the end of the Cold War 1970-91

US reasons for détente

The new US president, Nixon, came to power in 1968 during the bloody Vietnam War, he wanted to concentrate on getting out of the Vietnam War rather than having further conflict with the USSR, people in America are calling for civil rights and women's equality, there were large-scale demonstrations in the USA in the 60s and 70s as they wanted the US take a less active role in international affairs and concentrate on home, there are also many protests against the Vietnam War and against nuclear weapons by a group called CND

Soviet reasons for détente

The Soviet union had poor living standards in this period and wanted to increase housing and leisure for their citizens as poor living standards didn't make communism look like a good option, USSR had a stagnating economy for several years and needed to reinvest money in industry rather than spending most of their money on expensive nuclear weapons

Joint reasons for détente

The USSR and USA had enough ICBMs to destroy each other, we Cuban missile crisis show that even if the leaders didn't one war, one could nearly break out by mistake

What happened in 1968?

Nuclear non-proliferation treaty was signed which states powers with nuclear weapons agreed not to give any other countries nuclear weapons

What happened in 1971?

The US dropped its veto and allowed China to join the UN, the US table tennis team played in China

What happened in 1972?

The US President Nixon visited China and the salt one treaty was signed which agreed to limit their antiballistic missiles and bombers

What happened in 1975?

Russian and American spacecraft docked in space, the Helsinki agreement recognised soviet control over Eastern Europe, concluded a trade agreement, and Russia promised to respect human rights

What was the Helsinki agreement about security?

Recognition of Europe's frontiers and the USSR accepted the existence of West Germany

What was the Helsinki agreement about cooperation?

There was a call for closer economic, scientific and cultural links which would lead to even closer political agreement

What was the Helsinki agreement about human rights?

Each signatory agreed to respect human rights and basic freedom such as thought, speech, religion and freedom from unfair arrest

Why was salt one significant?

It was the first agreement between the superpowers that successfully limited the number of nuclear weapons

What was SALT 2?

Began in 1974 and the treaty was signed in 1979, a limit of 2400 strategic nuclear delivery vehicles for each side, a limit of 1320 multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle systems for each side, a ban on the construction of new land based ICBM launchers, the agreement would last until 1985

Describe Gorbachev's new thinking

He initiated sweeping reforms in the Communist party and Soviet system in the USSR: Perestroika (restructuring) included economic reforms designed to make the soviet economy more efficient, Glasnost (openness) censorship was relaxed, ended the arms race and signed various arms reduction agreements, stopped soviet interference in Eastern European satellite states such as Poland and Czechoslovakia

Describe the result of the Geneva conference in November 1985

Although nothing was decided, the Geneva record was set out which committed the USA and USSR to speed up arms talks, both Gorbachev and US President Reagan promised to meet in the near future and it was clear to many observers that the two man had got on well

Describe the conference in Reykjavík in 1986

The leaders failed to reach an agreement on arms limitation

Describe the conference in Washington, December 1987

This is most successful and the intermediate nuclear forces treaty was signed

Describe the conference in Washington, 1990

President Bush and Gorbachev agreed on the treaty for the reduction and limitation of strategic arms in which they agreed to reduce their strategic forces over seven years

Describe the INF treaty, 1987

This eliminated nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of 500-5500 km, by the treaty deadline, first of June 1991, a total of 2692 of such weapons have been destroyed, 846 by the USA and 1846 by the USSR, also under the Treaty both nations were allowed to inspect each other's military installations and was the first treaty to reduce the number of nuclear missiles that the superpowers possessed which went further than salt one which simply limited the growth of the stock files

What was Breznev concerned about in the USSR?

The growing power of Islamic fundamentalism and wanted to show the 30 million Muslims in the USSR there will be no changes in the way the USSR was run

Describe the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

On 24 December 1979, Soviet forces invaded Afghanistan, the Soviets claims have been invited in to help Amin deal with fundamentalists, I'm in was assassinated on 27 December 1970s nine by Soviet commandos, Amin was replaced by Babrak Kemal a pro-Soviet leader, throughout the invasion the USA supplied the Mujahideen with weapons and billions of dollars to fight against the USSR, Soviets became bogged down in Afghanistan and ended up staying for over 10 years spending an estimated $8 billion per year before their withdrawal in 1989

Causes of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (before guerrilla)

There was tension between the USSR and Iran after a revolution in Iran in 1978 which was led by Muslim fundamentalist group, on the 27th of April 1979, the proSoviet government was installed in Afghanistan after overthrowing the existing regime, Taraki became the leader of the new government and began to force harsh Communist policies which saw many Afghans imprisoned, tortured or murdered

Causes of the soviet invasion of Afghanistan

Mujahideen was an anti communist force of guerrilla fighters who declared a Jihad on the supported of Amin, Hafizullah Amin seized power from starship, Amin turned to the USbfor support so the USSR became alarmed

What were consequences of the soviet invasion of Afghanistan?

Détente ended, SALT 2 was abandoned, USA and their allies boycotted the Moscow olympics as a protest, the Soviet Union boycotted the 1985 Los Angeles Olympics, President Carter and then Reagan took a stronger line against the USSR

How was the USSR's reputation damaged by the invasion of Afghanistan?

