Nixon forign

China

Nixon relaxed restrictions on Chinese American trade

April 1971 - china invited American table tennis team there ( ping pong diplomacy)

1972 - Nixon visited china

• good for relations between the two

• Good for Nixon’s image

• Helps with Vietnam

• However tensions remained due to Taiwan

Soviet Union

Four power agreement (1971) -

• USSR USA Britain and France

• USSR recognised western powers rights to West Berlin

SALT (strategic arms limitation treaty) (1972)

• froze number of nukes both USSR and USA

• soviets ignore after a year

Yom kippur war

1973

• leads to energy crisis in the states

• Failure of detente - USSR mobilises forces to help Arab nations

• USA went to DEFCON-3 1 is nuke war (USSR backs down

• Kissinger uses shuttle diplomacy, middle man

Invasion of Cambodia

April 1970 - destroys Vietcong bases/ facilities

• extremely unpopular as it further increased the length of the Vietnam war and was an active invasion

• Led to the Kent state demonstration

Vietnamisation

Train the ARVN so that US troops can withdraw from Vietnam

• Limited success

Christmas bombing

1972

Known as operation linebacker II. It lasted for 11 days in which more than 20,000 tons of explosives were dropped, even on civilians

• international outrage

• ‘Madmen theory’ by Congress if nixons demands were not met

Paris peace accords

Jan 1973 - arranged by Kissinger

• north V alloud to stay in south but couldn’t fight or increase numbers

• South V would continue to exist and thieu would stay in power

• Ceasefire and prisoners of war returned

• Kissinger received Nobel peace prize

• Last combat troops left in 1973

Chile

America feared socialist Salvador Allende might win 1970 presidential election in chile

• Nixon granted CIA 10 million to prevent Allende from gaining power

• Nixon stopped all aid including American development bank loans

• 1973 Augusto pinochet led a bloody coup and Allende ‘killed himself’