November 30

This Day in History

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Lead Story
Folies Bergere stage first revue, 1886
American Revolution
Howe brothers offer amnesty, 1776
Automotive
Unsafe at Any Speed hits bookstores, 1965
Civil War
Rebels are defeated at the Battle of Franklin, 1864
Cold War
The United States and U.S.S.R. open talks to reduce intermediate-range nuclear forces, 1981
Crime
"America's First Female Serial Killer" strikes, 1989
Disaster
Achille Lauro sinks near Somalia, 1994
General Interest
Winston Churchill born, 1874
Meteorite strikes Alabama woman, 1954
Brady Bill signed into law, 1993
Hollywood
Jeopardy! contestant's record winning streak ends, 2004
Literary
Mark Twain is born, 1835
Music
Elton John's Greatest Hits hits #1, 1974
Old West
Harvey "Kid Curry" Logan sentenced, 1902
Presidential
Truman refuses to rule out atomic weapons, 1950
Sports
Football coach Bill Walsh is born, 1931
Vietnam War
McNamara warns Johnson that communists are gaining strength in South Vietnam, 1965
South Vietnamese draft articles for new constitution, 1966
McCarthy to enter Democratic presidential primary, 1967
White House announces no full withdrawal until final truce agreement signed, 1972
World War I
German foreign minister celebrates revolution in Russia, 1917
World War II
USSR attacks Finland, 1939

Cold War

Nov 30, 1981:

The United States and U.S.S.R. open talks to reduce intermediate-range nuclear forces

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Representatives from the United States and the Soviet Union open talks to reduce their intermediate-range nuclear forces (INF) in Europe. The talks lasted until December 17, but ended inconclusively.
SALT I (1972) and SALT II (1979) reduced the number of strategic nuclear weapons held by the two superpowers, but left unresolved the issue of the growing number of non-strategic weapons-the so-called intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe. By 1976, the Soviets began to update their INF systems with better SS-20 missiles. America's NATO allies called for a U.S. response, and the United States threatened to deploy cruise and Pershing II missiles by 1983 if no agreement could be reached with the Soviets concerning INFs.
However, by 1981, the situation changed. No-nuke forces were gaining strength in western Europe and there was a growing fear that President Ronald Reagan's heated Cold War rhetoric would lead to a nuclear showdown with Europe as the battlefield. The United States and U.S.S.R. agreed to open talks on INFs in November 1981.
Prior to the talks, President Reagan announced the so-called "zero option" as the basis for the U.S. position at the negotiations. In this plan, the United States would cancel deployment of its new missiles in western Europe if the Soviets dismantled their INFs in eastern Europe. The proposal was greeted with some skepticism, even by some U.S. allies, who believed that it was a public relations ploy that would be completely unacceptable to the Soviets. The Soviets responded with a detailed proposal that essentially eliminated all of the INFs from Europe, including French and British missiles that had not been covered in Reagan's zero option plan. Of course, such a plan would also leave west Europe subject to the Soviets' superior conventional forces. Neither proposal seemed particularly realistic, and despite efforts by some of the U.S. and Soviet negotiators, no compromise could be reached. An INF treaty would not be signed until December 1987, when President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev finally hammered out a plan acceptable to both sides.

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This Week in History, Nov 30 - Dec 6

Nov 30, 1981
The United States and U.S.S.R. open talks to reduce intermediate-range nuclear forces
Dec 01, 1959
Antarctica made a military-free continent
Dec 02, 1961
Castro declares himself a Marxist-Leninist
Dec 03, 1989
Bush and Gorbachev suggest Cold War is coming to an end
Dec 04, 1945
Senate approves U.S. participation in United Nations
Dec 05, 1978
USSR and Afghanistan sign "friendship treaty"
Dec 06, 1987
Protests against Soviet treatment of Jews take place in Washington and Moscow

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