Why did the relationship between the USA and USSR change between 1975 and 1990

Why did the relationship between the USA and USSR change between 1975 and 1990? From 1975 to 1990 US Russian relations got better and worse as different leaders led the two nations. The relations changed due to events and stances brought on by the leaders of the Superpowers. From the early 1970's relations between the USA and Russia continued to get better and better. In 1970 the two superpowers began Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT 1) to try and bring an end to the nuclear arms race; by 1972 the countries had signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and the Interim Agreement which limited their production of certain nuclear arms. This was seen as a great step to towards the end of the cold war and proved that that USSR and USA were capable of working together. Following SALT 1 a new round of negotiations was needed as SALT 1 only covered a five year period; these talks were to be SALT 2. In early 1975 American astronauts and Soviet Cosmonauts met up and shook hands in Space. This was quite literally the high point in detente, showing the world that the two nations were working together. In August 1975, 35 countries met in Helsinki and agreed that the frontiers of post 1945 Europe should be permanent. The leaders also agreed to a declaration of human rights, all countries concerned would allow freedom of speech, religion, movement and freedom from unfair arrest. The

  • Word count: 1776
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

The origin of the Cold War and the partition of Germany

The origin of the Cold War and the partition of Germany For four years (from 1941 to 1945), Britain, the USA and the Soviet Union worked together in the Grand Alliance. During the last few months of war, the relations between them worsened so badly that they were almost unable to co-operate in any way. The Cold War had begun after the Second World War. What was the Cold War The Cold War was a war between the USA and the Soviet Union. Both tried to impose their ideologies - capitalism and communism - on other nations and gain superiority by the use of propaganda, spying and building up of vast stores of weapons. The Cold War began in Europe, as the superpowers tried to sort out the devastation caused by the Second World War. Once the threat of Nazi domination was removed, the choice, or lack of it, between capitalism and communism became more important. From Europe, the Cold War spread worldwide as more and more countries gained their independence from European empires in the 1950s and 1960s. Both superpowers attempted to draw newly-independent countries into their own sphere of influence. Since the break of the Soviet Union and the collapse of the Soviet bloc in Eastern Europe, it has become clear that the Cold War was partly caused by a joint misunderstanding of the aims and motives of East and West. Joseph Stalin and US President Harry Truman in particular made little

  • Word count: 2073
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

What effects did Soviet policy in Eastern Europe, 1945- 1948, have on relations between the Superpowers?

What effects did Soviet policy in Eastern Europe, 1945- 1948, have on relations between the Superpowers? Between 1945 and 1948 Stalin tried his best to ensure that Communist governments came to power in all the countries of Eastern Europe. Communists shared power with other parties in coalition governments in Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia. However Stalin was not prepared for the USSR to share power, as by 1948 all the states in Eastern Europe had communist governments and communists took full control of the governments in Poland, Hungary and Romania. This wasn't so difficult for Stalin to do as the Red Army who worked for the USSR, freed much of Eastern Europe from the Nazis, and they just remained in the countries and occupied them as they established a communist government. They took over the civil services; media, security and opposition leaders were forced to flee or were arrested. This was not very fair on the citizens, but they did not have a choice. In all states the Communist leaders had to take their instructions from Stalin in Moscow though. Stalin was invading countries rather than helping them, which caused tension between the superpowers. The land of the states should have been distributed and as the USSR was converting many governments into communist governments Truman was extremely annoyed as he was a strong anti-communist. Stalin mainly

  • Word count: 486
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

"The Long March was a Great Retreat" what evidence is there to support or contradict this interpretation of the Long March?

