The 2nd Cold War

• describe the new US president

  Ronald Reagan took over from Carter. his stance against the US was even tougher. saw the superpowers as black and white- US = good guys, USSR = bad guys. his views were shaped by the Committee on the Present Danger
• what was the Committee on the Present Danger and how did their views impact superpower relations

  assisted Reagan in his policy towards the USSR. believed in taking a tough line with the USSR wherever possible and increasing US defence spending massively. this sort of aggressive attitude triggered the second cold war
• what did Reagan announce in 1981

  US defence spending between 1981 and 1987 would amount to over a trillion dollars. this vast sum would be spent on new MX missiles, new stealth bombers and trident nuclear submarines. also planned to develop a neutron bomb (kills ppl, doesn't impact buildings???)
• what was the most threatening/ concerning part of this announcement for the USSR

  the stealth bomber- not detectable by radar- first strike capability- could win a nuclear war???
• what did the soviet union do in retaliation

  decided to station its SS20 nuclear missiles in the western soviet union. this IRBM directly threatened NATO countries in Europe
• what did Reagan give the go-ahead to station in western europe

  the new Cruise and Pershing missiles- flew just above the ground, undetectable by radar- v alarming for soviets
• how did Reagan combat the idea of Mutually Assured Destruction

  new plan NUTS (nuclear utilisation target selection). target and destroy USSR's launch sites before they could retaliate- use stealth bombers and cruise missiles
• did this worry the USSR

  obvs. drew up plans to watch for ANY signs of a US first strike
• what did Reagan propose in 1981

  his 'Zero' option for nuclear disarmament. would cancel deployment of new US missiles in europe if USSR dismantled all of its SS20 missiles. Brehznev rejected the offer
• Reagan's speech


  1982. called the soviet union an 'evil empire'. later that year new soviet leader Andropov called Reagan 'insane' and a 'liar
• SALT 2: failure


  1983. USSR walks out of the negotiations. as a result the US gives secret help to the Polish Solidarity Trade Union movement. the leaders of it were imprisoned in 1982 which the US criticised for Brezhnev's heavy-handed approach
• star wars. explain


  1983. Reagan knew US could outspend the Soviets. announced strategic defence initiative. SDI included a plan for space-based laser-armed anti-missile system that could destroy missiles launched against the US in flight. media called it star wars
• how did Andropov react to star wars

  he accused the US of preparing a first strike on the USSR and of planning to initiate and win a nuclear war
• the Reagan Doctrine


  1985. the US would support anti comm govs everywhere (particularly those trying to overthrow comm govs).
• examples


  gave financial and military support to groups trying to overthrow left-wing govs in Nicaragua and El Salvador. also gave military aid to Mujahideen fihgting the USSR in Afghanisastan
• how did the second cold war come to end

  the soviet economy was not strong enough to compete with the US on star wars and missile defence. years behind in terms of computer technology. need to lessen cold war tensions