TOPIC 1

Question 1

Death of Stalin

Answer 1

5th March 1953: death of Stalin – a new and uncertain area

After the death of Stalin, there was a leadership of 4 key people
- Molotov: Foreign Secretary
- Melankov, who was Stalin’s deputy: Prime Minister
- Beria: head of the Secret Police
- Bulganin: Minister of the armed forces (NKVD)

Question 2

Impact of Stalin’s death on US-Soviet relations

Answer 2

16th April: Eisenhower made a speech – “Chance for Peace”
- Mentioned that he hoped for a new start of Soviet-American relations and he wanted to make changes
o End to the Korean war
o Liberalisation in Eastern Europe
o Settlement in Austria

Question 3

Origins of the Hungarian Uprising (October/November 1956)

Answer 3

July 1956: Rakosi was sacked in response to Khrushchev’s speech
As the 1956 Polish revolt was partially successful, they hoped to achieve their concessions
Change in leadership four times, from Rakosi, Nagy, Rakosi, Gero

Question 4

Hungarian Uprising (October/November 1956)

Answer 4

23rd October: demonstrations by students in Budapest
- demanded restoration of Nagy and freedom of speech
24th October: Soviet tanks and troops were called out
31st October: Nagy announced Hungary as neutral in the Cold War
3rd - 4th November: Soviet troops were called in
- Fighting until 14th November
- 25000 Hungarians and 7000 Soviets killed

Question 5

Consequences of Hungarian Uprising (October/November 1956)

Answer 5

Janos Kadar - head of the new government
Nagy: hid in the Yugoslav embassy - arrested and executed

USSR: weak
- failed to prevent anti-communist revolt
- bad propaganda for communism

Question 6

Opening of Eisenhower Presidency: 1952

Answer 6

November 1952: Eisenhower was elected President
January 1953: Eisenhower became President
He believed in the Domino Theory which linked to IndoChina – they were to help the French in the future

Question 7

Opening of Kennedy Presidency: 1961

Answer 7

November 1960: Kennedy was elected President
January 1961: Kennedy became President
20th January 1961: Kennedy declared that the US would “pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship” to halt the expansion of the Cold War
November 1963: assassinated in Dallas

Question 8

1st Phase of Berlin Crisis

Answer 8

Berlin: an open and free city
- Opposed to the USSR’s indoctrination about the evils of the capitalist system
- West Berlin was rebuilt quickly and deliberately made as a “showcase for capitalism”
1949-60: 3 million East Germans had left

10th November 1958: speech by Khrushchev
- Demanded the end to the 4 power occupation of Berlin
- No longer Russian control of the right of access but East German
- 6 month deadline for all troops to leave the city – if they didn’t the USSR would unilaterally conclude a peace treaty with East Germany and hand over control of all movements in and out of East Berlin to Eastern authorities

January 1959: proposals for new arrangements for Berlin
- Great Britain and the USA were willing to negotiate, but France wasn’t

June – August: Foreign Minister meeting called in Geneva – nothing changed

Summit meetings between the 4 superpowers were arranged
- The topic they were going to discuss was Berlin: Paris, May 1960

Question 9

U2 Incident: May 1960

Answer 9

1st May 1960: Labour Day Parade in Moscow
- Khrushchev was informed a U2 plane was spotted – use missiles and shoot it down

5th May 1960: announced they’d shot down a U2 plane
- The US responded with their “cover story” that the plane was taking weather readings and it had inadvertently gone into Soviet airspace

7th May: produced the pilot France Gary Power – put on trial, imprisoned and later swapped
- Broken plane: camera and photos

May 11th: Eisenhower publicly confirmed that such flights were necessary for American security

Realisation in America that they were spying on the Russians - Involved in the dirty game of espionage

Khrushchev went to Paris Summit but demanded
- An end to the U2 flights
- An apology - refused
- Those involved to be punished
* Khruschev showed he wasn’t being “soft on capitalism”

Question 10

2nd Phase of Berlin Crisis

Answer 10

1. Loss of people to the West: 200-250 thousand every year
2. West Berlin rebuilt using Marshall aid
3. Spies: a location for Western spies to enter communist Eastern Europe

Night of 12th-13th August 1961
- German police were moved from isolation with drills, concrete blocks and barbed wire
- temporary barrier - Later reinforced it with concrete blocks to turn it into a wall
- 111km long
The USA lodged a protest - Checked right of access
- 1500 troops and Lyndon Johnson Vice President and General clay

27th October 1961: tense moment at Check Point Charlie
- US tested right of access with tanks – led to a Russian panic + blocked route with tanks
- 2 day stand off – revolved through backstage diplomacy – pleased withdrawal
The Berlin Wall solved the Berlin crisis
- It was a failure for the communists and a victory for the west

Question 11

Cuban Revolution

Answer 11

Cuba was independent but heavily influenced by the US
1952: Batista came to power after a military coup d’état
1957: Fidel Castro led a resistance movement (anti-American)
- Objective: free Cuba from Batista and the US
1956: Cuban Revolution started
- Cuban exiles mainly based in Mexico
- 1957: sailed 82 in a small boat to land in Cuba – worked in rural areas and tried to gain support
o Leader: Fidel Castro and Che Guevara
o 63/82 were killed

Question 12

American intervention in the Cuban Revolution

Answer 12

US wanted to get rid of him - A Cuban Revolution against Castro
- Make him unpopular
- Assassination attempts
- Make him an ally of the USSR and communist
- Make him appear crazy and a lunatic
- Operation Mongoose – campaign of sabotage

