Cold War (Increased Tension) Key topic 2

Question 1

Where was West Berlin?

Answer 1

It was deep inside Soviet-controlled East Germany

Question 2

What did divided Berlin give the USA?

Answer 2

a foothold inside the Soviet Eastern bloc.

Question 3

What did some Germans in East Germany think?

Answer 3

• They did not like having a communist Government
• There were better jobs with higher wages in the West
• It was easy to get to West Germany once you had reached the Western Zones in Berlin

Question 4

What was the Refuge problem in Berlin?

Answer 4

• Between 1949 and 1961, 2.7 million East Germans had crossed from East to West Berlin

Question 5

Why was the Refuge in Berlin a problem?

Answer 5

• The population of West Germany increased while the economy benefited from many new skilled workers
• East Germany had a skills shortage. This looked bad for the Soviet’s as people clearly preferred West Germany

Question 6

What was Khrushchev’s Berlin Ultimatum (1958)?

Answer 6

• This stated that Berlin belonged to East Germany and that occupying troops must leave in 6 months
• The USSR 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 USA had more nuclear weapons. So a series of Summits took place

Question 7

What was the outcome of the Geneva summit?

Answer 7

No solution agreed but a further summit organised for Camp David in the USA.

Question 8

When was the Geneva summit and who did it involve?

Answer 8

May 1959, involving foreign representatives only

Question 9

What was the outcome of the Camp David summit?

Answer 9

No solution agreed but a further meeting arranged in Paris.

Question 10

When was the Camp David summit and who did it involve?

Answer 10

September 1959, involving Eisenhower and Khrushchev

Question 11

What was the outcome of the Paris summit?

Answer 11

A disaster. Khrushchev stormed out because the Soviet Union had shot down a US spy plane over Russia.

Question 12

When was the Paris summit and who did it involve?

Answer 12

May 1960, involving Eisenhower and Khrushchev

Question 13

What was the outcome of the Vienna conference?

Answer 13

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.

Question 14

When was the Vienna conference and who did it involve?

Answer 14

June 1961, involving Kennedy and Khrushchev

Question 15

When did John F Kennedy become president?

Answer 15

In 1961

Question 16

What was Cuba’s relationship with the US like before 1959 and why did it deteriorate?

Answer 16

• Before 1959 Cuba was very closely linked to the USA, e.g there were lots of US owned businesses
• But Cuba had a socialist revolution in 1959 and the USA refused to deal with the new government

Question 17

Who did Cuba start building economic links with?

Answer 17

The Soviet Union, for example trading Soviet oil for Cuban sugar

Question 18

Why did the USA refuse to recognise Castro’s government?

Answer 18

because it did not want a socialist country in their sphere of influence, especially not a country with close links to the Soviet Union.

Question 19

What 2 things did the CIA do?

Answer 19

• 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.

Question 20

What did the CIA tell Kennedy about the invasion of Cuba?

Answer 20

• 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.

Question 21

What was the Bay of Pigs incident?

Answer 21

The invasion of Cuba from the USA

Question 22

When was the Bay of Pigs incident?

Answer 22

17th April 1961

Question 23

What actually happened in the Bay of Pigs incident?

Answer 23

• The planes were recognised as US planes
  and photographed, and the information
  was published. The world knew that the USA had backed the invasion.
• Castro knew of the invasion in advance and 1400 US-backed troops met 20, 000 of Castro’s troops. The US-backed troops surrendered.
• Most Cubans actually did not want their old leader, Batista, back again, because he had been corrupt.

Question 24

What were the impacts of the Bay of Pigs incident?

Answer 24

• 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

Question 25

What was the impact of Soviet rule on Czechoslovakia?

Answer 25

• Czechoslovakia’s economy and living standards declined.
• Any opposition to communism was crushed.
• Communist rule became very unpopular.

Question 26

When did Dubcček become the Czechoslovakian leader?

Answer 26

In January 1968

Question 27

Who was Dubcek good friends with?

Answer 27

Soviet Leader, Brezhnev

Question 28

When did Brezhnev become leader of the USSR?

Answer 28

1960

Question 29

What did Dubcek want to do?

Answer 29

He wanted to make communism better and easier to live under. He called this ‘socialism with a human face’

Question 30

What did Dubcek’s reforms result in?

Answer 30

The Prague Spring

Question 31

What was the Prague Spring, when was it, and what did it result in?

Answer 31

A period of increased political freedom, in April 1968, resulting in lots of criticism of communism

Question 32

What were Dubcek’s reforms?

Answer 32

1. Relaxation of censorship - more freedom to say things and for criticism
2. More democracy - allowed other parties alongside communist party
3. The economy was also reformed to allow for the introduction of some ‘capitalist elements’.
4. Powers of secret police reduced and Soviet control

Question 33

How did Czechoslovak’s respond?

Answer 33

• Students, intellectuals, workers and
  young members of the Communist Party
  of Czechoslovakia welcomed Dubček’s
  reforms enthusiastically.

Question 34

Did Dubcek’s reforms lead to the criticism of communism and where can this be seen?

Answer 34

Yes, Reforms led to writers writing books that were highly critical of Soviet-style communism

Question 35

How did the rest of the world react?

Answer 35

• Older Czechoslovakian communists were horrified
• Brezhnev and other communists in Europe were concerned as they feared it would promote demands for reforms elsewhere