- •We’re then going to look at moves in both Western and Eastern Europe towards détente in the period
- •I will finally offer some conclusions.
- •Post-Cuba these pressures became stronger
- •There have been critical voices debating how real the thaw was or not
- •Still in general it was good that the Test Ban Treaty had been concluded – moves away from the idea of general ‘hot’ war between the two sides
- •De Gaulle’s policies linked to other Western European criticism of the cold war status quo
- •One final Western European policy which moved towards détente was the policy of the West German Chancellor, Willy Brandt often called Ostpolitik (or Eastern policy)
- •Europe very important in the move towards détente then
- •A major breakthrough in ussr-Soviet relations came with the signing of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1968
- •Whilst there were moves towards détente during this period there were also other important international events which limited these moves
- •If the Soviets moved away from good behaviour they were to be punished – this policy would be used to great effect with the Soviets but also with the Chinese, we will have a look at that a bit later.
- •From July 1963 the Soviets and the Chinese decided not to set a date for future relations – Sino-Soviet split
- •Mao’s cultural revolution from 1965-9 further increased the difference between the two powers –
- •In July 1971 it was announced that Richard Nixon would be visiting China – from a position of enmity to normalisation of diplomatic relations within a couple of years
- •Moscow summit – May 1972
Europe very important in the move towards détente then
Instead of the confrontational policies of Kruschev, which had been proved to be a failure during the Missile Crisis and the Berlin Crises, rationalism began to dominate in the Soviet Union. This was greatly helped by a change of leadership at the top in the Soviet Union. Kruschev had been considered to be a failure as a result of Berlin and Cuba, and his domestic reforms regarding agriculture and industry had not succeeded as he would have liked, he was also considered to be unpredictable. This led to K being replaced in October 1964.
If détente was pushed for by the States in 1963 and then increasingly by Europe from the mid-1960s what was happening between the Soviets and the Americans from 1964-8?
The ground was ripe for détente in 1963 with the signing of the Test Ban Treaty. However moves towards détente Between 1964 to 1968 were however only gradual, this was as a result of a number of important factors we are going to look at in a minute. Whilst both The main détente moves in this period were as follows. In April 1964 the new American president Lindon Baines Johnson and Kruschev agreed to reduce production of fissionable uranium which could be used to create nuclear weapons. In June 1964 a treaty between the two powers removed some travel restrictions between the countries – although this was not ratified until 1967.
Continued moves to limit arms control. In January 1967 the two powers signed the Outer Space Treaty which agreed to demilitarise the moon and the cosmos in general.
A further move towards détente was In June 1967 USSR and the USA agreed to meet up at Glassboro, New Jersey to talk about US-Soviet relations. Here Linden Baines Johnson and Alexei Kosygin discussed issues such as arms control, specifically relating to the reduction of Anti-Ballistic missiles (missiles which the two powers used to defend themselves in event of a nuclear attack). Despite a lack of agreement regarding arms control there was in general a good atmosphere at the conference, something called the ‘Glassboro spirit’, generally positive for US-Soviet relations.
A major breakthrough in ussr-Soviet relations came with the signing of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1968
This move continued to show their willingness to work together (and progress towards a more peaceful world) was the signing of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty in 1968 (signed in July 1968). Here the idea was to prevent the spread of Nuclear Weapons to countries which did not have them, which was supposed to maintain security in the world. This showed the US and Soviets urge to prevent conflict and come to the table. At the same time there were issues with the NPT as many of the countries looking for nuclear weapons were unwilling to sign the treaty. This was however a strong move towards co-operation.
Finally in 1968 plans were made to move towards a general US-Soviet treaty regarding arms limitations (SALT), concerning Anti-Ballistic missiles, Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and Submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), but this was left to the future