During the Euromissile Crisis, which missiles did the USSR deploy in Eastern Europe that escalated tensions?

• A. Thor missiles
• B. Polaris missiles
• C. Trident missiles
• D. SS-20 missiles

Answer: (D)

The key idea is how deploying MRBMs in Eastern Europe shifted the security dynamics, making a nuclear threat closer to Western Europe and heightening distrust and threat perception. The missiles in question were the Soviet SS-20 Saber MRBMs stationed in Eastern Bloc countries like East Germany, Poland, and Czechoslovakia. With a range of about 5,000 kilometers, they could reach most of Western Europe from those locations, which is why they escalated tensions and prompted Western responses. This buildup helped drive NATO to bolster its own defenses in Western Europe and ultimately led to arms-control talks that resulted in the INF Treaty, which removed such missiles from Europe. Other options refer to missiles that were not deployed by the USSR in Eastern Europe—Thor missiles were an American system in the UK in the 1950s, while Polaris and Trident are submarine-launched missiles from the United States (and UK), not land-based missiles stationed in Eastern Europe.