New
New
Year 11
Edexcel

Détente and SALT I

I can explain the significance of the SALT I treaty.

New
New
Year 11
Edexcel

Détente and SALT I

I can explain the significance of the SALT I treaty.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The USA and USSR followed a policy of Détente during the 1970s.
  2. The USA and USSR wanted to divert money spent on the arms race to address domestic social and economic problems.
  3. The USA pursued a policy of Détente because they thought it would help them to end their involvement in the Vietnam War.
  4. The SALT I agreement included important limitations on arms and agreements between the USA and the USSR to cooperate.
  5. SALT I had significant limitations, for example, not all nuclear weapons were covered by the agreement.

Common misconception

The period of Détente in the 1970s did not mark the beginning of the end of the Cold War.

Although there was a reduction in tensions between the USA and the USSR during the early 1970s, tensions had increased again by the end of the decade.

Keywords

  • Détente - the relaxation of tensions between states which were previously hostile towards one another

  • Arms race - when countries compete with each other to build up their military strength

  • Domestic - issues that exist within a country, rather than those related to its relationship with other countries

  • Interim - something that is temporary

  • Rapprochement - the development of friendlier relations between countries that have been enemies

Get students to reflect on East-West relations over the course of the period from 1945-72 by constructing a time-axis graph. The line element of this should be plotted according to how cooperative/tense US-Soviet relations were at given times. Justifications should be included.
Teacher tip

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which word means when countries compete with each other to build up their military strength?
Correct answer: arms race
domestic
interim
Q2.
Which word describes a military alliance of Eastern European countries led by the Soviet Union during the Cold War?
Correct Answer: Warsaw Pact, the Warsaw Pact
Q3.
Complete the sentence: The Second Berlin Crisis resulted in the building of the which confirmed the division of Germany and Berlin.
Correct Answer: Berlin Wall
Q4.
Which of the following were consequences of the Berlin Wall?
increased tensions and made it more likely that the superpowers would go to war
Correct answer: reduced tensions and made it less likely that the superpowers would go to war
Correct answer: stopped the flow of refugees leaving for the West through East Berlin
Correct answer: divided Germany and Berlin between the communist East and the capitalist West
refugees were still allowed to pass through Checkpoint Charlie
Q5.
On 27th November 1958, Khrushchev delivered the Berlin Ultimatum. What was included in the ultimatum?
Correct answer: gave Britain, France & the USA 6 months to remove their troops from West Berlin
gave Britain, France & the USA 1 year to remove their troops from West Berlin
gave Britain, France & the USA 6 months to remove their troops from East Berlin
Q6.
Put the following events in chronological order.
1 - Cuba was considered part of the USA’s sphere of influence
2 - Batista’s government was overthrown in the Cuban Revolution
3 - Castro took control of all American property in Cuba
4 - the Bay of Pigs Invasion - attempt to overthrow Castro
5 - Cuba developed stronger ties with the USSR
6 - American U-2 spy plane discovered Soviet IRBM launch sites on Cuba
7 - Cuban Missile Crisis

6 Questions

Q1.
Write the missing word. is the development of friendlier relations between countries who have been enemies.
Correct Answer: rapproachement
Q2.
Which US president made a state visit to the USSR in 1972?
Truman
Eisenhower
Kennedy
Johnson
Nixon
Q3.
Which of the following agreements was not part of SALT I?
Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
Basic Principles Agreement
Interim Treaty
Correct answer: Test Ban Treaty
Q4.
Which weapon was not covered by restrictions under SALT I?
ABMs
ICMBs
Correct answer: MIRVs
SLBMs
Q5.
Which statement is most accurate?
SALT I intensified the Cold War
Correct answer: SALT I moderated the Cold War
SALT I ended the Cold War
Q6.
Starting with the earliest, sort the following events into chronological order.
1 - USA and USSR fought as allies in WW2
2 - NATO formed
3 - Hungarian Uprising crushed
4 - Cuban Missile Crisis
5 - MIRVs developed
6 - SALT I signed by the USA and USSR

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