End of Cold War Overview and Key Events

Nixon

1971-1972. Realpolitik & Detente policy. Went to China+USSR, Ping Pong Diplomacy, SALT I Treaty.

Brezhnev

1971-1979. SALT I Treaty, Helsinki Accords, SALT II Treaty not passed, invaded Afghanistan.

Gorbachev

1981-1989. Loses to Afghanistan, Fall of Berlin Wall (end of CW).

Ford

1974-1975. Realpolitik & Detente policy. Helsinki Accords, USS Mayaguez taken by Cambodia.

Carter

1979. Human Rights policy. Didn't pass SALT II Treaty, cut off military aid to Argentina+Brazil, but supported dictators in SK and Philippines.

Reagan

1981-1989. Peace through strength policy. SDI/Star Wars, Fall of Berlin Wall, used to be an Actor turned governor of CA turned US President, against Gorbachev, Iran-Contra Scandal.

Bush

1989-1993. Was a bystander when Eastern Europe and Communist China were in revolutions.

Boris Yeltsin

Elected in 1991.

Detente

1972 Nixon/Brezhnev. Nixon's foreign policy (by Kissinger) aimed at easing Cold War tensions.

Nixon's visit to China

1972 Nixon/Brezhnev. First U.S. president to go to China and USSR. Tied to Ping Pong Diplomacy and its results.

Ping-Pong Diplomacy

1972 Nixon/Brezhnev. Shows negotiating with communists could work without being 'soft'.

SALT I

1972 Nixon/Brezhnev. Between USSR and USA. 5 years to limit the number of intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarines to 1972 levels.

Realpolitik

1972 Nixon/Brezhnev. Nixon's foreign policy (by Kissinger). Engage and recognize powerful countries (China+USSR) because containment didn't.

Human Rights Foreign Policy

1979 Carter/Brezhnev. Promote human rights such as freedom and liberties in the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights throughout the world.

Solidarity Movement

Eastern Europe had neighboring countries that knew what was happening (Poland, Czechoslovakia). Small numbers of people mobilized into revolution.

Gorbachev

The government leader who did not send in tanks during the revolt.

Glasnost

A policy of opening up initiated by Gorbachev.

Perestroika

A policy of reconstructing the economy initiated by Gorbachev.

SALT II

A treaty from 1979 that limits the number of strategic weapons and nuclear-missile launchers each side could produce.

Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan

The event in December 1979 when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, leading to the collapse of Detente.

Detente

The easing of strained relations, which collapsed due to Carter's insistence on human rights.

Mujahideen

Islamic guerillas based in Iran and Pakistan who fought against Soviet forces in Afghanistan.

Stinger missile

A new weapon given to the Afghans to help them defeat the Soviets.

Star Wars/SDI

A defense system proposed by Reagan to protect America from incoming missiles.

Boris Yeltsin

The leader elected after Gorbachev, during the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union.

Fall of the Berlin Wall

The symbolic event in 1989 representing the end of the Cold War and communist oppression.

3 million Afghans

The number of Afghans who were in refugee camps in Pakistan during the Soviet invasion.

10% of the Afghan population

The percentage of the Afghan population that was killed during the Soviet invasion.

Charlie Wilson

The individual who negotiated weapon deals with Egypt to support the Afghan resistance.

Safe Haven

Pakistan's role during the war as a refuge for Afghans.

Reagan's defense spending

The increase in defense spending that challenged the Soviet Union to compete with the United States.

BLEEDING WOUND

A term describing the inability of the Soviet Union to defeat the Afghans.

Carter's refusal to sign SALT II

The action taken due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Reagan's speech

The address where he asked Gorbachev to dismantle the Berlin Wall.

Unofficial end of the Cold War

Berlin is reunited for the first time since the 1960's.

Iran-Contra

Sells weapons to Iran, use $ for Nicaragua contras which was illegal.

Reagan Doctrine

The CIA trained and assisted the Contras/anti-Communist uprisings worldwide: Aid, fund, arm any faction willing to resist the spread of global communism.

Boland Amendment

Restricted CIA and Department of Defense operations in Nicaragua, and in 1984 made support there almost impossible.

USS Mayaguez

In 1975, Communist Cambodia seized US merchant ship Mayaguez in Gulf of Siam, leading to a military response from Ford.

Tiananmen Square

In 1989, students in Beijing led a revolt against the Communist government, which was suppressed by Deng Xiaoping.

Helsinki Accords

A series of agreements in 1974 promising greater cooperation between East and West Europe, signed by 35 nations.

Oliver North

Took the fall for the Iran-Contra scandal.

Sandinistas

Cuban-backed legitimate government in Nicaragua.

Contras

Revolutionaries fighting the Socialist Sandinistas in Nicaragua.

Reagan's popularity

Reagan left office in 1989 with the highest approval rating since FDR.

Deng Xiaoping

The government leader of China during the Tiananmen Square revolt.

Cultural Revolution

A movement in China that killed communication networks, impacting the Tiananmen Square protests.

Ping Pong Diplomacy

A term associated with the thawing of relations between the US and China.

SALT I Treaty

A treaty signed by the USSR and the US.

USSR collapse

By the end of 1991, this country collapsed.

Solidarity movement

A movement that took place in Poland.

Military response to Mayaguez

Ford sent US Marines to rescue crew members held hostage, costing more lives than saved.

Iran's request for weapons

In 1985, Iran made a secret request to buy weapons from the US during the Iran-Iraq war.

Reagan's denial

Reagan denied selling weapons to Iran on TV but later retracted that statement.

Pardons issued by President Bush

President Bush issued 6 pardons related to the Iran-Contra scandal.