The Global War -> Khrushchev and East-West relations 1955-60 Flashcards
What phrase demonstrates Khrushchev’s aim for his policy?
‘peaceful coexistence’
What were Khrushchev’s aims for ‘peaceful coexistence’?
to defuse military tensions with the West and consolidate leadership over the communist bloc
How did Khrushchev become powerful?
- Following the death of Stalin on the 5th of March 1953, a ‘collective leadership’ comprised of four Politburo members (Malenkov, Beria, Molotov and Khrushchev) was created
- Nikita Khrushchev eventually emerged victorious from this power struggle.
What background did Khrushchev come from?
- a Stalinist background
- responsible for ‘collectivisation’ in Ukraine in the 1930s
- nearly 5 million people died
What was Khrushchev’s aims for the Eastern bloc satellite states?
wanted to achieve political stability, economic growth and improve living conditions through the process of destalinisation
How was Khrushchev involved in the space race?
Sponsored a variety of reforms and the build-up of the Soviet nuclear and space programmes
When did the Soviets put their first satellite in space?
October 4 1957 (Sputnik 1)
What is the relationship between the space race and the arms race?
Space race = arms race
Why did Khrushchev want nuclear weapons?
For security objectives to get peaceful coexistence as he acknowledged that the US military capacity outweighed the Soviet Union
What did Khrushchev announce to Congress in October 1961?
“Communism by 1980”
- by focusing on economic reform to avoid war
- will win the Cold War without fighting but by outproducing the West
How much had the economy grown from 1953-59?
5.9%
What signified Khrushchev’s narrow mindedness?
Khrushchev destroys Neizvestnyi’s non-conformist abstract art as ‘dog shit’
- signified how he was a ‘top down liberal’ who wanted to grant more freedom but imposed controls and limits to how much freedom there is
What were Khrushchev’s aims for his domestic policy?
- to consolidate power
- to begin a process of controlled liberalisation - signalled by the Secret Speech
- to shift resources away from heavy industry and the armed forces towards light industry
- cut down on corruption, distribute power more effectively to regions
- change the political culture of the USSR by freeing up channels of communication and shutting down the gulags
- to overcome the deficiencies of the collectivised agriculture system by bringing new lands into cultivation and introducing new crops (Virgin lands scheme in Siberia 1955)
Which Treaty demonstrated the USSR wanting to negotiate over the future of Austria?
The Austrian State Treaty in May 1955
What did the Austrian State Treaty mean?
Led to the withdrawal of all occupying powers and the declaration that Austria would be a neutral state in line with the USSR’s willingness to accept both Finland and Yugoslavia as neutral states
what were Khrushchev’s other aims for his foreign policy?
- summit diplomacy to regularly meet and find areas for cooperation
- rebuild relations with Tito’s Yugoslavia
- Cominform dissolved in April 1956, thus removing the direct control the Soviet Union had over Eastern European communists
- ensure that West Germany did not rearm and pose a threat again through the Warsaw Pact
- to develop the USSR’s nuclear capability to match the USA’s capability so that spending on conventional forces could be reduced
- to defuse international relations and avoid provoking the USA
- to enhance Soviet prestige in the Third World
What were Khrushchev’s aims for de-stalinisation?
It involved the removal of most of the Stalinist control system such as the cult of personality, a one-party political system, a secret police system and press censorship
What phrase describes Khrushchev’s approach to communism?
He wanted to base communism on consent rather than coercion
What is an example of summit diplomacy?
The Geneva summit in July 1955
- marked the beginning of dialogue between the superpowers
- marked a point of calm international relations
- foundations of peaceful coexistence firmly in place
- found areas for cooperation
What did Khrushchev’s dissolution of Cominform in April 1956 suggest about him?
He would be gentler and more consensual
When was the Warsaw Pact formed and what was it?
May 1955 and was a collective security strategy of the USSR and its satellite states
- legitimising its influence in Eastern Europe as the communist military counterpart to NATO legitimising US influence in West Europe
Why did Khrushchev form the Warsaw Pact in May 1955?
