What is Dtente? What factors have led to it? Trace its evolution up to 1969.

Briefly explain the process of dtente between the US and the Soviet Union.
The term dtente has been one of the most commonly used terms in the context of International means. During the course of the Cold War, tensions rose and fell many times. One period of relaxation developed in the early 1970s and became known as "Dtente," a French word meaning "release of tensions." It was hoped that the new relationship would herald a permanent improvement in relations between the U.S. and Soviet Union, but differences in outlook led to an increasing number of conflicts. The period was characterized by the signing of treaties such as the SALT I and the Helsinki Agreement. The two superpowers also agreed to install a direct hotline between Washington DC and Moscow, the so called red telephone, enabling both countries to quickly interact with each other in a time of urgency.

The factors which have led to dtente

The 1970s witnessed dtente because; 1) The horrors of Vietnam shocked people. US could no longer afford, materially or politically, to fight limited wars of intervention to stop communisms spread 2) Nuclear Parity There was a growing fear of a nuclear holocaust especially with the growth in those countries that had nuclear weapons. Also both USA and USSR had huge stockpiles of weapons USSR was spending a huge amount on weapons at the expense of basic household goods. Living standards were poor. 3) Long-standing Sino-Soviet Split Opportunity to outmanoeuvre USSR politically; best accomplished by traditional power diplomacy USSR: The USSR had political motivations: Brezhnev desired to continue peaceful co-existence as it seemed to further the national interests of the Soviet Union when relations were greatest with the US. Improved relations with the US would be ideal as the USSR was in dire need of superior western utilities. There were economic incentives as well: The USSR had gained greater parity in the arms race with the US, so negotiating limitations with America would help to rebalance their economy as too much was being spent on keeping up with them. Moreover, there were also military advantages to the policy of Dtente: As they feared they wouldnt be able to keep up with the US and its further development negotiating Dtente was ideal. The USSR had great incentives to pursue Dtente. As its economy was failing because it couldnt afford to fuel its military-industrial complex while its other economies were suffering it did not have the resources to counter the ever developing nuclear stockpile of the

US. Brezhnev realised this and so pursued Dtente in order to secure the Soviets national interests. US: The US was politically motivated to pursue Dtente: The later years of the Vietnam War had highlighted that the US was not invincible, regardless of what people originally thought. Moreover, many US citizens were greatly opposed to the war. The US needed to control its citizens at the same time as reaffirming its position in the world. Dtente would relax tensions, allowing for the US to do so and regain its strength. Furthermore, the US was also suffering economically: Not only did the Vietnam War hit the US politically, but the economic realities of it threatened the US with a recession, therefore serving as encouragement to persevere with Dtente. As well as this there were also military incentives: The US had fuelled masses of its economy into the military-industrial complex. So much thousands of jobs were not dependent on it. This meant that when the time came for the war to end these thousands would become unemployed. However the need for more weapons meant for inevitable growth of the complex. Dtente would result in a relaxation of nuclear weapon growth and would stabilise the situation. The US also had a need for Dtente; the Vietnam War had served as the vocal point of a perceived weakness of the US and therefore it was seen best to abandon the war and persevere with Dtente if the nation wanted to protect its national interests. USA realised that there were better ways of containing communism than the ways that has done in previous years. USA was also aware of the massive cost of weapons production and maintaining a huge armed force. A peaceful relationship with the USSR would be very beneficial to USA especially after the cost of the Vietnam War.

The process of dtente between the US and the Soviet Union

1963 - hot-line established after Cuban Missile Crisis For the USA and the USSR the purpose of detente seems to have been the same: to avoid nuclear war between the two. Thus, efforts were made to improve direct communication between them (the hot line agreement of 1963. 1963 - Both agreed to only use underground tests for nuclear explosions The second purpose of detente: to limit the nuclear arms race. Thus, the partial test ban treaty was concluded in 1963. 1969 - Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) start START (for Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) was a bilateral treaty between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms. 1972 - Richard Nixon, USA president, visited Moscow 1973 - Leonid Brezhnev, USSR leader, visited Washington 1974 - Nixon visited Moscow

1975 - Helsinki Agreement USA, USSR, Canada + major European powers accept European frontiers set up after World War Two. This recognised that Germany was divided and East European countries agreed to allow their people human rights such as freedom of speech. Helsinki Agreements: The Helsinki Agreements (1975) were a proposed conference to discuss European security with the countries of NATO and wit h the USSR. Although this initially appeared to be a sign of cooperation between the US an d the USSR their main intentions were to gain concessions from the other side, not for the well-being of relations. SALT I & II: The SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) treaties were designed to limit nuclear weaponry of both sides after the threat they posed during the Cuban Missile Crisis. They are considered one of the high points of Dtente however their success was very limited. SALT I (1971) saw few agreements made and those that were agreed on were vastly ineffective as the limitations posed only considered old techn ology, ignoring new advancements. SALT II (1979) was equally unsuccessful as the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and the US senate ref used to ratify the treaty, marking the failure of the SALT treaties and the end of Dtente. Soyuz and Apollo Link Up: The mission, July 1975, was the first joint Soviet space mission. The Space Race was originally a symbol of competit ion between the two super powers, however this mission served as an example of the potential of Dtente. The cooperation between the two rival nations had illustrtaed that there was potential benefit from Dtente. Was Dtente a Success? Although there were periods in the process of Dtente in which the two sides illustrated their potential for cooperation the old trends of the Cold War continued. Nations continued to stockpile nuclear weapons and their main incentives were to gain concessions from each other. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan highlighted the inevitable end of Dtente.