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MGZ Cold War > The Cold War, 1956-1984 > Flashcards

The Cold War, 1956-1984 Flashcards

1
Q

What was Khrushchev’s aims regarding Germany in 1958?

A
  • Stop or delay NATO decision to equip FRG with nuclear weapons
  • Show critics in the USSR and NATO that he wasn’t ‘soft on the imperialists’
  • Force West to accept the USSR as an equal political and military power and meet at conference table to draw up treaty on germany, withdraw from Berlin and recognise division of Germany and GDR’s border with Poland.
  • Overall the situation compelled Khrushchev in November 1958 to make an ultimatum which was catalyst for long and protracted conflict which ended with the building of the Berlin Wall.
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2
Q

What was the Berlin Ultimatum?

When was it?

A
  • Khrushchev demanded that the West remove all troops from Berlin and change berlin into a ‘free city’.
  • If the West refused to remove troops in 6 months then he threatened to conclude a peace agreement just with the GDR and recognise its sovereignty over East Berlin; giving the GDR control of access to West Berlin.
  • The GDR’s increased role would mean that Western allies would have to deal with GDR officials rather than Russian officials, meaning in effect that sovereignty of the GDR had been recognised.
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3
Q

What was the Western reaction to the ultimatum?

A
  • Rejected the ultimatum.
  • However Khrushchev was successful in forcing them to a conference to discuss ‘German Question’.
  • They agreed to a foreign ministers conference in Geneva and was agreed to happen in Summer- agreed in February 1959.
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4
Q

How did the Berlin Ultimatum divide the West?

A
  • Adenauer viewed concern with statements from London and Washington signalling a desire for compromise and concessions.
  • As a result Adenauer draw closer relations to De Gaulle who urged a much more anti-Soviet agenda.
  • Tensions were made worse when Harold Macmillan visited Moscow and President Eisenhower invited Khrushchev to visit the US.
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5
Q

What happened in the Geneva Conference from May to August 1959?

A
  • Both sides put forward proposals for german unity; no agreement.
  • West came up with usual proposal of free elections, whereas the USSR proposed the two Germanys become a confederation; slowly becoming a united state.
  • Soviets were successful in persuading West to discuss the Berlin issue and as a result Khrushchev though his threats were working and renewed his ultimatum in June.
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6
Q

Were summits from September 1959 to May 1960 a success?

A

-Khrushchev visited Eisenhower at his holiday home where discussions were friendly, however overall it was said they did little past ‘agreeing to disagree’ (John Lewis Gaddis)

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7
Q

What was the result of collectivisation in the GDR?

A
  • Economic impact was disastrous.
  • Crop yield plummeted and within months there were shortages of bread, butter and meat.
  • Led to increased migration to the West, 199,000 fleeing to the West in 1960 alone.
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8
Q

What were the causes of tension between 1956-84?

A
  • Arms and Space Race
  • Soviet control and repression of Eastern Europe
  • Germany
  • Espionage
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9
Q

What were Khrushchev’s aims in the Cold War?

A
  • De-Stalinisation
  • Soviet Prestige
  • Nuclear Diplomacy
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10
Q

What were Khrushchev’s failures between 1956-62?

A
  • Prestige
  • Space Race
  • Suez victory
  • GDR migration problem resolved peacefully
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11
Q

What were the failures of Khrushchev from 1956-62?

A
  • Destalinisation was limited
  • No ‘empire by invitation’ instead use of force
  • Reckless failed threats (Berlin, Cuba)
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12
Q

What were the consequences of Khrushchev’s rule?

A
  • Short-term increased tension; Eastern Europe, Berlin, Cuba.
  • Long-term stability; Eastern Europe control, german issue solved, moves to detente following Cuba crisis.
  • Other results; K was ousted, USSR overspent on nuclear/space race technology
  • Creation of divisions in West over US response (FRG,France)
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13
Q

What fraction of the workforce fled to West Berlin running up to the Berlin Crisis?

