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Cold War Crisis and other stuffs (chapter 2) (Berlin 1958 - 1963 (Berlin…
Cold War Crisis and other stuffs (chapter 2)
Berlin 1958 - 1963
Refugee problem in Berlin 1958
East Germany had received little aid so poor conditions - low standard of living and shortage of basic goods
Communist regime increasingly unpopular
Riots in 1953 and Soviets sent armed forces to restore order
By 1958, 3 million East Germans had crossed the border to the rest - many were skilled workers, as they knew they could earn higher salaries in the West, and have better living standards
Khrushchev couldn't allow the brain drain to continue
The East were making it clear that they preferred the West - Communist propaganda was failing
Khrushchev's Berlin Ultimatum
Wanted allies to leave Berlin, so it would be harder for the East Germans to get into the West
November 1958, he demanded that Western Countries should officially recognise East Germany as an independent country
Demanded Berlin should be demilitarised and Western troops should be withdrawn
Berlin should become a free city
West had 6 months to make the changes or Khrushchev would hand all trade routes over to East German government
Impact of the Ultimatum
West were outraged and saw his actions as another example of the Soviet Union trying to spread communism
Khrushchev saw his demands as essential actions to stop the flood of skilled citizens leaving East German
By 1958 both sides had lots of nuclear weapons and neither side wanted the crisis to lead to war - held a series of summit meetings
Geneva May 1959
Both sides put forward proposals for how Berlin should be governed, but no agreement reached
Eisenhower invited Khrushchev to the USA for further talks
Held in neutral Switzerland
Camp David, September 1959
Eisenhower and Khrushchev met face-to-face for first time at presidential ranch
Still no agreement about Berlin but Soviets agreed to withdraw the Berlin Ultimatum
Meeting appeared to establish better relations and further talks agreed to be held in Paris following summer
Paris, May 1960
Soviet Union announced they had shot down U-2 spy plane as it flew over Soviet Union
American's tried to claim it was weather plane of course, but Soviets had interrogated the pilot who admitted to being on a spying mission
Eisenhower refused to apologise, saying that spying operations were unavoidable
Khrushchev waled out of the meeting and no decisions were made
Vienna, June 1961
John F. Kennedy became president
Khrushchev believed that Kennedy was inexperienced in foreign affairs, and that he had failed with the Bay of Pigs in April, so he thought he could bully Kennedy
Renewed the Berlin Ultimatum
Kennedy was worried about Khrushchev's actions and determined to appear strong - made no concessions and the meeting ended with no decisions on Germany
Relationship between Kennedy and Khrushchev was very strained
After the summit Kennedy decided to increase spending on American armed forces by $2 billion to protect the USA
Berlin Wall
As tensions between the East and West grew, even more Germans decided to cross to the West - eg. in one day 40,000 people crossed the border in August 1961
12th August 1961, East German troops built a barbed wire fence around Berlin and between East and West Berlin
This fence turned into a concrete wall, which was heavily fortified
This meant that no more refugees could cross the border
Impact in Berlin
Wall cut through streets and buildings
Many attempted to cross the wall, and were helped by the West Berlin fire service trying to catch them in blankets
Families, friends and neighbours were parted, for almost 30 years
Some people tried to cross the wall in desperation - over 130 people killed -
Peter Fechter
Impact on the Soviet Union
Positives:
Wall stopped refugees from leaving so stopped the brain drain
Wall sent a message to the West that communism would survive in Berlin, and any attempt to reunite Germany under Western control would fail
Negatives:
Khrushchev could no longer unite Germany under Soviet control
Wall showed that Soviets had to lock people into East Germany to stop them leaving - the people generally preferred Capitalism
Impacts on the USA
Positives:
Wall showed that Khrushchev had been forced to accept Western control, and he couldn't get away with bullying Kennedy
West Berlin became an emblem of freedom and defiance against Communism
Negatives:
Soviets had closed the border without consulting the USA
The people who wanted to escape from communism no longer could
Kennedy visiting West Berlin
Thousands of West Berliners saw him - he was treated like a celebrity - his route was showered with flowers, rice and confetti
Gave famous speech "Ich bin ein Berliner"
Kennedy became very popular, both at home and abroad
Impact on international relations
Positives:
Less likely that USA and Soviet Union would go to war over Berlin now it was divided
"A wall is better than a war"
In someways the wall reduced tensions between Kennedy and Khrushchev
Negatives:
Things had got so bad a concrete wall had had to be built - Churchill's Iron Curtain speech
Berlin wall was powerful symbol of the differences between East and West
Cuban Missile Crisis
(1962)
Cuban revolution
Fidel Castro and other revolutionaries toppled the pro-American government on Cuba
