History Essay Notes TEMP Flashcards
Peaceful Coexistence
Khrushchev believed due to the possibility of a nuclear war
He wanted to reduce tensions so he could reduce military spending to instead devote it to producing consumer goods to raise the standard of living
Justified though
- America can’t be moved
- Only 2 options
1. Nuclear war
2. Peaceful Coexistence
Overall this meant
- rejection of war
- recognizing borders
- not trying to change the way of life or system of government of another country
De-Stalinisation
Made a ‘secret speech’ at the 20th Party Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
- Deliberately leaked to the west
Directly criticized Stalin, his leadership and cult of personality
Suggested that while communism would remain, there would be political change
Peaceful Coexistence and De-Stalinisation
MOTIVATION
PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE
wanted to reduce tensions due to the possibility of nuclear war
DE-STALINISATION
wanted to let the US know they were changing since Stalin died and to create the possibility to open talks between the 2 countries
Peaceful Coexistence and De-Stalinisation
IMPACT
Hungary Uprising (1956)
Emboldened by Polish success
Rallied for Hungarian independence, democratic socialism, to join the UN and for human rights
leader announced Hungary’s withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact and a plan to introduce democracy
Soviets suppressed the revolt with military force (similar to the Tiananmen Square)
Paris Summit
May 1960
Didn’t end up happening due to the US U2 plane being shot down over the USSR
They wanted to talk about:
- US: test ban treaty
- USSR: unifying and demilitarizing Germany
Soviets feared a militarized Germany and they were losing a large number of people to West Germany
Berlin Wall
August 1961
Kennedy announced a further $3 billion to be spent on military
Khrushchev told Ulbricht to seal off East and West Germany
- young, educated people were leaving East Germany
Helped diffuse tensions
Paris Summit and Berlin Wall
MOTIVATION
Feared a militarized Germany
Wanted to limit the number of people leaving East Germany
Paris Summit and Berlin Wall
IMPACT
Impact of the Paris Summit was the Berlin Wall
Decreased tensions
Cuban Missile Crisis
October 1962
The closest the world has ever gotten to nuclear war
Began after the Soviets began supplying communist Cuba with nuclear missiles and other weaponry without the US’s knowledge
when this was revealed to the US, the already high tensions rose significantly and there was a possibility for nuclear war
the US created a naval quarantine (blockade) around Cuba, preventing the Soviet ships from entering or leaving
Over the next seven days:
- Kennedy announced the blockade
- US announced if the missiles weren’t removed they would invade Cuba
- Demands were exchanged
- Settled on the Soviets removing their missiles from Cuba and the US later removing theirs from Turkey privately
Ended 28 October
Cuban Missile Crisis
MOTIVATION
Security Dilemma: The Soviets views the US as a threat to Cuba, a Soviet ally, and they provided a defense to Cuba against a possible invasion from the US
He further justified this by saying that the Soviet Union had already lied twice to the Soviets with the Bay of Pigs invasion and the shooting of the U2 plane
The US also has missile in Turkey that was close to the Soviet Union
Cuban Missile Crisis
IMPACT
Signed the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (August 1963) that the US had been pushing for that limited the kinds of nuclear testing the two countries could do
Both countries realised how close they had come to a nuclear war and started improving relations between them to prevent it happening again (detente)
De-Stalinisation
February 1956
Hungary Uprising
October 1956
Paris Summit
May 1960
Berlin Wall
August 1961