A

-1/6

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14
Q

What did Kennedy’s speech give the green light to?

A
  • Gave the green light to the creation of a wall around East Berlin as he hinted that as long as West Berlin was left untouched then the East were free to do as they pleased.
  • It meant that Ulbricht was also able to introduce a more successful New Economic System and stabilise the situation in the GDR.
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15
Q

What were the main causes of tension from 1956-84?

A
  • The Arms and Space Race
  • Soviet Control and Repression of Eastern Europe
  • Germany to 1961
  • Espionage
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16
Q

What were the external factors for the Arms and Space Race?

A

=Response to growing hostility after 1945, necessary to safeguard their interests.

  • Arms races not new, added element was however the atomic bomb- increased vulnerability to losing side.
  • US became paranoid to stay ahead of USSR following their loss of nuclear monopoly when the USSR detonated their first bomb in 1949.
  • Both sides believed that the only way to guarantee defensive needs was through superiority.
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17
Q

What were the internal factors regarding the causes of the Arms and Space Race?

A
  • The races provided significant orders and resources for those sectors of the economy and as a result those who benefitted from these orders were made very powerful.
  • In USSR any attempt to cut arms expenditure were resisted.

-In the USA large sums of money were given to the armed forces, scientists and manufacturers and saw the employment of 30m civilians.
It was this military-industrial complex which was able to wield enormous control over US politics.

-Overall believe that internal groups pressurised governments to keep dangerous arms build up in order to maintain their power and influence

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18
Q

When did the US test the hydrogen bomb?

A

-US first tested 1952

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19
Q

With what did the Soviets gain the upperhand in 1957?

How did the US respond?

A
  • With the creation of ICBM.

- The US responded with Eisenhower ordering the creation of Polaris System which was used from submarines.

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20
Q

How did Reagan look to destroy the idea of MAD?

A
  • By the late 70s the USSR were unable to keep up with the US as they had overspent and not looked after their social policy.
  • Reagan looked to put an end to MAD with his policy of Strategic Defence Initiative, this made the USSR look towards detente as they were unable to continue the competition.
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21
Q

How were nuclear weapons used in Europe in the event of the Cold War turning ‘hot’?

A

-The West were heavily outnumbered by Soviet troops on Europe and looked to use smaller nuclear weapons as a means of countering this.
The US placed Cruising and Pershing Missiles across Europe.

-Similarly the USSR placed SS-20s in retaliation.

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22
Q

What are some examples of the USSR initially winning when it came to the Space Race?

A
  • USSR launched first satellite ‘Sputnik’ in October 1957.

- A month after a dog named Laika was blasted into space aboard Sputnik II.

23
Q

How did the US respond to the USSR space missions?

A
  • The US were deeply concerned that the USSR would use this space technology to further their nuclear capabilities.
  • THE US responded by Congress issuing $1billion of funding which was allocated to the newly established National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
24
Q

What is an example of an initial failure of US space indeavours?

A

-1957 the Vanguard rocket exploded on take-off.

25
Q

What was the name of the first man in space?

A
  • Yuri gagarin in April 1961.
  • He was used as a key piece of propaganda by the Soviets and was shown off around the world as a way of showing Soviet technological superiority.
  • For example he visited Great Britain in July 1961.
26
Q

By the early 60s how had the US caught up with the Soviets in the Space Race?

A
  • They were able to invest much more money into these programmes and by 1962 had launched successful satellites which were used to take pictures of the USSR and Eastern Europe.
  • President Kennedy then launched the ambitious Apollo Missions which looked to put man on the moon, successful with the moon landings in 1969.
  • The Apollo missions practically ended the Space Race and put the US as the victors.
27
Q

What is an example of cooperation during the Space Race?

A

-In the early 70s there was a joint mission whereby in July 1975 a US Apollo spacecraft docked with a Soviet Soyuz module in outer space.

28
Q

What are the examples of Arms Reductions attempts?

