Detente

Détente
Economic and Political Reasons for Détente
Geopolitical developments: Vietnam, Sino-Soviet split, the Middle East
Middle East
Suez Crisis ▪ July - November, 1956 ▪ The Egyptian President took control of the Suez canal, which, although on Egyptian territory, had always been controlled by the British and French ▪ Egypt had Soviet support. However, the British, French and Israelis sent in troops. ▪ When the US refused to back the British, the British troops are forced to withdraw. ▪ However, the crisis and concern about communist influence in the region è led to the Einsenhower doctrine in January, 1957.
Eisenhower Doctrine ▪ January, 1957 - Eisenhower promises money and military aid to prevent communism spreading in the Middle East - an extension of the principles set out in the Truman doctrine
Arab-Israeli War - 1967 ▪ US sided with Israel, Soviets backed the Arabs Alvor Accord (Africa) - ▪ January 1975 è The Organisation for Africa Unity - attempted to arrange a settlement between communist and anti-communist groups in Angola (former Portuguese colony in South West Africa) ▪ Accord è provided for free election è but failed ▪ Consequently the USA (through the CIA), and the USSR and Cuba provided aid to their respective allies ▪ Result è bloody Civil War
Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty ▪ March 1979 è Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty (also known as the Camp David Accord) è signed ▪ High point of Carter’s foreign policy è was an important step towards peace in the Middle East
Carter Doctrine ▪ January, 1980 è The Carter Doctrine ▪ US President Jimmy Carter è declared that the Persian Gulf was a vital ‘sphere of influence’ to the USA, because of its oil ▪ He declared that the US was willing to use nuclear weapons to protect its interests and allies in the region Vietnam
Background
▪ May, 1954 - French were defeated at Dien Bein Phu - end of French rule in Vietnam - beginning of US role. ▪ The US opposed what it saw as further communist expansion under Ho Chi Minh. ▪ The US supported the South Vietnamese government, led by an anti-communist, Ngo Dihn Diem. ▪ Conflict in Vietnam, between the communist north and the non-communist South è seen by many in the US as another example of attempted communist expansion, that had to be stopped è Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon administrations all believed that containment should be applied to the Vietnam War ▪ Application of a new term - ‘Domino Theory’ - to describe the potential situation: ▪ “To justify his support for South Vietnam, Einsenhower put forward the ‘domino theory’ - if the first domino is knocked over then the rest topple in turn. Applying this to south-east Asia, he argued that if South Vietnam were allowed to be taken by any group of communists, then the other countries in the region, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, Malaysia and Indonesia, would be taken over in turn.” J. Simkin ▪
Events
▪ Robert Thompson: “As the officials of the Kennedy administration rested, then returned to their duties, they shifted their attention from Cuba to Vietnam.” ▪ Thompson argues that the Cuban missile crisis left the US believing that as long as they were strong and determined, they could manage the world. He pointed out this idea President Johnson and then President Nixon to expand the war in, and the bombing of, Vietnam. ▪ Gulf of Tonkin Incident ▪ August, 1964 ▪ The US claimed the North Vietnamese torpedo boats attacked an American destroyer, the Maddox, and President Johnson committed US combat troops in numbers to the Vietnam War. ▪ President Johnson, 1965 è “An Asia so threatened by communist domination would endanger the security of the United States itself.” ▪ President Johnson “We have kept our guns over the mantle and our shells in the cupboard for a long time now... I can’t ask our American soldiers out there to continue to fight with one hand behind their backs.” ▪ The Soviet Union did not become directly involved ▪ However, the Soviet Union and communist China provided aid to the North Vietnamese forces of Ho Chi Minh, ▪ North Vietmanese loss in military equipment, raw materials, and vehicles were more than offset by increased aid from the Soviet Union and China” ▪ The total assistance from Russia and China (between 1965 and 1968) was in excess of $2 billion

▪ Tet offensive in Vietnam ▪ Between 1965 and 1968, Americans put more pressure on Vietnamese è launched repeated bombing raids and increased the number of American troops in Vietnam ▪ US government insisted that they were winning Vietnam War. ▪ 30th January 1968 - the North Vietnamese launched a massive counterattack, involving more than 80 000 troops. ▪ The Tet offensive, launched on the Vietnamese New Year, cost the Vietcong heavy casualties, but they had already inflicted lasting damage to America’s morale. ▪ North Vietnamese launched a major attack on key positions in South Vietnam è including the US embassy in Saigon. ▪ Despite Johnson using massive bombing raids against the Vietcong, Vietcong seemed stronger than ever è Deterred the American public against the Vietnam War. ▪ “North Vietnam demonstrated great ingenuity and dogged perseverance in coping with the bombing... The government claimed to have dug over 30 000 miles of tunnels,” George C Herring ▪ North Vietnamese were very persistent. General Giap, the Communist Commander, during the war, spoke of fighting ten, fifteen, twenty, fifty years, regardless of the cost, until ‘final victory.’
