The cold war 1957-69

Question 1

What caused the berlin crisis?

Answer 1

Millions of East Germans were fleeing to the West through Berlin. They were attracted by the capitalist success the could see in West Berlin. By January 1961 the number of refugees increased rapidly to 20,000 a month. The refugees included skilled work men, Khrushchev knew if this continued then the Eastern economy would collapse.

Question 2

When was the berlin wall built?

Answer 2

The berlin wall was built on the 13th of August 1961

Question 3

What did the Berlin Wall do?

Answer 3

Khrushchev closed the border between East and West Berlin. A barbed wire divided the two sections which sooned turned into a concrete wall.

Question 4

What was the importance of the berlin crisis in relations?

Answer 4

It worsened relations as tensions rose because the wall made division between capitalist West and communist East permanent and it became clear that the Soviet Union had no intentions on co-operating with Western Europe. The wall became a symbol of division in the world which was a physical representation of the iron curtain.

Question 5

What caused the czech crisis of 1968?

Answer 5

The czechoslovak economy was in serious decline in the 1960’s and this lead to a decline in the standard of living. Many czechs wanted greater democracy. In 1968 President Novotny was replaced as secretary of communist party by Dubcek who brought in many reforms.

Question 6

What were the Prague Spring reforms?

Answer 6

Reforms made by Dubcek to improve communism and make it more popular by removing its worst features. The reforms made were things like greater political freedom, freedom of speech and greater democracy they also wanted to introduce works councils to improve working conditions.

Question 7

When and why did the Soviet Union invade Czech?

Answer 7

the Soviet Union invaded Czech in August 1968 because Brezhnev was worried about the changes in Czech he feared they might leave the warsaw pact and join NATO. He was also worried these idea might spread to other countries in the Warsaw pact, therefore the USSR invaded to reinforce ideas of communism again in Czech,

Question 8

What were the results of the invasion of Czech?

Answer 8

Brezhnev announced the Brezhnev doctrine in 1968 which redefined communism as a one-party system and declared that all member countries had to remain part of the Warsaw pact.

Question 9

How did the czech invasion change relations?

Answer 9

It temporarily worsened relations between East and West. Britain and US protested about the soviet action but detente was able to continue.

Question 10

When was the Brezhnev Doctrine introduced?

Answer 10

1968

Question 11

What did the brezhnev doctrine state?

Answer 11

it redefined communism as a one-party system and declared all member countries had to remain in the warsaw pact.

Question 12

What was the significance of the Brezhnev doctrine?

Answer 12

the significance of the Brezhnev doctrine was that it showed Brezhnev would not be loosening his grip on eastern europe and communism would remain as it has always been.

Question 13

Why did the bay of pigs invasion happen?

Answer 13

In 1959 there was a revolution in Cuba which brought Castro to power. Castro had ejected all US businesses and investments so in retaliation the US refused to buy sugar from Cuba. The soviet Union stepped in to buy the sugar and offer machinery, oil and technological assistance hence the ussr grew close to Cuba. In january 1961 the us broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba.

Question 14

What was the plan for the bay of pigs invasion?

Answer 14

1500 cuban exiles living in america would be fully equipped with weapons and training from the CIA. They would land in Cuba and would lead a national uprising against Castro.

Question 15

What happened when the cuban exiles invaded?

Answer 15

American planes bombed part of the cuban airforce but the following day the remains of the cuban planes were able to fly. Two days later, the exiles were met with 20,000 Cubans from castros army. When the fighting ended after two days about 100 of the exiles had been killed and 1100 imprisoned.

Question 16

Why did the bay of pigs invasion fail?

Answer 16

The CIA thought that when the exiles landed the Cuban people would rise up and remove castro, however they were wrong, they had underestimated the popularity of Castro.

Question 17

Why was the bay of pigs invasion important in international relations?

Answer 17

It worsened relations as America now had a communist state and this therefore angered Kennedy because he did not want America to have anything to do with communism, however this proved to be difficult as Cuba was ‘on its doorstep’. It also increased rivalry as Kennedy was determined to resist the growth of communism in the americas and hence this difference in political views increased tension and conflict between the superpowers. A state ruled by soviet Union that was so close to the US was bound to cause tension as there could be a threat of war at any moment, and this was proven true in the Cuban missile crisis.

Question 18

What were the causes of the cuban missile crisis?

Answer 18

On the 14th of October 1962, U-2 spy planes took photographs of Cuba which showed that Soviet intermediate range missile bases were being constructed.

Question 19

How did kennedy react to the photographs from Cuba?

Answer 19

He set up a team of advisers to discuss Americas possible options, he decided to place a Naval blockade around Cuba and a lot of military aid was organised to be made ready for an attack.

Question 20

What other step did Kennedy take which should how serious the situation was?

Answer 20

He addressed the american people on television, informing them about the crisis and telling them his plan.

Question 21

What did the soviet union’s do during the thirteen days of the cuban crisis?

Answer 21

the soviet ships reached the quarantine line of the blockade and american ships nearly fired but the soviet ships turned around to avoid confrontation.

Question 22

What were the two letters sent from Khrushschev to Kennedy about the cuban crisis?

Answer 22

Khrushchev said the ussr would remove their missiles from Cuba if the americans lift the blockade and will not attack Cuba. He also wanted Kennedy to make a public statement not to invade Cuba and to remove their missiles from Turkey.

Question 23

How did the cuban missile crisis change relations?

Answer 23

It worsened relations between the superpowers because there was a serious threat of nuclear war, the events were so serious that Kennedy even addressed the public on the situation. There was an immense amount of tension which built up due their lack of trust for one another, this developed so much that people were expecting a world war three.
However, as a result of the crisis it did improve relations as the crisis had come so close to nuclear war that it had scared the superpowers, therefore the crisis provided the means to improve relations and led to the development of detente.

Question 24

What caused the arms Race?

Answer 24

The Soviet Union and the USA had drifted apart after 1945 due to the events of the Berlin Blockade and the Hungarian Uprising.
Formation of NATO and the Warsaw pact was seen as a sign the superpowers would become involved in war against each other.

Question 25

What were the key events of the arms Race?

Answer 25

In 1957 the arms race reached a new level. The Soviet Rocket launched Sputnik a satellite which could orbit the earth in an hour and a half.
US saw this as a military threat
From 1957 to 1959 the US increased missile spending by 20 percent and Einshower founded NASA.
USA expanded training programme for engineers and scientists.

Question 26

What was the non- proliferation Treaty?

Answer 26

in 1968 the powers with nuclear weapons agreed not to give any other countries nuclear technology.