A
  • The Test Ban Treaty 1963; No nuclear testing in the atmosphere, underwater or in outer space (ignored by France and China)
  • The Non-Proliferation Treaty 1968; Britain, USSR and West Germany pledged not to transfer nuclear weapons or technology to other countries.

-Strategic Limitation talks (SALT) 1972; Five year freeze on missile launcher construction and other nuclear weapon technology.
It was agreed that the USSR could have more nuclear weapons than the US due to US nuclear supremacy, for example MIRV technology which could hit more than one target at a time.
-The US and USSR were also only allowed two anti-ballistic screens for their capitals and missile sites, which created Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD).

-SALT II 1979; Number of missile launchers and MIRV rocket warheads for both sides limited. However this treaty was not ratified due to Soviet involvement in Afghanistan.

29
Q

Examples of the Space Race helping reduce tensions/

A

-1969 Apollo II missions- Kennedy’s man on the moon was seen as a dream come true. Soviet Cosmonauts never reached the moon.
However the event was celebrated by the whole world and as a result it can be argued that the event in fact looked to help reduce tension.

-1975 Apollo-Soyuz mission; Spirit of detente and cooperation at Helsinki saw Astronauts and Cosmonauts docking whilst in space. This saw them shaking hands and would pave the way for the ‘International Space Station’.

30
Q

When was ICBM technology created?

A

-1957

31
Q

What was the basic Principles Agreement?

When was it?

What is an example of it being undermined?

A
  • 1972
  • Established a framework to which US and USSR could work together and work on their differences.
  • Some agreements came to nothing, e.g. Congress introduced the Jackson-Vanik amendment (1974) which curtailed US-Soviet trade.
32
Q

What happened at the helsinki Accords 1972?

A
  • Set out comprehensive framework whereby East-West relations could be managed.
  • However the legitimacy of communism was subtly undermined by increased contact with the West.
  • Overall the Helsinki Accords were nothing more than pledges and could not be enforced.
33
Q

By what did USSR imports of Western goods increase by from 1974 and 75?

How was this undermined?

A
  • Increased 96%

- Undermined by the US congress with the introduction of the Jackson-Vanik amendment 1974.

34
Q

Why did US defence spending decrease in the 70s?

A
  • Pulling out from Vietnam.

- 1970 US defence spending was $406 billion, 1976 was $284 billion.x

35
Q

Was detente able to prevent economic decline of the USSR?

A
  • No.

- Between 1970 and 1976 USSR economic growth declined consistently.

36
Q

What happened on the 30th October 1961?

A

-Khrushchev renewed nuclear testing with the detonation of a 50 megaton bomb that could wipe out an area the size of Wales.

37
Q

How did Khrushchev succeed in the recognition of the GDR as an official state?

A
  • The wall illustrated the political divide of Germany through a physical split.
  • Kennedy’s TV address saying that the US would not intervene unless antagonised solidified the road to recognition for the GDR.
  • The hallstein Doctrine was slowly phased out and some critics say that the ‘secret foundation day of the GDR’ was 13th August 1961.
38
Q

What are the heightened tension short term significance of the Berlin Crisis?

A
  • Tension in berlin, e.g Checkpoint Charlie, and US simulation tearing down of walls.
  • USSR detonation of a nuclear bomb.
  • Cuban Missile Crisis
39
Q

Short term impacts of the Berlin Crisis (1958-61) to do with the Western Bloc.

A
  • Kennedy attempted to diffuse tensions with series of talks, however this led to dread from Adenauer as he feared that the US would abandon West Berlin and the FRG as a sacrifice for US security.
  • This fear resulted in the FRG moving closer to Charles De Gaulle’s France who wished to pursue a more independent foreign policy.
  • France fell out with the US in 1966 and temporarily left NATO as a result.
40
Q

Short term impact of the BC 1958 on the FRG.

