Cold War Crises Flashcards
What were the reasons for the Berlin Wall?
The problems for East Germany created by young people, combined with the failure of the summit meetings led Khruschev to order the fencing off of West Berlin in August 1961.
The Wall eventually circled 75 miles around West Berlin
What were the consequences/importance of the Berlin Wall?
It was a propaganda success for the USA, which was needed after the Bay of Pigs fiasco.
It actually calmed Berlin as a crisis zone for the Cold War.
What were the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis?
In October 1962, US spy planes identified nuclear sites being installed on the island of Cuba.
Excomm was formed by Kennedy and the decision was taken to not ignore, not bomb, but quarantine the island with ships.
The USSR was surprised with US knowledge of the missiles and given an ultimatum to stop their boats before reaching the quarantine line or face the sites being bombed.
Nuclear war seemed a certainty, but after two letters sent by Khrushchev; a deal was struck where the missiles would be removed and, 6 months later, the USA would remove similar missiles stationed in Turkey.
What was the importance of the Cuban Missile Crisis?
It demonstrated both how dangerous the Arms Race had made the world but also revealed how neither the USA or the USSR wanted to be responsible for starting a nuclear third world war.
It led to the beginnings of Detente with both the installation of a hotline between Moscow and Washington and the Outer Space Treaty.
What did the Brezhnev Doctrine mean for the Cold War?
It prevented, for a short-while, the spread of liberal democratic socialist ideas across Eastern Europe - however it also stored up anger against the USSR.
The economy of the USSR and the Satellite States was actually made worse with even more restrictions placed on the Satellite States - in the long-term, it added to the impending collapse of the Warsaw Pact in the 1980s.
The Doctrine was used to justify an invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. The USSR felt they needed to invade Afghanistan to ensure Communism and not an Islamist takeover.
