3.2 Hungarian Uprising

Question 1

Who was Matyas Rakosi? Why was he unpopular?

Answer 1

Leader of Hungary.
Used secret police that brutally dealt with opposition.
Low living standards.

Question 2

What happened to Rakosi in June 1956?

Answer 2

Forced to reisgn, policy of de-stalinisation.

Question 3

What did the policy of de-Stalinisation encourage?

Answer 3

Improve relations in the West. Allowed more criticism of USSR. A bit more freedom.

Question 4

What did protesters do to the Hungarian flag and statue of Stalin?

Answer 4

Took statue down. Cut a circle out of the middle of the flag (the Communist symbol).

Question 5

What happened to Rakosi and who replaced him?

Answer 5

Nagy replaced him

Question 6

What did Nagy’s reforms promise?

Answer 6

Withdraw from Warsaw Pact. New elections.

Question 7

How did Khrushchev react to Nagy’s reforms? Why?

Answer 7

Khrushchev didn’t like it because he would lose an ally (Hungary). He invaded Hungary with tanks - 200,000 Soviet troops and tanks.

Question 8

Who did Nagy appeal to for help and why did he not receive any?

Answer 8

UN. Didn’t want to start and global war.

Question 9

How long did fighting continue for?

Answer 9

2 weeks.

Question 10

What happened to Hungary and to Nagy after the Hungarian Uprising?

Answer 10

Nagy got executed. He got replaced by Kadar, appointed by Khrushchev.

Question 11

What were the four summits and when where they held?

Answer 11

Geneva, May 1959.
Camp David, September 1959.
Paris, May 1960.
Vienna, June 1961.

Question 12

What went well and what went wrong in Geneva?

Answer 12

What went well:
Khrushchev was invited to visit the USA.
It is the first time the leaders meet since World War 2.

What went wrong:
No agreements were made.

Question 13

What went well and what went wrong in Camp David?

Answer 13

What went well:
Better relations between leaders. First face to face meeting. USSR agreed to withdraw Berlin Ultimatum.

What went wrong:
No agreements about Berlin were made.

Question 14

What went well and what went wrong in Paris?

Answer 14

What went well:
Nothing.

What went wrong:
No decision made. U-2 incident lead to mistrust.
Eisenhower refused to apologize. Khrushchev walked out of the meeting.

Question 15

What went well and what went wrong in Vienna?

Answer 15

What went well:
Nothing.

What went wrong:
Khrushchev took advantage of Kennedy’s inexperience and renewed Berlin Ultimatum. Relations more tense, Kennedy increased spending on military.
Leaders wanted to strong and didn’t want to give in to the other leader, so they refused to make concessions.

Question 16

How many East Germans had moved to West Germany by 1958?

Answer 16

3 million (1/6 of the population).
In just one day in August 40,000 people crossed from East to West Berlin.

Question 17

Why did so many East Germans move to West Germany?

Answer 17

• Terrible living conditions
• Lack of jobs in East
• Jobs available in West
• More freedom in West - Civil rights
• East - no freedom/civil rights -> Secret police
• Strict leader - Walter Ulbricht
• Economic stability in West

Question 18

What was the Death Strip?

Answer 18

Along the 43km section of the Berlin Wall, there were two walls, one facing East and the other West which were separated by a ‘no-mans land’ zone (nicknamed the ‘Death Strip’) packed with:
Booby traps
Barbed wire
Minefields
Car barriers
Guards in lookout towers with machine gun nests and searchlights.

Question 19

What was the Berlin Ultimatum?

Answer 19

On 27th November 1958 Khrushchev issued his Berlin Ultimatum. He demanded that:
Berlin be demilitarised and Western troops withdrawn.
Berlin become a free city with its own independent government (by this he obviously meant Soviet controlled!)
HE gave 6 months for the West to comply.

Question 20

What was and effect of the Berlin Ultimatum?

Answer 20

The USA and USSR held summits between 1959 and 1961.

Question 21

When did the construction of the Berlin Wall begin?

Answer 21

12th August 1961.

Question 22

How long was the Berlin Wall?

Answer 22

165km.

Question 23

What were some positive outcomes of the Berlin Wall?

Answer 23

USSR - It stopped people from escaping to West Berlin. It meant that Communism would survive in Berlin and the West would never reunite Berlin to make it Capitalist.
USA - Meant that Khrushchev accepted the fact that East Berlin was theirs and West Berlin would never be. West Berlin became a symbol of freedom and defiance against Communism.
Overall - Refugee issues no longer an issue. Berlin was established. Khrushchev can’t bully Kennedy anymore.

Question 24

What were some negative outcomes of the Berlin Wall

Answer 24

USSR - Kgrushchev abandoned plan to reunite Germany. Bad image for Communism and good image of Capitalism.
USA - USSR closed border without consulting USA. People wanting to escape communism no longer could.
Overall - Hostility continues between leaders - Khrushchev had to admit defeat that Communism is not considered as good. - Kennedy unable to do anything makes a speech. International outrage.