Ch 2 - Britain 1958-63 : Increased tensions and the impact of the Berlin Wall Flashcards
What happened to Germany after the war ?
After the war, Germany was agreed to be split into four zones. Berlin was also then divided into four which was controlled by Britain, France, The USSR and the USA.
How did a divided Berlin give USA, France and Britain an advantage ?
Divided Berlin gave USA a foothold inside the Soviet Eastern bloc
Where was West Berlin ?
West Berlin was deep inside Soviet-controlled East Germany
How did people feel about West Germany ?
- Many in East Germany suffered from the communist regime and suffered from a poor quality of life
- therefore, they chose to leave home to depart to West Germany since quality of life was much higher
What did West Berlin allow ?
Once in West Berlin, East Germans could easily cross into West Germany
When was the refugee crisis in Berlin ?
between 1949 and 1961
Explain the refugee crisis ?
- Between 1949 and 1961, 2.7 million
East Germans crossed into West Germany via West Berlin. - The population of West Germany increased while the economy benefitted from an influx of skilled workers.
- Many left for the West, leaving the East with a skills shortage.
How did the Soviets view the refugee crisis ?
Communism was facing a propaganda disaster, people clearly preferred West Germany when they were faced with the choice
What was an Ultimatum ?
A final demand, with a threat of physical intervention if not fulfilled
When did Khrushchev make the Berlin ultimatum ?
November 1958
What did the Berlin Ultimatum state ?
- Berlin should become a free city ( belong to east Germany )
- West Berlin should be demilitarised and west troops withdrawn
Why did the USSR create make the Berlin ultimatum instead of something else ?
- The Soviet Union knew that if it tried to push the West out of Berlin by force, a war would start that it could not win, as the US had more nuclear weapons.
- So, a series of summit meetings took place between the leaders of the USA and the Soviet Union.
When did the summit meeting of Geneva happen ?
May 1959
What resulted from the Geneva meeting ?
No solution agreed but a further summit organised for
When did the summit meeting of Camp David ?
September 1959
What happened at the summit meetings of Camp David ?
No solution agreed but a further meeting arranged in Paris.
When did the summit meeting of Paris Summit happen ?
May 1960
What happened at the summit meeting in Paris Summit ?
- A disaster. Khrushchev stormed out because the Soviet Union had shot down a US spy plane over Russia.
- The pilot admitted to being on a spying mission
- Although Eisenhower was embarrassed he refused to apologise
What did Khrushchev think of Kennedy ?
- He believed Kennedy was inexperienced in foreign affairs and therefore thought he could get the better of him
- Recognised that Kennedy’s reputation had suffered from the ‘Bay of Pigs’ incident
When did Kennedy become president ?
1961
When did the Vienna Conference happen ?
June 1961
What happened at the Vienna Conference ?
Neither was willing to back down. Khrushchev saw Kennedy’s inexperience as a weakness and reissued his ultimatum for the USA to remove its troops from Berlin.
How were the USA and Cuba very closely linked before any major events ?
Cuba was very closely linked to the USA :
- There were lots of US-owned business in Cuba
- Much of Cuba’s land was owned by America
- Usa was an important investor in Cuba’s main export - sugar
When did Cuba have a socialist revolution ?
in 1959
What happened during the Cuban revolution ?
A group of revolutionaries overthrew the pro-American government in Cuba
What happened as a result of the Cuban resolution ?
- Cuban government took over all land in Cuba owned by foreign nationals
- Castro began appointing communists in his governments and later made an agreement with USSR ( Khrushchev would buy sugar and provide economic aid )
How did the USA respond to the Cuban revolution ?
- The USA refused to recognise Castro’s government because it did not want a socialist country in their sphere of influence, especially not a country with close links to the Soviet Union.
What did the CIA do in reposing to the Cuban revolution ?
- The CIA tried to assassinate the leader of Cuba, Fidel Castro, with no success.
- The CIA convinced President Kennedy that a US-backed invasion of Cuba, designed to overthrow Castro, could solve the problem.
