SOURCE PAPER 2022 - CORE 6: How secure was the USSR’s control over Eastern Europe, 1948–c.1989?

Question 1

What were the long term causes of the Hungarian uprising in 1956

Answer 1

Anger at Soviet rule and communist policies:

1. Politics: Hungarian Communist Party and Mátyás Rákosi ran Hungary
2. Repression: censorship, secret police, control of education, 100,000 imprisoned, 2,000 executed
3. Religion: Religion was banned in the strongly Catholic country
4. Economics: war torn economy, Soviet troops and resources sent to Russia led to poverty

Question 2

What were the results of the 1945 Hungarian elections?

Answer 2

In one of the only fair elections to take in liberated Eastern Europe the Smallholders Party won 57% but the USSR allowed the Hungarian Communist Party to form a government with only 17% of the vote.

Question 3

What was the AVH?

Answer 3

The Hungarian secret police

Question 4

Which head of the Hungarian Catholic Church was imprisoned and tortured?

Answer 4

Cardinal József Mindszenty

Question 5

What were the short term causes of the Hungarian uprising in 1956?

Answer 5

1. Eisenhower became president in 1953 and had made supportive comments in speeches
2. Stalin had died in 1953 and the new leader, Nikita Khrushchev introduced policy of de-Stalinisation to move away from his brutal policies
3. In June 1956 Poland had risen up against Soviet rule and Khrushchev had given in to some of their demands

Question 6

How did the Hungarian uprising begin in 1956?

Answer 6

23rd October: Student protesters in Budapest supported by workers and soldiers demanded an end to Soviet occupation and toppled a statue of Stalin. Police made arrests and opened fire on the crowd. The next day Soviet troops and tanks moved into the capital.

Question 7

Which popular more liberal communist was appointed as the new Prime Minister of Hungary on 24th October 1956?

Answer 7

Imre Nagy

Question 8

When did Khrushchev remove troops and the Russian army from Budapest?

Answer 8

28th October 1956, after protesters had forced out pro-soviet politicians from the Parliament and Nagy had requested Khrushchev remove troops for free elections to take place

Question 9

What reforms were introduced by Nagy and the new Hungarian government between 29th October and 3rd November 1956?

Answer 9

Nagy’s reforms included:

1. free elections to choose a democratic government
2. freedom of speech
3. freedom of religion
4. release of political prisoners (including Cardinal József Mindszenty)
5. an impartial legal system to ensure fair trials
6. farmers to be allowed private ownership of their land (instead of it being state owned)
7. the total withdrawal of Soviet troops from Hungary
8. Hungary to leave the Warsaw Pact and declare neutrality in the Cold War

Question 10

How did the USSR respond to Nagy’s reforms and announcement that Hungary would leave the Warsaw Pact?

Answer 10

On 4th November 1956 6,000 Russian tanks crossed the Hungarian border and 1,000 Russian tanks moved into Budapest. 3,000 were killed in bitter street fighting. Nagy and his followers were captured tried and executed for treason.

Question 11

Who replaced Nagy as leader of Hungary after the Hungarian Uprising, 1956?

Answer 11

János Kádár

Question 12

Why did the West do nothing to support the Hungarian Uprising in 1956?

Answer 12

· The Suez crisis was a bigger concern
· Eisenhower was campaigning for re-election
· NATO forces could not advance through neutral Austria to support Hungary
· Khrushchev threatened Britain and France with rockets if they attempted to intervene
· Containment not rollback
· Risk of nuclear war
· Pointless economic sanctions against the Soviet Union

Question 13

What changes were made to the struggling Czechoslovakian economic during the 1960s?

Answer 13

Government controls on businesses were relaxed so that companies had more control over setting prices and wages

Question 14

Who replaced Antonin Novotny as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in 1968?

Answer 14

Alexandr Dubcek

Question 15

What reforms were proposed for Czechoslovakia by Alexanr Dubcek?

Answer 15

Dubcek’s proposed reforms known as the ‘Prague Spring’:
· Abolish censorship
· Freedom of speech
· Freedom of movement
· Party members should act according to conscious (not party loyalty)
· Creation of workers councils for industry
· Increased rights for trade unions
· Rights for farmers to form independent farms (no state control)
· Recognition of Slovak national identity and customs

Question 16

How did Alexanr Dubcek reassure the USSR about his proposed reforms for Czechoslovakia?

Answer 16

He publically declared that Czechoslovakia had no intention of changing its foreign policy or leaving the Warsaw pact

Question 17

How did the USSR respond to the reforms of the ‘Prague Spring’ in 1968?

Answer 17

In July they announced evidence of a West German invasion of the Sudetenland and asked permission to send the Red Army into Czechoslovakia. Dubcek refused. In August 500,000 Warsaw Pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia. Dubcek and three other leaders were arrested and sent to Moscow.

Question 18

Who was the leader of the USSR during the ‘Prague Spring’, 1968?

Answer 18

Leonid Brezhnev

Question 19

What was the Brezhnev Doctrine?

Answer 19

Soviet foreign policy that would not allow countries to reject communism
· One party system in each country
· All countries to remain part of the Warsaw Pact

Question 20

When was the Berlin Wall built?

