Kärnvapenkonfrontationen

Kärnvapenkonfrontationen refers to the confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War, particularly in the 1980s, regarding the deployment of intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe.

The term is often used to describe the tensions and controversies surrounding the Soviet Union's attempt to deploy new types of intermediate-range missiles in Eastern Europe. The US saw this development as a direct threat to its own security and responded by deploying Cruise and Pershing II missiles in Western Europe.

The deployment of these missiles led to widespread protests and demonstrations throughout Europe, especially in West Germany and the United Kingdom. Many argued that the missiles would increase the risk of nuclear war, while others saw them as a necessary step to counterbalance Soviet military power.

The Soviet Union responded to the deployment by declaring the missiles a direct threat to the "socialist territories" and by military build-up along the borders of NATO countries. This heightened the sense of tension and raised the stakes, making the deployment of these missiles a major Cold War confrontation.

The confrontation became more pronounced when the Soviet Union launched a major propaganda campaign to sway public opinion, labeling the deployments as a new form of military imperialism. The situation reached a critical point in 1983, when the Soviet Union reportedly considered a Soviet nuclear attack on the US in response to the deployment.

The dispute eventually led to a convergence of views between US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, marked by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty signed in 1987, eliminating ground-launched and short-range nuclear missiles.