Full mark (20/20) GCSE Edexcel history essay on the cold war, more specifically explaining the importance of the INF Treaty for relations between the USA and the Soviet Union
Explain the importance of the INF Treaty for relations between the USA and the Soviet Union
(16 marks)
The INF treaty, signed on 8th December of 1987, was an arms control treaty between the two
superpowers which eliminated many military weapons and reduced the war scare between the
nations. The Helsinki agreements of 1975 were a continuation of a Nixon and Brezhnev meeting and
led to agreements between the Superpowers and 33 other nations about multiple urging
international issues.
The initial importance of the INF treaty for relations between the USA and Soviet Union was the
reduction of destructive nuclear weapons. The agreement was reached in December 1987 after
Gorbachev had realised that the soviet economy would never recover if money was further spent on
armament. The treaty ended up eliminating 2682 nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic
and cruise missiles by 1 June 1981 - the treaties deadline. The elimination of these weapons gained
Gorbachev popularity in the West and allowed the Soviet Economy to begin to recover as less money
was spent on weapons. This indicates that the INF treaty was beneficial for the relations between
the USA and USSR as it helped the Soviet economy as well as caused the two superpowers to move
away from the mutually assured destruction doctrine, easing tensions.
Another reason of importance of the INF treaty for relations between the USA and Soviet union was
the transparency it provided between the two nations. The treaty allowed there to be stringent
verification procedures to check that nuclear weapons were being destroyed. This built up more
trust between the two nation as they both seemed to follow the treaties rules and further built up
friendlier relations. Furthermore, both leaders agreed that the INF was only the first step towards an
even more radical agreement to halve long-range nuclear weapons and so was followed up by
several further agreement, like CFE, that built up to the end of the cold war. This evidences the
importance of INF as it allowed more trust between the two superpowers and marked the start of
the end of the cold war.
An initial importance of the Helsinki agreements for relations between the USA and USSR was the
attempt to keep détente developing. The Helsinki Agreements of 1975 were a product of this and
was signed by the two superpowers with 33 other nations. Three distinct international issues were
agreed on, these being security, cooperation and human rights. Security promised the recognition of
Europe's frontiers and the Soviet Union's acceptance of West Germany. Cooperation led to closer
economic, scientific and cultural links and lastly Human Rights meant agreement to respect human
rights and basic freedom like speech and thought among other things. This was therefore an
important aspect for relations between the USA and USSR as it justified clear guidelines for nations,
keeping détente alive, improving relations overall.
A final reason why the Helsinki agreements of 1975 were important for relations between the USA
and USSR was because of its lack of adherence. After 1977, new president, Jimmy Carter, was keen
to put pressure on the USSR by linking the human rights aspect of the Helsinki agreements to arms
limitations. His letter to the Soviet Dissident, Andrei Sakharov, addressing the issue was seen as a
gross interference in Soviet internal affairs to Brezhnev however Carter's words led to many 'Helsinki
groups' that monitored the USSR's adherence to the Helsinki agreements. Despite the numerous
complaints of the lack of free speech, religious beliefs and lack of freedom of movement by these
organisations and president Carter, the Soviet Union did nothing to oblige. This lack of cooperation
and adherence from the USSR worsened relations as Brezhnev was embarrassed by these claims and
President Carter became further suspicious of the Soviets.
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