COLD WAR 1956 - 1984 Flashcards
unrest in poland in 1953
hopes for more political and general freedom after death of stalin in 1953. especially after secret speech in feb 1956 denouncing Stalin’s policies
actions:
more liberal wing asserted itself and refused to accept Russian nominee as defence minister
june 1956 protests from workers led to 50-100 deaths
October 1956 party support went to Gomulka who had previously been arrested for deviationalist activties (straying from accepted interpretations of Marxism)
Poles criticised for anti-Soviet activity but Khrushchev accepted Gomulka instead of launching invasion and made concessions giving greater autonomy to polish govn
unrest in Hungary
like Poland, Hungarians also resented Stalinist policies and leadership weakened by secret speech and condemnation of policies
against Soviet controlled govn.
October 1956 police shot at students and workers protesting
Nagy took power but allowed non-communists into govn and spoke about leaving the Warsaw Pact (announced withdrawl on 1st novemeber)
4th November 1956 over 1000 USSR tanks deployed leading to over 2000 deaths
West didn’t intervene due to acceptance that Hungary was part of Soviet block
Kadar appointed and was brutal
significance:
180 000 Hungarians fled to West
lenience shown in poland around the same time led to hopes for change
attention diverted to Suez crisis afetr the Egyptians nationalised Suez Canal so british and french invaded (West divided as US didn’t agree on actions)
failure of US to intervene showed limitations of containment
little long-term impact
Czech crisis
events in spring
why intervention necessary
what happened
consequences
what happened in the spring:
january 1968 Dubcek cam einto office and in the spring announced reforms introducing more democracy (prague spring) to follow policy of ‘socialism with a human face’ e.g ending censorship in june which led to revalations about crimes of Stalin era which involved russian officials
why they had to intervene
demonstrators in Warsaw called for a ‘Polish Dubcek’
Romania demanding to pursue an independent foreign policy so threats to control meant had to intervene
Tito and Ceausescu in August made russian leaders fearful of break-up of eastern block
what happened:
20-21 august 50 000 troops from warsaw pact countries including USSR, Hungary and Poland invaded and arrested Czech leaders
consequences:
Brezhnev doctrine announced in september 1968 that USSR and allies would invade any communist countries that deviated from Moscow leadership as they had done in Czechoslovakia
served to extend cold war until 1989 when they abandoned the policy instead of bringing it any closer to ending
most dangerous challenge to authority between 1953-68
West German re-armament
why
what
response
significance
WHY
developing cold war made it necessary to have cooperation of west germany
korean war worrying and Ulbricht supported north korea and suggested similar action might be taken by the East (had police force of 60 000 compared to no armed forces in West) so Adenauer asked to be allowed to build a defence force
WHAT
agreed NATO would create a force in europe that would include german armed units (reinforced permanent division of germany) instead of European Defence Community with European army as french didn’t agree
may 1952 General Treaty removed High Commission paving way for Germany to create armed forces
Berlin Wall
causes:
1952 closed border between east and west to halt emigration but could still leave through Berlin
3.5 million had left by 1961 (20% of the GDR’s people) including young professionals due to beter prospects in the West so population of those working age reduced, hamering economic development even more
july and august 36 000 left and 200 000 in 1960
Ulbricht and China pressuring Khrushchev as made communism look bad
Vienna Summit Kennedy responds to demands to remove troops from Berlin by increasing them by 14% (after ultimatum demanding this in 1958)
when?
13th august construction began
136 deaths by 1989 of people trying to escape
significance?
seen as ‘a monument to communist failure’ as was built to stop east germans defectig from communist east
russia defending a failing system instead of reasonably resolving the problem
initially tensions the highest they had been at standoff of US and soviet tanks at Checkpoint Charlie but backing away meant Berlin Crisis resolved (could have led to nuclear war)
‘a wall is a hell of a lot better than a war’ - kennedy
OVERALL CALMED TENSIONS
SITUATION BUILDING UP TO WALL AND BEFORE CHECKPOINT CHARLIE HEIGHTENED TENSIONS
arms race 1955 - 84
missiles
MAD
star wars
significance of arms race as a whole on the wider cold war
missiles:
by 1957 russians had developed their on ICBMs which sparked fears of a ‘missile gap’ in the US that they trailed uSSR in ballistic missile technology
Atlas missiles in 1958 by US and Polaris submarines as a result
mutually assured destruction:
shift of US policy in the 60s stating any attack on US or allies would lead to ‘devastating retaliatory strikes’ which would destroy 1/2 of russian population
war would led to both countries destroyed
in response USSR developed MIRVs in 1964
led to Strategic Arms Limitation Talks in 70s to stop this getting out of control
Star Wars
the Reagan administration, reacting to soviet invasion of Afghanistan stationed missiles in Europe and developed the Strategic Defence Initiative (Star Wars)
went against 1972 agreements to limit defence systems
immensely costly and put USSR under a lot of pressure to compete, one of the factors leading to its downfall in 1989
significance of the arms race?
