The Soviet Union and detente of the 1970s

Détente of the 1970s was a vital stage in global history of the 20th century, when the rise of Soviet communism stopped and the collapse of the Soviet bloc began. Soviet behaviour during détente was not a consistent policy, but rather an extension of Soviet conservative ideological regime under Leonid Brezhnev. Despite some windfall gains, the Soviet Union failed to capitalize on détente as it expected. Soviet overextension in the Third World and growing dependence of Soviet semi-autarchic economy on global trends prepared the ground for Soviet collapse one decade later.