Starter quiz
- Which word describes the relaxation of tensions between states which were previously hostile towards one another?
- 'Détente' ✓
- Which word describes issues that exist within a country, rather than those related to its relationship with other countries?
- 'domestic' ✓
- How much was the US spending on its military and space programme in 1968?
- $20.1 billion
- $40.3 billion
- $60.2 billion
- $80.1 billion ✓
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- Why did Nixon want to improve US relations with China and the USSR?
- so they would stop fighting against US forces in Vietnam
- so they would send troops to fight alongside the US in Vietnam
- so they would put pressure on the North Vietnamese during peace negotiations ✓
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- Which two leaders were involved in the period of relaxed tensions between the USSR and the USA in the 1970s?
- Leonid Brezhnev ✓
- Lyndon B Johnson
- Nikita Khrushchev
- Richard Nixon
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- Starting with the earliest, sort the following events into chronological order.
- 1⇔President Nixon promised to achieve “peace with honour”.
- 2⇔USA attempted to improve its relations with communist states.
- 3⇔Nixon visited China and improved relations with its leaders.
- 4⇔The USSR worried about becoming internationally isolated.
- 5⇔Both superpowers became open to pursuing Détente.
Exit quiz
- Which word describes formal agreements between two or more parties?
- 'accords' ✓
- Which word describes the basic freedoms and protections that all people are entitled to, simply because they are human?
- 'human rights' ✓
- Who replaced Nixon as US president by the time the agreements at Helsinki had been reached?
- Jimmy Carter
- Gerald Ford ✓
- Ronald Reagan
- Lyndon Johnson
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- Match the 'basket' to the issue discussed.
- Basket 1⇔European borders ✓
- Basket 2⇔international cooperation ✓
- Basket 3⇔human rights ✓
- What was the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project?
- the docking of an American spacecraft with a Soviet spacecraft ✓
- the docking of an American submarine with a Soviet submarine
- the docking of an American ship with a Soviet ship
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- Which 'basket' continued to be a point of tension between the US and USSR post the signing of the agreements in Helsinki?
- Basket 1
- Basket 2
- Basket 3 ✓
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Lesson Details
Key learning points
- The Helsinki Accords were an attempt to reach agreement on security, international cooperation and human rights.
- The Helsinki Accords are sometimes considered to be the high-point of Détente.
- Disagreements about human rights were one source of tension between the USA and the USSR after Helsinki.
- By the end of the 1970s, hopes for improved relations between the USA and the USSR had faded.
- The USA and USSR signed SALT II but after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan it was not ratified in the USA.
Common misconception
Détente ended suddenly following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979.
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan is normally considered to mark the end of Détente but US-Soviet tensions had been increasing since 1975 due to conflict over human rights issues and increased Soviet support for communist groups around the world.
Keywords
Détente - the relaxation of tensions between states which were previously hostile towards one another
Accords - formal agreements between two or more parties
Human rights - the basic freedoms and protections that all people are entitled to, simply because they are human
Ratified - when a decision, treaty, or agreement is formally approved and confirmed making it official
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