Détente facts for kids
Détente (pronounced day-tont) is a word that means less tension and a better relationship between two countries.
The main example of a détente was during the Cold War. In the 1970's, the United States and the Soviet Union improved relations. Both signed several treaties which made less amount of nuclear weapons each country had. During this time period, as China began to dislike the Soviet Union, the United States tried to make friends with China, giving the Soviet Union a disadvantage during the Cold War. This was often called “playing the China card.”
Détente primarily was concerned with relation between USA and USSR but other countries like China, West Germany and most of the European states also played their role in developing it. Their motives were mixed. The US proposed this because they did not want to have to go to war with USSR which would lead to all out nuclear warfare.
The literal and original use of the word, meant to undo a crossbow, the detention of the cord that launched the arrow. Which is why this old word was so appropriate in the above description.
Images for kids
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Leonid Brezhnev (left) and Richard Nixon (right) during Brezhnev's June 1973 visit to Washington, DC, a high-water mark in détente between the United States and the Soviet Union
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Barack Obama and Raúl Castro at a press conference in Havana, Cuba, in March 2016
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Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un at a summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, in February 2019
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Indian PM Modi pays an unprecedented surprise visit to Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif in Lahore in 2015
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Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin (front) next to US President Lyndon Johnson (behind) during the Glassboro Summit Conference
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US President Gerald Ford meets with Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev to sign a joint communiqué on the SALT treaty during the Vladivostok Summit in November 1974.
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The Apollo-Soyuz crew in 1975
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See also
In Spanish: Détente para niños
