Détente: Year 12 Modern History

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the key terms, treaties, and summits related to the era of Détente between the USA and the USSR as detailed in the lecture notes.

Détente

The easing of tensions between the USA and USSR during the 1970s, where both superpowers attempted to reduce the risk of direct conflict while continuing to compete politically and economically.

MAD

Mutual Assured Destruction; the recognition by both sides that nuclear war would be catastrophic, serving as a reason for developing détente.

Sino-Soviet Split

A division between the USSR and China that encouraged the USSR to seek better relations with the USA due to fear of conflict with China.

Direct Communications Link

Often called the "hotline," this was agreed upon on 20 June 1963 to be installed between leaders following the interactions between Kennedy and Khruschev.

Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (August 5, 1963)

A treaty that banned nuclear tests in the air, water, or outer space, while exempting underground explosions; it was not signed by France or the PRC.

Glassboro Summit (June 1967)

A meeting where Kosygin and Johnson discussed the Middle East, Vietnam, and nuclear arms control with inconclusive results.

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (July 1968)

An agreement signed by Britain, the US, and the USSR stating they cannot transfer nuclear weapons to other countries or assist in their manufacture.

SALT I (1972)

The Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty which included a five-year freeze on the construction of missile launchers and intercontinental and submarine-launched ballistic missiles.

Ostpolitik

A policy pursued by West German Chancellor Willy Brandt to improve relations between West Germany and Eastern Europe.

Helsinki Accords (1975)

An agreement signed by 33 European states, Canada, and the US that recognized European borders and promoted cooperation and human rights.

Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty

A 1972 treaty allowing both countries to deploy two fixed, ground-based defense sites of 100 missile interceptors each: one to protect the national capital and one for an ICBM field base.

MIRVS

Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicles; US technology featuring 12 nuclear warheads used to counter Soviet ABM deployment.

ICBM

Intercontinental Ballistic Missile; a type of offensive missile launcher frozen at existing levels as part of the SALT I compromise.

SLBM

Submarine-launched ballistic missile; launchers that could only be constructed under SALT I after an equal number of older launchers were dismantled.

PRC-US Rapprochement

The development of friendly diplomatic contacts and improving relations between the People's Republic of China and the USA starting in early 1970.

Moscow Summit (May 1972)

A meeting between Nixon and Brezhnev resulting in signed ABM and SALT I treaties, a trade agreement, and the 'Basic Principles of Relations'.

Basic Principles of Relations

Referred to by historian Raymond Gartoff as 'a charter for détente,' this document agreed that ideological differences were not obstacles to sovereignty and equality.

Soviet-US Trade Agreement (October 1972)

An agreement following the Moscow Summit allowing the USSR to purchase grain and expand bilateral trade with the US.

Basket 1 (Helsinki Accords)

Focused on European security and inter-state relations, including the settlement of disputes, noninterference, and the absoluteness of frontiers.

Basket 2 (Helsinki Accords)

Promoted cooperation in economics, science, technology, and environmental issues.

Basket 3 (Helsinki Accords)

Focused on cooperation in humanitarian fields, such as expanding trade, tourism, cultural contacts, and the reunion of families split by the Iron Curtain.

Brezhnev Doctrine

The Soviet policy used to justify the August 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia to stop the 'Prague Spring.'

SALT II (1979)

A treaty that agreed on limits for strategic weapons but was never ratified by the US Senate.