They were unable to defeat and on developed country with limited technology

How did the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan damage the relationship between the USA and USSR?

USA was directly supporting the enemies of the USSR which challenged the relationship they had developed during detente

Why did the soviet invasion end the détente?

The two countries could no longer work together

How many people died during the invasion of Afghanistan?

1 million Afghans, 13,000 soviet soldiers

How did Reagan describe the Soviet union union to Christian group in 1983?

Evil empire

How much did Reagan increase US military spending by?

13% in 1982 and a further 8% in 1983 and 1984

Give two examples of new weapons developed by the USSR

Trident nuclear submarines and stealth bombers

What was the Reagan doctrine?

The US would support anti-Communist governments and anti-Communist groups trying to overthrow communism anywhere in the world

Who did Reagan give support to specifically?

Anti communist rebels in El Salvador and invaded Granada and toppled the Communist government

What did Reagan know the Soviet economy was struggling with and what did he do to make this worse?

Struggling with money so increased spending in america

What was announced in 1983?

Reagan announced the strategic defence initiative which aims to place a series of satellite into orbit could shoot down any Soviet missiles coming towards the US, it didn't exist but he persuaded the Soviet union that I dead

Why did the SDI prove to be a turning point in the arms race?

The superpowers weren't evenly matched anymore

How did Soviet leaders feel about the SDI?

They knew they couldn't compete with Reagan's 'Star Wars' plan, they were behind the USA in space and computer technology and the Soviet economy was not producing enough wealth to fund even more defence spending

What was Gorbachevs new thinking?

It aimed to solve economic and living standard problems in USSR

What impact did Gorbachev's new thinking have?

The arms race and it, he stopped using some factors of communism, abandoning the Brezhnev doctrine lessened attention with the satellite states, had a positive impact on people's lives so they welcomed it, tension with USA decreased and economy improved

Impact of the Geneva Summit

Improve international relations lessening threat and chance of conflict which pleased USSR citizens, positive in reducing nuclear threat but shows there are still some tensions

Impact of the Reykjavik meeting

Positive in reducing nuclear threat but there are still some tensions

Impact of their intermediate range nuclear forces treaty

Reduces threat levels and there is a greater trust between nations due to inspections, improve the economy of the USSR which pleases the people

Describe the impact of Gorbachev's new thinking on Germany

October 1989: Gorbachev visited East Germany and told them that Soviet troops would not put down east German demonstrations, 23rd of October: 300,000 protested and leap Szych, fourth of November: 1 million protested in East Berlin, ninth of October: Berlin Wall pulled down, 1991: Germany reunified as one country

Describe the impact of gorbachevs new thinking on Czechoslovakia

The Velvet revolution: bloodless revolution are brought about the overthrow of the Communist government, 17th of October 1989: huge demonstration against communism, 24th of October 1989: Communist government resigned, ninth of October 1989: Havel became the first non-Communist Czech president since 1948, 1990: democratic elections won by civic foreign

Describe the impact of Gorbachev's new thinking on Hungary

1988: Gorbachev excepted that Hungary could become a multi-party state, 1989: democratic elections won by democratic forum, and alliance of non-Communist groups, 21st of October 1989: the opening of Hungary's borders to east Germans and the west

Impact of Gorbachev's new thinking on Romania

16th of December 1989: secret police fired on demonstrators, 21st of December 1989: huge crowd in Bucharest booed president Ceausescu who fled but was later captured, 1990: democratic elections one by national salvation front contained many non-Communists

Describe the impact of Gorbachev's new thinking on Bulgaria

1990: democratic elections won by renamed Communist Party

Describe the Moscow summit of 1988

In this summit, some complex detail related to the INF treaty was resolved, later in the year, Gorbachev travel to the USA where he made a speech at the UN announcing a reduction Warsaw Pact troops and that Soviet forces would leave Afghanistan

Describe the Malta summit of 1989

At Malta, Gorbachev met with George Bush, no new agreements were made for both the USA and the USSR saw this meeting as marking the end of the Cold War

Describe the collapse of the USSR

Events in Eastern Europe had a catastrophic impact on the USSR, many satellite states had been able to break away from Moscow, in 1990, the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania declared themselves independent which was excepted by Moscow in 1991 which led to all the demands for independence within the USSR

What did Gorbachev find about himself in terms of Soviet society?

He was opposed by most sections of Soviet society

What happened in August 1991? What did this lead to?

There was an attempted coup d'état which was defeated by Boris Yeltsin who was president of the Russian Socialist Republic, Gorbachev was restored but lost his authority so resigned in December 1992 and the USSR split into several independent states

Describe the end of the Warsaw Pact and Cold War

In 1989, US president Bush has declared at the Malta conference that the Cold War was over, however, communism was still undefeated in the Russian coop of August 1991 which overthrew Gorbachev could well have revived rivalry with the west, associate control of Eastern Europe fell away, it became obvious that the Warsaw Pact couldn't survive, first Poland, Ben Hungary and finally is Germany or rejected communism and the parts no longer serve any purpose, military cooperation stopped in early 1990s in the Warsaw Pact formally ended in July 1991, then the fall of the USSR happened in December 1991

What did the end of the USSR mean?

This finally ended the rivalry between communism in the east and capitalism in the west