Question 5: "The Long March was a Great Retreat" what evidence is there to support or contradict this interpretation of the Long March? Explain your answer using both the sources and your own knowledge A retreat is a withdrawal of a military force from a dangerous position or from an enemy attack. The above quote originates from source C and as such portrays purely a GMD view on the significance of the Long March, which is therefore bound to be a negative view. However the Long March undeniably had a great long term impact, as the communist ideals formed by Zedong now form the basis for China's constitution. Therefore it is questionable as to how much The Long March really was a 'Great Retreat' if such an outcome was achieved. Though how far do the other sources and my own knowledge help to contradict or support this view? Interestingly, the word 'Great' can be interpreted differently depending on the view of the historian. For example it could be seen that the Long March was a beneficial retreat and that the word 'Great' is a positive way of describing the March. However it could also be seen that the Long March was 'Great' in the terms of the size of the retreat and is therefore not such a positive thing as source C demonstrates. If 1934 was considered as an isolated year then it would be possible to agree with the question statement that yes, the Long March was a 'Great

  • Word count: 1289
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

In What Ways did America's Relationship with the Rest of the World change between 1970 and 1990?

In What Ways did America's Relationship with the Rest of the World between 1970 and 1990? At the start of the 1970s, the Americans had just pulled out of the Vietnam War which had been a disaster for the government. They could not get involved in anything like it again or risk a huge problem with the public turning against them. If this happened it would have seriously dented peoples trust in the government even more than it already had been. This moved America into a period known as the détente. The détente was the relaxation in tensions between the US and some of its Cold War enemies. The president at the time, Richard Nixon, started to talk to other countries and try to get them onside in some of the issues that could affect each of the nations such as resolutions in the U.N. Nixon ended the long standing political vacuum between China and the U.S. He flew to the country after 20 years of no contact and no travel between them he finally talked to the Premier. His journey was a large move towards peace in the world. He also helped broker the SALT deals between the USSR and his own country. It stated that missile system numbers must stay the same. He was due to broker another agreement but was removed from office before it could take place. This was delayed even further and did not start until Jimmy Carter took power. These talks were eventually cancelled due to the

  • Word count: 624
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

Why was there such a major crisis between the superpowers over Cuba, 1962

Why was there such a major crisis between the superpowers over Cuba, 1962? The Cuban missile crisis began in October 1962; when America found missiles in Cuba. The crisis was between USA and USSR. It all began when the inactive missiles were found; USA believed they had to get them out otherwise their country could be destroyed. President Kennedy took them to the brink of war to do so, which could have then resulted in World War 3. There are many factors within the Cuban missile crisis that could have led to World War 3. The main problem, that actually caused the Cuban missile crisis in the first place, was the closeness of the missiles to USA. Even thought they were inactive; America felt threatened as they were told that they were going to be activated in thirteen days. If they didn't act quickly and remove the missiles, and they were then fired, then it would have hit America within a five-minute radius, which would cause eighty million to be killed. The threat of these missiles was massive! If there were shot, America would have to fire back, this caused it to become a crisis - so they had to get them out! Another reason that caused it to become a crisis was that Kennedy had to rebuild his reputation after he looked weak, due to The Berlin Wall and The Bay of Pigs. At the point of The Berlin Wall Kennedy looked extremely weak. He did nothing to stop the wall from being

  • Word count: 945
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

Why was the cold war in place by c.1946?

Why was the cold war in place by c.1946? By 1946 a time of great hostility and fear had developed between the USA and USSR, this was due to many reasons and events, some dating back to the beginning of the century. But by 1946 a cold war had begun, meaning no direct conflicts but a period of time filled with mistrust and suspicion. The USA and USSR shared very different ideologies. The USA were capitalist and were opposed the ideology of communism embraced by the USSR. This in itself was not enough to cause tension; it was the fear of one another's ideology that caused the tension. The USA were frighten of communist ideals spreading the USA, and 'corrupting' the country and its thriving economy. The USSR was fearful of US hostility towards communism. This hostility of the west towards communism was made clear in 1917 where the western 'whites' of the rest tried to quash the communist revolution. This fear of communism from the west has caused them to act in the past, why wouldn't they do this again? Before World War Two broke the mistrust and fear of one another grew. The USSR even tried to negotiate an alliance with the west, which was rejected and therefore obviously angered Stalin as he saw this as the west not trusting him. Both the west and USSR saw the common threat of Hitler and both on the defence tried to strike deals with him. But these acts of negotiation gave

