Détente and

Europe, 1963-1984
 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
 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 People’s 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.
 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.
 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)

 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 Europe’s
economic dependence on the U.S.
 Charles de Gaulle
(President of France)1958-69
 Wanted to end Western Europe’s 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.
 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 Khrushchev’s “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
 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 Dubček 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.
 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.
 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 People’s 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
 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)
 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)
 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
 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.