Unit 3-Eastern Europe

Question 1

What was destalinisation?

Answer 1

• A policy by Kruschev when Stalin died in 1953 to move away from the policies Stalin
• led to a more relaxed atmosphere within the USSR, as the government moved away from heavily repressive measures
• Khrushchev criticised Stalin’s use of terror
• he implemented policies that reduced the power of the secret police and he released political prisoners
• Led to a temporary thaw in the cold war

Question 2

what was the secret speech?

Answer 2

• Made by Khrushchev in 1956
• Khrushchev criticised Stalin’s methods

Question 3

What was the Hungarian Uprising?

Answer 3

• In 1956, the destalinisation process led to calls for reform in Hungary
• The Hungarians began to put pressure on the government
• The hardline communist party led by Gero could not control or contain it.
• As a result he was replaced by Nagy as he was seen was someone who would be more accepted by the reformers.
• Nagy attempted to introduce new moderate reforms called the new course, however it failed to satisfy the demands of the public
• Nagy eventually gave in to the reforms and announced that the USSR would leave the Warsaw pact
• These measures were too much for the USSR and USSR troops were sent into Hungary and a new government under Kadar
• Order was restored and 35,000 people were executed including Nagy

Question 4

How did the Hungarian Uprising effect USSR influence in Eastern Europe?

Answer 4

• Portrayed reinforcement of USSR dominance as it portrayed the USSR willingness to use force and that it would not tolerate any challenges to USSR authority
• The crushing of the rebellion showed other Nations the repercussions of it a hard military response
• Worsened relations with the West as they used the event to criticize the USSR and bolster anti-communist rhetoric during the Cold War.

Question 5

What happened in the events of the Berlin Wall of 1961?

Answer 5

• There was discontent in East Germany because people could not find employment and there was heavy censorship over western media
• As a result 30,000 would flee each month and it was mainly the skilled young people and as a result this caused a brain drain and this meant that the survival of east Germany was threatened
• in 1958 Khrushchev issued his Ultimatum which stated that the west should remove all their forces from west berlin within 6 months or else he would cut land access, the west refused
• Thus the Berlin Wall was built in 1961, it was 3 metres high and cut through 192 streets and was the ultimate symbol of the east and west divide, and the west referred to it as the wall of shame and the east referred to it as the anti-fascist protective barrier
• 5,000 people still risked their lives by attempting to cross it
• And was a symbol of the irreconcilable nature of opposing ideologies.

Question 6

What did the building of the Berlin Wall do for relations?

Answer 6

• The wall’s construction heightened tensions between the Eastern Bloc, led by the USSR, and the Western powers, led by the United States
• This was a clear sign of dissatisfaction with life in the Eastern Bloc.

Question 7

What was the U2 Spy Plane crisis?

Answer 7

• A US spy plane was shot down during the Paris conference in 1960 between Khrushchev and Eisenhower and it led to a high increase in levels of distrust
• the Soviets captured the pilot, and presented evidence, the US was forced to admit the truth. This embarrassment damaged the US’s credibility internationally.
• The U-2 crisis became a lasting symbol of the deep mistrust and antagonism between the superpowers,

Question 8

What was the Prague Spring ?

Answer 8

• Previously in 1957, Novotny was the leader who was a hardliner and the people of czechoslovakia were upset because they were not allowed to introduce reforms
• By 1963, reformers within the communist party were able to get Novotny to resign and he was replaced by Dubcek who believed, who believed in reaching agreement by compromise rather than force
• The resignation of Novotny encouraged the reformers to press for more change and Dubcek gave the impression that he was willing to listen
• He wanted to implement his new policy of socialism with a human face to make socialism look more appealing and friendly , and he did this by replacing key officials without USSR permission and censorship was abolished
• The USSR responded because of the Brezhnev doctrine, and they sent over 200,000 Warsaw Pact troops who imposed martial law ( military law )
• And reversed all the reforms introduced

Question 9

What was the significance of the prague spring?

Answer 9

• The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968 demonstrated the Soviet Union’s readiness to use military force to maintain its control over Eastern Europe.
• The invasion was widely condemned, both within the Eastern Bloc and internationally. Many Eastern Europeans saw it as evidence that the USSR was an oppressor, not a protector or ally.

Question 10

What was the Polish Crisis 1980-1?

Answer 10

• Shipyard workers went on strike due to price rises ordered by the government in the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk
• Workers were led by Walesa and the workers joined to form solidarity
• The Catholic Church supported the solidarity movement providing protesters the morale to continue to strive for its goals
• Solidarity gave the people a sense of identity where they could now vocalise their problems to the government
• However the USSR was on the border of Poland threatening invasion, if solidarity was not put down , this was due to Brezhnev doctrine
• The US threatened that they would get involved as Regan had a more hostile approach towards the USSR.
• Eventually Martial Law was imposed in Poland by Polish Leader Jaruzelski
• The Solidarity Crisis highlights how there was less will to conform to policy in Moscow in the satellite states and the increased Western intervention highlights how the East was less powerful and lacked imperial prestige.

Question 11

What were the stages of the space race?

Answer 11

• In 1955, both powers announced they would be putting satellites into orbit
• USSR was first to put satellite into space called sputnik in 1957 and they were also the first to put first man in space also in 1958, this shocked the west and symbolised USSR technology advances
• As response US formed NASA in 1958 and they put the first man on the moon Neil Armstrong in 1969, and America won the space race
• Effectively led to USSR and US tensions de escalating
• The Apollo-Soyuz mission in 1975 was a joint programme between the east and west, which led to first US-USSR joint handshake between the 2 commanders which symbolised improvement in relations

Question 12

What were the events of the Arms race?

Answer 12

• US used first atomic bomb in Japan 1945
• USSR detonated its first atomic bomb in 1949
• Both sides had hydrogen bomb by 1955
• in 1958 USSR launched the ICBM programme which enabled missiles to go over long ranges of 8000 miles
• Caused fear among US and increased their military spendings to 50 billion a year
• US created MIRV which increases accuracy of missiles, at this point the cold war reached a new intensity and MAD looked inevitable
• By 1981, due to Reagan’s hardline approach towards the USSR, it led to increased hostility between both blocs.
• Reagan launched the Star Wars Project to increase nuclear weapons technology.
  Star Wars took the arms race to another level as it proposed ideas like nuclear umbrellas to stop Soviet nuclear arms reaching American soil.
  SDI (Star Wars) although unsuccessful did lead to the USSR’s whose economy was already crippled into spending more on the arms race.

Question 13

What was significance of Arms race?

Answer 13

• The rapid accumulation of nuclear weapons and advanced delivery systems created an atmosphere of constant fear, as both sides prepared for the possibility of global conflict.