đź“ťIDEA PARAGRAPHS - Transformations Of The Cold War Flashcards
Describe what happened at the Berlin Wall
In August 1961, East German troops lined the border between east and West Berlin in which a wall of barbed wire was to be gradually built up over the course of a week. It prevented people from seeing each other between the east and west and a group built a tunnel from one side of Berlin to the other to get across
Explain why the Berlin Wall was built
Because West Berlin was seen as an embarrassment to the SU as the USA transformed it into a showpiece of capitalism through receiving aid and dollar imperialism. It was also built in order to save the reputation of communism and ensure its survival
Asses the significance of the Berlin Wall
What did the USA do as a response?
As a response, Kennedy didn’t intervene much as travel between east and west was still allowed. In June 1963 however, Kennedy went to West Berlin and performed a speech in front of 120,000 people promising to protect them against communism. This caused tensions because the USA sent a clear message to the SU I’m that the USA was prepared to do whatever it had to do to prevent communism in West Berlin. The Berlin Wall was a cause of tension to the Cold War overall because many began to question communist values in that if communism was so good then why was it necessary to turn east Berlin into a prison to stop people leaving. It also created further tension because the USA were able to use the wall as a propaganda victory as they could portray Khrushchev as a cruel dictator like Stalin
Describe what happened in the bay of pigs
It was a failed American attempt to assist the Cuban exiles in an invasion of Cuba in April 1961
Explain what happened in the bay of pigs
The Americans launched the invasion because communist Castro had overthrown Batista and took control of American owned businesses. This led to president Eisenhower refusing to work with Castro so instead he turned to the Soviet Union for help
Asses why the bay of pigs caused tension
It caused tension for the SU because a new communist leader was being discriminated against America so he couldn’t flourish. This also caused tensions for the USA as there is now better relations between Castro and the SU. This is evident as the SU sent over 40,000 advisors to Cuba to help it grow a communist government. We can see that the SU felt tension because he installed nukes in Cuba which he could use against the USA
Describe what happened in the Cuban missile crisis
In October 1962 the us spy planes took pictures of the nuclear warhead installations on Cuba and saw boats taking warheads to Cuba. The soviets put around 100 missiles on Cuba
Explain why Stalin put warheads in Cuba
Cuba was 90km away from the coast of the USA causing the SU to put them there as they were in close proximity to the USA
Asses how the Cuban missile crisis caused tension
How did it cause tension for who?
How did the crisis resolve and how did this lessen tension?
It caused tensions for the USA because the soviets had first strike capability as the SU warheads would reach the USA before theirs could reach the SU. This also caused tension for America because nuclear escalation at some point would have caused MAD. The resolution of the crisis is where Khrushchev sent 2 letters. One saying he would back down and the other saying he would back down by removing warheads from turkey. This lessens tensions as publicly, Kennedy responds to the first letter but responds to the 2nd one privately so Khrushchev and the USA both feel safer as nuclear warheads were removed from both turkey and Cuba. Also, Kennedy gets a boost of propaganda as it looks like he got one over the SU which he needed after he did nothing after the Berlin Wall. In addition, both sides install red phones so they can talk to each other instead of turning to nuclear weapons straight away.
Describe what happened In Czechoslovakia and the Prague spring
In 1968, the old communist leader was replaced by Alexander dubcek who introduced reforms like reduced censorship, reduced the role of the secret police, allowed the formation of trade unions and he gave people the right to visit non-communist countries
Explain why people were unhappy in Czechoslovakia and how this triggered the Prague spring
People were unhappy because of the economic issues caused by Czechoslovakia being led by Comecon causing the economy to be command based under novotny’s rule
Asses how people responded to the Prague spring
The soviets responded by accepting dubcek’s improvements and reforms until dubcek said he was going to allow greater freedom of movement across the border of Czechoslovakia. This then caused Brezhnev to send troops to carry out military exercises along the border as a threat. This didn’t stop dubcek though so the troops moved into Prague. Dubcek didn’t even make his troops fight back as he knew they didn’t stand a chance. The west tried to pass a UN resolution which failed as the Soviets vetoed. This only made them able to condemn the soviets actions as they did t want to interfere with countries behind the iron curtain. The SU passed the Brezhnev doctrine which told communism countries that they would be dealt with by force if they tried to go against the SU. This made communism look bad because they had to force people to be a part of it
Describe what detente and salt I were
In the 1960s to 1970s this was a period of relaxed tensions and improved relationships. E.g. there was a joint space mission and the USA was sellling it’s spare wheat cheaply to the SU. SALT I was the strategic arms limitations talks which limited the no. Of ICMBs and allowed spy satellites
Explain the reasons for detente and SALT I
They were because neither side could afford spending billions of dollars on the arms race, the Cuban missile crisis almost lead to nuclear war, the Vietnam war was going on for 10 years and the sino soviet split meant America was getting closer to China and the SU tried to gain better relations in chains to offset the closeness of China and the USA
Assess detente and SALT I
Detente was a sign each other had accepted their places in the world as they were both prepared to give up nuclear weapons. Both Brezhnev and Nixon were now considered peace makers. This is significant as Nixon took America to war in Vietnam and Brezhnev caused the violence in Czechoslovakia. SALT I was significant as it made nuclear war in the future much less likely