As West Germany had joined NATO in May 1955 and Adenauer created a new West German army known as the ‘Bundeswehr’, rearming Germany in November 1955
When did Khrushchev deliver his ‘Secret Speech’?
25 February 1956
Where did Khrushchev deliver his ‘Secret Speech?’
At the 20th Congress of the Communist Party
What did the ‘Secret Speech’ include?
- Repudiation of Stalin’s ‘cult of personality’
- recalling Marxism-Leninism which denounced the ‘cult of an individual’
- criticising Stalin for his use of mass terror by reporting on his crimes
- stated that there could be several roads to communism
What is one quote from Khrushchev’s ‘Secret Speech?’
“it was necessary to accept on faith that he was an ‘enemy of the people’ “
What did Khrushchev blame Stalin for in his ‘Secret Speech’ ?
He blamed the breakdown of relations with Tito’s Yugoslavia on Stalin
- undermined Stalinism and Soviet-style communism
How much had the ‘Secret Speech’ spread by June 1956?
- it was circulated throughout Eastern Europe
- reached the US State Department and was aired on Radio Free Europe
- had profound implications on the political stability of Eastern Europe, provoking uprisings in Poland and Hungary
What did the Soviets do two months after the ‘Secret Speech’?
They dissolved Cominform in April 1956
Why was the Secret Speech disingenuous?
It claimed that the communist Soviet system was only flawed because of Stalin when Khrushchev was responsible for the blood of 5 million people
- this placed limits on destalinisation
Where did Khrushchev visit in May 1955?
Belgrade, Yugoslavia and publicly blamed Stalin for the break in relations in 1948
- wanted to repair relations and demonstrated a willingness to accept it as a neutral state
What did Khrushchev and Tito talk about in June 1956?
Issued a communique agreeing on polycentrism, that communists no longer have to follow a Soviet way
Who did Mao welcome in 1955?
The Yugoslavian Communist Delegation and apologised for poor relations in the past, silence and for “times when we let you down”
What was the state of communism in Eastern Europe by 1956?
It was on life support and needed radical surgery to save it - which did not happen, resulting in its collapse
What can the crisis’ in Poland and Hungary be regarded as?
Unintended consequences of the ‘Secret Speech’
What did Khrushchev want in Eastern Europe?
“Controlled liberalisation” as a ‘Top-Down liberal’
What happened in Poland in June 1956?
Economic distress in Poland caused a worker’s revolt in the city of Poznan
Who was elected to leadership in the Polish Communist Party and when?
The once denounced Wladyslaw Gomulka was elected as the First Secretary of the Polish Communist Party in October 1956
What did Gomulka believe in?
Gomulka believed in a Polish, rather than Soviet route to communism
Did the Soviets accept Gomulka’s leadership
- Riots in Poland forced Khrushchev to disband the old Stalinist Politburo in Warsaw and allow Gomulka, an independent communist, to take power
- The Soviets decided they could live with Gomulka, who was still a Communist whose foreign policy would be loyal to the USSR
Why could Khrushchev concede that Gomulka could remain?
Provided that Poland did nothing to threaten local communist rule or the unity of the Soviet bloc and had a foreign policy loyal to the USSR
Who gave vocal support to Gomulka?
Mao Zhedong
How did Mao support Gomulka?
By sympathising with his ideas about socialism based around peasantry and agriculture, allowing Gomulka to stay in power
What were Mao’s aims by supporting Gomulka?
Wanted the PRC to replace the USSR as the leading force of communism by messing around in the Soviet sphere of influence
What happened to Poland in the end?
Poland remained Communist and a member of the Warsaw Pact, but it won substantial independence and set an example for other satellite states
Who had Khrushchev replaced Stalinist Rakosi with as part of his destalinisation campaign?
A more liberal leader, Erno Gero
What happened on 22 October 1956 in Hungary?
Students in Budapest demonstrated and listed 16 demands, including the replacement of Stalinist puppets with Imre Nagy
What happened on 23 October 1956?
