The cold war intensifies Flashcards
What were the consequences of the Arms Race?
It increasingly added to the menace of the Cold War due to the destructive power of both the USA and the USSR.
The Arms Race - and the wider technology race - was symbolic of the distrust between the two Superpowers.
Politically it led to the pursued policy of Mutually Assured Destruction in the 1950s. President Eisenhower believed that if both Superpowers had massive nuclear arsenals, then war would be less likely because it was not in either country’s interest.
What was the importance of the Warsaw Pact?
As with NATO, it increased the militaristic nature of the Cold War. The USSR was militarily committed to the East of Europe.
It made interference in one another’s spheres of interests less likely due to the fact that all of Europe would be brought into war.
What was the background to the Hungarian Uprising?
The tight control of the Warsaw Pact/Comecon and the hardline leader of Hungary, Rakosi, was unpopular with the people of the country.
The USSR replaced Rakosi with Imre Nagy. He went too far with his changes and even proposed taking Hungary out of the Warsaw Pact.
The USSR responded by sending in troops to crackdown on protests. 26,000 were either killed, imprisoned or later executed: including Imre Nagy.
What was the importance of the Hungarian Uprising?
It revealed the USSR would in no way allow the Warsaw Pact to be questioned by one of their Satellite States.
It demonstrated the existence of spheres of interest that would not be questioned for risk of war. The USA did no more than offer sympathy to the Hungarian people.
It demonstrated that due to the instability of the world, the USA had to pick and prioritise crises to deal with. In this case, they were more focussed on the Suez crisis than the Hungarian crisis.
