Detente Flashcards
Define Detente
Refers to the easing of tensions, in this case, the easing of US-Soviet relations through nuclear disarmament talks regarding nuclear weapons
Provide context for Detente in the cold war
Aftermath of the cuban missile crisis, the fear mutually assured destruction (MAD) motivated meetings (summits) between the Soviets and the US to meet in order to discuss global affairs. Led to the two superpowers signing a Nuclear test ban treaty on 10th October 1963, an agreed to cease underwater, space and atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons.
Discuss the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) of July 1968
USA and USSR wanted to keep the technology up to the discretion of the main powers that could be trusted to be rational actors. Thus, the USA, USSR, and Britain signed the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in July 1968 which was an agreement aimed at prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology as well as further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament. NPT succeeded in preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons to those industrialized countries that were considered capable of developing nuclear weapons Although the NPT did not ultimately prevent nuclear proliferation, it was significant as it set a precedent for international cooperation between nuclear and non-nuclear states to prevent proliferation. (Set the stage for SALT 1)
Dicuss SALT I & SALT II
1) Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT I), an agreement signed by the US & USSR and implemented in 1972- severely limited the number of nuclear warheads and nuclear flexibility. The only type of missile that was not banned was the SLBMs (submarine)
2) Followed by SALT II aggreement completed in 1979, it involved negotiations to reduce the number of nuclear warheads possessed by each side to 2,250 and banned new weapons programmes from coming into existence. Though SALT II was never ratified by the USA Senate, most probably due to Soviet interventions in Cuba and Afghanistan. (even tho both sides honored the agreement until 1984 when President Reagan declared that the Soviet Union had violated its political commitment to observe the SALT II Treaty.)
Significance:
slowed the arms race and opened a period of U.S.-Soviet detente that lessened the threat of nuclear war.
Dicuss the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty
At the same time the USA engaged in another set of talks known as the Strategic arms reduction treaty or START. Treaty was signed in 1991 and allowed for the superpowers to possess over 10,000 warheads and and a total of 1,600 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and bombers while also limiting the number of fighter planes, attack helicopters, tanks and artillery pieces.
Limitation:
implementation was hindered by the collapse of the soviet union six months later, forced the USA to sign separate treaties with Russia and former soviet states that possessed nuclear weapons. -Soviet states (Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine) all disposed of their Nukes)
Significance:
Facilitated the continuity of the reduction in nuclear weaponry even after the fall of the USSR
Dicusss the Helsinki agreements in 1975 (Helsinki Accords) & its significance
The Helsinki Final Act was an agreement signed by 35 nations on August 1, 1975 in Helsinki, Finland. Agreeement contained 3 sets categoires:
Security in Europe in which post-war frontiers were accepted; cooperation in science, technology, and environmental concerns; and human rights. Particularly relevant to the US-Soviet relations was the to the official recognize all borders in central and eastern Europe established in the aftermath of World War II
Significance:
Marked the formal acceptance of the Soviet official acceptance of the Soviet’s dominance and sphere in Eastern Europe from the West’s point of view.
Leveraging this concession, the Agreement also enable the western to cause the Soviet Union to make concessions for commitments on such issues as respect for human rights, expansion of contacts between eastern and western Europe, freedom to travel, and the free flow of information across borders.
Significance
according to historian John Lewis Gaddis, the Helsinki Accords gradually became a manifesto of the dissident and liberal movement in Soviet Stalitiete states as people become more courageous to say what they thought.
Discuss the Middle East & Detente (The impact of Detente)
1) Arab hostility to Israel continued into the 1960s, was bolstered by soviet arms shipments to egypt and syria. Soviet Union supported the Arab views. Israel got assistance from the USA and reparations from Germany, Israel also had a more developed economy.
2) Americans thought that US assistance would result in peace in the region, however soviet as the main supplier of arab armaments, soviet disengagement was the key to beginning the peace process.
3) Egyptian President Anwar Sadat recognised this a dismissed allsoviet military advisors and technicians from the country and began secret negotiations with the US government.
4) October 1973, Syria and Egypt attacked Israel. The US sent its navy to the mediterranean and issued a no-tolerance policy regarding the involvement of outside powers.
5) War ended after 3 UN Security Council resolutions.
6) Nixon and Brezhnev would communicate daily to prevent escalation.
7) Sadat felt that the soviet didn’t help much so he turned over to the USA side. Change in policy led to a series of agreements in 1974 and 1975 and finally the 1979 peace agreement between Egypt and Israel.
Dicuss Germany and Ostpolitik (Impact of Detente)
September 1969, Willy Brandt was elected chancellor of west germany. Felt the key for german reunification was rapprochement with the communists. Felt that west germany should recognize the east german state and ease tensions with the USSR, french President Charles de Gaulle supported this idea.
1) After France left NATO in 1966, the only french forces deployed to NATO were those in germany. De Gaulle developed his own stockpile of nuclear weapons as a further means of protection, the USA was unwilling to alienate another NATO member and lose West germany so it acquiesced to Brandt’s plans.
2) In 1970, West Germany signed a treaty with the USSR recognizing the borders of germany including the oder-neisse line that delineated the border of Poland and east germany.
3) In 1971, an agreement was signed in which Berlin would be represented by West Germany in international matters but would not become part of West Germany.
4) . 1972 saw the normalization of relations between the two german states including the establishment of permanent missions and the admission of both states in the united nations.
Discuss what underpined the success of Detente
Success of detente existed only as long as the leaders were domestically strong, this situation faltered in 1975 when Nixon resigned was replaced by Gerald Ford, who later lost to Jimmy Carter in the 1976 presidential elections. Brezhnev remained constantly ill, and the military made most decisions.
In 1979, Brezhnev and Carter signed SALT II.
