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The 'thaw' and Berlin - Coggle Diagram
The 'thaw' and Berlin
Hungarian Uprising
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The uprising
- 23 October 1956, students took to the streets of the Hungarian capital, Budapest. They issued a list of demands that included:
-greater freedoms and civil rights. -the removal of Rakosi and the return of the exiled Imre Nagy, a communist who supported reform. -the withdrawal of Soviet troops.
- the small protests grew quickly and violence began to spread. Soviet tanks were set alight and, in response, some fired on the protesters.
- Nagy called for calm and pledged support for the Hungarian Communist Party. Keen to avoid violence, Khrushchev ordered the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the country between 29 and 31 October, and the protesters celebrated a great victory.
A new Hungary?
- with Soviet tanks gone, and Nagy as prime minister, it seemed that life in the country would improve.
- protesters called for even greater reforms and Nagy agreed to withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact. On 1 November 1956, he announced that Hungary was now an independent and neutral country.
Soviet response
- although Khrushchev had been willing to give some ground, Nagy's decision to leave the Warsaw Pact went too far. He was worried that other members might be inspired to follow Hungary's example.
- on 4 November, Soviet tanks entered the country and quickly overpowered the Hungarians. The uprising was crushed.
- Nagy was forced from power and later tried and executed. He was replaced by Janos Kadar, who dealt brutally with any opposition and was totally loyal to Moscow.
West's response
- although many Hungarians believed that the USA would come to their aid, President Eisenhower was clear: Hungary was within the Soviet sphere of influence and any American interference risked direct conflict with Moscow.
- the United Nations discussed the issue of Hungary on 4 November. The Security Council held a vote calling the USSR to withdraw, but the USSR simply vetoed it. Although the General Assembly condemned the USSR's actions, it could do nothing to stop them.
- for most countries, the Suez Crisis was of much more concern than events in Hungary.
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THE BERLIN PROBLEM
- Berlin had been divided since 1945: the USSR controlled East Berlin while the West became an island of capitalism behind the Iron Curtain. The USSR saw West Berlin as an embarrassment, while the West saw it as a strategic and symbolic victory.
- the city had been at the centre of some of Cold War's biggest moments of tension, most notably the blockade and airlift of 1948-49.
- while the citizens of West Berlin enjoyed freedom and luxuries, their easters neighbours lived in a tightly controlled state.
- Many East Berliners took the opportunity to defect to the West by crossing the border. Once in the western sector, they could travel freely to West Germany. By 1961, thousands were crossing every day.
THE VIENNA SUMMIT
3-4 June 1961
When the new US president, John F. Kennedy, met with Khrushchev in Vienna, it was an opportunity to repair the relations damaged by the U2 Crisis and the Paris Peace Summit. Khrushchev dominated the discussions, and seemed not to take the young and inexperienced Kennedy seriously.
THE BERLIN WALL
- with thousands defecting from East Berlin to West Berlin every day, something had to be done. On 13 August 1961, East German troops closed the border and stopped anyone from crossing.
- within a few hours, barbed wire fences were put up and trains were stopped from crossing the border. The fences zigzagged through the middle of the city, dividing streets and even buildings.
- over the following week the fence was replaced by a concrete wall that would remain in place for nearly 30 years.
- the official reason given for the wall was that it was to stop the many educated people who were leaving East Berlin. It also prevented East Berliners from seeing what life was like in West Berlin.
KENNEDY:
When Kennedy became the US President in January 1961, he was 30 years younger than his predecessor.
Many Americans saw him as a break with the past and as representing a more optimistic view of the future. His critics saw him as far too inexperienced on the world stage and the first few months of his presidency, with the Vienna Summit and the building of the Berlin Wall, seemed to confirm these fears.
Another crisis in Berlin:
In October 1961, there was another moment of tension when an American diplomat was refused entry to East Berlin. The incident led to a standoff at the border, which included tanks. The crisis was averted when Kennedy and Khrushchev both agreed to withdraw. The two sides took turns reversing their tanks 5 meters at a time. The slightest error could have led to war.
Kennedy's response to the wall
Kennedy was angered by the wall's construction, but he was also practical. As long as West Berlin remained free, East Berlin was not worth a war.
In June 1963, he travelled to West Berlin where he visited the wall and looked over into East Berlin. It was a highly symbolic visit to the very centre of the Cold War. The speech he gave there made clear that the USA remained committed to fighting communism, using Berlin as an example and proclaiming 'Ich bin ein Berliner' (I am a Berliner).