Détente era

• Detente


  A relaxation of tensions, where rivals try to focus on common interests
• Causes of detente


  1. President Nixon elected

  2. Vietnam war

  3. Social problems in US

  4. Cost of nuclear weapons
• Causes of detente for the Soviets

  • Poor living standards
  • Economy not developing
  • Felt safe
  • Cost of nuclear weapons
• Causes of detente for the US

  Spend less on arms race = more time and money for domestic issues
• SALT 1 (May 1972)Limits on numbers of SLBMs, ICBMs, ABMs


  • Agree to avoid nuclear war
  • Anti -ballistic missile treaty: ABM's were limited and each side only allowed 100 missiles
  • Interim treaty: ICBM's and SLBM's limited
  • Nixon and Brezhnev visit each other afterwards
• Helsinki Accords (August 1975)


  • 33 countries from NATO and Warsaw pact came
  • European Borders: Countries' borders are permanent, cannot be changed by force
  • International Co-operation: Improve relations between East and West, make trade agreements, joint space mission
  • Human Rights: Freedom of speech, freedom of religion
• SALT 2 (June 1979)


  • Limits on weapons: Ban on testing or using new types of ICBMs
  • Never put into action
• SALT 1 slows down the arms race
• SALT 2 negotiations begin 1974 to discuss unresolved issues from SALT 1
• SALT 2 had restrictions on weapons development and testing
• SALT 2 was never ratified
• The Helsinki Accords were the high point of detente
• Space, sports, special visits

  • Chinese table tennis team toured the US in 1971
  • US and Soviets worked together on a space mission
  • Brezhnev and Nixon both visited each other
  • Nixon visited Brezhnev twice
• SALT 1 said the US and Soviets would avoid nuclear war and it slowed down the arms race
• The Helsinki Accords were the high point of detente because they made agreements on European borders, international cooperation, and human rights
• A weakness of SALT 1 was that it was just a piece of paper with nothing to enforce it, the US and Soviets still had enough weapons for MAD, and it didn't cover all nuclear technology
• Attack on US embassy in Tehran


  Reason for failure of detente
• Reason for failure of détente

  • Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979
  • Attack on US embassy in Tehran Nov 1979 more than 60 held hostage for 444 days
• Afghanistan was important to the Soviet Union because

  They wanted to protect their interests in the Persian Gulf region
• Iranian Revolution


  1979
• Who replaced the Shah of Iran

  Muslim fundamentalists
• The Soviets were interested in the Persian Gulf because of the oil
• Boycott


  Not taking part in an event or associating with people or countries as a protest
• Olympic boycotts


  • Moscow 1980: US and 60 nations not attend
  • Los Angeles 1984: USSR and 15 nations not go
• Detente did not last because of the suspicion and differing aims of the US and Soviet Union based on their ideologies, leading to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the US reaction through the Carter Doctrine and Olympic boycotts, which increased Cold War tensions again.