Cold War Crises 1958-70 Flashcards
Increased tensions between East and West Cold War crises Reaction to crisis
What were the causes of the cuban missile crisis?
- Usa stopped buying sugar from cuba
- Krushchev offered to buy sugar and supply Cuba machinery, technology and oil
- Castro declared Cuba communist country
- Bay of pigs
What were the key features of the cuban missile crisis 1962?
- Us spy plane photographs missile bases being set up by USSR in Cuba
- Kennedy placed naval blockade around Cuba and told soviet ships to turn around
- Kennedy demanded bases removed, Krushchev offered if blockade lifted and no invasion
- Krushchev sent second letter demanding US remove missile bases in turkey
- Usa agree if kept secret
What were the consequences of the cuban missile crisis 1962?
- Kennedy appeared strong, Khrushchev weak
- Kruschev removed as soviet leader 1964
- Hotline set up between White house and kremlim
- Partial test ban treaty (1963) - agreed not to test nuclear weapons in atmosphere
- Nuclear non-proliferation treaty signed - agreed to not spread nuclear technology to other countries
- relations significantly improved as both sides feared nuclear war
What was the refugee problem in Berlin?
• 1949-61 4 million East Germans fled to the west through Berlin
• Lots of skilled craftsmen and labourers fled ‘Brain drain’
• Put East Germany under economic threat
What was Khrushchev’s Berlin Ultimatum?
• Accused Allies of breaking Potsdam Agreement
• Told them to leave Berlin within 6 months
What was the Paris Summit 1960?
- Eisenhower and Kruschev due to meet
- 9 days before conference USSR shot down a U2 spy plane and capturing US pilot on it - Krushchev outraged and demanded apology, Eisenhowever refused but agreed to stop flights - Kruschev stormed out of confrence and Eisenhower cancelled trip to USSR - tensions increased massively
What was the vienna summit 1961 like?
- Kruschev resumed talks over Berlin when Kennedy elected - thought could bully into getting own way - Krushchev demanded USA withdraw troops from Berlin - kennedy refused - Krushchev reissued ultimatum - 6 months to leave or declare war
What was the bay of pigs 1961?
- Eisenhower started a revolution against Castro using exiles who fled Cuba after the revolution and used CIA to train them costing £45 mil
- Mission failed miserably as Castro very popular, people didn’t support exiles
- USA failed to support revolution by air and Cuban forces much stronger
- Castro was forceful so formed a military alliance with USSR who supplied them with weapons to defend themselves
- led to cuban missile crisis
- Made USA look weak and become unpopular in the America’s
What were the key features of Krushchev’s ultimatum 1958?
- 3 million East Germans cross to the west by 1958 including many skilled citizens
- Kruschev gives a speech in Moscow that demands US troups leave West Berlin within 6 months
- Kruschev withdraws ultimatum at camp David summit meeting
- Krushchev storms out of Paris conference over U2 spy plane incident
- Kruschev reissues ultimatum at vienna confrence resulting in both sides preparing for war
- constructions of barbed wire fence encircling Berlin
Why were Czechoslovakia unhappy in 1968?
- they had been a satellite state since 1948
- The moscow-loyal leader Novotny was unpopular
- Novotny’s economic reforms had failed to help the economy
- The USSR stopped the production of consumer goods
- economy in serious decline due to the USSR taking most of their raw materials under Comecon
- Novotny slow to introduce destalinisation, especially releasing political prisoners
What were the Prague spring reforms in Czechoslovakia?
- introduced by Dubcek
- greater political freedom - no censorship, media exposed corruption
- 10-year programme to bring in democratic elections - reduced power of secret police, removed travel restrictions meaning more contact with west
- created work councils to improve workers conditions
Why did USSR invade czechosovakia?
- didn’t want czech to get too close to West Germany
- Ducek’s reforms encouraged opponents of communism to demand more
- Czech one of the most important satellite states as economy was strong
- Brezhnev worried czechoslovakia would join NATO
- USSR worried that the ideas would spread elsewhere in the bloc
What were the consequences of prague springs?
For czechoslovakia
- reverted to same situation as before Dubcek’s appointment, hard-line communism
For USSR
- introduced Brezhnev Doctorine - outlined soviet foreign policy
- declared members of warsaw pact had to remain and any threat would lead to soviet invasion
- redefined communism as a one-party system
- other countries scared to relax communism
What were the international reactions to prague springs?
USA
- critisised soviet union but didn’t want to endanger move towards detente
Western Europe
- many communist parties condemned
Soviet response and no longer loyal to USA
- britain support USA
Eastern Europe
- many countries stopped being closely linked to USSR and refused to help
- Albania left warsaw pact
What was Kennedy’s response to ultimatum?
- month after Vienna summit Kennedy announced US would increase defence spending - USSR then increased their defence - Kennedy invested hundreds of millions preparing for war
- Berlin wall built: August 1961, Krushchev closed border between East and West, East German police placed 50 km line barbed wire and building of berlin wall began immediately - West Berlin encircled following day, Berlin divided
