global cold war Flashcards
evidence for america being the dominant cold war power in the UN
- headquarters in new york
- originally large western/ capitalist membership
- nationalists in taiwan had chinese seat
when was the warsaw pact
may 1955
what was the warsaw pact
- military alliance between russia and satélite states
- formed as a response to frg joining nato and rearmament
- legitimising pre-existing control
- presented collective security strategy
stalins role in the UN
- gain control and push communism
- emphasise his right to veto
- cause problems for US
what happened to austria following ww2
divided into 4 occupational zones
when was the austrian state treaty
may 1955
key outcomes of the austrian state treaty
- all powers withdrew from austria so that it became an independent democratic state
- policy of neutrality
implications of austrian state treaty
- removed a major source of potential conflict between cold war powers and raised hopes for peaceful coexistence -> could the same happen in germany?
when was khrushchevs secret speech
february 1956
what was conveyed in the secret speech
- de-stalinisation, asserting need for change in the SU
- principle of peaceful coexistence which was necessary in the age of nuclear weapons
key elements of peaceful coexistence
- willingness to reduce size of soviet military
- communist success through peaceful revolution
- eliminating threat of war
- political and economic relations based on equality
ussr ‘buts’ to peaceful coexistence
- but wanted to remain sole leader of communist world
- but still wanted to expand nuclear capability
- but wanted to retain eastern bloc satélite states
two main issues discussed at geneva summit
- open skies
- europe and the problem of divided germany
when was geneva summit
september 1955
what was the open skies proposal and why did ike raise it
- allow reconnaissance flights so powers aware of each others capabilities
- soviets rejected - espionage?
- eisenhower knew soviets would reject so propaganda win
what was discussed about germany at geneva
- usa proposes reunification of germany with free elections and responsibility for own security
- soviets proposed neutralised, demilitarised germany
- all agreed on german reunification via free elections
ussr decision soon after geneva on germany
- reunification and free elections contingent upon frg ending western ties and leaving nato while gdr retain ussr ties
when was the polish uprising
june - october 1956
when was the hungarian uprising
october - november 1956
what set off the polish uprising
- secret speech
- universal wage cut for polish workers
what were the polish workers demands
- improved working conditions
- higher wages for industrial workers
- greater freedom for catholic church
- end to collectivisation of agriculture
result and impact of polish uprising
- khrushchev decides no military action because the polish communist party is supported by china
- willing to allow some autonomy if remain loyal to the ussr and led by trustworthy men
some of demands of hungarians
- nagy as prime minster
- withdrawal of soviet troops
- free elections
- free press
who is gomulka
leader of the polish communist party
what did the events of the hungarian revolution show
- khrushchev would be ruthless and use force to maintain the soviet sphere of influence
- also, fear from us and un to intervene in europe
when was the suez crisis
october 1956
importance of the suez crisis
- britain and israel and france conspire to invade egypt and remove masses who nationalised suez
- khrushchev side with soviets - threaten nuclear weapons!
- ike furious! britain withdrew embarrassed! SU thought nuclear threat worked
when was the paris summit
may 1960
when was the berlin crisis
1958-63
how did relations sour leading to the paris summit?
- soviet repression in hungary
- berlin crisis in 1958
BUT the idea of peaceful coexistence still remained
when was the camp david meeting
1959
what was discussed at camp david
- nuclear disarmament
- berlin
- trade
- understanding of each others position in the cold war
implications of camp david
friendly talks, mutual good will, peaceful coexistence
why did the paris talk not happen
u2 spy plane incident
maos opinion on peaceful coexistence
he was against it and he was also critical of khrushchev
why did relations improve even under ikes new look policy
- fear of nuclear war
- death of stalin
- armies reduced due to cost of maintenance
- u2 spy planes show us is operating from position of strength
why was the summit in vienna
austria was neutral
when was vienna summit
1961
who was vienna summit between
jfk and khrushchev
what was discussed at vienna
- berlin crisis
- political situation in laos
how did the vienna conference go
- bad tempered
- k bullied jfk
relationship between peaceful coexistence and summits
peaceful coexistence is a thing as they have met 4x in 6 years - prior to this not at all since potsdam
however, steady decline of relationship and tensions rise, reflection of events in cold war
what happened to polish leader and what was his name
beriut dies in 1956! supposedly after reading the secret speech
who becomes polish leader following beruit
gomulka
when was sputnik 1 launched
october 1957
who was the first person to orbit the earth
yuri gagarin in 1961
when did the soviets send a satellite to the moon
1959
american response to sputnik
- worried! soviets closer to nuclear attack from space
- ike criticised for underfunding american space exploration and falling behind ussr (despite $1 billion in funding)
- soviets had icbm capabilities
american response to sputnik
- 1958 nasa was created
- 1961 jfk increases funding for nasa
- us money put into education
- by 1962, usa launched 63 space missions compared to ussrs 15
- 1969, us moon landing
us space race failures
- vanguard exploded on launch pad
- fear of missile gap
what year was there a rapid development of ICBMs
1957
what did the gaither report suggest
soviet superiority in missile technology
when was the first hydrogen bomb exploded for the us and soviets
us - 1952
soviets - 1953
when is the first us satellite launched
1958 - explorer 1
when was the u2 spy plane crisis
1960
who flew the u2 plane
powers
what factors prompted khrushchev to take action over berlin by 1958
- from 1955, increasing immigration from east to west - most went through west berlin
- high living standards of capitalist west
- west german membership in nato - nuclear weapons?