When was Imre Nagy appointed Prime Minister?
On 24 October 1956
What did the Hungarians demand after Nagy came to power?
The removal of the Red Army from Hungary and the creation of an anti-Communist political party
What did the Soviets do in response?
The USSR mobilised 30,000 troops with tanks and artillery
- issued the ‘Declaration on the Principles of Development and a Further Strengthening of Friendship and Co-operation’ between the USSR and other Socialist countries
Did the Soviets accept Hungarian demands?
By October 28, the Soviets gave in and begun to withdraw their tanks from around Budapest
- pressured by Mao, digging his potatoes
What were events in Hungary described as?
‘a broad national movement’ rather than a counter-revolution
What did Nagy announce on November 1, less than a week before the US presidential elections?
That Hungary was withdrawing from the Warsaw Pact and become a neutral country
How did the Soviets respond on the 3rd November?
Sent 4000 red army tanks and 15 divisions of red army which crushed the Hungarian rebels and bitter street fighting left 700 Soviets and 4,000 Hungarians dead
Who emerged victorious in the Hungarian crisis?
The Soviets as they had restored order
Why did Eisenhower not provide military support to Hungary?
- He did not want to risk World War III with Eastern Europe, making liberation and rollback unsuccessful
- feared a nuclear war
- Embarrassed by Britain and France’s actions at the Suez Crisis on October 29th 1956
- had presidential elections on November 6th -> no intentions of risking war
What did the Hungarian crisis show about American policies?
American brinkmanship was unable to change the status quo and liberation and rollback had failed
Was the Eisenhower administration successful in stopping Soviet brutality?
Their pro-liberation rhetoric and Radio Free Europe propaganda had done much to encourage anti-Soviet resistance but did little stop Soviet brutality when repressing uprisings
What is the significance of the US not intervening in Hungary?
Suggests they finally accepted that Eastern Europe is part of the Soviet sphere of influence
Why did Eisenhower have no intention of risking war with a nuclear power?
He was preoccupied by the November elections
When did Britain’s occupation of Egypt begin and end?
Begun in 1882 and ended in June 1956
When did the military coup in Egypt happen?
July 1952
What did the military coup in Egypt intend to do?
Overthrow the Egyptian monarchy, eliminated the British military presence in Egypt and established the modern Republic of Egypt
What did the Free Officers plan to do in Egypt?
Modernise and secularise the country
Why was the Suez Canal important to Britain?
Nearly two-thirds of Britain’s oil came through the Suez Canal
Who was Egypt’s leader in 1956?
Gamal Abdul Nasser
What kind of ruler was Nasser?
A pan-Arabist
What was a pan-Arabist?
A bold, new political theory of modernisers who believed the Arab world was poor because they were dominated by imperialists
- needed to be one state in control of their oil and water
What did Nasser want to build in July 1956?
A dam across the Nile to create hydro-electric power
Who supported the building of this dam until 1956?
Britain and France with a grant of $56 million
What triggered the decision by the Egyptians to nationalise the Suez Canal in July 1956?
When the US and UK cancelled their loan to help with building the Aswan Dam
When did the UK and US cancel their loan?
19 July 1956
Who did Nasser turn to for finance?
The USSR
What happened on 16 October?
Britain, France and Israel created a military strategy to topple Nasser
What happened on 29 October?
Britain and France demanded the withdrawal of Egyptian forces from the canal but Nasser refused
What happened on 31 October?
The British bombed Egypt’s airfields
- necessary as a last resort to Britain’s interests in the Middle East
What did the Suez crisis enable Khrushchev to do?
Save face and extend Soviet influence and Nasser was a valuable client of the Soviet Union until 1974
Was the Suez crisis a success for Khrushchev?
Yes, he was able to extend Soviet influence into the Middle East, a massive win
What did 1956 signify in terms of Sino-Soviet relations?
It signified the beginning of the breakdown of the Sino-Soviet alliance
- will hate each other by 1962 and begin shooting in 1969
- threatened to drop H-bombs on Beijing
