reagan and the ‘second cold war’the ‘second cold war’ had really started under carter but...
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Reaganandthe‘SecondColdWar’
ImpactoftheAfghanistaninvasiononUSA– Sovietrelations
• Détentewasalreadyclosetobreaking,butAfghanistantotallybrokeit• SomehavearguedthatUSover-reactedonpurposeasanexcusetogetoutof
Détente• Inthe1980USelection,RepublicancandidateRonaldReaganridiculedCarteras
weakandthetimehadcomefortheUSAtoreclaimitspositionontheworldstageandstanduptocommunism.
• Reaganwonalandslidevictory
• USAwasnowmuchmoreaggressivelypreparedtofightagainstthe“evil”ofcommunismandUS– Sovietconfrontationwasnowinevitable,again!
RonaldReagan&the‘SecondColdWar’The‘SecondColdWar’hadreallystartedunderCarterbutwasmuchmoreobviousunderReaganwithhisveryaggressivepolicies.
In1983,ReagancalledSovietUnionan‘evil’empireandtheUSAweretheforcesofgood
Reagan’sPolicies
• 13%morewasspendonthearmedforcesin1982• 8%morein1983and1984
• TridentsubmarinesandStealthBombersweredeveloped
ReaganDoctrine:
• USAwouldnotonlysupportanti-communistgovernmentsbutalsoanti-communistgroupswhoattempttooverthrowcommunistgovernments(eg ElSalvador,Nicaragua,Caribbeanislands
• TheUSAwouldmakethisthefirst‘rollback’ofcommunistinfluencesinceWW2
Reagan’sPolicies
SDI:StrategicDefenceInitiative:
• ReaganknewtheSovieteconomywasstrugglingsoheincreasedspendingandsupportforanticommunists,theSovietswouldhavetofindlargeamountsofmoneytocounterwhichwasimpossible!
‘StarWars’wouldplaceaseriesofsatellitesinorbit.TheywouldcarrypowerfullasersthatcouldshootdownSovietmissilesandpreventthemfromharmingUSA.
Thiswentagainstthetermsofthe1967OuterSpaceTreaty.
Reaganpresentedtotheworldthatthiswasarealitywheninfactthissystemofdefencewasyearsfrombeingready,ithasbeensaidthiswasthebeginningoftheendoftheSovietUnion!
Sovietswereshockedandupset,theyhadspentalotofmoneycatchinguptoUSA,theirweaponswerenowredundantandanewsystemwasneeded,buttheyhadnomoney!They
wouldneeda‘newwayofthinking’…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hGLBA65tZgReagan’sSpeech
ImagineyouarewritingabiographyofPresidentReagan.
Writetheintroductionpageinthebooksummarisinghimandhispolicies,aswellastheimpactofthemonthe
ColdWarworld.