Section B: Flashpoints

• start of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (1979)

  1. Iran had an islamic revolution in 1979 deposing the Shah of Iran
  2. Moscow didn't want this Islamic fundamentalism to spread across its borders as there were many muslims living within the USSR
  3. Moscow wanted to ensure a pro-Soviet government in Afghanistan in order to protect its interests.
• Narrative account of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan:

  1. In April 1978, a pro-Soviet government took control in Afghanistan and received economic assistance from Moscow.
  2. September 1979, Hafizullah Amin staged a popular coup and toppled the pro-Soviet government.
  3. At first Moscow supported him, however, Amin became increasingly unpopular as other pro-Muslim factions tried to overthrow him.
  4. When Brezhnev heard rumours that Amin was talking to USA about support, he decided to act. On 24th December 1979, USSR invaded Afghanistan.
  5. USSR claimed they invaded in order to support Amin, however, Amin was assassinated on the 27th of December (1979) and replaced by a pro-Soviet leader called Babrak Kamal
  6. USSR remained in Afghanistan for almost 10 years fighting opponents of Kamal
• consequences of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan:

  1. USA perceived this invasion as the spread of communism and worked hard to resist it, without becoming directly invloved in the conflict
  2. USA trained, armed funded Muslim guerrilla fighters knonw as the Mujahedeen spending billions of dollars over the course of the war.
  3. USSR spent approx. $8 billion per year on the invasion and the cost the lives of 15000 Soviet troops and civilian casualties of 1.5 million deaths
  4. The USA introduced the Carter Doctrine
  5. Us president Carter withdrew from SALT 2 and increased military spending. This formally ended the period of détente
  6. olympic boycotts of the 1980 Moscow games and 1984 LA games
• what did the Carter Doctrine say?

  USA would repel by force any perceived threats to US interests in the Persian Gulf
• what happened in result of the Carter doctrine?

  Carter imposed economic sanctions on the USSR, refusing to export grain to them and preventing companies from selling computers to the USSR
• what did the USA also do in terms of the Carter Doctrine?

  USA also sent weapons and billions of dollars to the mujahideen
• what did the carter doctrine bring to an end?

  the spirit of détente and led to Carter refusing to ratify SALT 2. This can be seen as the start of the Second cold war.
• what did the USA do in protest for the invasion of Afghanistan?

  they coordinated a boycott of Moscow 1980 Olympics by over 60 nations
• what did the success of the olympic boycotts demonstrate?

  the power and status of USA in terms of international realtions whcih deeply angered the USSR
• what did the USSR do in 1984 Los Angeles Olympics?

  the ussr coordinated a boycott resulting in 15 communist states refusing to send their athletes. the ussr organised a rival tournament called the Friendship Games
• Reagan and the second cold war

  1. reagan won the us presidential election partly becuase of his anti-ussr stance
  2. reagan outlined some of his beliefs about the USSR calling it the 'eveil empire', and that the usa was the force for good in the world.
  3. reagan persuaded US congress to increase military spending: 1982 - 13% increase: 1983 - 8% increase; 1984 - 8% increase (29% increase in spending over 3 years)
  4. new weapons such as trident nuclear submarins and stealth bombers were developed
• what was the Reagan doctrine?

  • USA would actively support anti-communist groups, in particular groups, in particualr groups trying to overthrow communist governments. USA supported groups in Central America - El Salvador and Nicaragua. US forces invaded Grenada in Caribbean and toppled the communist government there.
  • Reagan described this as the 'first rollback' of communist influence since WW2
• what did Reagan announce in 1983?

  Reagan announced the Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI) program of Star Wars where the US would place satellites into orbit with the capapbility of shooting down nuclear missiles with powerful lasers.
• what were the consequences of the SDI program?

  1. The SDI would protect the USA from being hit with nuclear weapons, M.A.D.
  2. In fact SDI system was not operational and stood no realistic change of becoming so
  3. The USSR felt that their technology was now becoming redundant. They felt pressurised into spending a huge amount of money in order to try to catch up with the USA
  4. USA = more advanced in computer technologies meaning USSR would have to catch up with this before even contemplating a soviet version of the SDI. Soviet economy could simply not cope with this.
  5. Gorbachev was heavily influenced by this reality leading to his 'new thinking' in 1985