Topic #3: Detente to Chernobyl

Essential Question: How does the nuclear threat alter the relationship between the superpowers?

Detente

Who: Between U.S. Presidents and Communist leaders.

Where: U.S., USSR, and China

When: 1969-1979

What: The easing of Cold War nuclear tensions/hostilities between the U.S., USSR, and China.

Why imp: It reduced tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, lowering the risk of nuclear war.

SALT I (Strategic, Arms, Limitation, Tanks)

Who: Between Nixon and Brezhnev

Where: Signed in Moscow

When: Ratified in 1972

What: An agreement between the U.S. and Soviet Union that limited the number of anti-ballistic missile sites and ICBM’s and SLBM’s that both countries had.

• ICBM: Inter Continental Ballistic Missile

• SLBM: Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile

Why imp: It was the first agreement where the U.S. and Soviet Union agreed to limit their nuclear weapons, improving relations between the two and making the world safer by reducing the risk of nuclear conflict. It helped slow the arms race during the Cold War.

SALT II

Who: Nixon, Ford, and Carter between Brezhnev

Where: Signed in Vienna

When: Signed in 1979

What: Followed SALT I and limited the total of both nations’ nuclear forces to 2,250 delivery vehicles and placed other restrictions on deployed strategic nuclear forces, including MIRV’s. It does not go into effect because the USSR invades Afghanistan.

• MIRV: Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicle

Why imp: Even though it was never fully ratified by the U.S., both sides followed its limits for a time, which helped reduce the risk of nuclear conflict and continued the goals of détente.

Invasion of Afghanistan

Who: USSR vs. Mujahideen (backed by U.S.)

Where: Afghanistan

When: 1979-1989

What: Leading up to the war, Afghanistan was going through political instability. Eventually, Muslim rebels called the Mujahideen, broke out across the country, and the communist government struggled to stay in control. So in 1979, the Soviet Union invaded and occupied Afghanistan to support its communist government.

Why imp: It factored to the fall of USSR, it leads to the Taliban and Al Qaeda being created, 70-90k Afghanistan soldiers died, and 1-2 million civilians died.

Chernobyl

Who: Soviet Union

Where: Ukraine, Soviet Union

When: 1986

What: Chernobyl was a nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Technicians were testing the backup cooling system on reactor 4, but it went terribly wrong. The temperatures rose and the reactor exploded, emitting 8 tons of radiation. The explosion’s power was equivalent to 400 Hiroshima atomic bomb explosions.

Why imp: It was the worst nuclear disaster in human history that caused 31 plant workers to die. It highlighted flaws in the Soviet Union, being one of the factors that led its collapse. It also caused other countries to reevaluate their nuclear safety, Chernobyl itself remodeled and added more safety features.