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Ostpolitik
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Period: to
Continuing Conflict in Cambodia
US drop 430k tonnes of bombs on C but withdraw troops
KR had 40k and had NV support despite Nol's army being 175k
Nol ignored 119 US advisors from 1971 and stopped branches of military interacting to avoid a coup
Desertions increased with poor pay and leadership
KR fought despite PPA and strained relations with NV
JAN '75: KR took Phnom Penh
KR revolution to create agricultural C society resulted in 1mil dead
KR launched attacks into V
DEC '78: V invade C with USSR aid
JAN '79: PP captured -
Moscow Treaty
FRG + USSR
Both sides declare no territorial claims against other states
FRG recognise non-violability of Oder-Neisse border
Agreed to remove Hallstein doctrine
Both Germanys with become members of UN
FRG says it will negotiate with Pol, GDR, and Czech -
Period: to
US intervention in Chile
US telecommunication company in Chile, silver and copper mines
Salvador Allende democratically elected in SEP 1970 despite a failed coup funded by the CIA
Allende seized land and nationalised industry
40 Committee and CIA funded movements against Allende, convinced the World Bank not to lend Chile money, and US removed economic support
CIA funded strikes against Allende
SEP 1973: General Augusto Pinochet leads coup and kills Allende Exposed willingness of CIA and US to prevent communism -
Kissinger secretly visits Moscow
- Hoped to gain Soviet support for peace talks
- Moscow did not encourage N.Vietnam to compromise - victory was an opportunity for a united socialist Vietnam
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Moscow Summit
22-30 May
12 Basic Principles of US-USSR relations
1. develop normal relations on peaceful coexistence
2. avoid situations that could compromise peace
3. accept responsibility to prevent situations that threaten international peace
No legal status -
SALT I
US + USSR can only have 2 fields with 100 ABMs
5-year freeze on offensive missiles
US has 1054 ICBMs and USSR had 1618
First treaty to place a limit on nuclear weapons and create parity between the superpowers
Acknowledged the power of the two sides and reinforced the idea that agreeing to policies encouraging universal peace had political advantages
NO LIMIT ON MIRVS OR CRUISE MISSILES -
Period: to
Process of Paris Peace Talks (dates?)
S.V. was excluded from negotiations
JUL: talks start
SEP: US suggest support for Thieu is not fixed, and N.V. suggests willingness to reconsider coalition gov't w/ NLF in S.V.
OCT: agreement is reached
1. ceasefire starts JAN 1973
2. each side keeps land they control when ceasefire starts 3. US withdraw and POW exchange within 60 days of ceasefire
4. a commission would be set up to consider free elections in S.V.
5. free elections would consider eventual reunification of Vietnam -
S.Vietnam's response to the PPA (date?)
Thieu was appalled that S.V. had been excluded from the PP talks
When Nixon was re-elected in a landslide victory in NOV 1972, he renewed US military effort to reassure Thieu -
Nixon bombs N.Vietnam
- Operation Linebacker II
- From the 18-29 December, the US bombed Hanoi and all major cities in N.V. as a show of force for Thieu
- Heaviest bombing in Vietnam war - at least 20,000 tonnes
- International condemnation and Nixon's approval ratings dropped to 32%
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Basic Treaty
FRG + GDR
FRG recognise GDR
FRG accept both states should be in UN from 1973
FRG repeated desire for unification
Allowed West to recognise GDR (AUS '72, UK + FRA '73, US '74) -
Paris Peace Agreement ratified
- Thieu reluctantly signs under US pressure
- US troops leave in MAR, all US personnel leaves by summer 1973
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Period: to
Process of N.Vietnamese victory
N.V. increased guerrilla campaigns and overwhelmed the demoralised ARVN despite $1bn of US armaments (S.V. had 4th largest air force)
Watergate scandal forced Nixon to resign
N.V. used conventional tactics and assault in DEC '74 doomed Thieu as refugees fled southward
US Congress denied requests for US aid to S.V.
