Helsinki and Stagnation Flashcards
Outline Helsinki, who was involved, and who signed.
The US consented to holding negotiations in return for the USSR discussing Berlin and opening negotiations at Vienna on mutual reductions of troops and armaments in Central Europe. Concessions could also be gained. It was signed on 1 August 1975 by 33 European states, Canada, and the US.
What agreements (baskets) were made at Helsinki?
- Questions relating to security in Europe – peaceful negotiation and settling dispute, non-interference with internal affairs, inviolable frontiers. Brezhnev hoped for a permanent peace treaty to guarantee new post-war frontiers, but under West German pressure, Henry Kissinger, US secretary of state, convinced the USSR to accept gradual peaceful change to frontiers.
- Basket Two: economic cooperation, alongside science, technology, and the environment.
- Basket Three: cooperation in humanitarian and other fields. Expanding trade, tourism, and cultural contacts.
- There would be a follow-up conference two years later to work out further measures for security and cooperation.
Who gained at Helsinki?
Reagan and Margaret Thatcher later expressed it as the ‘new Yalta’ – US acceptance of the Soviet domination in Eastern Europe.
Jimmy Carter began to make human rights the forefront of his foreign policy, and in February 1977 championed the rights of Andrei Sakharov.
What was the gerentocracy, and the issue of alcoholism in the USSR?
There was a development of the gerontocracy, with the average age in the Politburo over 70 by 1982. Brezhnev developed the idea of ‘Mature Socialism,’ and the Brezhnev Constitution in 1977. One third of household currency for kolkhoz workers was spent on vodka, and moonshine was consumed. 10 million detained per year for drunkenness.
How did stagnation start?
Entrepreneurs became increasingly corrupt as socialism could not satisfy the growing commands of consumers. Heavy industry was built up during these years, and concerns were raised over Lake Baikal, where non-renewable resources were destroyed. The period was known for stagnation.
What economic impact left people bitter in the Warsaw Pact?
Eastern Europe had been focusing on heavy industry since the 50s and clothes were of poor quality, alongside the fact that the USSR was falling behind new technologies such as robotics and computers, and so the East also fell behind. In East Germany and Czechoslovakia, exposure to the mass consumer society in West Germany made people yearn. By 1985, all economies had virtually negligible growth rates.
How did Erich Honecker rule?
Janos Kadar was Hungary leader since 1956, Gustav Husak led Czechoslovakia since 1968, and Todor Zhivkov ruled Bulgaria since 1956. With a police state in place opposition was limited. In East Germany, the Stasi under Erich Honecker (1971-89), kept 5 million under surveillance with 600,000 employed. National unity was attempted under boasting of sports accomplishments, but East Germans resented this.
How did Ceausescu rule?
Nicolae Ceausescu had led Romania since 1965 and had the Securitate secret police crush opposition. Typewriters had to be registered and in the 1980s systematisation involved demolishing villages to establish agro-industrial complexes.
What was the Solidarity crisis?
Solidarity developed in 1980-81 due to price raises in Poland. In June 1979 Pope John Paul II visited Poland, telling people ‘do not be afraid.’ Lech Walesa had power in the Gdansk shipyards, Catholic leader of Solidarity. Edward Gierek, Polish Communist Party leader, allowed Poland to be an independent trade union. The USSR took out military manoeuvres on the Polish border and General Jaruzelski, new Polish leader, declared martial law on 12 December 1981, using the army to quell unrest. He did this as the peaceful option as opposed to the Red Army invading. Millions of trade unionists worked together underground.
