TOPIC 2 Flashcards
Poland (June - October 1956)
The Poles wanted to replace the Minister of defence, Rokossovsky, with Gomulka, a more liberal communist – started in June
Disturbances in Warsaw led the Polish army to react
Fighting on the streets using tanks
- 14 people were killed – there was an attempt to have a revolt against communism
Change in leadership: Rokossovsky, Minister of Defence, was dismissed
- Gomulka, who was dismissed in 1957 from the Communist Party, came back as first secretary and became the new leader
Krushchev considered military action
- Flew to Warsaw on October 19th and reached an agreement by the 22nd of October
Poland remained communist and remained a part of the Warsaw Pact
Khrushchev
Travelled to the US from 15th - 28th September 1959
1964: ousted and wrote “Khrushchev remembers”
- his side would win
- peaceful coexistence with the west
- Sino-Soviet split awareness
Molotov
1957: Molotov was ousted as Foreign Minister and replaced by Andrei Gromyko, who lasted until 1985
Kennedy
November 1960: Kennedy won the presidential election
November 1963: Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas
1963 - 1986: Anatoly Dobrynin was the Soviet Ambassador in Washington
- Met with Robert Kennedy
Soviet developments
May 1957: the Soviet launch of the first Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs)
- First short range – new technology to replace bomber planes
- An unmanned rocket
- Warhead could be conventional or nuclear
(The US disliked being second best and rushed like the Russians to have their ICBM - New arms race)
October 1957: the Soviets launched the first satellite in space: “Sputnik”
- The US didn’t have it
* The Americans looked for people to blame – spies, traitors, universities and the education system
- Khrushchev was very pleased
Space
12th April 1961: Yuri Gagarin orbited the Earth
- he was young, handsome and friendly
20th July 1969: US landing the 1st man on the moon
Vienna Meeting: 3rd - 4th June 1961
Khrushchev and Kennedy meeting for the first time - Wanted to meet and assess each other
Khrushchev thought that Kennedy was a weak president
- Young, inexperienced
- Khrushchev deliberately brought up the Bay of Pigs fiasco
- Khrushchev sought to cause trouble deliberately – Berlin had to be resolved (set a 6 month deadline)
Sino-Soviet Split (Introduction)
1952: slight disagreement after the Soviets failed to hand over Port Arthur on the agreed date
- this was cleared up and they left the base in 1955
1954: USSR provided a new loan of $130,000,000 to China
1955: Bandung Conference – China was invited to this Afro-Asian conference
- China was seen as the key communist state and this was great propaganda and diplomatic success in its establishment as a model for the former colonial states
- Established a rivalry between the Soviet Union and China
Sino-Soviet Split (Khruschev’s Speech)
- Proclaimed the need for peaceful coexistence with the United States
- This was badly received in Beijing – Mao himself had created a personality cult of enormous proportions and resented criticism, even at one removed
- The Chinese also resented the fact that Khrushchev had made the speech without consulting or informing Mao. The Chinese leader felt insulted and believed the USSR was treating his country as a subordinate rather than a colleague in the world of communist movement
October/November 1956: Mao criticised Khrushchev and the USSR for their handling of the Hungarian uprising
1957: USSR and China concluded a military agreement under which the Soviet specialists would help the Chinese develop nuclear power and atomic weapons - the USSR used China as though it was a Russian colony
o resented by the Chinese, who sought to eliminate imperialism inside itself and other colonies
Sino-Soviet Split (1958 Great Leap Forward)
Mao was making a point
o China tried to rapidly advance within Communism to supplant the USSR’s influence in the Communist world
o This was a direct ideological challenge to the Soviet Union
Sino-Soviet Split (Conflict between China and Taiwan - August 1958)
Quemoy and Matsu were held by the Nationalists, who held Taiwan: thus belonged to Taiwan
Taiwan was defended (and is) by the US
August 1958: China bombarded the islands
- US brought warships into the area
- Mao was making the point that he didn’t want peaceful coexistence with America
20th June 1959: USSR denounced the military agreement of 1957 and ordered the withdrawal of its military advisors
- August: Khrushchev stopped the despatch of a tactical nuclear bomb
- August: the USSR declared India and China were its “friends”
- Denounced their military agreement
- Halted the delivery of a nuclear bomb to China
Sino-Soviet Split (Conflict between China and India - August 1959)
Called into question the frontier between India and Tibet
- Invaded and attacked Indian border posts
- The USSR refused to side with China: angered Mao
o Also irritated by Khrushchev’s visit to the US in September 1959
