The transformation of the cold war Flashcards
Why was the berlin wall built?
- Nearly 2,000 east berliners a day were fleeing to the West through west Berlin - hardly proof of the Soviet claim that the Communist way of life was better than capitalism!
- Many of those leaving were skilled and qualified workers.
- The Soviets believed (rightly) that West Berlin was a centre for US espionage.
When was the wall built?
- Sunday 13th August 1961 at 2am, East German soldiers erected a barbed-wire barrier along the entire border between East and West Berlin, completely isolating it.
- It was later replaced by a concrete wall
How were people affected by the wall?
- Families were divided.
- Berliners couldn’t go to work. Chaos and confusion.
- Border guards had orders to shoot anybody who tried to cross the wall.
- 125 people killed trying to cross the wall over 3 decades.
What happened in october 1961?
- During October 1961 US diplomats regularly crossed into East Berlin to see how the east Germans would react, but on the 27th October Soviet Tanks arrived at Checkpoint Charlie and refused to grant anymore access to the East.
- There was a tense 18 hour stand off between Soviet and US tanks, after which they began to edge backwards by 5 metres an hour.
Importance of the berlin wall
- The number of defectors fell from 3 million to 5000
- Propaganda victory for usa - ussr have to build a wall to stop people leaving
- Stabilised east germany economy and increased governments control over people
- Kennedy may be seen as weak by ussr
- One moment of tension in october but both sides backed away
- Ussr given up plans to take over west berlin
Cuban revolution
- The Batista regime was extremely unpopular with the Cuban people.
- In 1956, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara gathered a force of guerrilla fighters and started a revolutionary war against government forces.
- Batista fled the country in 1959 and Castro formed a liberal nationalist government.
- Castro wanted to remove the stranglehold that US business had on the economy.
- US businesses were nationalised and land reform limited the size of farms.
How did USA respond to reforms made by Castro
The US stopped selling arms to Cuba and considered banning the purchase of sugar from Cuba (which counted for 80 per cent of its exports).
What did castro do in return?
Castro invited the USSR to buy sugar instead, and they agreed. In the early years of Castro’s rule, as the USA alienated itself from trade with Cuba, his government built up increased trade links with the USSR
Bay of pigs invasion
- Cuban exiles who supported batista, formed part of a US plan, supported by USA, to invade Cuba in 1961 and overthrow Castro.
- The aim was to land at the Bay of Pigs.
- Here a force of Cuban exiles (trained by the CIA) would kick-start a popular uprising against Castro.
- They were met by 20,000 cuban troops armed with tanks & modern weapons
- The invasion failed disastrously
What did the soviets announce in may 1962?
The soviet union announced publicly for the first time that it was supplying cuba with arms
What was questioned in september 1962?
- By september 1916, Cuba had thousands of soviet missiles, boats taks, jet bombers and 5000 soviet technicians.
- On the 11th september 1962 Kennedy waned that he would prevent ussr giving nuclear weapons to Cuba by “whatever means may be necessary”
- Khrushchev assured the USA that it had no need to put nuclear missiles in cuba and had no intention of doing so.
Events of the cuban missile crisis:
October 14th 1962
- An American U2 spy-plane took pictures of a nuclear missile base being built on Cuba (by USSR)
- Kennedy’s advisers told him he had 10 days before Cuba could fire the missiles at targets in America.
Events of the cuban missile crisis:
22nd october 1962
22nd october - Kennedy announces a naval blockade on Cuba and calls on Soviet union to withdraw its missiles
Events of the cuban missile crisis:
23rd and 24th october 1962
- 23rd October - Kennedy receives a letter from khrushchev saying that soviet ships will not observe the blockade. Khrushchev does not admit the presence of nuclear missiles in Cuba.
- 24th - The blockade begins; the first missile carrying soviet ships accompanied by soviet submarines approach the 500 mile blockade zone. Suddenly, the 20 ships were are closest to the zone stop or turn around
Events of the cuban missile crisis:
25th and 26th october 1962
25th - Intensive aerial photography reveals that work on the missile bases in cuba is proceeding rapidly.
