3.1 Attempts To Reduce Tension Flashcards
Why was there a period of detente?
1960s were marked with crisis, including most intense moments .both wanted to avoid other near misses. Military expansion hadn’t succeeded in reducing tensions .
Why the arms race led to detente?
Both countries were keen to reduce military spending , the arms race was extremely expensive and led to falling living standards. Ussr especially worried about falling living standards in eastern bloc. In 1970 there were riots in response to high living costs
How the war in vietnam led to detente?
Us president Nixon , knew war in vietnam needed to be brought to an end
How did chinas relationship with the soviets affect detente?
Ussr and china were not allies at this point, known as the sino-soviet split. Us could establish diplomatic relations with china. Nixon visited china in 1972 and dropped its objection to them joining the UN. Us wanted china to push north vietnam to a resolution.
When was salt 1?
1972
What was salt 1?
The frist strategic arms limitation treaty:
- treaty signed by us and ussr , limiting number of ABM(anti ballistic missiles) each country could have and placed temporary limit on numbers of ICBMs on both sides.
- short term success, slowed down the arms race.
What were ABMs?
Were designed to intercept incoming missiles and had the potential to upset delicate ‘nuclear balance’ between us and ussr. If one side could use ABMs the threat of retaliation would be gone
When was the Helsinki agreement?
1975
What was the helsinki agreement?
Signed by 35 countires including the ussr and us.all countries signed up to recognise european borders established after WW2 as well as basic human rights like freedom of speech. Western allies recognised soviet control of eastern bloc . Ground breaking , soviets had agreed to human rights after decades of dictatorship.
How did the ussr respond to the Helsinki agreement?
West viewed it as major progress, but ussr didnt stick to its words. It didn’t grant freedom of speech or freedom of movement to its citizens. This undermined the Helsinki agreement and made usa distrust the ussr.
When was salt 2 signed?
1979
What was salt 2?
The second strategic arms limitation treaty:
Treaty banned usa and the ussr from launching new missile programmes and limited the number of MIRVs(weapons that can carry several missiles wt once and deploy them to different targets) a country could have at once.
What happened to salt 2?
Never ratified, by the senate, so didn’t come into effect
What was Apollo soyuz mission?
Was a joint mission involving the docking of the us spacecraft with a soviet spacecraft high above earth
How did the war in afghanistan begin?
- 1978, a civil war rboke put in afghanistan. Rebels were protesting, at new radical reform brought by the afghan communist government , which had close ties to the soviet union.
- afghan government requested help from the ussr, which invaded in 1979
