The end of the cold war 1970-91

detente

a period of peace between the superpowers

why did detente happen

the us wanted to focus on ending the vietnam war, the ussr had a poor economy and both wanted to spend less on nuclear weapons

detente

a period of peace between the superpowers

why did detente happen

the us wanted to focus on ending the vietnam war, the ussr had a poor economy and both wanted to spend less on nuclear weapons

SALT 1

may 1972, strategic arms limitation treaty

first rule of SALT 1- antiballistic missile treaty

stated ABMS were only allowed at 2 sites with a maximum of 100 missiles

second rule of SALT 1- the interim treaty

restricted ICMBS and SLBMs to a limited amount per country

third rule of SALT 1- basic principles agreement

you couldn’t place missiles on the sea bed to try and avoid a war

how effective was salt 1

it slowed down the arms race, ensured that neither side had an advantage but didn’t cover intermediate nuclear weapons

when was the helsinki conference

1975

the helsinki conference

33 countries from nato and the warsaw pact agreed on 3 ‘baskets’

basket 1- european borders

borders between countries can’t be changed by force, east and west germany and the USSR were accepted

basket 2- international cooperation

agreed to work closer together with trade agreements and joint space missions

basket 3- human rights

respect humans with free speech, religion and free movement

importance of the helsinki conference

helped the USA and USSR form a stable relationship, and resulted in collaboration like the Apollo-Soyuz project

limits to the helsinki conference

the USA continued to focus on countries it could influence, and the USSR continued to apply the brezhnev doctrine

when was SALT 2

1979

SALT 2

signed by brezhnev and carter but never carried out- each superpower was limited to 2250 warheads, and imposed limits on new launch systems

why did SALT 2 fail

some west germans opposed the treaty fearing it weakened their defence and the afghan war soured their relationship anyway

collapse of detente reasons

the USA didn’t trust the ussr as it was supporting communist groups in other countries, carter’s government wanted stronger action taken and the USSR invaded afghanistan

how did the ussr view afghanistan

it saw it as being in its sphere of influence, and the government within it was communist and soviet backed

what happened in 1978- afghanistan war

pro soviet afghan army officers led by Taraki overthrew the existing gov, but were opposed by tribal warlords who saw the communist gov as an attack on islam

what happened in 1979- afghan war

an islamic revolution led by khomeini took place in iran and overthrew the shah. Soviets worried that radical islamic beliefs might spread to afghanistan, so taraki appealed to brehznev for help who refused. Amin asked again, but began to lose patience with soviets

why did soviets worry about the afghan war events of 1979

They thought radical islamic beliefs might spread to afghanistan, so taraki and then amin appealed to brehznev for help who refused

what happened in december 1979- afghan war

fearing that afghanistan would side with the USA, Brezhnev invaded- he saw danger in both options

consequence 1 of the afghanistan war- the carter doctrine

carter saw the invasion as the ussr trying to spread communism, so he withdrew from salt 2, increased spending on the arms race and sent weapons to the mujahideen

consequence 2 of the afghanistan war- 1980 olympic boycotts

the ussr hoped that their 1980 moscow olympics would be an opportunity to showcase their communist system, so US athletes to boycotted them- 61 countries withdrew

what did the ussr do in response to the usa boycotting the moscow olympics

boycotted the 1984 olympics in LA

consequence 3 of the afghanistan war- collapse of detente

by 1980, detente had officially collapsed, the ussr was in another war to support communism and the usa increased military spending- relations were terrible

what was reagans attitude to poland

he supported the polish trade union solidarity (banned in poland)- its leaders were imprisoned

what did the usa do in response to the USSR’s treatment of solidarity

declared the 26th january 1982 as solidarity day, showing their support for the movement

what was reagans attitude to afghanistan

he supported the mujahideen, the soviets lost and withdrew from the war in 1987, and the usa wanted to make them spend lots of money on it

