Cold War Section 2 Flashcards
1
Q
What was the brain drain?
A
- Followed formation of two dictions in Germany in 1949, differences were beginning to arise between the two.
- West Germany received Marshall Aid n became a prosperous country w a high standard of living
- East Germany received much less help from ISSR and economic policies were VERY unsuccessful
- Many restrictions of the people’s freedom n were closely monitored by secret police
- By 1958, 3 million ppl had crossed the boarder, these ppl included engineers, technicians n teachers (workers East Germany highly depended on)
2
Q
Consequences of brain drain
A
- East Germany receiving less help led to low standard of living and shortage of basic food.
- Due to restrictions on ppl’s freedom, many East Germans decided to migrate to West Berlin from where they could free,y travel around the country.
- Not only was East Germany losing valuable ppl, but this was also a propaganda disaster for communism.
3
Q
Khrushchev’s Berlin ultimatum
A
- 27 Nov 1958, K demanded that Berlin should be demilitarised n Western troops were to withdraw n Berlin should become a free city (w its own independent government)
- Gave them a time limit of 6 months
- If they failed to meet these conditions, K would hand over control of all routes into Berlin to the gov of East Germany
- This meant that Western were forced to acknowledge East Germany was a legitimate country
4
Q
Consequences of ultimatum and brain drain
A
- major impact on US-USSR relations
- The West saw this as an attempt to spread communism
- Both countries had a large number of nuclear weapons, meaning that there would be great casualties is they decided on war over Berlin
- Summit meetings: Geneva, Camp David, U2 crisis, Vienna
5
Q
Summit meeting: Geneva (May 1959)
A
- Foreign ministers met (significant as only reps were there)
- Held in Geneva, Switzerland (politically neutral land)
- Both sides put forward proposals, but no agreements made (shows countries were not working well together)
6
Q
Summit meeting: Camp David (Sept. 1959)
A
- Eisenhower n Khrushchev met for 1st time face-to-face in presidential ranch (significant as it shows US trust)
- No agreements made but USSR withdrew ultimatum (relations improving)
- Further talks planned in Paris for following summer (intentions to work together to make changes)
7
Q
Summit meeting: U2 crisis (1 May 1960)
A
- USSR shot down an American U-2 spy plane over land
- US tries to claim that it was a weather plane blown off-course but pilot (Gary Powers) admitted to being on a spy mission after Soviet interrogation
- Eisenhower refused to apologise saying that the spy missions were unavoidable
8
Q
Summit meeting: Vienna ( June 1961)
A
- Kennedy had a policy of building up US’s military forces n trying to resolve difficulties with USSR
- Khrushchev believe Kennedy was inexperienced n would be able to use him. His rep had also suffered after the failed US invasion of Cuba at ‘Bay of Pigs’
- ## Khrushchev renewed the Berlin Ultimatum at this summit n ultimately no decisions were made
9
Q
Consequences of reinstatement of Berlin ultimatum
A
- JFK n Khrushchev relationship became strained
- JFK increased spending on armed forces by 2 billion to protect the US (shows that the US was prepared to fight over Berlin)
- The building of the Berlin Wall
10
Q
What was the Berlin Wall?
A
- On the 12 Aug 1961, East German troops built a barbed wire fence around Berlin and between East n West Berlin, which later became concrete.
- This was used to prevent East Germans freely travelling to West Germany
- Consequence of Berlin Ultimatum
11
Q
Consequences of building of Berlin Wall
A
- Brain drain was solved
- Berlin physically split into East n West ideologies
- Escape attempts ( one woman threw a mattress out her window, landed but later died from her injuries)
- Families split for nearly 40 years
- Other attempted escapees were shot w 130 ppl killed
- JFK’s ‘ich bin ein Berliner’ speech, also was treated like a ‘rockstar’ as he was showered with flowers n ppl chanted his name
12
Q
Importances of building the Berlin Wall
A
- Berlin physically split into East n West ideologies
- Partially propaganda for USSR - wall showed that USSR had to ‘lock’ ppl into East Berlin to keep them from leaving
- Less likelihood that US n USSR would go to war over Berlin - Kennedy said ‘a wall is better than war’
- Shows that East n West could no longer peacefully negotiate
13
Q
What was the Cuban Revolution 1959?
A
- A military n political effort to overthrow the gov of Cuba between 1953 n 1959.
- Fidel Castro overthrows Cuba’s pro-US gov.
- Cuba only 90 miles away from Florida
- American businesses heavily invested in Cuba.
- New Castro gov took over all land n became communist.
- US banned import of Cu an sugar which threatened bankruptcy
- Castro becomes allied w Khrushchev n Soviet Union
14
Q
What was the Cuban Missile Crisis 1962?
A
- A 13 day confrontation between the governments of the US and SU, when American deployments of nuclear missiles in Italy n Turkey were matched by Soviet deployments of nuclear missiles in Cuba.
- Khrushchev’s plan to put missiles on Cuba, protecting Cuba and placing missiles within striking distance of US
- Vienna summit - Khrushchev thinks Kennedy is weak. 25th Sept 1962 114 SU ships to Cuba w warheads n long range missiles
- Kennedy’s advisors r split into ‘hawks’ and ‘doves’.
- Hawks want aggressive policy e.g. attack Cuba w nuclear weapons.
- Doves advised caution , recommending diplomatic strategies
- An immediate suggestion was a naval blockade to stop the 114 ships
15
Q
What were the ‘13 days’ 16th Oct - 28th Oct 1962?
A
- Closest world has ever been to a world war during the Cold War time period
- 20th - US naval blockade
- 22nd - Kennedy publicly declares blockade n calls on Khrushchev to recall ships
- 23rd - Khrushchev sends letter - SU will break through blockade
- 24th - 18 SU ships turn around to avoid confrontation. Kennedy demands removal of missiles or SU invasion
- 25th - SU n US on high alert. Kennedy writes to Khrushchev
- 26th - SU to remove missiles if no US Cuban invasion
- 27th - SU secret letter - SU remove missiles in Cuba if US not invade n remove missiles in Turkey
- 28th - Secret deal accepted - no one knows US missiles removed from Turkey