Eisenhower concerned by revolution as close ties between Cuba and USA
American businesses had invested heavily in Cuba and much of the land owned by Americans, as well as their oil refineries, electricity, phone networks and railways
America was a important investor in Cuba's sugar imports, but Castro was a nationalist who didn't want Cuba's economy to be under American control - created tensions between USA + Cuba
3 areas of tension
American government reluctantly recognised the new government, but refused to provide economic aid unless Cuba followed guidelines set out by International Monetary Fund
May 1959 Cuban government took over all land in Cuba owned by foreign nationals. Paid compensation to previous owners, but the US government refused to recognise the scheme - Castro took the land anyway
Castro had begun appointing communists to his government when, in February 1960, he made an agreement with Khrushchev where Khrushchev would buy Cuban sugar and provide economic aid, and provide arms in a secret clause
US was concerned that pro-Soviet government was being established 145 km away from US mainland - July 1960 Eisenhower reduced amount of Cuban sugar bought, October banned trade with Cuba and in January 1961, broke of diplomatic relations with Cuba
Bay of Pigs
Kennedy became president in 1961, and didn't want a communist ally so close to America - gave his support to the CIA and Eisenhower that a group of Cuban exiles would be trained to launch an invasion and overthrow castro
Would make it look like a Cuban counter-revolution so USA could claim not to have been involved
April 1961, invasion force of 1400 exiles landed at 'Bay of Pigs' in Cuba
Why the Bay of Pigs failed
Volunteers had little military experience - no match for Castro's forces
USA couldn't send in ground or air forces as their involvement with the invasion would be revealed
Castro's government found out about the invasion plans - 20,000 soldiers to combat 1400 exiles
USA and exile army wrongly assumed that most Cubans would support them - many Cubans were happy with Castro
American involvement was undeniable and became a public humiliation for the USA
Effects of the Bay of Pigs on international relations
USA had previously accused Soviets of trying to build an empire in Eastern Europe - looked like Americans were acting in the same way to restore American influence in an independent country by supporting an armed uprising
Soviet Union quick to point out that the people of Cuba were happy with the government - clear indication of popularity of communism
Stronger relations between Cuba and Soviets - Castro declared himself to be a communist and asked Khrushchev for help in defending Cuba against USA - Khrushchev announced would provide weapons to Cuba
Kennedy very concerned by this - warned Khrushchev that he couldn't allow the Soviet Union to use Cuba as a base to threaten the USA
14th October 1962, American U-2 spy-plane took pictures of what seemed to be launch pads for medium range ballistic missiles which could carry nuclear warheads
American intelligence agencies informed Kennedy that a fleet of Soviet ships were sailing to Cuba which were presumably carrying the missiles
Why Khrushchev wanted to place missiles on Cuba
NATO had missiles based in Turkey - short distance from Soviet Union
Building of Berlin wall was portrayed by many Soviet critics as a failure for Khrushchev. If he could outwit Kennedy over Cuba, he would restore the communists faith in him
Khrushchev feared another American attack on Cuba - would be another defeat for communism
The Thirteen Days 16-28th October 1962
16th October Kennedy called Executive Committee (ExComm) together to discuss how the USA should react - met every day for 13 days - highest threat ever of nuclear war during these 13 days
22nd October Kennedy decided not to launch an attack, and instead set up a naval blockade around Cuba - no ships would be allowed to pass through without US permission
Kennedy appeared on Live TV that night to inform the US public about the missiles in Cuba
Many expected the ships to ignore the blockade, so Kennedy prepared 54 bombers each armed with 4 nuclear warheads
24th October the Soviet ships turned around
Confrontation to agreement
Direct confrontation had been avoided but still missile sites in Cuba and US wanted them removed
26th October Khrushchev sent Kennedy a telegram saying he would remove the missiles on Cuba if US agreed not to inavde
27th October another telegram arrived saying he would remove missiles only if missiles in Turkey were removed
Kennedy chose to ignore the second telegram and agreed to Khrushchev's pledge not to invade Cuba and 28th October Khrushchev sent his reply
Secret agreement that US would move missiles in Turkey
Consequences of the Cuban Missile Crisis
Made clear what would happen if either side pushed disagreements to the point where there is a risk of war
June 1962 hotline set up between Moscow and Washington
August 1963, Test Ban Treaty signed by US, Soviet Union and Great Britain - agreed to prohibit testing of nuclear weapons in outer Space, underwater or in the atmosphere
1967 Outer Space Treaty signed as US and Soviets began 'Space Race.' Both countries agreed not to use space for military purposes
1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was agreed - countries which signed the treaty agreed not to share their nuclear technology with other countries