did led to Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 which nearly led to nuclear war
prevented cold war from developing into direct conflict due to consequence of MAD
did lead to peace talks which calmed tensions but when actions contradicted agreements e.g Star Wars, caused tension
space race
first satellite successfully launched by USSR on 4th october 1657
- threatening that satellite was crossing US in space as what if it was allied with weaponry
- clear USSR was far more technologically advanced than first thought and that capitalism hadn’t beaten communism in scientific technology
december 1957 US attempted to lanch their own satellite dubbed ‘kaputnik’ as massive failure - humiliating for US
- in november USSR had also sent a dog to space
- first successful launch in january 1958 with Explorer 1
april 1961 USSR first astronaut Gagarin orbitting the earth
matched the next year by US first man Glenn
september 1962 kennedy spoke of challenge which “we are unwilling to postpone and which we intend to win” (increased commitment)
first moon landing by US Armstrong and Aldrin july 1969
greater cooperation between US and USSR as Race using considerable resources and SALT talks to control arms race
first joint US-Soviet space mission: the Apollo-Soyuz Mission in 1975
detente and arms limitation
detente: period of improved relations between the US and USSR from 1969-80
preceeded several arms limitation talks in 1960s including Limited Test Ban Treaty in 1963 - prohibiting all nuclear testing unless underground
reasons for detente and arms limitation
US: Vietnam War very costly ($168 billion over whole war). rise in oil prices in 1973 due to war in Middle East. Nixon more pragmatic than predecessors
USSR: Nixon visited china in 1972 and possibility of better relations betwen US and China pressured USSR to form better relations with US. rise in food prices due to poor harvest and problems in food production
Brezhnev more prgmatic than Stalin
Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 which threatened nuclear war
SALT 1972 established 5 year freeze on constructing various weapons incuding ICBMs and restrict defence systems
- leaving countries vulnerable to discourage nuclear war
- improved relations and communication and understanding
- USSR stationed SS-20 missiles in central europe in 1976
1972 nixon first US president to visit Moscow and Brezhnev
- 3 year agreement on sale of grain to Soviets
1973 Brezhnev visited US (continue of commitment to peace)
1975 first joint mission into space
1975 both sides agreed to Helsinki Accords pledging Basket 1: confirmed communist bloc as borders of european countries ‘inviolable’
Basket 2: promoted trade links across the iron cutrain
Basket 3: human rights e.g freedom of speech to their subjects (not carried out by USSR)
served to cool tensions and better relations by mutual cooperation
SALT II 1979 more permanent arms limitations but detente fell away and US Senate refused to ratify treaty
Ostpolitik
what came before which caused tensions
changes 1969 1970 1971 1972
results
key feature of detente pursued by west german leader Willy Brandt from 1969
1955 Hallstein Doctrine stated FRG would break off diplomatic relations with any state that officially recognised the GDR
Berlin Wall signfied split and unlikelihood of reunifying germany
CHANGES:
Brandt signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1969 to further goal of achieving nuclear disarmament
1970 Moscow Treaty between Brandt and Brezhnev
- Federal Republic abandoned the Hallstein Doctrine
- both Germanies would become members of the UN (international recognition of GDR)
- Brandt didn’t rule out future German unity
1970 signed treaty with Poland giving more finance and trade links from FRG
1971 agreed that West Berlin could have links with Federal Republic and West Berliners had right to visit East Berlin
1972 Basic Treaty signed by FRG and GDR in which the FRG recognised the existence of the DDR as an equal sovereign state and accepted both Germanies owuld be members of the UN (effectively reinforced the Moscow Treaty of 1970)
RESULTS
DDR had gained recognition of its frontiers and international recognition of its existence in the form of becoming a member of the UN
no suggestion policies of GDR should chnange
concessions for West Berlin e.g travel to FRG
left door open for future reunification (didn’t agree west berlin part of DDR)
opened way for talks in Helsinki in 1975
Afghanistan
1978 Aghan communists overthrew monarch
fearful of china and having just restrated arms race with US, couldn’t afford any more instability
december 1979 Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan and killed leader in place of Kemal who was a communist loyal to Moscow(start of the new Cold War)
50 000 troops in Afghanistan
western reaction:
detente now pointless
feared Russian expansion towards key oil supplies which West depended on
banned grain supplies to USSR
US Senate refused to ratify SALT II
US boycotted 1980 Moscow Olympics
supplied Mujahedeen rebels through Pakistan and by 1986 included surface to air missiles
New Cold War
why
reagan
arms race
why it continued the cold war
began in 1979 with Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
US retaliated by supplying Mujahedeen with supplies including surface to air missiles
marked end to detente
Reagan elected in 1980 and hostile to USSR and ‘evil empire’
deployed cruise and Pershing missiles in Europe in 1983
development of Strategic Defence Initiative 1983 confirmed new cold war to be accompanied by new arms race and went against previous arms limitation talks
1983 soviet warplane shot down south korean airliner strayed in soviet airspace
continued cold war:
harder to end due to Afghan War, upgraded arms race and tougher opposition to ideology from US
US had little interest in furthering detente due to favourable position in arms race
tensions between 1950 - 70
eastern europe -
uprisings in berlin, poland, hunagry and czech which led to Brezhnev doctrine which extended cold war
germany -
berlin uprising
berlin wall
berlin crisis
arms and space race -
spae race led to fear of inferior technology which may have promtped increased arms spending but jont Apollo-Soyuz mission in 1975
arms race building within this time with missiles, missle gap and massive retaliation but MAD policy led to arms limitations talks
