Hello, I'm Mr. Marchant and I'll be your history teacher for today.

I'm really looking forward to starting our learning journey together, and my role will be to make sure that you can meet today's learning objective.

Welcome to today's lesson which is part of our unit on the transformation of the Cold War, where we've been asking ourselves, why did tensions ease by 1972? By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to explain the reasons for Detente.

There are freaky words which will help us navigate our way through today's lesson.

Those are detente, domestic, and Sino.

Detente refers to the relaxation of tensions between states which were previously hostile towards one another.

Domestic refers to issues that exist within a country rather than those related to its relationship with foreign countries.

And Sino is a word that denotes anything that relates to China.

Today's lesson will be split into three parts and we'll begin by asking ourselves, what was detente? In French, the word detente means relaxation.

Historically, detente has been used to refer to the relaxation of tensions between states, which were previously hostile towards one another.

So, let's just check our understanding of what we've heard so far.

What is the translation of detente from French to English? Is it aggravation, escalation, or relaxation? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was C.

From French to English, detente means relaxation.

Beginning in the early 1970s, there was a period of detente during the Cold War.

Detente lasted throughout most of the 1970s.

Detente is not considered to have been an end to the Cold War and tensions between the superpowers had risen again by the end of the decade.

So, let's check our understanding of what we just heard.

We have a statement on the screen that reads detente led to the end of the Cold War.

Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement is false but we need to be able to justify our response.

So two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that the Cold War had already ended before detente began in the late 1970s and the second says that detente ended as tensions rose again by the end of the 1970s.

So which one of those two justifications is correct? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct justification was B.

Detente ended as tensions rose again by the end of the 1970s.

So the period did not represent an end to the Cold War.

During detente, there were improvements in the relations between East and West, especially between the US and USSR.

Leonid Brezhnev became Soviet leader in 1964 and Richard Nixon became President of USA in 1969.

These new leaders played an important role in helping to bring about detente.

So, let's just make sure we have a clear understanding of what we've heard so far.

Who were the leaders of the USSR and USA at the time when detente began? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answers.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the leaders of the USSR and USA at the time when detente began were Leonid Brezhnev for the Soviets and Richard Nixon for the Americans.

There were a series of agreements between East and West during the process of detente.

These included international agreements on weapon control, borders, and other issues.

There were also symbolic demonstrations of cooperation between East and West, such as visits between the superpowers and even joint space missions.

A patch worn by American astronauts involved in the joint Apollo-Soyuz mission between the USA in USSR could be seen on the screen.

So, which statement is most accurate? The process of detente only involved symbolic cooperation.

The process of detente only involved practical agreements.

Or the process of detente involved both practical agreements and symbolic cooperation.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was C.

The process at detente involved both practical agreements like agreements on weapons limitations and symbolic cooperation like state visits and joint space missions.

So, we're now in a good position to put all of our knowledge about what detente was into practise.

So I want you to write a summary of what detente was.

Your summary should consider what happened, when it occurred, and who was involved.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, well done for all of your hard work on that task.

So I asked you to write a summary of what detente was, and your answer may have included detente refers to a period which began in the early 1970s when tensions between the East and West began to relax.

New leaders, Richard Nixon in the USA and Leonid Brezhnev in the USSR, helped encourage the process of detente as they saw more advantages in superpower cooperation.

Nevertheless, detente did not represent an end to the Cold War and tensions between East and West had risen again significantly by the end at the 1970s.

So, really well done.

Your own summary looks something similar to that model, which we've just seen there.

And so now we're ready to move on to the second part of our lesson where we're going to think about some of the domestic motivations for detente.

As national leaders, Brezhnev and Nixon had to constantly balance domestic and international priorities.

By the start of the 1970s, there were important domestic factors which encouraged both leaders to push for detente.

The high state of tensions between the USSR and USA was very costly.

For instance, as the arms race and space race continued between the superpowers, military and space programme spending in the USA reached $80.

1 billion in 1968 and the equivalent of $58.

7 billion in the USSR during the same year.

By this time, both Leonid Brezhnev in the USSR and President Richard Nixon in the USA were faced with significant domestic issues for many people living in both countries, social and economic issues, which affected their day-to-day lives, with more immediate importance than international relations.

In the USA, there were 329 major riots in 257 cities between 1964 and 1968.

These riots would result of serious inequalities including widespread poverty and racial discrimination.

Meanwhile, in the USSR, the high levels of economic growth, which had been enjoyed in the 1950s, began to fall during the 1960s.