President Nixon and the end of the War ▪ Nixon wanted to end the Vietnam War, but also determined not to be the first American president (in history) to lose a war ▪ Under Nixon, there was a new wave of bombing against North Vietnam, and its capital, Hanoi. ▪ Gradually, Nixon began to realise no amount of force would make the communists in Hanoi agree with his terms. ▪ 1970 - Nixon began withdrawing his troops, at the same time increasing bombing raids on North Vietnam. ▪ Consequence: Nixon Doctrine ▪ July,1969 è altered the Truman doctrine ▪ Nixon Doctrine was announced in response to the Vietnam War è stated that future conflicts against communism in the ‘Third World’ would not be fought by US troops ▪ While the US still opposed the expansion of communism, and the US would still provide aid, the fighting would be done by locals - American troops would not be used ▪ Stephen Ambrose noted that the US has often expected quick solutions to problems: the A-Bomb was meant to provide a quick solution to the problems of post-war Europe in 1945 ▪ S.J. Ball suggested that defeat in Vietnam had a profound influence on US foreign policy: “failure in Vietnam had a transforming effect.”
Peace Negotiations ▪ 1973 - both sides were ready to negotiate ▪ Treaty was signed in Paris, between Kissinger and Le Duc Tho ▪ American soldiers would leave Vietnam ▪ American POW would be returned ▪ North Vietnamese troops would stay in the South of Vietnam ▪ The political future of South Vietnam would be settled at a later date ▪ Two years later è North Vietnam launched a major new offensive. ▪ Spring 1975 è Saigon, the South Vietmanese capital, fell into the hands of the communists. ▪ Consequence è Shift in American Perspective ▪ Media - images of soldiers being killed and wounded - villages were burnt to the ground, napalm was used to clear forests, Agent Orange was used to destroy large areas of jungle ▪ There were widespread reports of the atrocities committed by American troops è which undermined popular support for the war. ▪ Guerrilla tactics of the Vietcong è demoralised the American troops. ▪ “The US Army in Vietnam was a shambles as the war drew to a close in the early 1970s. With President Nixon then repatriating the Americans, nobody wanted to be the last to perish for a cause that had clearly lost its meaning.” Stanley Karnow ▪ Consequence è Bastian: The Vietnam War revealed to the US that “there were real limits to the nation’s economic and military ability to wage the Cold War.” ▪ Secretary of Defence Robert McNamara: “Our misjudgements of friend and foe alike reflected our profound ignorance of the history, culture and politics of the people in the area.” He further argued that some of the reasons for the US defeat in Vietnam was their failure to accept that some problems don’t have a “quick fix”; that they overestimated what their high technology weapons could do, and that they didn’t accept that their wishes would not always proval. ▪ Consequences - Statistics ▪ 58 132 Americans killed ▪ “The average age of the American soldier in Vietnam was nineteen... which made him vulnerable to the psychological strains of the struggle.” Stanley Karnow ▪ 300 000 US troops wounded ▪ 900 000 North Vietnamese combatants killed, 2 million wounded ▪ Total loss of life: 2.5 million, with several millions more wounded ▪ Truce Agreement ▪ January, 1973 è US signed a truce agreement and withdrew troops from Vietnam. ▪ The truce did not last long è by 1975 the North Vietnamese had control of Vietnam. Features and consequences of Détente
Background
▪ The years 1967 and 1968 è poor relations between the US and USSR ▪ However, in 1969, the Nixon administration began to develop better relations with the Soviet Union
Détente (1969-1979) refers to a period of relaxation of previously strained relations. ▪ The decade was marked by relatively good relations between the US and the USSR. President Nixon and Brezhnev met on three occasions, and established important agreements on arms limitations. ▪ Détente is closely connected to Henry Kissinger’s idea of ‘linkage’: relations with one country, are linked to relations with the others.
Halliday suggests there were six characteristic of this period: ▪ A break in the arms race ▪ While there wasn’t an overall reduction of weapons, limits were placed on the increase of weapons ▪ A greater tolerance between the two of each other’s political system ▪ Reduced criticism of communism and capitalism ▪ Agreements on Third World conflicts ▪ Leaders met more frequently at summits ▪ US wanted to avoid a repeat of its Vietnam involvement è believed that understanding with Soviet Union would reduced need for US military action ▪ Soviet Union began to relax some of its political controls over Eastern Bloc

Ward : “Undoubtedly the Soviet Union had a bigger stake in détente than the United States.”
In 1973, President Nixon warned the American Congress that détente was “not the same as lasting peace.”
