Chapter 7 notes

Moscow and Washington had put tentative steps towards ending the Cold War
o Several occurrences made people question this
Cuban missile crisis
US role in Vietnam
Soviet backed Cuba
Soviet backed N. Vietnam
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979
Insurgencies in points in Central America and Africa
1969 year that Cold War began slowing down
o 2 main people Richard Nixon, Mikhail Gorbachev
They were discredited at home however
Superpower peace came in 1989
USSR fragments in 1991

The Nixon Policy Turnaround

Nixon saw dialogue with the Soviet Union and China as a necessity
Was convinced that Great powers have legitimate interests and it was his job to
concentrate negotiations on the areas of mutual interest where compromise was possible
US decline not 2 superpowers anymore there are 5: US, Soviet Union, China, Western
Europe, and Japan
Nixon limited the growth of nukes and cut the military budget
Nixon had three basic foreign policy goals
1. End the war in Vietnam
Bomb N Vietnam sanctuaries in Cambodia and Laos- might give S
Vietnam government a chance
2. Open relations with China
1972 visited China
Taiwan unresolved part of China cant be regained by force
US wont intervene in S. Korea, Taiwan, and Japan
3. Reduce tension with Soviet Union
Worked with Leonid Brezhnev
Strategic Arms Limitations Treat (SALT 1) in 1972
Limited number of launchers, capped anti missile defense systems
at 2
o Didnt limit number of warheads per launcher
Opened arms race on that front

The Brezhnev Era

Leonid Brezhnev didnt tolerate critical voices

o Alexander Solzhenitsyn
o Andrei Sakharov

o Many of these people were charged with antisocial and anti-Soviet activities
Brezhnev didnt address economic issues that plagued Khrushchevs rule and in so a
second economy popped up which was part gray part black
Alcoholism began to take over: per capita consumption doubled between 1955 and 1979
o Alcohol went to 15-20% of family household income
o Drunkenness cut productivity from around 10-20%
o Caused variety of social problems
Brezhnev refused to do anything along the lines of Khrushchev in terms of economics
reforms
o Protests and discontent and public want for consumer goods led him to present a
program to raise living standards in 1971
40% of urban population stilled lived in communal apartments
o Brezhnev pushed to increase amount of single family apartments
Western music genres had to be approved by government- rock and roll not permitted
Political estrangement of youth- US culture spilled over
o Rock bands developed in USSR
o Hippie culture also spread over despite political dissent
Conservative foreign policy
o Warsaw pact
o Brezhnev Doctrine
o Led to Chinese alienation
Albania made China its chief patron
o Czech intervention led to severe disapproval from other communist entities
o Looked for peaceful coexistence with the United States

Western Europe and Dtente

Charles De Gaulle was bane of US policy makers

o Believed that French leadership could act as independent force in world affairs
o Built nukes in France
o Destroyed dollar by requiring gold in exchange for the dollar reserves
o Prevented Britain from joining the European community because it would serve
as a voice for US views
o Began distancing from NATO
o Refused free trade with American farm products
Willy Brandt
o West German leader sought to reduce political and military tensions
o Talks with Soviet leaders led West Germany to become the Soviets largest
trading partner in the West
o Ostpolitik
Led to people being able to move between the two German states
o Helsinki Accords

o Troubled Nixon because W Germany was getting more independent, thought the
contact with Soviet Union was a bit spooky
The US Retreat from Dtente

US culture was deeply rooted in anti-communist sentiment, afraid to look weak, dtente
came under assault- plague through Ford, Carter Presidencies

Carter Flip Flop