The thawing of the Cold war consisted of three main events:
Destalinization
Destalinization started when Nikita Krushchev came to power. To condemn the former leader, Joseph Stalin, for executing Soviet citizens, Krushchev ordered workers to destroy monuments of him. He also changed or removed institutions that helped Stalin hold power. The goal of destalinization was to purge the Soviet Union of Stalin's memory.
Soviet and Chinese Split
During the Chinese Civil war, the Soviets decided they were going to aid Sun Yat-Sen's nationalist government, the Kuomintang, by giving them weapons and other essential supplies they were going to need to win the war. After the Communists won the war without the help of the Soviet Union, they decided that they were not going to be Allies with them anymore.
Another factor in the split occurred when Khruschev punished China for not sharing their nuclear secrets and expanding their own "brand" of Communism into Africa and Asia. The Soviet Union terminated economic aid, which led to brief fighting episodes between the Chinese and Soviet borders and an eventual split.
Another factor in the split occurred when Khruschev punished China for not sharing their nuclear secrets and expanding their own "brand" of Communism into Africa and Asia. The Soviet Union terminated economic aid, which led to brief fighting episodes between the Chinese and Soviet borders and an eventual split.
From Brinkmanship to Détente
During the U.S. presidency of Richard Nixon, tension between the US and the Soviets was as strong as ever. The U.S. decided to back away from its policy of direct confrontation with the USSR, or brinkmanship. The new policy was known as Détente and it lessened the tension between the two "superpowers." The reason for this policy change was due to Nixon's philosophy of realpolitik, meaning "realistic politics." Nixon wanted to deal with the Soviets in a manner that was practical and flexible. Both the U.S. and the Soviet Union wanted to reduce tensions by agreeing to this new policy of Détente.