| Front | Back | | --- | --- | | Why did the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 trigger the "New Cold War"? |

Geopolitical fear: Sparked Western fears of aggressive Soviet expansionism beyond Eastern Europe.
Policy shift: Ended détente, prompting the US to increase military spending and adopt a confrontational stance.

| | The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 shattered the era of détente and initiated the "New Cold War". | The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 shattered the era of détente and initiated the "New Cold War". | | What was the strategic significance of the US deploying Cruise and Pershing II missiles in Western Europe in the early 1980s? |

Countermeasure: Directly countered the threat of Soviet SS-20 missiles targeted at Western Europe.
Escalation: Heightened public fear of nuclear war and intensified the European arms race.

| | How did the arms race damage the Soviet domestic economy in the late 1970s and 1980s? |

Resource diversion: Starved consumer goods, housing, and living standards of funding to sustain massive defense spending.
Technological lag: Central planning could not keep pace with rapid Western advancements in military technology.

| | What external economic shock in the early 1980s crippled the Soviet Union's ability to fund the arms race? | A sharp drop in global oil prices, which severely reduced Soviet export revenue. | |

How did Reagan's proposed Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) in 1983 destabilize the strategic balance of the Cold War?

Undermined MAD: Threatened to neutralize the Soviet retaliatory strike capability, destroying Mutually Assured Destruction.
Economic pressure: Forced the USSR to realize it could not afford the high-tech research required to match it.

| | Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) proposed in 1983 threatened the doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD). | Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) proposed in 1983 threatened the doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD). | | Why did Gorbachev's domestic reform program (Perestroika) require a de-escalation of the arms race? |

Capital reallocation: Economic restructuring was impossible while the military-industrial complex consumed up to 25% of Soviet GDP.
Foreign investment: Modernizing the economy required Western trade, technology, and stable relations.

| | What did Gorbachev's concept of "reasonable sufficiency" mean for Soviet defense policy? | Maintaining only the minimum military force required for self-defense, rather than seeking parity or superiority over the US. | | How did Gorbachev's abandonment of the Brezhnev Doctrine in the late 1980s alter Eastern Europe? |

No military intervention: Signalled that the USSR would no longer use force to prop up communist regimes.
1989 Revolutions: Allowed peaceful transitions to democracy across Eastern European satellite states.

| | In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev became leader of the USSR, introducing perestroika (economic restructuring) and glasnost (openness). | In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev became leader of the USSR, introducing perestroika (economic restructuring) and glasnost (openness). | |

Why was the 1986 Reykjavík Summit considered a crucial turning point despite ending without a signed agreement?

Radical proposals: Both leaders seriously discussed eliminating all intermediate-range and even all nuclear weapons.
Trust building: It laid the essential diplomatic groundwork and trust for the historic 1987 INF Treaty.

| | What historic breakthrough did Reagan and Gorbachev agree to at the Geneva Summit in 1985? | They issued a joint statement declaring that "a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought." | | Why was the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty a revolutionary milestone in the arms race? |

Weapon elimination: It destroyed an entire class of nuclear weapons (intermediate-range) rather than just limiting them.
Verification: It introduced unprecedented on-site inspections to build mutual trust.
De-escalation: It marked the first physical reduction of superpower nuclear arsenals.

| | The INF Treaty, signed in 1987, was the first agreement to physically reduce nuclear stockpiles rather than just limit their growth. | The INF Treaty, signed in 1987, was the first agreement to physically reduce nuclear stockpiles rather than just limit their growth. | | How did the arms race contribute directly to the eventual collapse of the USSR in 1991? |

Economic exhaustion: The unsustainable cost of matching US military spending bankrupted the Soviet state.
Systemic failure: Exposed the inability of the centrally planned economy to innovate at the pace of Western capitalism.

| |

Ronald Reagan's inauguration in January 1981 signaled a shift. Fill in the blanks:

| President Ronald Reagan, inaugurated in {{c1::1981}}, rejected détente and famously labeled the USSR an "{{c2::evil empire}}" to frame the Cold War in moral terms. | | Contrast the orthodox Western view of the arms race ending the Cold War with the revisionist view focusing on Soviet internal factors. |

Orthodox: Reagan's military buildup and SDI forced the USSR to surrender by bankrupting them.
Revisionist: Internal structural rot, Gorbachev's leadership, and economic stagnation made reform inevitable regardless of US pressure.

IB History Arms Race Flashcards

Paper 1 - The Move to Global War6 subtopics

Paper 1 - Rights and Protest6 subtopics

Paper 1 - Conflict and Intervention6 subtopics

Paper 2 - Independence Movements5 subtopics

Paper 2 - Emergence and Development of Democratic States5 subtopics

Paper 2 - Authoritarian States7 subtopics

Paper 2 - Causes and Effects of 20th Century Wars4 subtopics

Paper 2 - The Cold War: Superpower Tensions and Rivalries4 subtopics

Paper 3 - History of Europe18 subtopics

Paper 3 - History of the Americas18 subtopics

Paper 3 - History of Asia and Oceania18 subtopics