Detente was a short period of time of improved relations between the United States and the Soviet Union between the 1960's and the 1970's. Detente is French for "relaxation". Although Detente was designed to end Cold War tension, it eventually became a "thawing out" period. Detente reached it's zenith with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty of 1968, the SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty) of 1972 and the Helsinki Accords in 1975. Both the US and the USSR various had …showed first 75 words of 943 total…

…showed last 75 words of 943 total…a wrong move that allowed the Soviet Union to remain in power longer. But given the ideological differences, it would have been difficult for Detente to last for longer than it did. The Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979 and the relations between the two super powers began to ebb. The crisis in Poland regarding the Polish Trade Union federation and an eventual escalation in the arms race brought Detente to a end in the early 1980's.