26th - . In the morning, Kennedy considers an invasion of Cuba. It seems that war is about to break out. But at 6pm, Kennedy gets a telegram from Khrushchev offering to dismantle the sites if Kennedy lifts the blockade and promises not to invade Cuba.
Events of the cuban missile crisis:
27th october
- However, at 11am Khrushchev sends a second letter, demanding that Kennedy also dismantles American missile bases in Turkey.
- At noon on the same day, a U2 plane is shot down over Cuba. It looks as if a war is about to start after all.
- At 8.05pm, Kennedy sends a letter to Khrushchev, offering that if Khrushchev dismantles the missile bases in Cuba, America will lift the blockade and promise not to invade Cuba - and also dismantle the Turkish missile bases (as long as this is kept a secret).
Events of the cuban missile crisis:
28th october
Khrushchev agrees to Kennedy’s proposals. The crisis is over.
The cuban missile crisis: Who won?
KENNEDY
-Soviet ships backed away from the blockade
-Khrushchev removed the missile from cuba
-Kennedy determined to stand up to soviets
-Kennedy gained reputation a s world leader and silenced his critics
-USA was safe from the threat of nuclear missiles
BUT in standing up to khrushchev, he brought the world to the brink of war. he removed missiles from turkey in a secret deal
The cuban missile crisis: Who won
KHRUSHCHEV
-USA agreed to accept Cuba as a communist state on its borders
-Khrushchev’s actions had protected Cuba from USA
-USSR still had a useful ally close to USA
-Khrushchev had aced in the interests of world peace
-Kennedy secretly agreed to remove some missiles from Turkey and Italy
BUT in removing the missiles he had backed away, he faced some criticism in USSR. He was removed from power in 1964
The results of the cuban missile crisis
- Cuba stayed communist and heavily armed, the nuclear missiles were removed
- Both kennedy and khrushchev could claim victory in the crisis
- The crisis led to a thaw in the cold war as both sides realised how close to nuclear war they had come
- A permanent hotline phone link was set up between White house and Kremlin
- In 1963 a nuclear test ban treaty was signed - limiting testing of new nuclear weapons
- USA accepted that Cuba would remain a communist state with close links to the USSR.
How did the cuban missile crisis contribute to the Cold war?
- First and only nuclear confrontation between USA and USSR
- Widely seen as closest world came to ww3
- Kennedy was under significant pressure to attack cuba which would have led to nuclear war
- Rest of world could only watch from sidelines as their existence hung in balance
- In the end, Cuba paved the way for better relationships between USA and USSR as no one wanted to come so close again
- China accused the soviet union of being a ‘paper tiger’ and claimed to be the true leader of communist movement. Split between China and USSR grew wider
- USA became convinced that Soviet Union would not go to war over another communist country - may have encouraged US action in vietnam
Czechoslovakia
- The difference in living standards between East and West was clear
- People resented Moscow’s control over their country
- Hard-line communist leader, Novotny, was unpopular and corrupt
- There was growing frustration about the lack of political freedom
- In January 1968 Novotny was forced to resign by the USSR and was replaced by Dubcek
- Dubcek began to make changes to czechoslovakia
The Prague Spring
- In April 1968, Dubcek proposed a policy of ‘Socialism with a Human Face’; less censorship more freedom of speech, reduction in the activities of the secret police and removing state control of the economy
- Dubcek had promised to remain in the warsaw pact
- Czech opposition was led by intellectuals who were now able to launch attacks on the communist leadership
- There was even talk of allowing another political party, the Social Democratic Party, to be set up as a rival to the Communist Party
Why did the prague spring worry the Soviet Union?
- Czechoslovakia was one of the most important countries in the Warsaw Pact geographically & economically
- The USSR were worried the new ideas might spread to other countries in Eastern Europe
- Brezhnev was under pressure from leaders of East Germany and Poland to take action
