Middle Europe Flashcards
Khrushchev
Josef Stalin died in March 53, in 55 Khrushchev took the role of leader of the USSR leading to a thaw in the Cold War
In 1955-56 Khrushchev; Visited Yugoslavia and apologised for Stalin’s treatment of the country, met with the leaders of the west in Geneva (first such meeting in over a decade), in the Secret Speech denounced Stalin’s policies, ordered the breaking up of Cominform
Main causes of the uprising in Hungary 1956
Poverty, caused famine
Oppression, controlled by government
Help from Yugoslavia, leader was replaced
Promises from the west, help for rebellion
Catholic church was banned
Nationalism, they wanted control of the country again
Hungary rebellion
23rd October students followed the Polish example and took to the streets demanding reforms
24th October as unrest grew Imre Nagy, a moderate communist, was appointed leader
1st November Nagy announced that Hungary would hold free multi party elections and would withdraw from the Warsaw Pact
4th November more than 6000 Soviet tanks crossed the border to put down the revolt
Causes of Prague Spring
1964 Khrushchev was replaced by the more hardline Brezhnev
Brezhnev wanted to keep Czechoslovakia communist which was becoming a concern because the Czechoslovakians were angry about the social and economic impact of communism which led to poverty in a previously prosperous country
They also longed for more freedoms, their culture was restricted by censorship, people demanded freedom of press and expression
The hardline Czech communist leader Novotny was unpopular and people began to demonstrate for change and reform. They put their faith in Dubcek who replaced January 1968
Dubcek believed in a more free form of communism and that communism was unpopular because it was restrictive. He called his reforms ideas “socialism with a human face”
These reforms included; Freedom of Speech and Press, less centralised economic control, increased trade with foreign countries, more freedom to travel abroad, reducing the powers of the Secret Police
Soviet response
Breznev feared that the reforms would be copied by other Eastern European countries and would ultimately result in the destruction of the Iron Curtain
In July the leaders of Bulgaria and Hungary along with Breznev wrote to Dubcek voicing their concerns, Dubcek responded assuring them of his commitment to socialism and that Czechoslovakia would remain in the Warsaw pact
Breznev ordered 400,000 troops into the country on 20th of August 1968. Although the invasion was officially a Warsaw pact operation it was mostly a Soviet force
Dubcek realised continued opposition would be pointless and urged his people to only passively resist. This was generally achieved but there were isolated incidents of violent resistance
The repression of the Prague Spring was not as violent as in Hungary in 1956. Dubcek was demoted rather than executed and only about 80 people were killed. Still, people who supported the reforms lost their jobs and homes and were constantly supervised