21 APR '74: Thieu resigns and flees
30 APR '75: S.V. surrenders -
Period: to
Cuban intervention in Angola
Portugese gov't promise independence - Marxist MPLA v pro-US FNLA v Maoist UNITA
China and US backed FNLA, USSR and Cuba backed MPLA
'75: Civil war - US sends $25mil in supplies and $16mil in arms to FNLA; S.Africa and Zaire supported FNLA
OCT '75: S.African and FNLA troops defeated by Cuban troops at Luanda
12k Cuban troops in Angola
FEB '76: Victory for MPLA
Cuban troops supported Agostinho Neto in suppressing rivals Worsened US-SU, CN-SU, US-Cuba US didn't interfere, Angola wasn't a threat -
Nixon resigns
- Result of Watergate scandal
- Replaced by Gerald Ford
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Vladivostok Summit
Ford and Brehznev
Agreed 10-year framework for non-proliferation
2400 ICBMs, SLBMs, and heavy bombers
Limit number of MIRV launchers USA and USSR couldn't agree if limit applied to cruise missiles (USA 'no', USSR 'yes')
When Kissinger returned to the US, new proposals were forced onto him by Ford - the USSR rejected these proposals
Carter proposed further restrictions to strategic launchers, MIRV launchers, ICBMs, ICBM launchers, bans on new ICBMs and cruise missiles - rejected by USSR -
S.V. surrenders
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Cost of Vietnam War
USA: 58k dead + 2.7mil served (9% pop); many vets ostracised for atrocities; strong anti-war culture; 100k draft dodgers; cost $167bn; loss of V was a threat to SE Asia (C + L socialist); SEATO disbanded
Vietnam: 1.3-9mil dead (1.1mil VC + NVA, 100-330k ARVN, 250k civilians); 6mil acres poisoned; 643k tonnes on NV and 700k on SV; US-V political hostility; US didn't pay reparations; many Southerners forced into 're-education camps'; Hanoi imposed collectivism; 1.5mil left; 85% pop relocated -
Helsinki Accords
30 July - 1 August
Final meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE 1972-75)
35 countries (EUR except Albania + US + Canada)
Final agreement into 4 baskets confirmed Ostpolitik and detente
Agreed idea on security in Europe, economics, and culture
- respect for sovereignty and equality
- recognition of existing border
- non-intervention in internal affairs USSR mostly ignored provisions on human rights
US accused Ford of legitimising Soviet domination in E.Europe -
Mao Zedong dies
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Period: to
Arms race
SU was deploying SS-20s in Europe from 1977
Mid-1978: New US stealth bomber in development
DEC 1979: Carter convinced NATO to increase military expenditure by 3% and deploy 572 Pershing II and cruise missiles -
Period: to
Cuban intervention in Ethiopia
- '74: Emperor Haile Selassie overthrown by Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam and Marxist-Leninist dictatorship established
- GBR gave Ethiopia the traditionally Somali land of Ogaden => JUL '77: Somalia invades + takes 60%
- Soviets withdrew support for Somalia + supported Cuba's decision to send troops to Ethiopia in NOV '77
- FEB '78: 15k Cuban troops in Ethiopia
- Victory for Ethiopia in MAR '78
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Pope John Paul II becomes Pope
- Polish
- Overtly anti-communist
- Visited Poland in June 1979 (extremely Catholic country)
- Inspired Walesa
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Deng Xiaoping leads China (date?)
- Emphasised economic development - Special Economic Zones where socialist economics didn't apply
- Grew Chinese economy and reduced poverty
- Carter saw China as vital to US global strategy
- US support of Taiwan was a threat to normalisation of Sino-US relations
- DEC 1978: Deng conceded demand that US cease to aid Taiwan militarily and that China would resolve the situation peacefully
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Diplomatic Sino-US relations begin
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Deng visits USA
- 29 JAN - 4 FEB
- First ever Chinese leader to visit the USA
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Period: to
US intervention in Grenada
People's Revolutionary Government executed PM and set up Marxist-Leninist ideals and suspended constitution in MAR '79
Military coup from leftist Coard faction
25 OCT 1983: Reagan invades with 7k troops in US OP Fury => full occupation in a few days Thatcher angry for unilateral US action in former colony
US censured by NATO and had to use veto in UNSC
Reagan convinced that 'we got there just in time'
Lack of evidence for communist gov't Little response from USSR -
Margaret Thatcher becomes PM
- agreed with Reagan that detente had been too soft on the USSR
- convinced Reagan that Gorbachev could be negotiated with
- reluctantly supported US bombings runs on Libya in 1986
- frustrated at US unilateral action in Grenada (former British colony)
- frustrated at Reagan-Gorbachev disarmament talks in Reykjavik in 1986
- less enthusiastic about SDI because she believed the USA's nuclear umbrella was the only protect for W.Europe
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Pope John Paul II visits Poland