Kennedy had shown himself to be a strong leader, not only by standing up to Khrushchev but by also standing up to the Hawks in his government
His popularity increased significantly in the US, as agreement over Turkey hadn't been made public - gave him more confidence in his dealings with Soviet Union
Khrushchev claimed he had been the victor, but many in the Soviet Union disagreed
Czechoslovakia
Opposition to Soviet Control
1948 Stalin supported a coup in Czechoslovakia which removed non-communists from power and established a pro-Soviet communist government under leadership of Klement Gottwald
Life under communism difficult for the Czech people - country was in effect ruled by Soviet Union, which used secret police to maintain control
Czech economy run for the good of the Soviet Union and few consumer goods for the Czech people - no freedom of speech and radio, newspapers and television were censored
Czech government carried out purges between 1949 and 1954, of which the victims included not only democratic politicians, but also military leaders, Catholics, Jews, people with wartime connections with the West and even high-ranking communists
Protests against the low standard of living and lack of freedom grew, with student demonstrations in 1966 showing how unpopular the government was
The 'Prague Spring'
(1964)
1969 Alexander Dubcek was elected as First Secretary of the Czech Communist Party - head of government
Soviet leadership approved of Dubcek and trusted him to make the government more effective and less unpopular while keeping the country loyal to the Soviet Union
Dubcek was devoted communist - believed communism was right path but shouldn't make life miserable
Communist government should offer 'socialism' with a human face
Thought citizens should be able to enjoy life, express their views in public and speak out against Communist Party decisions without fear of being punished by the government
Reforms include:
Censorship was relaxed and criticism of government was allowed
Trade Unions given wider powers and government control of industry was reduced
More power given to Czech regional governments
Trade with West increased
Czech people given greater freedom to travel abroad
Idea of having multiple-party elections discussed, though Dubcek and other communist leaders emphasises this wouldn't happen for many years
Met with great enthusiasm by Czech people, but were much less popular in Moscow
Dubcek careful to assure Moscow that Czechoslovakia would remain in the Warsaw Pact and was a loyal ally of the Soviet Union
Brezhnev disapproved of many of the measured Dubcek was proposing - believed other Warsaw Pact members would want these reforms
At the time Romania was refusing to attend Warsaw Pact meetings and Yugoslavia leader Tito refused to accept control from Moscow
Soviet Reaction
Brezhnev remained in contact for the months after Dubcek became leader, urging him not to endanger communism in Czechoslovakia by going too far with his reforms
Also ordered Warsaw Pact troops to carry out manoeuvres in Czechoslovakia to threaten Dubcek
When Dubcek invited Romania and Yugoslavia to talks, Brezhnev could no longer stand by
20th August 1968, 500,000 Warsaw Pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia, and there was little opposition, as Brezhnev had ordered the Czech army to remain in its barracks
Czech people could do little, but some individual acts of bravery such as blocking the roads or attacking individual tanks
Invading forces were shocked at the hostility they received, as they had been told they had been invited to help restore law and order by the Czech government
Dubcek arrested, sent to Moscow and in 1969, dismissed and replaced by Gustav Husak who was a hardliner loyal to Moscow and introduced a clampdown where over 1000 Czech's were arrested
Brezhnev Doctrine
Actions of any individual Communist country affected all other communist countries
If one countries actions threaten other countries, then it is those countries duty to take measures to stop those actions
In West, Brezhnev's actions looked like an aggressive attempt to dominate another European country
What he was really saying was that all communist countries would be prevented from introducing reforms to make their country more liberal
Impacts of the 'Prague Spring'
In other communist countries:
Yugoslavia and Romania condemned the invasion, straining relations between their governments and Moscow
The communist parties of Italy and France cut links to Moscow
The governments of East Germany and Poland welcomes Brezhnev's actions - they could feel more secure that they wouldn't be challenged by reformers
Greater Soviet control of the members of the Warsaw Pact - reinforced by Brezhnev Doctrine
Impact on relations between Soviets and USA:
USA and Western governments outraged by the invasion and many of them made strong protests to the Soviet Union
Attempt to pass a formal resolution condemning the invasion in the United Nations but this was vetoed by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union saw that while USA might make protests, it wouldn't take direct action to oppose the Soviet Union in Europe
Other countries saw the USA as keen to criticise the Soviet Union but much less prepared to take action