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Confrontation rather than reconciliation ended the cold war. Discuss with…
Confrontation rather than reconciliation ended the cold war. Discuss with reference to the period of 1980 - 1991.
Confrontation
Afghanistan
The events of Afghanistan exacerbated the economic problems already present and caused the USSR to deteriorate economically
1978 Daoud's more traditional and conservative government was overthrown by the Afghan communist party
At this point the USSR was thinking, the communist government is unstable, leader unlikeable and there was a possibility it turned to US government for assistance and fearful of Afghanistan falling under the control of conservative and Islamic government
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Soviet forces occupy Kabul, however, Afghan army disintegrated, leaving the USSR forces to conduct all military action and secure country
Furthermore, the Aghan's who believed the country was falling into Soviet spheres of influences had begun to support Mujahideen
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This placed a substantial financial strain on the USSR, on top of trying to keep up with a second arms race
The US, who feared that USSR wanted to take control of Afghanistan as a means to expand to areas with greater oil supply, started to supply weapons to Afghan Mujahideen in 1985
By 1986, the US sent air missiles to Mujahideen under Reagan
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Arms race
The hostile period between the US and USSR (years of tensions) started with the introduction of Reagan as US president
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The SDI in 1983 by Regean made the USSR realize the economic and social system couldn't sustain a technological arms race with the US, having USSR eventually accept defeat
The SDI presented the USSR with a new challenge, they could not meet and is dedicated to helping the end of the cold war.
SDI in practice meant that the US would not face an attack by the USSR, however, the USSR would remain vulnerable to attack by the US.
SALT II treaty, 1979 was rejected (The treaty basically established numerical equality between the two nations in terms of nuclear weapons)
This ended as the US had installed nuclear missiles in western Europe, starting in 1983
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THESIS
Confrontation rather than reconciliation ended the cold war, as due to a confrontation with the US, the USSR plunged into economic problems
HISTORIOGRAPHY
David C. Gompert
"The problems that undid the USSR - economic dysfunction, political illegitimacy, institutional atrophy - ran deeper than a foreign intervention that backfired"
"the ten-year occupation and war that followed the invasion took an enormous toll, adding to the economic exhaustion and train of empire from which the Soviet Union was beginning to buckle"
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