The Cold War intensifies Flashcards
The Arms Race
When countries compete against each other to make more powerful weapons.
1945 - USA develops the atomic bomb
1949 - Soviet Union develops the atomic bomb
1952 - USA tests the hydrogen bomb
1953 - Soviet Union tests the hydrogen bomb
1957 - USA tests inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM)
1957 - Soviet Union makes first successful ICBM launch
The weapons that were being developed were so powerful that, from the early 1950s, both the USA and the Soviet Union could have destroyed the world many times over, so both sides could not risk fighting each other. The nuclear weapons acted as a deterrent.
New leaders - Eisenhower
Eisenhower was elected as president in 1952. He wanted to stop communism spreading, but he knew that nuclear war would be dangerous. He was willing to try to improve relations with the Soviet Union.
New leaders - Khrushchev
Stalin died in 1953. Khrushchev became the new leader in 1956. He criticised the way Stalin
had ruled the Soviet Union and said that there should be peaceful co-existence.
New thinking - end of the Korean War
There had been a war in Korea since 1950. The USA and the Soviet Union had been supporting different sides. But the fighting stopped in 1953.
New thinking - cut spending
The USA and the Soviet Union were spending lots of money on nuclear weapons. Both sides knew they would be better off if they spent less on weapons.
New thinking - agreements
In 1955, the USA and the Soviet Union met in Geneva to discuss how to run Germany and how to cut the number of nuclear weapons. Even though they did not reach an agreement, the two sides showed they could work together.
The Hungarian Uprising, 1956
During 1956, the people of Hungary began to protest about their lack of political freedom and problems such as fuel and food shortages. There were riots and police fought with protesters.
Soviet troops ended the riots. Khrushchev approved a new prime minister, Imre Nagy. He was popular, and Khrushchev hoped this would end the protests.
Nagy immediately put forward new laws. He wanted to include non-communist politicians in his government. He also set free many political prisoners and got Khrushchev to remove the Soviet troops from Hungary.
Khrushchev was ready to accept these changes if they ended the unrest in Hungary.
Khrushchev’s response to the Hungarian uprising
Nagy went too far with his new reforms, saying that he wanted Hungary to leave the Warsaw Pact. He thought Khrushchev would allow this because Khrushchev had previously criticised some of Stalin’s policies, but he could not risk losing one of his satellite states. This would weaken the Soviet Union and make other satellite states think they could break away.
Khrushchev sent soldiers and 1,000 tanks into Hungary. Nagy’s supporters fought back. Up to 20,000 Hungarians died in the fighting. No other countries helped Hungary despite urgent pleas for help from Nagy. Nagy was arrested and later executed.
Khrushchev set up a new, stronger communist government in Hungary with a new leader called Janos Kadar.
Impact of the Hungarian uprising
The Soviet Union was stronger than before - Khrushchev had shown he was a strong leader; Members of the Warsaw Pact knew that they had to obey Khrushchev; Communist countries knew the USA would not help them to leave the Warsaw Pact.
The reputation of the USA and the West was damaged - Although the USA had encouraged the uprising, it did not help the Hungarians by sending in military support.
The relationship between East and West was damaged - The Soviet Union had shown it would use force to keep control of its satellite states; The USA had encouraged a Warsaw Pact country to break away from the Soviet Union.
