The term Détente is referred to the period in Cold War when the tensions between the US and the USSR reduced. The Cold War was triggered in 1945 when the US dropped the two atomic bombs, Little Boy and Fat Man, on Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki(August 9) respectively. In fact, even before 1945, the seeds of conflicts were already there despite the fact that they were allies in the Second World War. For instances, their different and contradicting ideologies (Capitalism vs. Communism), their resentments of history, their different aims in the conferences, were a few of the many causes of the Cold War. After the starting of the Cold War, the different events increased the tensions between the two Superpowers, for example the Berlin Blockade, however there was also a very short period of Détente after the Korean War such as Khrushchev's secret speech in 1955. But the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 increased the tensions exponentially; the Third World War nearly broke out. Since their relation was in such a tension, why then did they move to Détente in 1963-1975? Actually, there were many reasons, and they could be mainly examined from the US, the Soviets, and China.
Détente was needed because both the US and the USSR were feared of the war that might break out betwixt them, since it would no longer be an ordinary war, but a nuclear war, which would very likely annihilate the whole human race, the mutually assured destruction. In July 16, 1945, the success of US in the Trinity Atomic Test marked the starting of a new era--the nuclear era. Merely 4 years after the America, on August 29, 1949, the USSR also successfully tested its atomic bombs. The US no longer had the monopoly in the nuclear bombs industry, if a war broke out between the US and the USSR, both could us the atomic bombs, and it was nearly a mutually assure destruction. Only a few years after this, both the US and the USSR got the Hydrogen Bombs. In October 1962, the confrontation between the two superpowers in Cuban Missile Crisis nearly escalated into a Third World War or the First Nuclear World War. When the Soviet ships with missiles on them approached the US blockade line in Cuba, people all around the world held their breath because of the anxiety. This was when they realized that their disagreements could only have a certain limit, they could not afford to have a nuclear war, else almost everyone on this planet would be destroyed. The movie "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" directed by Stanley Kubrick, released in 1964, was a comedy, drama and a thriller reflecting one of the possible outcomes to the human race if the nuclear war broke out. It was made a couple years after the Cuban Missile Crisis, which acted, in a way, as a resonance to the Crisis, and made the people realized the serious consequences a nuclear war between the two superpowers could have. Through this series of incidents, both the US and the USSR were convinced that if a nuclear war did take place, it would give no benefits to any of them. It would be the most tragic atrocity ever happened to the Earth. Therefore, the necessity of reducing the possibility for the outbreak of a nuclear war pushed both the US and the USSR to the road to Détente.
In the USSR, the new Soviets leader, Leonid Brezhnev, felt that with the continuation of the nuclear arms race, the money and resources which could eradicate the social and economic problems of the people had to go to the military, leaving its people below the living standards, so the only way to improve it was to pursued peace between the US and itself, which would help them to divert the military expends to improving the lives of its people. The life of a USSR citizen in this period of time was really miserable, the quality and the quantity of the necessities (food, clean water, clothing and shelter) were often inadequate, and for the luxury goods, she usually had to wait for a decade to finally get the them, but due to poor quality, they usually would be broken in a short period of time compared to how much time she needed to wait for them. This scenario shows how much the quality of their consumer goods, the production capacity, and the lives of the Soviet citizens could be improved with the money and resources that were spent on the arms race with the America. Furthermore, with Détente, the Soviets could access to more advanced technology and supplies in the Western world that could help to improve their social and economic problems. Thus, pursuing a détente would act in more of a good way to the Soviets, that's why it needed a peace with the Western world.
To the US, military expense was also a problem, but unlike Soviets that was spending the money on the arms race, it focused its military power in the Vietnam War, which was a money, time, resources and manpower black hole, and it was the Vietnam War that changed the US public opinion. In both world wars, the US became one of the wealthiest countries on Earth by selling the weapons to the other countries to boost its economy and it was believe that the US was all powerful. It wasn't until the Vietnam War did the people changed their views. The Vietnam War had caused large budget deficits and high inflation in the US, also it took the First World Country over a decade, and it still did not win the war against a tiny Third World Country, and this was when the people realized that the US also had its limits. If it were at a war against the USSR, it might not win. Therefore, a peace with the USSR was favoured because it would allow them to uphold their interests without the intervention of military. Moreover, the different ideal policies of the US presidents on creating a better US domestic society, for examples Mr. Kennedy's New Frontier and Mr. Johnson's Great Society, were undermined because of the extremely large expense of the US on the Vietnam War which at its peak was $2000million per month in 1968. The American would obviously prefer to spend this $2000million to eradicate the domestic problems than fighting a war at the other side of the globe. The US government realized that only through Détente with the USSR could they free more resources and money from the military budget to the domestic causes.
Furthermore, China acted as a catalyst for both the US and the USSR to move to Détente. China's relation with the USSR worsened and in 1969 there was a border dispute near the Ussuri River between the Soviet and the Chinese. Actually before that, China and the Soviets already had some problems with each other. From the Khrushchev's secret speech in 1955 on, China was not content with the USSR because the USSR's communism was not like the Stalinist communism anymore. China, at this point, wanted to be the leader to the Communist Countries. So the relation of China and the USSR was getting worse. In 1972, the President of the United States Richard Nixon visited Beijing, the capital city of China, with the objective of improving the sino-American relation. The USSR saw it as a threat because of if the US and the China united together against it, the consequences were not so optimistic. Having both of its opponents together would put the Soviets in a bad position which should be prevented. Therefore, moving to Détente with the US, it would do the Soviets a favour in not putting itself in a disadvantage spot.
In conclusion, the main causes for the Soviets and the United States moving to Détente could be mainly explained in terms of the US, the USSR and China. However, the Europe countries played a rather important role in successfully moving them to Detente as well, for instance Brandt's Ostpolitik. Even though this period of Detente did not last forever, it did help to reduce the tension between the two superpowers and prevented a Third World War but with nuclear arms from happening so far.
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