what was reagan’s evil empire speech in 1983

he described the soviet union as an ‘evil empire’ and said that the usa represented the forces of ‘good’

how did reagan increase arms spending

in 1982 he spend 13% more on weapons, 8% more in 1984, and created trident submarines and stealth bombers

what was the reagan doctrine

reagan promised to support anti-communist groups trying to overthrow communist governments

what was reagan’s NUTS strategy

targeting the ussr’s nuclear weapons rather than cities, as reagan argued that a nuclear option in war was acceptable

what was reagan’s strategic defence initiative

it was a plan for a lazer ballistic missile system that could destroy any missiles launched against the USA, breaking the outer space treaty

what was the soviet response to reagans SDI

it could not compete with it as it’s economy was weaker than the USA’s

when did gorbachev become leader of the USSR

1985 (in power at the same time as reagan)

problems in the soviet union at the end of the cold war

poor standards of living, rebellion due to this in some satellite states, and poor leadership for many years

what was gorbachev’s character like

he was an unusual mix of idealist, optimist and realist

what did the idealist in gorbachev believe

that communism should make life better for the people of the USSR- he had travelled and seen the better state of living in the west

gorbachev’s ‘new thinking’ 1- perestroika

Reconstruction- gorbachev restructured the state and the economy to include some capitalist practises, and allowed people to trade for profit

gorbachev’s ‘new thinking’ 2- glasnost

Openness- reduced state control of the media and campaigned against corruption, and reduced privileges of party and police officials

gorbachev’s ‘new thinking’ 3- the brezhnev doctrine dropped

the ussr would no longer get involved in the affairs of other countries

gorbachev’s ‘new thinking’ 4- reduced spending on arms

the USSR would reduce spending on arms and defence, and withdraw from war with afghanistan

why did gorbachev introduce glasnost

in 1986 the chernobyl power plant blew up and radiation spread over europe- the ussr tried to hide it

reagan’s reaction to gorbachev’s new thinking

he saw it as an opportunity to end the cold war, and still wanted to come across as the stronger country

when was the (second) geneva summit

november 1985

geneva summit

the summit started badly but they both agreed that the arms race was a bad idea, and agreed to meet again

when was they reykjavic summit

october 1986

reykjavic summit

after the chernobyl disaster, gorbachev suggested phasing out nuclear weapons if reagan gave up SDI- improvement in relations

when was the washington summit

december 1987

washington summit

INF treaty signed

INF Treaty

intermediate range nuclear force treaty

what did the INF treaty state

both countries had to abolish land based missiles with a range of 500-5500km

when was the moscow summit

1988

moscow summit

complex detail of INF treaty resolved, later on gorbachev made a speech in the US reducing warsaw pact troops

when was the malta summit

1989

malta summit

gorbachev and george bush met, marking the end of the cold war

how did hungary become free

in may 1989 they took down the fence border between hungary and austria and held free elections in october

how did poland become free

in june 1989 solidarity became legalised and won in the polish elections

how did east germany become free

on the 11th september 1989, 125,000 crossed the border and the wall was torn down in 1990

how did czechoslovakia become free

in nov 1989 the ‘velvet revolution’ overthrew the communists and vaclav havel becomes president

how did romania become free

in dec 1989 communist leader ceausescu was executed

how did bulgaria become free

in dec 1989 communist leader peter mladenov resigns

how did yugoslavia become free

in dec 1989 they voted to become independent and the country split into smaller countries

what did the fall of the berlin wall become a symbol for

the end of soviet control and the cold war

where could east germans travel after the fall of the berlin wall

west through hungary and austria

who blamed gorbachev for losing control over eastern europe

hard line communists

when was a coup staged against gorbachev

august 1991

who got people to oppose the coup

boris yeltsin, but gorbachev’s authority was still damaged

when did gorbachev resign

25th december 1991

what happened directly after gorbachev’s resignation

the breakup of the soviet union