"3 Cold War Crises: Berlin, Cuba, Czechoslovakia" - 1957-1969

Question 1

U2 Incident

Answer 1

1960

• Paris Conference
• May 1, 1960: U2 Plane shot down over USSR
• USSR capture pilot (Gary Powers) who admits to spying
• USA denies it ‘he strayed into Soviet territory’
• USSR develop U2 film = prove he was spying
• K demands USA must:
  1. apologise 2. stop ALL flights 3. punish those responsible
• Eisenhower stops flights BUT no apology
• USSR imprison GP for 10 years
• Consequences = plane shot down + lying = damaging
• USSR gains ‘propaganda points’
• Drop in relations

Question 2

Causes of the Berlin Crisis?

Answer 2

1959-61

• High standard of living in West contrast with EG - people unhappy
• Western civilisation = symbol of success over Communism
• ‘49-‘61: 6 million people flee to WG [Jan ‘61: 20,000 a month]
• ‘55: WG joins NATO
• Mainly skilled workers eg. Dr = shortage in East [embarrassing] which could’ve brought collapse of EG!
• USSR did not stop people because USA Nuclear Advantage
• USSR announced EG Communist + USA should leave
• USA objected: Conferences [‘59: Geneva + Camp David ‘60: Paris ‘61: Vienna] 1+2=X 3=U2 4=X NUCLEAR WAR??
• Kennedy increased defence budget to $3.5 billion

Question 3

Consequences…

Answer 3

• Krushchev seemed to back down
• Allies stayed in WG
• But suddenly EG Police blocked all road + set up barbed wire fences
• Through the day concrete walls were built
• By August a wall surrounding WG had been built
• Anyone trying to cross WAS SHOT
• K saw this as a victory: WALL (Stopped refugees)
• He had avoided war but still looked strong!
• But had failed to remove the Allies
• Families were split; Wall = Symbol of Division
• JFK visited Berlin (loved by all) “Ich bin win Berliner”

Question 4

Arms Race Developments

Answer 4

‘53: USSR + USA had ‘H’ bomb
‘57: USSR Sputnik
‘57-59: USA:
inc. missile spending by 20%; NASA; inc. B52s; increased training for engineers + scientists; SLBMs + more missiles in Europe
- BOTH superpowers decreased production of non-nuclear weapons

Question 5

Superpower Weapons

Answer 5

USA vs USSR
ICMB: 63  50+
SLBM: 96  0
MRBM/IRBM: 90  200!
Long-range bombers: 600  190
Carriers: 24  0
Nuclear Subs: 21  2
Subs: 174  428
Troops: 2,606,000  3,800,000

Question 6

Causes of Bay of Pigs/Cuban Missile Crisis

Answer 6

1961

• USA had helped Batista take power
• Batista and leaders were corrupt: Overthrown by Castro
• USA refused to buy Cuban sugar [retaliation]
• USA broke of diplomatic relations
• Agreed a sugar deal with SU (appointed Communists)
• SU also agreed to give machinery + tech to Cuba
• Cuban exiles treated like heroes in USA

Question 7

Bay of Pigs Invasion

Answer 7

1961

• Eisenhower has created a scheme to train ex-Cubans for an invasion
• JFK carried on this…
• CIA trained them in Florida: Budget = $45 million
• La Brigada 2506 (1,500 men) were to invade Cuba and create a national uprising
• US planes bombed Cuban airforce [2nd wave called off]
• Cuban airforce regrouped
• La Brigada met a force of 20,000 men
• 100 men dead: 1,000 captured
• Swapped in 1962 for $53 million worth of food + medical supplies

Question 8

Results of Bay of Pigs Invasion

Answer 8

• Humiliation for Kennedy + USA
• JFK determined to resist growth of Communism in USA
• Castro’s position strengthened in Cuba: EXAMPLE
• Cuba pushed further towards SU
• USA began Operation Mongoose: [Remove Castro]
• USA seen as imperialist nation

Question 9

Cuban Missile Crisis

Answer 9

1962
- USSR military advisor + combat station in Cuba
- K concerned by US missile bases in Turkey + Italy
- Cuban stations would restore balance [defending Cuba from USA]
- SU continued sending equipment
- SU sent ICBM missiles [all cities but Seattle]
BLOCKADE:
- Polaris Subs put on stand-by
- 156 ICBMs ready for action
- Air-Force bombers patrolling + hundreds of thousands of troops on COMBAT ALERT
- JFK spoke on TV + told K any ships containing military equipment would be turned back

Question 10

Cuban Missile Crisis Timeline:

14th; 16th; 20th; 24th; 25th; 27th; 28th

Answer 10

14th: U2 Spy Planes take photos of missile sites in Cuba
16th: JFK told about Cuban missile sites
20th: JFK decided against attack; 200km blockade [quarantine enforced by US Navy]
24th: USSR says blockade is ‘act of aggression’
26th: K sends letter saying missiles will be removed if USA removes blockade and doesn’t attack
27th: K sends 2nd letter; remove missiles from Cuba if USA removes them from Turkey; U2 plane shot down by SU missile
28th: JFK takes advice from brother; accepts 1st letter but not 2nd + no +ve outcome by 29th US invades Cuba; K accepted [secret deal to remove missiles from Turkey]

Question 11

Results of Crisis

Answer 11

• JFK had won; K humiliated; sacked in ‘64 -> Brezhnev
• Direct Hotline set-up
• ‘63: Partial Test Ban Treaty [no testing in atmosphere]
• Followed by Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
• JFK ‘common interest’ speech
• MAD Theory
• ‘Detente’

Question 12

Why was there opposition to Soviet control in Czechoslovakia?

Answer 12

• Czechs hated Novotny (hard line Communist)
• Slow to introduce de-Stalinisation; no reforms
• Czech economy fell: So did Living Standards
• SU forced Cz to produce raw materials for SU
• SU stopped factories producing consumer goods
• Novotny’s New Economic Model FAILED

Question 13

Prague Spring Reforms

Answer 13

1. Greater Political Reforms