ShmoopTube

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[ musical flourish ]

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And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by disarmament,

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Doctor Frankenstein's favorite pasttime.

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Yeah, he disarmed... Get it? Or not.

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All right, check out this excerpt.

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[ in a whisper ] Well, since the days of my administration...

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[ mumbles ]

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All right, yeah, that's my Ronald Reagan. It's not very good, I know.

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All right. Reagan's statement reflects what shift in American relations

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with regards to the Soviet Union?

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It was called the Soviet Union back then. They were evil.

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And here are your potential answers.

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[ mumbles ]

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All right. What can we take from Reagan's statement?

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We see that he's been "working on an approach to the crucial issue

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of strategic arms and the control of negotiations for control

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of those arms with the Soviet Union."

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Ugh. It's a mouthful.

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So basically, there were a whole bunch of nuclear bombs

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in the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. that were pointed at each other.

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And Reagan was gonna try and, well, defuse the situation. Yeah, that's a good thing.

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All right, well let's see which answer best explains Reagan's master plan.

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Does Reagan's statement reflect A -

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the continuation of hostile diplomatic relations?

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Well, actually, Reagan went out of his way to help

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thaw relations between the two countries.

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They didn't make it all the way to a full alliance, but the Cold War

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certainly became a little less... cold.

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That freezes out A and C.

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Could Reagan's statement have reflected B -

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the detente of relations but stockpiling of weapons?

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Well, ever hear of the S.T.A.R.T. Treaty? S-T-A-R-T, that thing?

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It was the successful proposal by Reagan to

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de-escalate the arms race,

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which led to a decline in the number of weapons on each side.

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That really helped everyone cool their jets.

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And nuclear warheads.

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Which means that Reagan's statement reflected D -

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the softening of relations and gradual disarmament.

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Ding ding ding. This speech marked the gradual relaxation of relations

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between the U.S. and the Soviet Union,

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as well as putting into motion agreements that would eliminate 80 percent

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of all strategic nuclear weapons.

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So D is the right answer. Michael Gorbachev's resignation would

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finally bring the Cold War to a close.

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If you can't stand the heat,

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get out of the potentially civilization-ending nuclear fire.

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Yeah. That's our motto, too.

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[ wow ]

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