- 12mil people came to see him
- The future of Poland rests on those 'mature enough to be non-conformists'
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SALT II signed
Announced in MAY 1979
Carter + Brezhnev
Talks were finalised in Vienna
Limit ICBMs, SLBMs, and heavy bombers to 2250 from 1981
Limit MIRV launchers to 1200 Very scripted negotiations for frail Brezhnev
US never ratified it but honoured terms -
Period: to
US action in Nicaragua
Previously under Samoza family for 43 years
1961: Sandinista National Liberation Front founded
17 JUL 79: Samoza resigns after revolution from Sandinistas
19 JUL: FSLN seize power, causing exodus of middle class and landowners
MAR 81: US supported the Contras, pressured Honduras to be a safe haven US was found guilty of illicit actions to maintain support for the Contras MAR 82: FSLN enact State of Emergency restrict civil liberties, press censorship, military conscription
OCT 85: widened SoE -
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
APR '78: socialist revolution and PDPA gain power
Reforms in education, option for women to not wear veil, land reform
Islamic fundamentalists saw socialist rule as a threat
PDPA became fragmented - leader Hafizullah Amin was seen as unstable and could side with US
Many in Iran also opposed secular socialism
US funded and provided equipment for Mujahadeen and thousands of Afghan soldiers deserted
Kabul asks for Soviet aid - USSR reluctantly sends troops and tanks -
Carter Doctrine
- Afghanistan was important because its neighbour Iran was originally pro-US under the Shah
- When the Shah was overthrown by religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini, the US sought to gain friendship with Afghanistan
- When the SU invaded, Carter announced his doctrine: grain embargo, increase defense budget, boycott on Moscow Olympic Games, restriction on Soviet fishing in US water
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Period: to
Solidarity Crisis in Poland (start date?)
- Poland in economic crisis in 1980 with foreign debt + food shortages > gov't increase food prices up to 100%
- Workers in Gdansk strike with 21 'bread and butter' points => gov't conceded and recognised first TU
- Lech Walesa is leader of Solidarity and members grew to ~10mil; intellectuals joined the workers e.g. KIK
- US gave covert assistance
- Soviets exerted pressure on Polish gov't but didn't invade
- 12 DEC '81: Solidarity planned nation-wide strike
- Jaruzelski enforces martial law
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Ronald Reagan becomes President
- close ideological bond to Thatcher
- supported tackling terrorism in N.Ireland (sent IRA members in hiding in the US back to the UK for trial)
- supported Thatcher in the Falklands
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General Wojciech Jarulzeski
- Becomes leader of CP in Poland on 6 SEP 1981 and warns Solidarity of martial law => they ignore him and believe the army will refuse
- 13 SEP 1981: ban gatherings, demonstrations, or processions; dissemination of information, official permission to leave house for 48-hours; 1 state-controlled TV and radio station
- Imprisoned leaders of Solidarity
- Martial law 1981-83
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Reagan's Evil Empire Speech
Reagan denounces the Soviet Union was an 'evil empire' that must be stood against and was the 'focus of evil in the modern world' -
Strategic Defence Initiative
SDI/Star Wars program
Nuclear defence system against ICBMs and SLBMs
Designed to overcome the 'suicide pact' of MAD Margaret Thatcher saw SDI as a "pie in the sky" and France's President Francois Mitterrand said it had potential to exacerbate tensions
Never fully developed due to cost and technological limits of the US -
Yuri Andropov becomes President of SU
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Shooting down of KAL 007
- S.Korean civilian airliner strayed off-course into Soviet airspace
- The pilots failed to respond to Soviet communication and the plane was shot down => 269 killed
- International condemnation and arms talks were called off
- US deployed Pershing II and cruise missiles in Europe
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Soviet nuclear false alarm incident
- The Soviet nuclear early warning system, Oko, reported the launch of ICBMs by the United States
- Stanislav Petrov, an engineer for the Soviet Air Defence Forces, suspected the alarm to be false and did nothing
- This single act of restraint prevented an all-out nuclear war
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Reagan speech on Grenada
'We got there just in time' -
Able Archer 83
- Annual NATO Able Archer exercise
- Soviets believed the exercise to be a real threat and was on high alert
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Reagan's Ivan and Anya Speech
- Speech talking about the lack of differences between the people of the SU and USA
- Intended to defuse tension and promote cooperation
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Andropov dies