July 1960: Cuban cane sugar wasn’t bought by the USA
August 1960: total trade embargo – tried to destroy the regime
- Solution: sell cane sugar and other Cuban products to Comecon

Question 13

Bay of Pigs Invasion: April 1961

Answer 13

The CIA recruited Cuban exiles – formed the Cuban brigade 2506
- Trained in Guatemala + equipped
- Made of 1400 men – would be joined by other Castro opponents and his regime would be overthrown
- The CIA mission was approved by Eisenhower

November 1960: Kennedy was elected and he inherited the project from Eisenhower

17th April 1961: Cuban Brigade landed at the Bay of Pigs
- Cuban planes took off from Florida – US plans with Cuban markings to attack Cuba, 2 defected to Cuba
- US provided the transport to get there but the ships then withdrew: Brigade 2506 was stuck with no access to more weapons or a way out
- It was obvious that the US was involved but it all failed

Brigade landed in Mangrove swamps, Bay of Pigs – US failure
- Mobilised 200,000 men
- First hour: 72 were killed. Total of 114 were killed and the rest were captured
- By December 1962: Castro traded them with the US for $53 million in food and medicine

Question 14

Operation Mongoose: 1961-4

Answer 14

Consisted on plans to assassinate Castro through CIA plots
- Burning of sugar cane
- Sabotage of ships, which were blown up
- Distribution of propaganda leaflets
- Destruction of depots, petrol and oil reserves
- Smuggling of covert agents by the CIA, anti-Castro Cubans, with weapons

Question 15

Cuban Missile Crisis: October 1962

Answer 15

July 1962: Castro visited Moscow to initiate a secret agreement
- For the first time, the USSR agreed to place nuclear missiles outside of the Soviet Union
o 42 ballistic missiles
o 42,000 Soviet troops
o 164 nuclear warheads
- Cleared jungle + started constructing missile sites
- Functional from 25th-27th October 1962
o This was done to defend Cuba as there was fear the US might invade
- Spring 1962: US war games – an attack on a Caribbean island
- 40000 troops
o The key world was ORTSAC (Castro backwards)
o They did it deliberately to frighten Cuba – to worry about itself rather than exporting the revolution elsewhere in the US’s sphere of influence

Question 16

Reasons for a Cuban Missile Crisis

Answer 16

The US had Jupiter missiles in turkey
- This threatened most Soviet cities
- Khrushchev wanted to do the same
April 1962: Khrushchev visited the Black Sea area
- It was then pointed out that there were US missiles in Turkey – threatened the USSR
- Khrushchev thus wanted to do the same thing

Cuba was a symbol of the USSR’s ideology and prestige

Cuba felt threatened by the US
- Bay of Pigs
- Operation Mongoose
- ORTSAC of 40,000 troops

Question 17

Kennedy’s options in the Cuban Missile Crisis

Answer 17

1. Do nothing
   Political suicide
   Public demanded action
2. Negotiate
3. Bomb

Question 18

Kennedy’s action in the Cuban Missile Crisis

Answer 18

He opted for a blockade but called it a “quarantine” – appeared to be temporary
22nd October 7pm: Kennedy announced the “quarantine” through television broadcast
- Didn’t solve the problem of the troops, missiles and warheads on Cuba already
- US fleet was to stop and search ships heading to Cuba: established 24th October
The US action placed the onus on the USSR
“Bucharest” – oil tanker which was stopped, searched and allowed to continue
- Other ships were ordered to slow down by Moscow – stopped and turned around (the US backed down)

Question 19

27th October 1962 - 2 crises

Answer 19

1. A U2 spy plane was shot down over Cuba by the USSR
   o Anderson, the pilot, was killed
   o Cuba took responsibility and the US chose to believe it
2. Soviet nuclear submarine
   o Its communications were knocked out by depth charges
   o Thought the war had started and voted whether to launch their missiles or not
   o Vasili Arkhipov voted NO

Question 20

Consequences of the Cuban Missile Crisis

Answer 20

Khrushchev: loser
- The Cuban Missile Crisis led to his downfall in October/November 1964
Kenedy: winner
- Showed firmness in imposing the quarantine
Almost had nuclear war but didn’t
- Moved towards avoiding conflict
- Era of détente – better relations between the 2 superpowers between 1963 – 79
US cooperated by not provoking an incident over the U2 spy plane shot down
USSR cooperated in the stopping and searching of the ships – could have resisted the blockade (illegal)

Castro survived: declared himself to be the one leader and that Cuba was a socialist state in 1961

For the USA this was failure of containment: less than 100 miles from the US, there was a socialist state

Question 21

Effects on relations between the superpowers of the Cuban Missile Crisis

Answer 21

1. Improve the speed and reliability of their communications
   June 1963: decision was taken to improve communications between the 2 superpowers with the establishment of “the hot line”
   - Linked the Kremlin to the White House
   - Teletext system – not used until 1967 during the 6 day war erupted in the Middle East
   Dobrynin remained Soviet ambassador in Washington from 1962 – 86
   - Informal channels of communication
2. Move towards a Treaty to limit the testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere

August 1963: Test Ban Treaty
- US, USSR, GB signed it – France absented itself
- Banned the testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, underwater and in space

January 1967: Outer Space Treaty
- USA, USSR, GB signed
- Forbidden to place nuclear weapons in orbit in outer space or on the moon

1968: Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty
- USA, USSR, GB, France, China
- Aimed to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and the technology to make them
- Israel, Pakistan, India, NK (+ possibly Iran) – didn’t sign and had nuclear weapons

April 1972: Biological weapon convention
- Countries pledging not to have them or use them