When did The Bays of Pigs happen ?
April 1961
What did the CIA tell Kennedy ?
- The invasion will look like a Cuban
revolt - we’ve trained Cuban exiles and disguised old US planes as Cuban. - Castro’s control of Cuba is very weak.
- Most Cubans hate Castro.
Why did the Bay of Pigs fail ?
- Volunteers had little military experience , could not combat trained Cuban revolutionary army
- Castro’s government knew about the invasion in advance
- USA and exile army wrongly assumed that most Cubans would support them, they were however content with government
- USA wanted to present case as cuban effort so couldn’t send US troops
What happened at the Bay of Pigs ?
- In fact, Castro knew of the invasion in advance and 1400 US-backed troops/cuban exiles met 20 000 of Castro’s troops. The US-backed troops surrendered.
- The plane were recognised as the US planes and photographed, and the information was published. The world knew that the USA had backed the invasion.
What were the impacts of the failure of the Bay of Pigs ?
- The failure was very humiliating for the USA , make the look hypocritical
- Ended all chances of a friendly USA-Cuba relationship.
- Castro announced that he was a communist.
- Cuba and the Soviet Union started building closer ties - including military defence for Cuba.
What was the impact of Soviet rule on Czechoslovakia ?
- Czechoslovakia’s economy and living standards declined.
- Any opposition to communism was crushed.
- Communist rule became very unpopular.
Who was Alexander Dubcek ?
He became the Czechoslovakian leader in January 1968
What was Alexander Dubcek’s take on ruling Czechoslovakia ?
- He was a communist
- He was a supporter of the Warsaw Pact but wanted to make communism better and easier to live under.
- Dubcek called this ‘socialism with a human face
Why did the Soviet leadership think of Alexander Dubcek ?
They approved of him and trusted him to make the government of Czechoslovakia more effective and less popular while still making the country completely loyal to the Soviet Union
What were the reforms that Dubcek introduced called ?
The Prague Spring
What were some of Dubcek’s reforms ?
- Censorship was relaxed and criticism of government was allowed
- Trade unions were given wider powers and government control of industry was reduced
- More power was given to the Czech regional governments
- Trade with the west increased
- Czech people were given greater freedom to travel abroad
How did Czechoslovakians respond to the ‘Prague Springs’ ?
The Czechoslovakians welcomed his reforms enthusiastically
How did the Soviet leader view Dubcek’s reforms ?
- The Soviet Union, Brezhnev, disapproved of many of his reforms
- He thought that this would lead to other countries demanding similar reforms which would lead to endangering communism
What made Brezhnev’s view of Dubcek’s reforms worse ?
- Romania was refusing to attend the Warsaw Pact meeting
- Yugoslavian leader, Tito, refused to accept control from Moscow
What led to Brezhnev taking action ?
- He remained in contact with Dubcek, urging him to not take his reforms to far and threaten Soviet control
- However, when Dubcek invited leaders of Romania and Yugoslavia for Prague talks, Brezhnev decided to take action
When did the USSR intervene in Czechoslovakia ?
August 1968
How did Brezhnev intervene in Czechoslovakia ?
- In August 1968, 500,000 Warsaw Pact troops invaded and ended the ‘Prague Spring’
- Invading forces where told they were restoring law and order and thereof were surprised by the hostility encountered from the Czech people
What was the Brezhnev doctrine ?
Brezhnev stated that any actions of any individual communist country affected all communist countries. therefore, if one country’s actions threatened another one, then it was a duty to ensure that these actions were stopped.
What is a doctrine ?
A belief or philosophy
What was the importance of the Brezhnev doctrine ?
- This meant that the Soviet Union reserved the right to invade any country that threatened the security of the eastern bloc / buffer zone
- Therefore, countries like Poland and Hungary were required to rigidly stick to the pro-Soviet regime and communist rule or risk invasion too
What were the consequences of the Brezhnev doctrine ?
