End of the Cold War Causes

Flashcards covering key terms and definitions related to the causes of the end of the Cold War.

Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD)

A doctrine in which both sides of a conflict possess enough nuclear weaponry to destroy each other, deterring them from initiating a conflict.

Détente

A period of relaxed tensions and improved relations between the US and the Soviet Union during the 1970s.

SALT I

The Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty signed by US President Nixon and Soviet Premier Brezhnev to limit the manufacture of nuclear weapons.

Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)

A proposed missile defense system intended to protect the US from nuclear attacks by using space-based technologies.

Star Wars

A colloquial term for the Strategic Defense Initiative, referring to the science fiction concept of space-based missile defense.

Gorbachev

The last leader of the Soviet Union, known for his reforms of perestroika and glasnost which contributed to the end of the Soviet Union.

Perestroika

A policy initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev aimed at restructuring the Soviet economy by reducing government control.

Glasnost

A policy initiated by Gorbachev meaning 'openness', allowing more freedom of expression and criticism in the Soviet Union.

Prague Spring

A 1968 movement in Czechoslovakia advocating for political liberalization, which was violently suppressed by Soviet forces.

Berlin Wall

A barrier that divided East and West Berlin, its fall in 1989 symbolized the end of the Cold War and the division in Europe.