Cold War: The Cold War Intensifies

Question 1

When and What happened at The death of Stalin

Answer 1

Stalin died in 1953. After a short struggle for power, in 1955 Khrushchev became the new ruler of the USSR. At first, the western powers hoped that Khrushchev would be the start of a ‘thaw’ in the Cold War.

Question 2

What was the role of Khrushchev and his aims?

Answer 2

• Khrushchev met western leaders at ‘summit’ meetings and even travelled to the USA.
• In the ‘Secret Speech’ at the Twentieth Party Congress in 1956, Khrushchev attacked Stalin, saying that Stalin was a murderer and a tyrant.
• Khrushchev began to ‘de-Stalinise’ Russia - political prisoners were set free and the activities of the secret police were reduced.
• Khrushchev said that he wanted peaceful co-existence with the West. Western leaders hoped this meant the end of the Cold War.
• Given hope that Stalin’s era of repression and fear had come to an end, opponents of communism in Eastern Europe began to make demands.

Question 3

What was the Hungarian Uprising, October 1956?

Answer 3

This was when The Hungarian people decided to protest against communist rule – with devastating results.

Question 4

What were 5 causes of the Hungarian Uprising?

Answer 4

Causes of the uprising:

1. Poverty:
   Hungarians were poor, yet much of the food and industrial goods they produced was sent to Russia.
2. Russian Control:
   The Hungarians were very patriotic, and they hated Russian control – which included censorship, the vicious secret police and Russian control of what the schools taught.
3. Religious issues:
   The Hungarians were a religious people, but the Communist Party had banned religion, and put the leader of the Catholic Church in prison.
4. Help from the West:
   Hungarians thought that the United Nations or the new US president, Eisenhower, would help them.
5. De-Stalinisation:
   When the Communist Party tried to de-Stalinise Hungary, things got out of control. The Hungarian leader Rakosi asked for permission to arrest 400 trouble-makers, but Khrushchev would not let him.

Question 5

What were the CHRONOLOGICAL events of the Hungarian Uprising?

Answer 5

Events of the uprising:

1. 23 October: Riots of students, workers and soldiers. They smashed up the statue of Stalin, and attacked the Secret Police and Russian soldiers.
2. 24 October: Imre Nagy took over as Prime Minister. He asked Khrushchev to take Russian troops out of Hungary.
3. 28 October: Khrushchev agreed, and the Russian army pulled out of Budapest.
4. 29 October – 3 November: The new Hungarian government introduced democracy, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion (the leader of the Catholic Church was freed from prison). Nagy also announced that Hungary was going to leave the Warsaw Pact.
5. 4 November: At dawn, 1000 Russian tanks rolled into Budapest. By 8:10 am they had destroyed the Hungarian army and captured Hungarian Radio – its last words broadcast were ‘Help! Help! Help!’
   - Hungarian people – even children – fought them with machine guns. Some 4000 Hungarians killed fighting the Russians.
   - Khrushchev put in Janos Kadar, a supporter of Russia, as Prime Minister.
   - Nagy was executed.

Question 6

What were the consequences of the Hungarian Uprising?

Answer 6

Consequences of the Hungarian Uprising:

1) 200,000 Hungarian refugees fled into Austria.

2) Russia stayed in control behind the Iron Curtain.

3) People in the West were horrified – many British Communists left the Communist Party.

4) It was clear to Eastern Europe that the West would not come to their aid to help them overturn communism.

5) However, whilst they would not intervene in countries that were within the Soviet sphere of influence, Western leaders became even more determined to ‘contain’ communism.

Question 7

What does Khrushchev’s ‘de-stalinisation’ mean?

Answer 7

To undo the method of running countries under Stalin’s way/ideal.

Question 8

What president came into power after Stalin’s death in the USSR?

Answer 8

Nikita Khrushchev