And there were some concerns that the USSR was failing to keep up economically with its American rival.

At the same time, poor living standards made the lives of many ordinary Soviet citizens a struggle and contributed to problems like poor discipline and low productivity amongst workers.

For both superpowers, it was considered possible that relaxing tensions in the Cold War would allow more government attention and funding to be diverted to resolving domestic issues.

So, thinking about what we've just heard, in 1968, how much did the USA and USSR spend on their militaries and space programmes? Was it under $5 billion each? Just under $5 billion altogether? Over $50 billion each or just over $50 billion altogether? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was C.

In 1968, individually, the USA and USSR were both spending over $50 billion on their militaries and their space programmes.

There were arguments that this money could be diverted to other causes.

And let's try another question.

This time I want you to write the missing word for the following sentence.

Widespread blank in the USA led to hundreds of riots in American cities during the 1960s.

So what's the missing word? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the missing word was inequality.

Widespread inequality in the USA led to hundreds of riots in American cities during the 1960s.

Racial discrimination and poverty were key issues in a country that became more pressing during the 1960s.

And let's try one more question.

How did the Soviet economy change in the 1960s compared to the 1950s? Was it that growth began to decline compared to the 1950s? That growth began to increase compared to the 1950s? Or that all growth in the 1950s was completely reversed? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was A.

In the 1960s, growth in the Soviet Union began to decline compared to the high levels of growth seen during the 1950s.

This encouraged some to worry about the state of the Soviet economy and whether the country was falling behind its American rival.

So, we're now in a good position to put all of our knowledge about domestic motivations for detente into practise.

I want you to explain how detente was encouraged by social and economic conditions in both the USA and USSR.

You should include as many of the following keywords in your answer as possible.

Arms race, riots, and living standards.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, well done for all of your effort on that task.

So I asked you to explain how detente was encouraged by social and economic conditions in both the USA and USSR.

And your answer may have included rivalry between the USA and USSR led to high levels of spending on the arms race and space race.

For instance, spending on military and space programmes exceeded $50 billion by 1968 in both the USA and USSR.

However, at the same time, both superpowers had significant domestic issues to address.

In the USA, inequality led to 329 riots in 257 cities between 1964 and 1968, whilst economic growth and living standards in the Soviet Union began to fall behind during the 1960s.

This encouraged detente as it was hoped the high levels of spending on areas like the military could be diverted to resolving these domestic issues if international tensions relaxed.

So, really well done if your own response looked something like that model, which we've just seen.

And now we're ready to move on to the third and final part of our lesson for today where we are going to focus on some of the international motives for detente.

Developments in international relations during the 1960s and at the beginning of the 1970s, also played an important role in encouraging detente between the superpowers.

In particular, Nixon and Brezhnev were mindful of the Vietnam War and of China.

So we'll think about each of these in turn.

Richard Nixon became US president at the start of 1969 after promising American voters that he would end the country's involvement in the Vietnam War.

Nixon told Americans that he would deliver peace with honour.

As the US military had struggled to defeat its North Vietnamese opponents, this meant that Nixon had to agree an acceptable peace deal with the North Vietnamese to ensure that the withdrawal of American forces did not look like a defeat.

This need encouraged Nixon to be more cooperative with the major communist powers who'd offered support to North Vietnam.

In other words, China and the Soviet Union.

Nixon's hope was that if he could improve relations with these major communist states, they would put pressure on the North Vietnamese to agree to some of the terms the US wanted during peace negotiations.

So, thinking about what we just heard, why did Nixon want to improve relations with the USSR and China? Was it so they would stop fighting against US forces in Vietnam? So they would send troops to fight alongside the US against the North Vietnamese? Or so they would put pressure on the North Vietnamese during peace negotiations? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was, C, Nixon wanted to improve relations with the USSR and China so that they would put pressure on the North Vietnamese during peace negotiations.

Like North Vietnam, both of those two states were communists and they had offered support to the North Vietnamese during the war.

Nixon believed that if the Soviets and Chinese put pressure on the North Vietnamese, they would be more open to agreeing to some of the peace terms the US was proposing.

Nixon's decision to improve relations with leading communist states, especially China, surprised many people.

Since China became communist in 1949, the US had refused to even recognise the government of Mao Zedong, the leader of communist China.

However, in February, 1972, Richard Nixon visited China and met with Mao himself.

Later, the USA dropped its opposition to communist China joining the United Nations.

