CW flashpoints

• 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)
• No increase in number of intercontinental ballistic weapons (ICBMs) (though new ones could be added to replace old ones)
• No new nuclear missile launchers
• New submarines that could launch nuclear weapons (SLBMs) only allowed as replacements for existing missile launchers.
• The Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty limited both sides to two ABM deployment areas.
• 1975 Helsinki Conference
• Most of these missiles were deployed in Europe.
• The 1975 Helsinki Conference, where representatives from 35 countries agreed on security issues, cooperation, human rights and borders, represented the high point of détente.
• The Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty, also part of SALT 1, limited both sides to two ABM deployment areas.
• SALT 1, Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (1972), was an agreement between superpowers to limit the number of nuclear weapons they had.
• 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 2 was never ratified due to the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.
• SALT 2, Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (1979), was an arms control agreement that marked the end of détente.
• The changing attitudes of Reagan and Gorbachev were important in improving superpower relations.
• SALT 1 limited the production of strategic ballistic weapons (short-range, lightweight missiles) and intercontinental ballistic weapons (ICBMs), and did not allow for the addition of new nuclear missile launchers.
• 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.
• The INF Treaty, signed in December 1987, got rid of all 500-5500 km nuclear missiles each superpower had better than SALT 1.
• The INF Treaty largely applied in Europe where most of these missiles were deployed.
• The changing attitudes of Reagan and Gorbachev were important in improving superpower relations.
• Reagan did not agree to the SDI.
• Representatives from 35 countries agreed on security issues, cooperation, human rights and borders.
• East and West Vest Germany accepted each other officially.
• Trade cooperation the USA agreed to buy oil from the Soviet et Union and the Soviet Union agreed to buy wheat from bo theUSA
• SALT 1 slowed down the arms race by placing limits on the number of bombers, ICBMs and SLBMs each side could have.
• SALT 1 led to further negotiations that culminated in the SALT 2 Treaty in 1979.
• SALT 1 ensured that neither side had a decisive advantage in strategic nuclear weapons.
• By the mid 1970s, nuclear weapons were becoming increasingly expensive, and the Soviet Union found it increasingly difficult to keep up in the arms race.
• Ronald Reagan described the Soviet Union as an "Evil Empire" and kicked-started the arms race again.
• Nuclear deterrence occurs when the possibility of a response with nuclear weapons prevents the other side from acting aggressively.
• Gorbachev introduced perestroika (structuring) and glasnost (openness), which meant new ways of doing things and more openness for people to express their thoughts.
• Mikhail Gorbachev never planned to cause the end of the Soviet Union.
• British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher argued that nuclear weapons kept the peace in Europe and the world.
• The Soviet Union could not keep up with the US in terms of technology, and its economy was in poor shape due to the arms race.
• Public opinion was against the arms race, especially in Europe, and Gorbachev was popular.
• Gorbachev was slow to allow democratic elections in the Soviet Union and tried to cover up the scale of the massive nuclear accident at Chernobyl.
• The SALT 2 Treaty placed limits on the number of anti-ballistic missiles (ABMS), intercontinental ballistic weapons (ICBMS), nuclear weapons (SLBMs) and long-range bombers each side had, reducing the possibility of nuclear war by ensuring that neither side had a first strike capacity.
• Attempts to reduce tension between the USA and the Soviet Union had been made, but Ronald Reagan, who became US president in 1981, made no efforts to restart détente.