Why were there two armed camps in Europe in 1914?

Why did war break out in 1914?

How did the Treaty of Versailles establish peace?

Why did the League of Nations fail in its aim to keep peace?

How did Hitler challenge and exploit the Treaty of Versailles?

Why did Chamberlain's policy of Appeasement fail to prevent war from breaking out?

Why did the USA and USSR become rivals between 1945 and 1949?

How did the Cold War develop between 1949 and 1955?

How peaceful was Peaceful Co-existence?

How close to war was the world in the 1960's?

Why did Detente collapse in the 1970's and 1980's?

Why did Communism collapse in Central and Eastern Europe?

Peaceful coexistence? Superpower Relations, 1962 to 1979.

Timeline of Events

1962 : Conflict between the USA and the USSR reaches its highest point with conflict in Cuba. After the blockade the superpowers decide to embark upon a policy of détente.
1963 : The signing of the Nuclear Test Ban treaty, the USA agreed to withdraw nuclear weapons from Turkey and Italy.
1965: the USA got involved in the Vietnam War. Its aim is to stop South Vietnam from becoming communist. New Russian leader, Leonid Brezhnev who is not so interested in détente.
1968 : Signing of the Nuclear Non – Proliferation Treaty 1969 : New USA president – Richard Nixon.
1970 – 2 : Start of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) begin to reduce the number of weapons both sides have got. USA became friendly with communist China.
1973 : USA losing the war in Vietnam. Agreed to withdraw her troops.
1974 : Start of SALT II talks.
1975 : New USA president, Jimmy Carter. Helsinki agreement on a range of human rights.
1979 : Breakdown of co – operation between the USA and USSR. Invasion of USA embassy in Teheran in Iran. USA believed that communists are behind plan. USSR invaded Afghanistan.

How did the situation improve between 1962 and 1969 ?

In 1962, President Kennedy and President Khrushchev nearly came into conflict over Cuba Both leaders recognised that they had to co-operate with each other in order to avoid the possibility of a nuclear war. A new term DÉTENTE was spoken of. It meant a lessening of tension with the two superpowers working together to try to reduce the possibility of conflict. So what did they do ?

• In 1963 a Tele-printer was installed in the Kremlin and the Whitehouse. This allowed the leaders of the USA and the USSR to communicate with each other directly.

• In 1963, a test ban treaty was signed which stopped nuclear testing above ground. Most tests were carried out under - ground but it showed the new degree of co – operation.

• America promised that it would leave Cuba alone and that it would remove missiles from Turkey and Italy. Khrushchev agreed to remove missiles from Cuba.

• In 1968, the USA and the USSR also signed the nuclear non proliferation treaty. This was designed so that other countries were not prepared to provide nuclear technology to other countries. Both countries were too frightened to provide nuclear weapons to other countries as it could involve both of them in war.

• It is important to remember that whilst these changes were taking place both the USA and the USSR still did not trust each other. The USA was fighting a war in Vietnam (1965 to 1973) to try to stop South Vietnam from becoming communist. The USSR was busy itself trying to make sure that those countries behind the Iron Curtain remained communist. Brezhnez sent troops into Czechoslovakia in 1968 to crush an uprising.

The situation saw further improvement with the holding of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks.
Why were the SALT talks held ?

The Vietnam War cost the American government billions of dollars which could have been used to improve the lives of blacks and others. It did not seem to matter how much money was spent, the USA is not seem to be winning over 58,000 USA soldiers had died. America wanted to end the war.

President Nixon was facing strong protest inside his own country. People saw the ways in which the USA was dropping deadly chemicals upon innocent Vietnamese people and other terrible events. In Kent State University in Ohio in 1970 had seen four students being shot dead in protest. Many middle class people, who supported the government were protesting.

The USA and USSR had developed missiles that were incredibly costly. The USSR especially was facing serious problems with her economy. There was a serious shortage of food and industry did not produce enough. Brezhnev saw it far better to spend money on sorting out the problems of the economy than wasting it on nuclear bombs.

The USA wanted to make friends with other communist countries. The USA had been very suspicious of China. President Nixon visited China and trade was set up between the two countries. China and the USSR did not get on so well. Brezhnev (USSR leader) was frightened that China and the USA might work against the USSR, so agreement with America was essential

What were the key features of the SALT talks ?
The Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT I ) were held in 1972. Nixon (left) and Brezhnev agreed to the following terms
It limited the number of ICBM’s and SLBM’s both sides could have.
There would be a five year delay on the building of more nuclear missiles and it was agreed that there would be a further agreement in five years.
There was also continued talks which agreed to allow both sides to use spy satellites over each other to make sure that they were keeping to their agreed numbers.
A trade agreement was signed between the USA and the USSR in 1975 and both sides agreed to co-operate in sport. Both USA and USSR astronauts also met up in space.
The aim of SALT II was to provide both countries with a policy which would finally solve the problems of knowing how many missiles each side should have. The talks were begun in 1974 and ended in 1979. They agreed that how many weapons both sides should have. These limited both sides to around 1,000 ICBM’s each until 1985.
They also wanted to eventually limit and reduce the number of weapons both sides had so that it would reduce the possibility of a conflict.
They also wanted to give people rights. In 1975 in Helsinki it was agreed that both sides would respect human rights and give people basic human rights The SALT 2 talks were never ratified (put into practise)