Carter Brings the End of Detente

January 3, 1980- Carter shelves the SALT II Treaty Imposed sanctions against sales of grain and electronic technology to the USSR Restrictions on Soviet fishing rights in American waters Organized a sixty-nation boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow

Carter Doctrine
Reaction to Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
Believed to be an attempt to gain control of the Persian Gulf region and access to the Indian Ocean(oil interests)

Promised military response to perceived threats in the Persian Gulf region

Carter Builds Up the Military

Increased military preparedness Reinstituted draft registration Substantial increases in defense spending Promised military and economic aid to Pakistan Secretly funneled aid through Pakistan to Afghanistan to mujaheddin rebels Presidential Directive 59 (PD59)- from nuclear deterrence to planning a nuclear conflict (to win such a conflict)

Carter Nixes Hostage Rescue

Tehran, Iran- US attempt to rescue hostages botched by helicopter-airplane crash that killed eight Americans

Iran-Iraq War
Eight-year conflict over the threat of Islamic fundamentalism upon Saddam Hussein Soviets sold arms to both sides but veered towards Iran US supplied Iraq with intelligence data, but played both ways to achieve balance in the Middle East

Exit Carter, Enter Reagan

Presidential election of 1980 resulted in Carters defeat and Reagans victory
With Reagan, the US got an anti-Communist hardliner that did not believe in dtente

Immediately threw out Carters human rights approach Instituted policy of a global struggle between good (US) and evil (USSR)

US Rearmament
Reagan believed that an arms build up would make the Soviets attempt to keep up and that would knock them out economically Secretary of Defense- Caspar Weinberger and Assistant Secretary Richard Perle believed arms agreements were detrimental to American interests Reagan Administration pumps billions of dollars into arms build up over the next five years

Reagan Looks to Counter Soviet Global Influence

Reagan Administration promised full-fledged support for authoritarian, anti-Communist regimes
No matter human rights record

Increased support for covert sponsorship of rebellions directed against Soviet Client states CIA increases indirect and sometimes direct means of arms and money aid to insurgent freedom fighters Created headway in countering spread of Soviet influence, but undercut the USs image as a champion of democracy, legality, and human rights

Reagan and Central America

El Salvadoran leftist insurgency and the victory of the Sandinista movement in Nicaragua raised fears of Soviet inroads to Central America Reagan Administration responded by organizing and equipping the Contra rebels (civil war)
Destroyed Nicaraguas economy, but ousted the Sandinistas

Reagan Administration also sent arms and aid to the democratic regime in El Salvador
Even with evidence of horrible human rights abuses

Inconsistencies in Reagan Policy

Lifted Carters grain embargo against the USSR Adhered to the general terms of the unratified SALT II treaty Continued to negotiate with Moscow on issues of arms control Created the zero-option plan calling for elimination of all Soviet intermediate-range missiles and cancellation of NATOs planned deployment of cruise missiles and Pershing Iis
Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF discussions)

SALT turned into START (Strategic Arms Reduction Talks)

Exit Brezhnev
Last few years of Brezhnev regime was marked by stagnation
Ruled by aging and infirm leaders Inefficient economy Vast bureaucracy marked by corruption Bogged down in Afghanistan Locked into a crippling new arms contest with the Americans

Poland Helps to Drain Soviet Economy

1980- Workers movement in Poland (Solidarity) Strikes and demonstrations were wreaking havoc upon the Polish government Soviets held military exercises along the Polish border
Hint of Soviet military interference NATO warned the USSR to stay out

General Wojciech Jaruzelski declared martial law and smashed the Solidarity uprising US imposed economic sanctions on the USSR and Poland Soviets broke the already broken bank to prop up the Polish government
Further depleting the Soviet treasury

Falkland Islands Pose Semi-Crisis

Argentina invaded the Falklands (Malvinas) with the idea that the US would back them US instead supported Britain with arms and aid Argentinean junta asked the Soviets for aid
In exchange for wheat

Soviets remained aloof

Had Afghanistan to deal with (too much to handle)

Britain won Argentinean junta fell Crisis Averted

Palestinian Liberation Organization

1982- Israel invaded Lebanon to eradicate the PLO there Soviets failed to aid the PLO
Reputation as an arms provider badly tarnished Israels American-made planes annihilated Soviet aircraft, tanks, and weapons

Israel eventually pulled out US suffered huge setback when 239 troops were killed by a truck bomb in Lebanon Soviets had no viable impact on the region

The Andropov Offense

November 1982- Brezhnev dies and former KGB head Iurii Andropov takes over
Domestic Issues- sought to instill more discipline and efficiency into the Soviet system Cracked down on the chronic corruption and absenteeism that plagued the Brezhnev economy Granted more autonomy to local industrial managers

The Andropov Offense

Foreign Policy
Attempted reconciliation with China and the West 1983-Reopened low-level discussion with China
Some expansion of trade- not much else Relations hindered by Soviet troops in Afghanistan and along the Sino-Soviet border

Launched a Peace Offensive with the West

Hoping to revive stalled arms talks Hoping to head off scheduled deployment of US missiles in Europe

Nuclear Holocaust Possibilities Return

Grassroots nuclear freeze campaign spreads across America
Called for an immediate end to the arms race

1983- freeze resolution was adopted by the House US Catholic bishops published a letter challenging the morality of nuclear arms Protests in Western Europe were directed at deployment of US missiles in Europe
The Greens of Germany garnered great support for these demonstrations