This was all part of Nixon's attempts to gain support during peace negotiations over Vietnam.

The improvement of relations between the USA and China proved particularly worrying for the USSR.

Although both the USSR and China were communists, their relations had become increasingly tense since the end of the 1950s due to ideological, military, and political disagreements.

This worsening of relations between the USSR and China has been referred to as the Sino-Soviet split and it continued throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

As a result, the USSR worried that the improvement of relations between the USA and China might lead to some sort of alliance between the two and shift the global balance of power against the Soviets.

To prevent this, Brezhnev hoped to improve the USSR's own relations with the USA.

So, let's make sure we have a secure understanding of what we've just heard.

Which two countries experienced more tense relations as a result of the Sino-Soviet split? Was it the USSR and USA, the USSR and China, or the USA and China? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was B.

The USSR and China experienced more tense relations as a result of the Sino-Soviet split.

And let's try another question.

This time we have a statement that reads, Brezhnev was pleased by Nixon's decision to improve US relations with China.

Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was false, but we need to be able to justify our response.

So two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that the USSR disapproved of communist states improving their relations with a non-communist state.

And the second says that the USSR worried that the US and China might cooperate together at the Soviet's expense.

So, which one of those two justifications is correct? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct justification was B.

The USSR was concerned by Nixon's decision to improve US relations with China because he worried that the US and China might cooperate together at the Soviet's expense.

So, we're now in a good position to put all of our knowledge about the international motives for detente into practise.

We're gonna split task C into two parts.

Firstly, I want you to study the flow diagram.

It represents the influence of the Vietnam War on detente.

You need to write the missing stages to complete the flow diagram.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your responses.

Okay, well done for all of you effort on the first part of task C.

So I asked you to write the missing stages to complete the flow diagram.

Our flow diagram begins by saying President Nixon promised to achieve peace with honour and continues to say the USA attempted to improve its relations with communist states.

The first missing stage that you should have added in was Nixon visited China and improved relations with its leaders.

And then you should have written the USSR worried about becoming internationally isolated.

And as a result, both superpowers became open to pursuing detente.

So really well done if you identified both of those missing stages correctly.

And now we're ready to attempt the second part of task C.

I want you to study Sam's view.

Sam says that, "Nixon pursued detente to help get the USA out of Vietnam and Brezhnev only wanted detente so he could address domestic issues." How accurate is Sam's view of the USA and USSR's motives for pursuing detente? You need to explain your answer.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, well done for all of your hard work on that second part of task C.

So I asked you, how accurate is Sam's view of the USA and USSR's motives for pursuing detente? And your answer may have included Sam's view of the motives for detente is somewhat accurate.

He is correct that Nixon hoped improving relations with the USSR could help him end the Vietnam War as he believed that this would lead to more pressure being placed on the North Vietnamese to negotiate.

Similarly, Sam is correct to say that Brezhnev was encouraged to pursue detente because of domestic issues.

In 1968 alone, the USSR spent over $50 billion on its military and space programme, despite suffering from declining economic growth and poor living standard.

Brezhnev hoped that a relaxation of tensions could allow some of this money to be diverted to improve the Soviet economy.

Nevertheless, Sam's view suggests that only the US was influenced by international motives and only the USSR was encouraged by domestic factors.

In reality, the USA was also suffering from widespread inequality and riots and would also have more opportunity to resolve these issues if it could divert some of its spending from the arms race and space race.

Similarly, the USSR believed detente could help at a time when the country was managing the Sino-Soviet split.

Brezhnev was worried by improving relations between the USA and China and considered detente with the Americans a good way of preventing a powerful anti-Soviet alliance from being formed.

So, really well done if your own response looked something like that model which we've just seen.

And that means we've reached the end of today's lesson, which puts us in a good position to summarise our learning.

We've seen that detente refers to a period in the 1970s when tensions between the USA and USSR were relaxed.

New leaders, Richard Nixon in the USA and Leonid Brezhnev in the USSR, helped encourage the process of detente.

Both the USA and USSR were affected by social and economic issues, which could benefit from increased government attention and spending.

Nixon hoped detente would help him achieve peace with honour in Vietnam.

And Brezhnev intended to avoid an anti-Soviet alliance being formed at a time when American and Chinese relations were improving and there was a Sino-Soviet split.

So, really well done for all of your effort during today's lesson.

It's been a pleasure to help guide you for our resources and I look forward to seeing you again in future as we think further about the transformation of the Cold War and continue to ask ourselves, why did tensions ease by 1972?.