Impacts of the post-Stalin thaw, 1953-1962 Flashcards
When did Stalin die?
1953.
When was the Warsaw Pact established? Why?
May 1955 in response to NATO.
When was the Geneva summit between Khrushchev and Eisenhower?
July 1955.
When did the Second Berlin Crisis start?
1958.
When was the Vienna summit between Khrushchev and Kennedy?
June 1961.
When was the Berlin Wall built?
August 1961.
What was the Secret Speech?
A speech delivered by Nikita Khrushchev in 1956 where he heavily criticised Stalin.
What is peaceful coexistence?
A policy established by Khrushchev that focused on coexisting with the West instead of confrontation, because according to him the collapse of Capitalism was inevitable.
What policy did Eisenhower introduce?
The ‘New Look’.
Which events greatly affected Soviet foreign policy in 1948-49?
The failure of the Berlin Blockade
The formation of NATO
The defection of Yugoslavia from Cominform
Who succeeded Stalin as Premier?
Georgi Malenkov.
When did Khrushchev become the Soviet leader?
1957.
Which factors contributed to the development of peaceful coexistence in the Soviet Union?
Consolidation of positions and spheres of influence
Military and economic context (arms race)
Stalin’s death
Who was Lavrenti Beria?
He was in charge of the secret police. He tried to become Premier but offered the West a proposal for a neutral, reunified Germany. This caused communist concern and outrage. He was arrested and executed for being a British spy. (He wasn’t, this was an excuse to have grounds for execution.)
What was De-Stalinisation?
Khrushchev’s policy of removing many of Stalin’s policies and going against his ideas.
Which Treaties and agreements were part of the impact of peaceful coexistence?
-Austrian State Treaty, 1955
-Soviet withdrawal from Finland, 1956
What were the differences between Truman’s and Eisenhower’s foreign policy approaches?
Eisenhower was critical of Truman’s foreign policy for failing to stand firmly against communism.
Eisenhower believed in a more diplomatic approach, even if it looked hard-line on paper.
Outline the key points of the New Look
-Belief that the USSR had expansionist tendencies
-Policy of massive retaliation against communist aggression
-Brinkmanship in the use of nuclear weapons
-Increased use of covert operations
-Willingness to negotiate when appropriate
It was advertised as more hard-line than it was to get more voters.
Which pressures did the US face during this time?
-Destructive force of nuclear weapons
-Economic resources that could be used for improving living standards were going into building weapons
-Eisenhower was confident in the US’s nuclear superiority (this is fundamental to a lot of his policies)
What was the name of Kennedy’s foreign policy?
Flexible Response.
What were the key points of Flexible Response?
-Less focus on nuclear weapons, more traditional military
-Economic aid and covert operations
-Reversion of cuts in expenditure introduced by Eisenhower
-Development of special forces like the Green Berets
-Willingness to negotiate when appropriate
What were some achievements of the Thaw?
-Korean armistice
-Geneva Conference, 1954, France agreed to remove troops from Indochina
-Geneva, July 1955. The first meeting between Soviet and US leaders since Potsdam.
-Khrushchev accepted an invitation to the US in 1959.
-Sino-Soviet split
When did West Germany join NATO?
1955
When was the Hungarian Uprising?
1956
Briefly outline the Hungarian Uprising.
Calls for liberation were encouraged by Khrushchev’s De-Stalinization.
Hungarians protested and put pressure on the government. Soviet troops in Budapest were forced to leave.
The new leader left the Warsaw Pact and introduced multi-party democracy.
The Soviets didn’t like this and sent in troops.
The Soviet reaction to the uprising showed that independence of Eastern European countries was limited.
Why did Khrushchev agree to have the Berlin Wall built?
He proposed an ultimatum: Berlin became a free city and East Germany was recognised, or a wall. Eisenhower and later Kennedy didn’t accept it.
Why did Khrushchev initially drop the Berlin Wall Ultimatum?
Eisenhower invited him to the US.
What is the Thaw an example of?
How leadership influences foreign policy and how interpersonal diplomacy between leaders is paramount to progress.
What was the official and actual purpose of the Wall?
The official line was that it kept capitalism out. In reality, it was to keep their people in. They were escaping by the thousands.