Andropovs Proposals
December 1982- START negotiations
Cut strategic missiles by 25% Significantly reduce the number of nuclear warheads Suggested a willingness to scale back the number of Soviet intermediate-range missiles to equal the combined number of French and British missiles
Required pending US deployment to be cancelled

Public Opinion Seemingly Sways Eastward

Soviet public relations campaign to win sympathy for the USSR within the peace movement January 1983- Andropov identifies himself with the forces of peace
Appealed to the West for a nonaggression pact

Americans began writing sympathetic letters to Andropov

Samantha Smith (one such letter writer) invited to the USSR July 1983- Smith is warmly welcomed to the Soviet Union

All comes to no avail as the West resisted peace

May 1983- seven leading industrial democracies endorsed the NATO decision to deploy US missiles in Europe Margaret Thatcher comes to power in England

Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)

March 1983- Posed by Ronald Reagan as a futuristic, space defense system (aka- Star Wars Initiative) Immediate Issues
No way to make it foolproof (hostile missiles could still find their way through the system and do immeasurable destruction) Violated the spirit of the ABM treaty
Hung as dark cloud over the hard-won 1972 bulwark treaty between East and West

Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)

Soviet perspective on SDI
Perceived psychological advantages for the US Frustrated at being behind in technology only to catch up and then lose ground again and again Andropov blasted the proposal as an attempt to disarm the Soviet Union
Publicly advocated intensified arms control efforts and called for the total demilitarization of outer space
Including a ban on all space-based weapons and antisatellite systems

The KAL Incident

September 1983- South Korean airliner (KAL flight 007) flew off course through Soviet airspace
Over a sensitive missile and submarine base Soviet fighter pilot shot it down 269 persons on board were killed International outrage against the Soviet Union ensues Reagan piles on with barbarism rhetoric Soviets hesitated to apologize
When they did they blamed the US for using the plane as a tool of espionage

US Invades Grenada
In response to overthrow of the Marxist New Jewel Movement by an even more radical Marxist group Cuban engineers and construction workers were building an immense airfield
US took offense

October 1983- Reagan deploys marines and rangers to Grenada

Overwhelmed the small Cuban contingent and installed a provisional government

Only verbal objections from the USSR

Dtente Seriously Injured

INF talks were effectively destroyed Deployment of US cruise and Pershing II missiles began as scheduled in Britain and Germany Soviets responded by breaking off the INF talks in Geneva and shortly thereafter the START negotiations were indefinitely recessed End of 1983- Superpower relations reached an all-time low

Encore of the Old Soviet Guard

Andropov was grooming his young protg
Mikhail Gorbachev
Young, energetic, and reform-minded

Andropov died before he could assure Gorbachevs ascent to party boss Konstantin Chernenko takes control
Brezhnev crony Gesture to the younger generation saw Gorbachev named second secretary

Chernenko Administration
Soviet approach toward world affairs remained rigid, static, and unimaginative War in Afghanistan continued Soviet commitment to Jaruzelski regime in Poland was reinforced and extended by a fifteen-year economic pact Sino-Soviet relations failed to improve
Got worse when Sino-American rapprochement returned

Sino-American Rapprochement Hits a Speed Bump then Accelerates

Temporary setback due to Reagans sympathy towards Taiwan and antipathy towards all things communist Reagan Administration realized the importance of their relations with China in the cold atmosphere between the US and USSR 1982- US accommodates China by agreeing to gradually reduce their weapons sales to Taiwan 1983- US officials traveled to China and things began to improve 1984- Chinese premier Zhao Ziyang made a state visit to Washington and Reagan visited Beijing
No major accords, but momentum for Sino-American rapprochement once again

USSR angered over the amicability between US and China

Soviets denounced the Chinese for their role in a border clash with Vietnam Disclosed that an impending trip to China by first Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Arkhipov had been postponed

Soviets Attempt to Sabotage Reagan Reelection

USSR tried to avoid doing anything that might improve the international climate and thus boost Reagans electoral standing START and INF talks remained suspended US/Soviet deep freeze intensified by the announcement that Soviet and Eastern European athletes would not attend the Olympic Summer Games in Los Angeles

Reagan Sound Check Blunder

August 1984- Reagan, while testing stage equipment, blurted out that he had just signed legislation which outlaws Russia foreverthe bombing begins in five minutes Journalists quickly disseminated this statement Kremlin condemns the presidents irresponsible conduct and his blatant hostility towards the USSR No real fallout- highlights Reagans recklessness, Soviet sensitivity, and the deplorable US-Soviet relations (funny thoughat least I thought so)

Reagan Reelected/Exit Chernenko

November 1984- Reagan crushes Mondale/Ferraro Democratic Ticket December 1984- Chernenko disappears from public life as Mikhail Gorbachev becomes more prevalent in Soviet affairs Late 1984- Soviets launch a new peace offensive
Designed to mend relations with China and the West

Gorbachev visited Britain and West Germany with the idea of a common European home in which the US had no business

Renewed Negotiations
January 1985- Soviets consented to resume arms control talks
Dropped their insistence that the US first remove its newly installed missiles from Europe Agreed that space-based weapons should be added to the discussions along with intermediate-range missiles and strategic arms

March 12, 1985- New talks set to convene

Chernenko died two days before and along with him- the old Soviet Guard