- polish and hungarian uprisings
- chinese challenges
why did khrushchev feel justified in berlin crisis/ confronting the west
the wartime agreements over the future of berlin and germany had not been honoured by the west eg at potsdam
why is the difference between east and west berlin
west - higher quality, better housing, easy access to consumer goods
east - housing shortages, limited consumer choices
what is the hallstien doctrine
khrushchev recognised the gdr as an independent state. it announced that the frg would regard the recognition of the gdr by anyone other than the ussr as an unfriendly act and diplomatic relations ended
when was khrushchevs ultimatum
1959
what did khrushchevs ultimatum state
- demanded withdrawal of western troops from west berlin as a ‘free city’
- wanted western powers to negotiate german settlement
- limit western access/occupation of west berlin
wests response to khrushchevs ultimatum
rejected! but usa and britain wanted to lessen ussr tension (camp david and paris)
gaddis statistic on decline of berlin population
50000 over two years, well over a million more by end of ‘56
when did the berlin wall begin to be built
august 13, 1961 for wire then concrete
short term impact of berlin wall
caused a major military confrontation, soviet and us tanks facing each other at close range on the streets
long term impact of berlin wall
east germany’s economy improved as skilled workers were unable to leave
positive of berlin wall for west
propaganda win
who was the old cuban leader and who was the new one
batista -> fidel castro
when is batista overthrown
1959
when was the cuban missile crisis
october 16-28 1962
when was the bay of pigs invasion
1961
how does ussr initially get cuba on side in 1960
mikayan visits and gives $100 million credits
cuban missile crisis, what happened in april 1960
us oil companies in cuba refuse to refine cheaper soviet oil castro buys so he nationalises them
us response to castro nationalisation of oil refineries
imposition of economic blockade on cuba, reducing sugar imports by 95%
castro response to economic sanction
october 1960, seizes $1 billion worth of us assets in cuba
when did castro formally embrace communism
1961
what happened during the bay of pigs invasion
1500 US backed cuban exiles invaded cuba at the bay of pigs, kennedy approves this CIA backed operation. the usa thought this would start revolution against castro
result of bay of pigs invasion
disaster!
- cubans pleased with castros reforms, improved living and social conditions
- invasion subdued in 3 days, 1200 men captured
what did jfk have to do following the bay of pigs invasion
- pay $53 million in food and medical supplies and to have invaders returned
castros reaction to bay of pigs fiasco
reacts by entering military agreement with the soviets including weapons, advisers, jets and SAMs by 1962
what was operation mongoose
secret plan to destabilise the cuban regime and topple castro
when was operation mongoose
jan - july 1962
what happened during operation mongoose
over 6000 acts of sabotage are committed ranging from arson to murder - assassination attempts on castro included
what begins the 13 days
14th october, a u2 spy plane takes reconnaissance photographs above cuba
what happened on 22nd october
- naval blockade of cuba
- armed forces placed on DEFCON alert level 2 (1=war)
how was the cuban missile crisis resolved
khrushchev removes soviet missiles from cuba, kennedy removes us missiles from turkey
why did kennedy accept the turkey agreement in secret
because he knew it was fair trade off but knew that nato would see this as too big of a concession
what 4 pieces of legislation /agreements emerged following cuban missile crisis
- 1963, limited test ban treaty
- 1968, nuclear non-proliferation treaty
- 1972, strategic arms limitation interim agreement
- 1972, anti-ballistic missile treaty
early signs of struggle between china and ussr
- mao not happy with peaceful coexistence
- the secret speech
- khrushchev makes up with tito
- stalin superior to mao, mao superior to khrushchev? khrushchev thought he was superior to mao
