Dtente and Europe, 19631984

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Détente and Europe, 1963-1984
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Détente

• A lessening of tensions in the Cold War
• After the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1963, many
  countries pulled back from confrontation to
  reduce the chances of nuclear war
• Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963)
• Prohibited testing in outer space, in the
  atmosphere, and underwater
• Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (1964)
• Nations agreed not to develop nuclear weapons
• Nations such as France, China, India, Pakistan,
  and other nations refused to sign

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U.S. and U.S.S.R. Influence

• Western European nations became less dependent on
  the U.S. (especially France)
• The Sino-Soviet split allowed many Eastern
  European states more autonomy
• The Peoples Republic of China exploded a nuclear
  bomb in 1964, changing the balance
• The bipolar U.S.-Soviet global rivalry moved into
  a multipolar balance of power.

4
Better U.S./Soviet Relations

• 1963 -- Hot line
• A hot line was installed so that the U.S.
  president and Soviet premier could defuse a
  potential crisis
• Kennedy and Khrushchev were often forced to
  communicate through public broadcasts during the
  Cuban Missile Crisis.

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Better U.S./Soviet Relations

• In 1963, the U.S. agreed to sell large quantities
  of wheat to the Soviet Union.
• This new trade relation would expand to include
  other goods.
• Tourism was encouraged.
• Culture exchanges.
• (Ex. Bolshoi Ballet Louis Armstrong)

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The Common Market in Europe

• European Community (1967)
• Worked to end tariffs between member nation and
  create a free flow of trade
• Members France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium,
  the Netherlands, and Luxembourg
• Great Britain, Ireland, and Denmark joined in
  1973 Greece in 1981
• The EC helped continue the postwar recovery and
  break Western Europes economic dependence on the
  U.S.

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Charles de Gaulle(President of France)1958-69

• Wanted to end Western Europes political
  dependence on the U.S.
• Encouraged France to develop nuclear capability
• Tested bomb in 1960
• Began withdrawing French troops from
  U.S.-dominated NATO in 1959
• All French removed by 1967
• Demanded that all NATO troops leave France
• Envisioned France had head of the Third Force
  that would stand between the U.S. and the Soviet
  Union
• De Gaulle never realized his goal and resigned in
  1969.

8
Soviet Union

• Khrushchev was ousted from power
  in 1964 and replaced by
  Leonid Brezhnev
• The Brezhnev Era, 1964-82
• Military spending remained top priority
• Put an end to Khrushchevs de-Stalinization
  campaign
• Had a stroke in 1976
• Economic and political decline corruption,
  favoritism, and alcoholism increase
• Between 1982-85, Yuri Andropov and Konstantin
  Chernenko both die in office

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Eastern Europe

• Many Eastern European countries attempted to gain
  some level of autonomy during the 1960s
• Czechoslovakia tried to adopt liberal reforms
• The Prague Spring of 1968 hoped to produce a
  more humane socialism
• The Soviet Union invaded and Alexander Dubcek
  resigned.
• The Soviet invasion involved about 500,000 Warsaw
  Pact troops and was remarkably well-planned and
  executed. Only a handful of soldiers died.
• More than 80 Czechoslovak citizens were killed
  and several hundred wounded during a month of
  clashes following the invasion.

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Germany and Détente

• Willy Brandt
• Chancellor of West Germany (1969-74)
• Proposed Ostpolitik (A hand offered to the East)
• In 1972, East and West Germany recognized each
  other and were both admitted to the U.N.

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U.S. and China

• Richard Nixon became president in 1969 and wanted
  to ease cold war tensions relied on diplomatic
  skills of Henry Kissinger
• Chinese/U.S. relations improved
• In 1971, Henry Kissinger secretly visited China.
• In 1971, the U.N. expelled Taiwan and seated the
  Peoples Republic the U.S. did not veto
• In 1972, Nixon traveled to Beijing to meet Mao
  and made recognition an official and public act.
• Before leaving he was given two giant pandas,
  Hsing-Hsing and Ling-Ling

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Ping Pong Diplomacy

• The two countries established cultural, economic,
  and diplomatic relations
• U.S. Ping Pong team visits China.
• U.S. ends restrictions on travel to China, ends
  trade embargo
• Agreed to the one-China policy (Tawain was part
  of China)

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Détente Agreements

• Nixon and Brezhnev signed a series of agreements
• Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT)
• Suspended the building of ICBMs, capped the
  number of a variety of weapons.
• ABM Treaty
• Limited the deployment of antiballistic missiles,
  designed to destroy incoming missiles
• Helsinki Agreements (1975)
• 33 European nations plus the U.S. Canada
  ratified the results of WWII (boundaries)

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Economic Problems and Politics

• In 1974-75, an increase in food and petroleum
  prices combined with an economic recession to
  create severe inflation in Western Europe.
• Conservative governments
• Helmut Kohl becomes chancellor of West Germany in
  1982.
• Margaret Thatcher becomes prime minister of G.B.
  in 1979.
• Socialist governments
• Francois Mitterrand elected president of France
  in 1981

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Collapse of Détente

• By the late 1970s, the optimism that the Cold War
  had virtually ended had faded.
• The continued Soviet military buildup and the
  Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 soured
  relations with the U.S.
• As a result the U.S.
• Failed to ratify the 1979 SALT II Treaty.
• Boycotted the Olympics in Moscow in 1980.
• Placed and embargo on U.S. grain shipments to the
  Soviet Union.