  • Word count: 1360
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

Generacion del 98 Argentina

Informe Generación del '98 Integrantes: * Laura Giglio * Eliana Gomez Balaguer Introducción La Generación del 98 es el nombre con el que se ha agrupado tradicionalmente a un grupo de escritores, ensayistas y poetas españoles que se vieron profundamente afectados por la crisis moral, política y social acarreada en España por el desastre de la pérdida de Puerto Rico, Cuba y las Filipinas en 1898. Entre el grupo de escritores que se dan cuenta del mal que aqueja a España figuran Miguel de Unamuno, José Ortega y Gasset, Azorín, Ramón del Valle Inclán, Pío Baroja, Antonio Machado y Juan Ramón Jiménez. Escritores muy diversos en su arte, tan disímiles entre sí como los escritores del modernismo hispanoamericano. Todos nacen entre 1864 y 1875. La mayoría de los textos escritos durante esta época literaria se produjeron en los años inmediatamente posteriores a 1910 y están siempre marcados por la autojustificación de los radicalismos y rebeldías juveniles (Machado en los últimos poemas incorporados a Campos de Castilla, Unamuno en sus artículos escritos durante la I Guerra Mundial o en la obra ensayística de Pío Baroja). Escritores Entre ellos hay preferencia por el ensayo como medio para expresar sus ideas. Algunos ven la necesidad de renovar la vida española a través de un salto hacia la europeización, terminar con la situación periférica de

  • Word count: 1308
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

Which was more important as a reason for the development of the Cold War Stalins action in Eastern Europe 1945-49 or the Truman Doctrine and the Marshal Plan 1947 1948

History Homework - Which was more important as a reason for the development of the Cold War in the years 1945 - 1948 * Stalin's action in Eastern Europe 1945-49 * The Truman Doctrine and the Marshal Plan 1947 - 1948 Stalin's actions in Eastern Europe helped develop the Cold War because he slowly took over the countries of Eastern Europe who were quite weak as these countries were in Nazi control and were devastated after the war. Stalin's army freed each of these countries from the Nazi's and set their communist governments in these countries. Stalin also broke his promise that he will allow free elections in Eastern Europe. The reason why Stalin imposed Communism on Eastern Europe was because Stalin wanted to build a buffer zone on the Western border because this would prevent and further invasion of Soviet Russia. Stalin did this to product Russia as Russia was affected very badly from both World War One and World War Two. However the West believed the Stain did this because he wanted to spread Communism all around the world. This shows that Stalin's action in Eastern Europe created tension and suspense and this helped to develop the Cold War. The Truman Doctrine and the Marshal Plan helped develop the Cold War because it stopped the USSR from spreading anywhere and many communists felt that USA was declaring a war against Communism. The reason Truman made his speech

  • Word count: 496
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

Keeping Mandela in prison between 1964 and 1990 was a mistake(TM)

'Keeping Mandela in prison between 1964 and 1990 was a mistake' Do sources B-G prove that this interpretation was correct? Nelson Mandela was born in 1918 and was the nephew of a chief. He later became the leader of the ANC and a lawyer. In 1961 he set up 'Spear of the Nation' which he later was given a life sentence because of this. In the 1960's in South Africa, apartheid was separating the Whites and Blacks. Apartheid made sure that, the White South Africans were far superior to the Black South Africans. Nelson Mandela was a very big problem to the Whites as they wanted Apartheid to be maintained in South Africa. The Whites thought that putting Nelson Mandela in prison would be a great solution as they wanted to isolate him, silence him and were trying to end his leadership to the ANC. They also thought that making sure that he had no contact with society would mean he'd lose his faith, however this was not the case. The Spear of the Nation was then formed by Nelson Mandela in 1961 which disrupted the government by acts of sabotage and violence. After been arrested and taken to court Nelson Mandela was then imprisoned and given the life sentence in 1964. However due to the tremendous support that the world showed towards Mandela the judge in the court didn't want to give him capital punishment. Sources which support this are C, G and B. Another group that was like Spear

  • Word count: 2064
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay