The Cold War
The Background
Characteristics of the Cold War
A contest of ideas
A global power struggle
The containment policy 1947
A bipolar
conflict
China and other states were regarded as
satellites of the USSR.
A stabile
period
Means of war
Dollar
diplomacy
The Marshall Aid, loans with conditions
Readiness for actual war
Strong armed forces, nuclear arsenals
Economic warfare
No trade with the USSR
Propaganda
Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty
Espionage
CIA 1947, U-2 spy planes, satellites
War was no option
The Russian Revolution
The US established diplomatic relations with the USSR 1933. Japan.
Hitler’s policy improved the Soviet-American relations.
Tensions within the US-Soviet war alliance
D-Day, nuclear weapons
The American peace aims
International peace and co-operation (UN)
No spheres of interest
Free trade (Open door)
Reconstruction of world economy (the World Bank and IMF)
The Soviet peace aims
Co-operation with the US
Soviet security
A Soviet sphere of interest
Restoration of Russia’s 1914 borders
Limiting German power
Economic reconstruction of the USSR
Poland
The Polish London committee was recognized by the US
The Soviets set up the Lubin committee 1944.
In Teheran Churchill suggested a westward shift of Poland
Stalin promised free elections and a broadening of the Lubin committee.
The USSR never joined the World Bank or IMF
Atomic monopoly
Information about the bomb in return for new governments in Bulgaria and Romania
Germany
The Soviets wanted reparations, the US wanted economic recovery
Kennan’s Long Telegram 1946
Kennan was an official in the US Embassy in Moscow.
Russian rulers had always been weak and sought external enemies to unite the people.
Marxism-Leninism could not exist peacefully with capitalist states.
Churchill’s Fulton speech, 5 March 1946
The Iron Curtain
The USSR was seen as an enemy rather than an ally
The threat was recognized
The US and the UK were proposed to act
A proposal to remove the threat by an agreement with the Soviets
Conclusion: when the USSR had
established its sphere of interest in Eastern Europe and Asia the US saw this
as aggressive expansionist behaviour and not as defensive acting.
The Truman Doctrine 1947
Was elaborated by George Kennan
Was implemented when the British no longer afforded to support Turkey and Greece
Turkey
1945 the Soviets wanted to lease a base on the straits between the BS and the M
The request was brought up again 1946 but the Soviets did not press the issue
Greece
There was a civil war going on with a Communist guerilla
The USSR did not take any part in the conflict.
Truman exaggerated the Communist threat.
Otherwise the Congress dominated by Republicans had not granted money
The Turkish ambassador’s body was sent back on the USS Missouri
Stalin regarded the Truman Doctrine as an answer to his demands on Turkey
The Marshall Plan 1947
1947 rations still existed in Europe
The Europeans could not pay for their imports from the US
Marshall presented his plan at Harvard University as an idea
So that they can buy from us and withstand pressure from outside
Britain and France wanted the Soviets to take part in the discussions as well
Molotov left soon and wanted no restrain on Soviet influence in Eastern Europe
Co-operation meant Western influence to the Soviets
A conference was held in Paris
Czechoslovakia and Poland first accepted the invitation and then rejected it
Aimed at preventing the spread of Communism in Western Europe.
France and Italy had strong Communist parties
The Italian Communist party could win the 1948 elections
The USSR strengthened its grip of Eastern Europe – Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
A market for US products was created in Western Europe
The OEEC was set up and the recipient countries had to join GATT
The US gave $ 13 billion and the payments ended 1953
The Soviets saw the Marshall Plan as an attempt to enslave Europe
The Communist parties in France and Italy agreed
Germany
A big beneficiary of the Marshall Aid
Served as a buffer against the USSR.
Restrictions on industrial production was relaxed
The Berlin Airlift
NATO
1948 the communist coup in Czechoslovakia
The Communist lost support
The Communist Party armed the “Peoples militia”
Most non-Communist ministers left the government
A new government dominated by Communists was appointed
The coup in Czechoslovakia spread fear in the West
The Brussels Treaty 1947
Was triggered by the events in Czechoslovakia
Britain, France and the Benelux promised to defend each other
They all lacked the means to accomplish this
NATO came into being on West European initiative
The US hesitated at first to get involved
The Congress had the right to declare war
The North Atlantic Treaty was signed in April 1949
It was not presented as an alliance in the US
It was the first time that the US entered a peacetime alliance
Art 5 said that an attack on one member was an attack on all
The others had to take appropriate action including the use of force
This did not violate the US Congress to declare war
Art 6 defined the territory covered by the treaty and included West Berlin and Algeria
After the outbreak of the Korean War an organization was set up
To keep the Russians out, the Americans in and the Germans down
1949 the balance of power changed in favor of the Communist side
The Soviets got the atomic bomb
The Communist won the Chinese civil war
McCarthyism in the US
Conclusion: one side did not cause the Cold War. It started due to interaction between the two sides.
Japan
The punitive aspects of the US occupation were scaled down
The Japanese army was restricted to 110 000 men
After 1949 Japan replaced China as main trading partner of the US in the region
$500 million was sent in economic aid
Japan became the keystone of containment in Asia
The USSR felt encircled
China
The US wanted to end the civil war and make the Nationalists take place in the gov.
The nationalists got economic aid from the US
Chiang Kai-Shek thought that he had free hands
The US acted half-hearted
The US did not want to get too involved with Chiang’s corrupt regime.
The Berlin crisis made the US focus on Europe.
The “loss of China” was inevitable
The US did not have enough troops to fight a war in China
The US gave priority to Europe
What happened in China deeply affected the US policy in Korea and Japan
The US saw China as a puppet of the USSR
Thou the civil war was about China, not the Cold War
Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh formed a nationalist communist movement 1930 (Vietminh)
The US supported France
To stop Communism
Vietnam was regarded as a Soviet puppy, not a country fighting for its freedom
To get French support for a German state.
To not make Truman lose Vietnam like had lost China
Conclusion: the US succeeded in Western Europe and Japan. The US gave priority to Europe and met the defensive Soviet Union only. In Asia several Communist leaders appeared and they were not subordinated to Moscow. Japan-the Philippines formed the first inverted U-shaped defense line against Communism. The US wanted to control the Pacific.
The NSC 68, April 1950
The US could not rely on dollar diplomacy and nuclear weapons only.
The US needed strong conventional forces to keep up the containment policy
The development of the hydrogen bomb was speeded up
All this required unpopular tax raises
The origin of the war
Japan annexed Korea 1910
The Cairo Conference 1943
Roosevelt and Chiang Kai-shek agreed on Korean independence
1948 two Korean states were set up
Both Kim Il Sung and Syngman Rhee were nationalist wanting united Korea
1949 the Russian and American troops left
Kim Il Sung wanted to unite Korea under Communist rule
Thought he would be received as a liberator.
Stalin approved of Kim’s plan
If it succeeded the Soviet sphere of interest would have increased
Stalin did not want to risk a war with the US
Having the atomic bomb strengthened Stalin’s position
The USSR provided military equipment and Soviet generals drew up the plans
Mao approved of Kim’s plan but promised no help
Mao wanted to consolidate Communist China
1950 the US declared that it was going to hold a line from the Philippines-the Aleutions
This left out Korea
The US sponsored a resolution in the Security Council
The USSR boycotted the meeting because Taiwan represented China (until 1971)
Truman had no chance to stag out of the war
After his loss of China
Because of the mid-term elections
The war
North Korea attacked
The US wanted to restore the 38th parallel
After Inchon the US turned to roll back
The UN had not authorized an invasion of North Korea
The US wanted to punish the aggressor
The troops had problems identifying the Parallel
Stalin did not want to intervene but asked Mao to send six divisions of “volunteers”
Mao sent nine divisions and requested air support from the USSR
The Chinese invasion made the war drag on for another two years
The US wrongly believed that North Korea acted on behalf of the USSR
MacArthur wanted aerial bombardment an a naval blockade of China
Truman fired MacArthur because he opposed a limited war
1951 the war entered a stalemate
The US refused to repatriate anyone against his will
Both sides accepted a limited war
An armistice was signed at Parmunjom
A Neutral Repatriation Committee was set up
The US refused to send people back against their will
Out of 22 609 Chinese and North Korean prisoners 137 went back.
1.5 million deaths, severe physical damage in the north due to bombing
Consequences
China emerged as the leading Communist power in Asia
The USSR lost ground due to the war
The US defense expenses increased: 1950 – 14.5 billion, 1953 – 49.6 billion
The US reinforced its forces worldwide and the armed forces were doubled
The Korean War marked the militarisation of the Cold War
Turkey and Greece joined NATO 1951. USAF could strike into southern Soviet Union
The San Francisco Peace Treaty 1951
Japan was restored as a sovereign state
Mutual Security Agreement
The US was granted bases in Japan and on Okinawa
A trade embargo on communist China was imposed
The Korean War ended Truman’s plans of making Kim an Asian Tito.
The ANZUS
The US protected Australia and New Zealand against Japanese aggression
Australia and New Zealand helped the US to fight Communism
Indochina was to become Japan’s economic hinterland
The American support of France increased
The fear of a similar situation in Germany cause West German rearmament
1954 the FRG reluctantly had set up 12 divisions
Conclusion: The Korean War spread the Cold War to Asia and demonstrated that a conflict could break out at any time
The New Look 1953
A stronger emphasis on nuclear weapon to cut defence spending
John Foster Dulles promised ”roll back” and “massive retaliation”.
This rhetoric was used so that the US should not look weak.
The containment policy was to be continued
Eisenhower believed in personal diplomacy
Covert operations and the CIA became more important
The US did nothing 1953 and 1956
The Soviet Rapcki Plan 1958
A nuclear-free zone in Central Europe: Poland, Czechoslovakia and GFR.
The US refused.
1958 Khrushchev demanded that the Western Powers should leave Berlin
The US refused and threatened with massive retaliation
China attacked some islands in the Taiwan Straights
The US sided with Taiwan and promised protection
Taiwan secretly accepted not to attack China without American concession
The USSR would not support China and risk a war with the US
The US supported France In Vietnam
To stop Communism
Vietnam was regarded as a Soviet puppy, not a country fighting for its freedom
To get French support for a German state.
To not make Truman lose Vietnam like had lost China
Vietminh defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu 1954
The Geneva Accords 1954
Vietnam was divided along the 17th parallel
General elections were to be held within two years
The US never signed but promised not to break the agreement by force
An anti-Communist government headed by Ngo Dinh Diem was set up
South Vietnam did not participate in the elections because Ho would have won
Vietcong – a Communist guerilla movement supported by North Vietnam and some locals
1960 the National Liberation Front, the political arm of Vietcong was set up
Ike was elected to stop the war in Korea and could not afford to start a new war
The US sent economic support but no troops
Central America and the Caribbean
The Rio Pact 1947
An attack on an American state was an attack on all of them
The Organization of American States 1948 (OAS)
Communism was inconsistent with the “concept of American freedom”.
1959 Fidel Castro seized power in Cuba.
US-Soviet relations under Eisenhower
Soviet collective leadership caused problems in the relations with the US
Stalin’s death changed USSR’s foreign policy
Kim Il Sung was set under pressure to agree to an armistice
Ho Chi Minh was persuaded to end the war with France
Nikita Khrushchev was appointed General secretary 1953
He took a greater interest in the world outside the USSR and traveled a lot
He seriously believed in the supremacy of Communism
De-colonization, not war, should secure a Communist victory
The Geneva Summit 1955
Nothing was agreed on but a new atmosphere was created
The USSR rejected open skies
The USSR recognized West Germany 1955
The occupation of Austria ended due to the Austrian State Treaty 1955
Austria retained its pre-war borders
The Soviets got a neutral Austria in return for withdrawing their troops
The occupation of Hungary and Romania should connect the USSR and Austria
The Warsaw Pact was signed
Consultations
A unified military command with its headquarters in Moscow
De-Stalinization 1956
Was introduced by Khrushchev’s secret speech at the 20th Party Congress
The purges were denounced
The cult of personality was blamed for all evil
The prevailing leadership were whitewashed, though they had served Stalin
Peaceful co-existence
Different roads to socialism were accepted
The space race
1957 the USSR launched Sputnik and the first ICBM
Khrushchev introduced the idea of “the missile gap”
This was generally accepted in the West
1958 the US launched Explorer I
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration was founded
Eisenhower refused to join an arms race
Conclusions: Eisenhower made a lot of progress in containing Communism, however he failed in Vietnam and Cuba. The defense expenses were kept low.
Flexible response
An increase of conventional forces and an enlargement of the nuclear arsenal
The US had to be able to fight limited wars
Special forces became important
Kennedy expanded the defence spending.
Kennedy wanted to wipe out the causes of communism by granting financial aid.
Ike tackled the symptoms.
The Bay of Pigs 1961
Vietnam
Kennedy sent Special Forces, helicopters and bombers but no ground troops
1961 the US sent 400 men of the Special Forces to Vietnam
1962 8 000 military advisors
The Vietminh won support of the people.
Diem never realized the importance of popular support
Kennedy increased the number of military advisors
Safe hamlets, search and destroy, defoliants like Agent Orange and chemical napalm
The destruction in the countryside strengthened the support of the NLF
Diem’s regime was corrupt and lacked popular support
1963 Diem was overthrown by South Vietnamese generals
No TV-teams stayed permanently in Vietnam up to 1965
The Berlin Crisis 1961
West Berlin drained the GDR of people and was a problem to Ulbricht
The East German leaders required help from the USSR
Khrushchev’s ultimatum 1958
The occupying troops were to leave Berlin within six months
The US was to sign a peace treaty with Germany and end the occupation
Otherwise the USSR would sign a separate peace treaty with the GDR
Eisenhower refused but took no further action (no troop reinforcements)
Khrushchev dropped the issue and went to visit the US 1959
No agreements were made, but the relations were improved
A four-power summit to discuss Berlin was to take place in Paris
Khrushchev chose to make the U-2 affair public and left
He perhaps realized that he could not win
The Vienna summit 1961
Khrushchev repeated his ultimatum from 1958
Air, road and rail corridors to West Berlin were to be cut off
Kennedy took the same stand as Eisenhower.
Lots of East Germans fled to the West
The Western forces were reinforced and remained in Berlin
A barbed wire fence was erected and later replaced by the Wall
The Cuban Missile Crisis 1962
Castro seized power 1959
The US deliberately pushed Cuba into the Soviet camp
The Americans thought that this would make the regime unpopular at home
Khrushchev regarded the newly elected Kennedy as
pragmatic in foreign policy and prepared to talk with the Soviets
Khrushchev thought that the action of the US confirmed his anti-imperialism theories
Causes
The Bay of Pigs 1961, a few days before Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space
The failure made the US isolate Cuba economically and diplomatically.
Covert actions, sabotage, expulsion of Cuba from the OAS
40 000 US troops practiced amphibious landings in Puerto Rico
42 intermediate-range missiles, 164 warheads
42 000 soviet troops in Cuba
The USSR wanted to protect Cuba by placing missiles there
Cuba was to the USSR what West Berlin was to the US
The USSR already had ICBM and was developing submarine-launched missiles
The American options
Accept – would have made Kennedy look weak
Negotiate – the USSR could spin out the negotiations
and make the missiles ready
Counteract – army, navy, air force
Course
U-2 photographs showed pictures of launch pads for middle range missiles (1600 km)
The ExComm was set up (Executive Committee of the National Security Council)
Phase I
Air strikes and invasions were rejected in favour of a naval blockade (quarantine)
Depth charges were to be used against the two submarines
Phase II
Telegram I: Khrushchev offered dismantling if the US guaranteed
not to attack Cuba
Telegram II: The Soviets requested the US to remove its missiles in Turkey as well
The Soviets thought that a US attack was imminent.
Then they found out that it was not they added another demand
Kennedy officially promised not to attack Cuba
Unofficially Robert Kennedy negotiated with the Russian ambassador
He promised to remove the obsolete missiles later (in fact April 1963)
The American public was not told until after six years (the deal 25 years)
The Cold War at the end of 1962
Both superpower’s position were weakened
Cuba challenged the US
Hungary and GDR opposed the USSR openly
The Berlin Wall was the only way of preserving the GDR
Both superpowers had the strength to annihilate each other
A kind of de facto stability was established frères-ennemis (Raymond Aron)
The impact of the Cold war on
the US
The president’s position was strengthened at the Congress’ expense
The Red Scare 1947 until the mid 50s
Joseph McCarthy
An erosion of civil liberties: people got fired for dubious reasons, self-censorship
The economy
A shift from the northeast and mid-west to the west and the south
From the industrial regions to the hi-tech regions the Sun Belt became the gun belt
The military-industrial complex emerged
The Cold war and détente
1963-1969
Effects of the Cuba Crisis - détente
The hot line Washington-Moscow
Was not used until 1967 (The Six-Day War)
Had a big symbolic importance
Expanded informal Soviet-American co-operation
1963 The Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
1967 Demilitarization of outer space
1968 the non-proliferation treaty
The Vietnam War was escalated 1963-1967
A naval incident in the Gulf of Tonkin 1964
The USS Maddox was attacked on international water by night
The attacker was sunk without trace
The Tonkin Resolution
Johnson got free hand to protect US interests in Vietnam
He was even allowed to send troops
1965 General Westmoreland required Marines to protect US bases
The war escalated – 1967 485 000 troops
In the presidential elections 1964 Johnson promised not to escalate the war
1968 The Viet Cong launched the Tet-offensive on the Vietnamese New Year
Mortar shells were fired at the US Embassy in Saigon
The offensive failed and the Vietnamese casualty rates were high
The public opinion in the US shifted against the war
The media contributed to the American defeat
The Prague Spring 1968
Dubcek became the first Secretary of the Party and General Svoboda president
Socialism with a human face
Censorship was relaxed and later abolished
Self-management and worker’s councils in factories
Interest groups within the Communist Party
He directing role of the party was to be based on the confidence of the people
The power structure was not to be the base for the party’s authority
Incompetent or corrupt party officials were to be removed
Czechoslovakia became a federal republic
The directing role of the party was never challenged
Czechoslovakia was to remain a member of the Warsaw Pact
The Soviets invaded
Gustav Husak replaced Dubcek
The Communist coup 1948 caused a strong international reaction
When the Soviets invaded 1968 nothing happened
The US was in deep trouble in Vietnam
The western Powers had accepted Soviet supremacy in Eastern Europe
The Brezhnev Doctrine
Communist Parties had responsibilities not only to their own countries
They had a responsibility to the entire Communist movement as well (= USSR)
The USSR had the duty to protect Socialism worldwide
1963 Kennedy was assassinated and 1964 Khrushchev was removed from office
The election campaign 1964 damaged the Soviet-American relations
Johnson had to make anti-Soviet statements to defeat Barry Goldwater
The US wanted the USSR to act as an intermediary with North Vietnam
The USSR could not afford to look weak on anti-imperialism
Informal Soviet-American contacts continued
1967 Johnson met Kosygin in Glassboro, NJ
The
problems of the superpowers
The US
Vietnam
Inflation. 1971 the gold equivalence was
left and the dollar floated
1973
OPEC trebled the price of oil – “the oil shock” – import increased
A
relaxed relation to the USSR relaxed the situation
The
USSR
China
broke with the USSR in the early 60s
The
USSR was no longer the unchallenged leader of the communist movement
1968
Euro-Communism emerged in Spain, Italy and France
A
human rights movement emerged in the USSR
The
USSR was economically dependent of the US
Foodstuff had to be imported
Loans from the US
Technical inferiority (computers)
The
USSR was pleased with being regarded as an equal
Richard Nixon
The Grand Design
Détente
The Nixon Doctrine
The US allied should take a greater responsibility for containing communism.
They should not expect the US to do it for them
Nixon’s visit to China 1972
The
final communiqué
Neither
country should seek hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region
A
similar effort from another country should be opposed (i.e. the USSR)
China
saw Taiwan as a part of China
Nixon’s
visit led to four Soviet-American top summits
Ending the Vietnam War
The
Paris peace negotiations
North
Vietnam demanded an unconditionally surrender
The
US wanted the South Vietnamese people to decide its future
The
US wanted its POWs returned before withdrawing
The
peace movement weakened the American position
1971
40 000 out of 250 000 soldiers used heroin (16%)
