s.

When did the Berlin Wall fall?

9th November 1989

what did the fall of the Berlin Wall symbolise for superpower relations?

-end of the Warsaw Pact in July 1991
-withdrawal of Soviet troops from Eastern Europe from 1990 onwards.

what did the fall of the Berlin Wall symbolise for satellite states?

-no longer had to follow policies from Moscow or run economy to benefit Soviets.
-after ending of Warsaw Pact, every single member abandoned Communism.

what did the fall of the Berlin Wall symbolise overall?

the end of Soviet control and the Cold War

what were the 'Gang of Eight'?

communist hardliners that organised a coup against Gorbachev in August 1991.

when did Gorbachev resign?

25th December 1991

why did the USSR lose the Cold War?

-Propaganda: Capitalism clearly worked better.
-Afghan war: major drain on Soviet economy.
-Economy: never as productive as USA.
-Arms Race: trying to catch up with USA in 1960s messed up economy.
-Freedom: Eastern bloc only existed because of force and repression.
-1970s and 80s: USSR economy remained stagnant under Brezhnev while USA forged ahead- e.g. USA developed personal computers, while USSR lacked trust in own people and what they could do with personal computers.