Early critics of detente in the USSR

Question 1

Who was Pytor Shelest?

Answer 1

A member of the Politburo

Question 2

Why did Shelest criticise détente?

Answer 2

On the basis that the US was engaged in the Vietnam War - a war with a communist nation

Question 3

What did tensions over the Vietnam War almost lead to?

Answer 3

The cancellation of the Moscow Summit of 1972, as it coincided with a massive escalation of the war in Vietnam

Question 4

Who else, in the politburo, was concerned about the more general implications of detente?

Answer 4

Gennady Voronov, Aleksandr Shelepin and Nikolai Podgorny

Question 5

What did Voronov, Shelepin and Podgorny argue about detente?

Answer 5

It was an implicit acceptance of a bipolar world. Detente did nothing to challenge US dominance in the West and it also did nothing to advance the USSR’s goal of spreading communism

Question 6

What did events in the Middle East lead to?

Answer 6

Criticism of detente with the Soviet government

Question 7

What did the USSR refuse to share with the USA?

Answer 7

Intelligence concerning the Middle East War

Question 8

What did the USA exclude the USSR from and what was the result of this?

Answer 8

Excluded them from peace negotiations in the aftermath of the war.

Question 9

What did the USA’s exclusion of the USSR result in?

Answer 9

It damaged superpower relations and increased pressure on Brezhnev from within the Politburo to take a harder line against the USA