- The USA condemned the invasion but didn’t intervene due to risk of war
- West European Communist parties were horrified and declared themselves independent from eh Soviet communist party
- Romania and Yugoslavia backed off, weakening Soviet Union control over East Europe
What was Khrushchev’s solution to the refugee crisis ?
To build a Berlin Wall in 1961 August.
How did the Berlin Wall solve the refugee crisis for Khrushchev ?
This was designed to prevent East Berliners travelling to West Berlin in the future. Nay Easy Germans that did travel to the West would be shot.
What happened as a result of the four summit meetings about Berlin’s problem ?
- There was no solution as a result
- Tensions between the superpowers grew so more East Germans crossed into west Germany in case Khrushchev decided to close the boarder ( August 1961 , eg. 40,000 crossed )
explain how the building of the Berlin Wall progressed ?
- Due to the amount of Easy Germans crossing into West Germany, on 12 of August 1961, the Berlin Wall began to be constructed
- East German troops erected a barbed wire fence around West Berlin. The fence eventually became a heavily guarded wall. Soviet tanks were deployed to stop Western access to the East.
Why did Khrushchev create the Berlin Wall ?
- Due to the refugee crisis, many valuable communists were being lost and communism was experiencing a propaganda failure
- Khrushchev couldn’t risk nuclear war with USA but he needed to solve the issue
What were the impacts of the Berlin Wall ?
It officially separated West and East Germany from eachother, preventing either side form reach one another
When did Kennedy visit West Berlin ?
In 1963
What happened during when Kennedy visited West Berlin ?
- His speech was an expression of solidarity with the people of West Berlin, it showed he was prepared to defend West Berlin from communist attack
- He was traded like a rock star, with West Berliner’s celebrating their freedom
When did an America U-2 spy-plane take pictures of launch pads on Cuba ?
In Oct 1962
What did the U-2 American spy-plane spot ?
- The U-2 spy-plane took pictures of what looked like launch pads for medium-range ballistic missiles in Cuba
- American intelligence agency informed Kennedy that Soviet ships were sailing to Cuba carrying the missiles
Why did Khrushchev decide to put missiles in Cuba ?
- In Europe, NATO has missiles based in Turkey not far from the USSR and bellied USA should feel the threat
- Khrushchev feared another American attack, if overthrowed Castro ( wouldn’t look good )
- Berlin Wall seen as failure, would restore his prestige
When did Kennedy meet up with an executive committee to discuss what to do about missiles in Cuba ?
- On 16 October
- He called together an executive committee to discuss how the USA should react, they met for every day for 13 days facing the threat of nuclear war
What did Kennedy onthe 22nd of october 1962 ?
- On 22 of October he decided not to launch an attack but instead set up a naval blockade around Cuba not allowing any ships to pass through the blockade without US permission
What did the US do after getting up the naval blockade in Cuba ?
- Kennedy showed u son Us television that evening to inform the USA about the missiles in Cuba
- everyone expected the USSr to ignore the blockade
How did the Soviet Union react to the naval blockade ?
On 24 Oct, the Soviet ships reached the blockade and turned around
What were the short term consequences of the Cuban Missile crisis ?
- Communist Cuba survived as Kennedy gave assurances the USA would not invade Cuba again.
- The Soviet Union looked weak, as the world did not know the USA had removed missiles from Turkey. This undermined Khrushchev and Brezhnev replaced him as Soviet leader in 1964.
What were the Long term consequences of the Cuban Missile crisis ?
- The Hotline agreement was created, this made a direct communication link between Washington and Moscow
- Limited Test ban treaty of 1963
- The Outer Space Treaty of 1967
The Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty of 1968
What did the Test Ban Treaty do ?
- It was signed by Britain, USA and USSR
- An agreement were the testing of nuclear weapons in outer space, underwater of in the atmosphere was prohibited
What did the Outer Space Treaty do ?
The USA and USSR agreed not to use Space for military purpose, like putting nuclear weapons into orbit
What did the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty do ?
Signed to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, countries that signed up to the treaty agreed not to share their nuclear technology with other countries
