CW Attempts to reduce tension

• Détente, meaning the relaxing of tension between rivals, was used to describe the relationship between the USA and the Soviet Union in the later 1960s and 1970s.
• SALT 1-Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (1972)
• Superpowers agreed to limit the number of nuclear weapons they had.
• No further production of strategic ballistic weapons (short-range, lightweight missiles) under SALT 1.
• No increase in number of intercontinental ballistic weapons (ICBMs) (though new ones could be added to replace old ones) under SALT 1.
• No new nuclear missile launchers under SALT 1.
• New submarines that could launch nuclear weapons (SLBMs) only allowed as replacements for existing missile launchers under SALT 1.
• The Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty limited both sides to two ABM deployment areas under SALT 1.
• 1975 Helsinki Conference
• The Helsinki Agreements were signed in Helsinki, Finland, in 1975, by all European countries except Albania and Andorra, as well as the USA, the Soviet Union and Canada.
• Representatives from 35 countries agreed on security issues, cooperation, human rights and borders at the 1975 Helsinki Conference.
• SALT 2-Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (1979)
• SALT 2 was an arms control agreement that marked the end of détente.
• The treaty was never ratified due to the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.
• The Soviet Union could not keep up with the US due to its poor economy and high spending on weapons.
• The INF Treaty, signed in Washington in December 1987, got rid of all 500-5500 km nuclear missiles each superpower had better than SALT 1.
• Gorbachev recognised that the economy was failing and that the Soviet people were unhappy and dissatisfied with government.
• The Soviet Union was bogged down in the war in Afghanistan.
• The Soviet Union could not keep pace with the USA's new missile technology.
• The INF Treaty largely applied in Europe where most of these missiles were deployed.
• Gorbachev tried to cover up the scale of the massive nuclear accident at Chernobyl.
• The changing attitudes of Reagan and Gorbachev represented an easing of Cold War tensions and led to greater cooperation between the USA and the Soviet Union.
• The changing attitudes of Reagan and Gorbachev led to arms control agreements, the INF Treaty and START I.
• Mikhail Gorbachev became the Soviet Union's last leader in 1985 and tried to address its economic, social, and political problems.
• Gorbachev introduced perestroika, which meant new ways of doing things, and glasnost, which meant more openness for people to express their thoughts.
• Gorbachev did not want capitalism, just a stronger socialism.
• Living standards were very low right across the Eastern bloc.
• Gorbachev never planned to cause the end of the Soviet Union.
• The Soviet Union lacked the USA's computing expertise.
• Gorbachev was slow to allow democratic elections in the Soviet Union.
• British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher argued that nuclear weapons kept the peace in Europe and the world.
• The Soviet Union's economy was weaker than the United States, and so the Soviet Union found it increasingly difficult to keep up in the arms race.
• US technology was developing fast in the 1980s, especially computing.
• The USA poured money into developing new missile technology.
• Gorbachev and Reagan met at the Geneva summit in November 1985 and agreed to more meetings.
• Gorbachev and Reagan meet for the first time in Geneva, 1985.
• SALT 2 counted warheads while SALT 1 simply counted missiles and bombers.
• Each superpower was limited to 2250 warheads under SALT 2.
• Nuclear deterrence occurs when the possibility of a response with nuclear weapons prevents the other side from acting aggressively.
• The SALT 2 Treaty failed due to opposition from West German politicians and US politicians.