1972
only 24 000 troops remained
1973
the Paris Peace Treaty
An
immediate cease-fire
A
withdrawal from South Vietnam within 60 days
POWs
were to be returned within 60 days
South
Vietnam’s right to self-determination was to be respected
1974
North Vietnam invaded the South
1975
Saigon fell
Cambodia
and Laos fell to communism but the other dominos did not
American-Soviet summit meetings 1972-74
Nixon
did not want to look like a warmonger due to Vietnam
The
Soviets wanted to be one of a pair after Nixon’s visit to China
The
Soviets wanted to slow down to arms race due to their bad economy
The
soviets wanted to be accepted as an equal to the US
SALT – Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
An interim agreement, not a treaty
Five years
The missile launchers were limited to the existing number
ICBM - the US 1607, the USSR 1056
It was not prohibited to develop new weapon systems
Nixon and Brezhnev developed a personal relationship
MAD – Mutual Assured Destruction
The fall of Nixon
Soviet-American relations were damaged
Gerald Ford had no experience of foreign policy
The Congress denied states restricting emigration a most favoured nation status
The USSR did not allow free emigration for Jews
The Helsinki Accords 1975
Was initiated by the USSR
To gin public international recognition of the post-war boundaries
The first sector – security in Europe
The second sector – economic co-operation
The third sector – human rights and cultural matters
The opposite was achieved due to the section about human rights
1974 Willy Brandt and Nixon resigned. Brezhnev suffered from his first heart attack.
1976 Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong died
The End of détente 1976-1980
Carter wanted an ethical foreign policy after Nixon left office in disgrace
Idealism and a high moral standard guided the foreign policy
Carter wanted to link arms reduction to human rights
The Soviets regarded this as interfering in soviet internal affairs
Carter was inexperienced in foreign policy and had to rely on his advisors
This made his foreign policy inconsistent and often inefficient
SALT II
Was negotiated 1978-79
The arms race was halted but not stopped
A lot of internal criticism in the US Carter and the umbrella
The Soviets invaded Afghanistan to protect themselves from Islamic fundamentalism
The Senate refused to ratify the SALT treaty
The European NATO members felt disfavoured by SALT II
The negotiation were only about missiles with a range of 5 500 km and above
1977 the Soviets deployed SS-20 middle range missiles (5 000 km) in Eastern Europe
1979 The US deployed Pershing missiles (1 800 km) cruise missiles (2 500 km) in WE
The USSR in Africa
1975 the USSR supported the MPLA in Angola and FRELIMO in Mozambique
Cuban forces equipped by the USSR fought in both countries
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
1979 the communist leader Mohammad Tarshi seized power
Shortly afterwards he was overthrown by a non-Communist opponent
Gromyko, Andropov and Ustinov convinced Brezhnev of an invasion
The Brezhnev Doctrine was referred to
No country was allowed to defect from the Soviet camp after joining
The Soviets tried to protect themselves from Islamic influence from Iran
A Soviet Domino Theory
The Americans acted fierce
SALT II was not ratified
The US boycotted the Olympics in Moscow 1980
The UN condemned the invasion
The USSR lost a lot of good will in the Third world
Above all the Islamic world turned its back to the USSR
Summing up the period 1976-1980
100 million people came under Soviet influence
SALT made the USSR an equal of the US
The deployment of SS-20 in Eastern Europe 1977 shattered NATO
The Vietnam War and the Islamic revolution humiliated the US
Détente meant to both sides to avoid nuclear war
The ideological fight became even more intense during the period of détente
Problems within the Soviet bloc
Poland
1979 the Polish Pope John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla) visited Poland
1980 Lech Walensa founded Solidarity, the first independent trade union
The USSR moved troops to the Polish border
1981 general Jaruzelski declared martial law
The concessions given to Solidarity were revoked
Walensa and the other leaders were arrested
Afghanistan
Pakistan and China provided the mujahedin with weapons
The US provided weapons of non-American making
After Reagan’s re-election 1984 even Stinger surface-to-air missiles
The UN passed a resolution demanding a Soviet withdrawal every year
The US under Ronald Reagan
Reagan wanted a patriotic and aggressive foreign policy
The Soviet Union was called an “evil empire”
The invasion of Afghanistan increased popular support of Reagan’s stand
Reagan embarked on the biggest arms built-up in the history of the US
The aim was to increase the strain on the Soviet economy
This was already strained by the war efforts
Stealth bombers Strategic Defense Initiative “star wars”
For strategic reasons the USSR could not ignore it
For economic reasons the USSR could not accept the challenge
The USSR had 2/3 of its nuclear warheads land-based – first strike capacity
The US had 2/3 of its nuclear warheads on submarines – second strike capacity
Reagan challenged the USSR worldwide
The Contra guerrilla was supported against the Sandinist government
UNITA was supported in Angola
1983 Grenada was invaded