What were the reasons for Detente 1962-1979 Essay Example

both sides, peaking in the early ‘70s.

The USSR received their cheap trade and the USSR allowed the first American president into the country since the end of WWII.Talks and agreements were made which allowed each side to decrease defence spending. These talks included SALT I and SALT II. These were agreements to limit missile production of all calibre of missiles. This allowed more money to be spent on living conditions for citizens and for the USSR to modernise their industry. Meanwhile, the USA had lost the Vietnam War, so could concentrate on their economy.

The Helsinki agreement of 1975 introduced the Declaration of Human Rights acts and the USA accepting communist borders of Eastern Europe. This delighted the USSR especially.Other agreements included the ban of nuclear tests in space and banning small countries arming themselves with their own nuclear weapons.However, throughout the Cold War, the USSR had been aiming to spread communism regardless of agreements. The Capitalist defeat in Vietnam only boosted Communist appeal.

This aim only collapsed détente as the USA and the USSR were forced back into the reality of the Cold War. Détente had been broken; the USSR had angered the USA by invading Afghanistan.