Answer 20

August 1961

Question 21

How many East Germans had defected from East Germany between 1949 and 1961?

Answer 21

2.6 million (15% of the population)

Question 22

Why were people leaving East Germany for West Germany after 1948?

Answer 22

For a better life: West Germany had received economic support from the Marshall plan to rebuild and had a free democratic political system; whilst East German had suffered under the economic policies and political repression of communist rule.

Question 23

What was the social, economic and political impact of the mass movement of people from East to West Germany?

Answer 23

· Social: predominately young, educated, intelligent defectors led to a ‘brain drain’
· Economic: engineers, physicians, teachers, lawyers and skilled workers were leaving
· Political: it made the communist regime look unpopular

Question 24

How many East Germans had defected from East Germany between 1961 and 1989?

Answer 24

Over 100,000 people attempted to escape over the Berlin Wall. 5,000 people succeeded. Around 200 died trying.

Question 25

What was the reaction of the West to the construction of the Berlin Wall?

Answer 25

They could still support West Berlin and it was great propaganda showing the communists had to erect walls to keep people in.

Question 26

Who led the strikes at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, Poland and then the Solidarity Movement?

Answer 26

Lech Walesa

Question 27

What were the demands of the striking workers at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, Poland?

Answer 27

21 demands including;

1) Right to form trade unions independent of government control
2) Right to strike
5) Media to know about the strikes and demands
8) Pay rises to compensate for recent price rises
10) Food supply for the domestic market with only surpluses exported
12) Selection of managers on qualifications, not party membership
21) A day of rest on Saturdays

Question 28

What was ‘Solidarity’?

Answer 28

A Polish nationwide trade union independent of government control. It was established in 1980 after the Communist government gave in to some of the demands of the striking workers.

Question 29

How many people joined Solidarity between 1980 and 1981?

Answer 29

10 million people across Poland – students, intellectuals, 80% of workers

Question 30

What was Solidarnosc?

Answer 30

The newspaper of the Polish Solidarity movement, printed on the shipyard press and used to spread their message

Question 31

How did the communist government of Poland react to Solidarity in 1981?

Answer 31

The new Prime Minister of Poland, Wojciech Jaruzelski, invited the leader of Solidarity, Lech Walesa, to meet to discuss his role in the new government. He claimed he had recordings of Solidarity leaders planning a coup, proclaimed martial law, banned Solidarity and arrested its leaders.

Question 32

Who released hundreds of Polish political prisoners connected with Solidarity?

Answer 32

Mikhail Gorbachev

Question 33

When was Solidarity legalised again and allowed to put forward candidates in the Polish elections?

Answer 33

1989 after there were further strikes against rising prices the year before

Question 34

Who won Poland’s first free elections 1989?

Answer 34

A surprise landslide victory for Solidarity who won most of the seats in both houses of parliament. Gorbachev told the communist Prime Minister to give up power and Tadeusz Mazowiecki became the first non-communist Prime Minister of Poland since 1945. Communist leader Jaruzelski was elected President.

Question 35

When did Mikhail Gorbachev become leader of the Soviet Union?

Answer 35

1985

Question 36

What were Gorbachev’s two key policies in reforming the Soviet Union?

Answer 36

Glasnost and Perestroika

Question 37

What was Glasnost?

Answer 37

The social and political reforms introduced by Gorbachev which allowed for greater openness and transparency in the government of the USSR

Question 38

What was Perestroika?

Answer 38

‘Restructuring’ of the Soviet economy to make it more modern and efficient:
· Encouraging private ownership of Soviet industry and agriculture
· Reducing state control over imports and exports
· Allowing trade with non-Eastern bloc countries
· Allowing foreign investment in Russian businesses
· An increase in the production of consumer goods

Question 39

What were Gorbachev’s policies towards Eastern Europe?

Answer 39

Warsaw Pact countries were allowed self-determination without fear of military reprisals from the Soviet Union. The economy of the union was crumbling and Gorbachev’s priority was reforming Russia rather than controlling Eastern Europe.

Question 40

When did Hungary peacefully transition to an independent democracy?

Answer 40

They adopted a “democracy package” in 1988 and became an independent democracy in October 1989

Question 41

When did the Berlin Wall fall?

Answer 41

Travel restrictions were lifted in November 1989 and the official removal of the Wall began in June 1990 before Germany was reunified in October 1990.

Question 42

Which Eastern European communist governments fell in December 1990?

Answer 42

Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Romania

Question 43

How did the war in Afghanistan destabilise the Soviet Union?

Answer 43

The USSR invaded Afghanistan in 1979 to take control following the chaos of the communist revolution in 1978. It became the ‘Soviet Vietnam’ as they fought against the Western backed guerrilla fighters of the Mujahideen. The conflict overstretched their economy and led to widespread condemnation, sanctions and boycotts by other countries.

Question 44

How did US President Ronald Regan help to end Soviet control in Eastern Europe?

Answer 44

1) Regan and Gorbachev signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty
2) Regan encouraged people-led movements in Eastern Europe (‘Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!’)
3) Regan increased US military spending by 1/3 and the USSR couldn’t maintain the ‘arms race’