Zusammenfassung der Ressource
To what extent was
detente a successful
method of conducting
Cold War conflict?
- Europe Detente
- Brandt established links
between East and West as
a method of reducing
barriers.
- Result included several
treaties that recognised
realities of the situation
- Poland and Soviet Union accepted
Oder-Niesse line as a Polish-German
border.
- Also recognised border
between East and West
Germany
- Basic Treaty 1972
accepted existence of East
Germany
- This helped to increase
trade links between two
countries
- USA, France, Britain
gained legal basis for
access routes to West
Berlin
- It was not an abandonment of reunification
- Ospolotik abandoned, Hallstein
Doctrine
- Designed to snub Germany by refusing to
recognise its existence as an imperial
state
- Ostopolitik
- Reduced tension in
Europe - Contributing
to Detente
- Had to accept Soviet
control over Eastern Europe
- This gave legal recognition to Soviet Union
- Reinforced division of Cold War Europe
- An Assessment od Detente
- Achievement of detente meant
superpower relations were
stabilised and risks
minimalised
- Armanents increased
in this period, signed
agreements were
ignored
- E.G SALT 2 and Helsinki
- Detente did not reduce tensions in all areas of international relations
- USSR + China tension remained high
- Third world conflicts, Afghanistan showed USSR extended its influence during detente
- This situation produced suspicion and mistrust and let to the brekdown of detente in december 1979.
- Collapse of Detente showed its fragility
- Interpretations of Detente
- Left and central spectrum
American historians viewed
detente as a positive step
that had a stabilising effect
on relations
- This was the standard
view during 1970s being
optimistic that detente
would limit the arms race
- Kissinger and Nixon
the architects of
detente give a positive
view on their own
attempts
- Post historians
think that detente
was beneficial for
both sides
- E.g Alexander George in 'Force
and statecraft 1983' suggested
detente created a less dangerous
and more useful international
relationship.
- Right wing Americans
were delusional towards it
- This more critical
approach
dominates historical
thinking
- Detente was seen as a sign of weakness
and being 'soft' on communism allowed
the soviets to catch up in arms
development and continue the war
- Right wing views on detente however tend
to neglect the advantages detente held for
the USA during a period when
self-confidence was under threat
- Collapse of soviet union in
1980s was viewed as a result
of the pressure in matching
the USA in the arms race
- Therefore detente was seen as
prolonging the war rather than realistic
steps towards bringing it to an end