A

-Adenauer discredited as his idea of ‘magnetic forces of capitalism’ were halted by the erection of the wall.
He was very late to visiting West Berlin and Kennedy beat him there and gained mass support, mainly due to his ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’ gaffe.

-Adenauer eventually left office in 1963 and the FRG looked for different ways to reunify, e.g. Ostpolitik.

41
Q

What were the aims of Ostpolitik?

A
  • FRG; reunite with the GDR by recognising the Soviet sphere.
  • GDR and Eastern bloc; Improve the economy through relations with the FRG.
  • USSR; recognition of the GDR state.
42
Q

Successes of US espionage.

A
  • Several KGB Officers defect to the US

- Venona Project which deciphered Soviet encrypted communications.

43
Q

USSR successes in espionage.

A
  • Fuchs hands over A bomb plans
  • ‘Cambridge Five’ spy ring in Britain
  • Stasi infiltration of Brandt’s government, forces his resignation in 1974.
44
Q

What was agreed at the Moscow Treaty?

When was it?

What political campaign was it associated with?

A
  • The USSR and the FRG declared neither had territorial claims against any other state.
  • FRG accepted ‘inviolability’ of Polish and inner German border.
  • FRG treaties with Czechoslovakia, Poland and GDR.
  • FRG abandoned the Hallstein Doctrine and accepted the joining of both countries to the UN.
  • Associated with ‘Ostpolitik’ and took place in 1970.
45
Q

What was the cornerstone for the Moscow Treaty?

What did this contain?

A
  • That the USSR agree to a four-power treaty on Berlin.
  • this was agreed on September 3rd 1971

Three main agreements;

  • Unimpeded traffic between West Berlin and the FRG
  • Recognition of West Berlin’s ties to the FRG
  • Right of West Berliners to visit East Berlin.
46
Q

What did the Basic Treaty include?

When was it?

A
  • 1972

- The FRG accepted the GDR as an equal sovereign state and that they should both be in the UN.

47
Q

In reality what was Brandt’s motives for Ostpolitik?

Give an example.

A
  • To move the ‘magnetic forces of capitalism’ to the GDR and Soviet states to damage USSR.
  • For example Poland became reliant on trade provided from Ostpolitik, when trade was disrupted worldwide due to the financial issues at the end of the decade the Polish economy caused the Solidarity Crisis.
48
Q

What treaty recognised the German Poland border dispute?

A
  • The Warsaw Pact 1970.

- Similarly the Prague Treaty recognised borders between Czechoslovakia and rid of any other claims from either country.

49
Q

How can US foreign policy be credited as a reason for a collapse in relations?

A
  • Carter highlighted Human Rights abuses that were creating instability in the Eastern Bloc.
  • Reagan takes a hardline on ‘Evil Empire’, for example supporting Solidarity 1980-82 and the new arms race (e.g. SDi, Pershing Missiles 1983)
50
Q

How can USSR foreign policy be credited as a reason for a collapse in relations?

A
  • SS20s in Eastern Europe 1976
  • Invasion of Afghanistan 1979
  • Shooting down of Korean plane (1983)
  • Fear of US by ‘old guard’ Andropov
  • Chernenko ineffective leadership
51
Q

What was the Helsinki Accord called in terms of the USSR?

A
  • Called a ‘time bomb in the heart of the Soviet Empire’
  • Carter made human rights a priority as Detenté collapsed, championing the rights of Soviet physicist Andrei Sakharov.
  • Almost as soon as Helsinki had been agreed, detente began to collapse.
52
Q

What was included in the ABM Treaty?

A
  • Both sides were limited to just two defensive systems; capital and missile bases.
  • Made it more likely that either side could retaliate if hit first. Stabilised the conflict as both sides were far less likely to strike first.
53
Q

What was the Brezhnev Doctrine?

A
  • Collective intervention by Warsaw Pact countries to counteract mutual threats.
  • Stayed in existence all the way up to the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1980 and it was accepted by the West as it was within the Soviet sphere.

MGZ Cold War (5 decks)

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