Leonid Brezhnev ▪ Following the fall of Khrushchev - Leonid Brezhnev emerged as the dominant figure in the Soviet Union ▪ Brezhnev was conscious of the economic weakness of the Soviet Union - and the urgent need to reform the system - to bring about these changes - needed to break away from the arms race - détente made this possible. ▪ Less money spent on the arms race è more money could be spent on the domestic needs of the Soviet Union
Deterrence
▪ Mutual Assured Destruction ▪ Late 1964 - early 1965 è US moved towards the policy of “mutual assured destruction” (MAD), put forward by US secretary of defence, Robert McNamara
Ostpolitik
▪ September, 1969 ▪ West German Chancellor è Willy Brandt, begun negotiations to improve relations between West and East Germany, and between West Germany and the Soviet Union ▪ A policy of cooperation between Eastern Europe and West Germany
Linkage
▪ During the period of detente, both sides tried to see each event, conflict or crisis as a separate problem, with its own causes and its own solution è basis for the concept that Henry Kissinger referred to as ‘linkage’ ▪ President Nixon and his chief foreign policy adviser, Henry Kissinger, followed the policy of ‘linkage’: to deal with each aspect of the relationship with the Soviet Union on its merits, while linking “cooperation in one area to progress in another.” ▪ They also hoped improved relations with China è would pressure the Soviet Union into seeking better links with the US. ▪ February 1972 è Nixon visited China, in the first step in establishing normal diplomatic relations between the USA and China. ▪ Once better links were established with China and USSR then, it was hoped, the two communist countries would put pressure on the North Vietnamese to end the Vietnam War ▪ Fred Halliday: “Linkage, as an explicit bargaining tool turned out to be of restricted use... liable to varying interpretations.” ▪ Linkage only worked in part è relations between the USA and China and the Soviet Union improved, but the North Vietnamese displayed their independence and refused to be influenced
SALT I ▪ May, 1972 è Nixon and Brezhnev agreed to a Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I) è which sets limits on the numbers of missiles. ▪ There were also agreement to limit spending on anti-ballistic missiles (ABMS), which were defensive missiles intended to shoot down incoming enemy rockets ▪ When SALT I was combined with the Nuclear Accident Agreement of 1971 (meant to cut the risk of accidental war) and the Sea Bed 1972 Treaty (which banned nuclear weapons from the sea floor outside the territorial waters of each country) è amounted to real progress ▪ There were hopes that SALT I would be the beginning of more far-reaching arms limitation treaties. However, while SALT was signed in 1979, spirit of detente was coming to an end, and SALT II was never ratified.
Carter
▪ November, 1976 è Jimmy Carter was elected president. ▪ Carter was inexperienced in foreign policy, but hoped for a continuation of détente. ▪ He was perhaps unrealistic in associating US foreign policy with ‘human rights’
SALT II ▪ June 1979 è The second Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT II) è signed by Carter and Brezhnev ▪ Was intended to extend the gains of the first è but never put into effect ▪ Consequently è détente ends, and the US senate refused to ratify the treaty ▪ In 1980, President Jimmy Carter confirmed that “the possibility of fighting a nuclear war, lasting weeks or even months, is envisaged.”
End of Detente ▪ 1972 onwards è signs that detente was fading ▪ President Nixon had been forced to resign in 1974 - Soviet Union saw his successors, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, as weak and unreliable ▪ Brezhnev was particularly annoyed by Carter’s attacks on the Soviet Union over “human rights”, relating to the Soviet Union’s treatment of its own citizens è Brezhnev saw this as direct interference in Soviet domestic policy, and he believed it was none of Carter’s business ▪ Conservatives in the US began to attack SALT I è stating that the US had given too much away, and that it allowed the Soviet Union to keep pace with the US in nuclear weapons
Consequences
▪ Kissinger: “Detente did not cause the Soviet arms build-up, nor could it have stopped it. However, it may have slowed it down or made it more benign.” ▪ Demonstrated that the US and USSR could come to terms on many issues

Timeline
1954
▪ May - French defeated at Dien Bein Phu - end of French rule in Vietnam - beginning of US role
1956
▪ July - November - Suez crisis
1957
▪ January - Eisenhower doctrine
1964
▪ August - Gulf of Tonkin incident ▪ Late 1964 - early 1965 - US moves towards the MAD policy
1968
▪ January - Tet offensive in Vietnam
1969
▪ July - Nixon Doctrine ▪ September - Ostpolitik ▪ 1969 - 1979 - Détente period
1972
▪ February - Nixon visited China ▪ May - signing of SALT I
1973
▪ January - US signs a truce agreement, withdraws troops from Vietnam
1974
▪ August - Nixon resigned as president, replaced by Gerald Ford
1975
▪ January - Alvor Accord
1976
▪ November - Jimmy Carter elected President
1979
▪ March - Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty ▪ June - SALT II signed ▪ December - Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan
1980
▪ January - Carter Doctrine
1980
▪ November - Ronald Reagan elected President