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Cuba, Czechoslovakia and Detente - Coggle Diagram
Cuba, Czechoslovakia and Detente
CASTRO'S REVOLUTION
BATISTA VS CASTRO
- between 1933 and 1959, Cuba was ruled by a corrupt and brutal government led by Batista.
- American investment had enabled many members of the Cuban government and US businessmen to become very wealthy, but life for ordinary Cubans was tough.
- by the 1950s, many Cubans were fed up with Batista's regime and a young lawyer named Fidel Castro called for a revolution. He was arrested and sent to exile.
- Castro returned to Cuba, with 81 supporters, in 1956 and began a two-year guerrilla war campaign against the government. His support grew.
- on 1 January 1959, Batista's government collapsed and Castro declared a new Cuba.
CASTRO'S CUBA - although he and his supporters were left-wing, Castro never referred to communism. Instead he talked of a fight by ordinary Cubans for a fairer and freer society.
- Castro visited the USA shortly after coming to power. He said he was willing to work with the Americans, but President Eisenhower refused to meet with him.
- in Cuba, Castro began reorganising the way the country worked, taking businesses and industry into state ownership (including a number of American businesses).
- With the USA unwilling to work with him, Castro turned to the USSR for help in building Cuba's economy. In response, the USA placed and embargo on the country (a total ban on trade). Cuba was now totally reliant on the USSR.
THE BAY OF PIGS
PLAN
A large group of Cuban exiles, trained by the CIA, would take control of Cuba. The US Air Force would give them support. The assumption was that the invasion would inspire other Cubans to take up arms against Castro.
PROBLEMS
Shortly before the plan was put into action, it became clear that most Cubans supported Castro and would not join the invasion. A number of senior figures in the US government also felt that their involvement was illegal under international law.
However, having spent $5 million on preparation it was decided that the plan was worth the risk.
INVASION
On 17 April 1961, the Cuban exiles landed on the beach in the Bay of Pigs. It was a total disaster. At the last moment, Kennedy withdrew support of the US Air Force and the exiles were left totally exposed. 200 were killed and 1197 were taken prisoner by Castro's forces. No one in Cuba came to their aid.
CONSEQUENCES
Despite Kennedy's late decision, it was still obvious that the USA was involved. The USA had broken international law and been completely humiliated. Kennedy, just months into his presidency, looked weak and incompetent.
Although victorious, Castro knew that the Americans would not give up and this pushed him further into his alliance with the USSR.
CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS
SOVIET ISSILES IN CUBA:
- After the By of Pigs incident, Castro became closer to Moscow. For Khrushchev, having an ally a few miles from the American coast was an opportunity not to be missed, especially with the US bases and nuclear weapons in Turkey near the Soviet border.
- the first nuclear weapons arrived in Cuba in the summer of 1962 but it was not until 14 October that the US realised what was going on.
- After a week of discussions with his advisors, Kennedy revealed the missiles' existence to the American people. He also ordered a blockade of Cuba beginning on 21 October, saying that the US Navy would fire any on any ship that tried to reach the island. The following day, he placed the USA on DEFCON 3.
TENSIONS RISE:
- Convinced that Kennedy would invade Cuba, Khrushchev prepared for a fight.
- on 23 October, Soviet ships approached Cuba, carrying more missiles. It was now a game of brinkmanship.
- on 24 October, the UN Secretary General, U Thant, called for a compromise and the ships faced each other waiting for the other side to back down. The Us declared DEFCON 2.
ON THE BRINK OF WAR:
- At 7:15am, on 25 October, a Soviet ship entered the quarantine zone. It was stopped by the Americans, but allowed to pass once it was established it was an oil tanker.
- Kennedy assembled 120,000 US troops in Florida, ready for an invasion of Cuba.
- on 26 October, Kennedy received a letter from Khrushchev saying that he would remove the missiles.
DANGER INCREASES:
- a number of events, beyond the control of the leaders, made nuclear war seem increasingly likely.
- on 27 October, the US Navy detected a Soviet submarine close to Cuba. When the Americans sent depth charges to force the submarine to surface, it became clear that the Soviet vessel had not had any contact with the outside world.
Believing that a war had begun, the captain almost launched a nuclear torpedo.
- on the same morning, the Cubans shot down a Soviet spy plane.
- later in the day, another American plane drifted into Soviet airspace.
CRISIS AVERTED:
- later on 27 October, Khrushchev sent a second letter to Kennedy. Once again he promised to remove the missiles but this time also demanded the removal of US missiles from Turkey and Italy.
- Kennedy agreed on the basis that the removal of US missiles would be kept secret. The crisis was over.
CONSEQUENCES
in order to avoid a similar crisis in the future, a special phone 'hotline' was introduced between the White House and the Kremlin.
The Partial Test Ban Treat of 1963 banned the testing of nuclear weapons, except underground.
KHRUSHCHEV AND THE USSR
POSITIVES:
- Publicly, Khrushchev claimed that he had agreed to remove the missiles to encourage world peace.
- he believed that his actions showed that the USSR was willing to support smaller countries against the USA.
- Cuba remained a close ally of the USSR for the remained of the Cold War, much to the USA's frustration.
- the removal of American weapons from Turkey and Italy was also a major victory for Khrushchev, albeit a secret one.
NEGATIVES:
- senior figures within the Communist Party felt that Khrushchev had been reckless during the crisis. They also felt that he backed down just as he seemed ti be gaining an advantage.
- concerns over Khrushchev's handling of the crisis was one of the issues that led to his removal from power on 14 October 1964.
KENNEDY AND THE USA
POSITIVES:
- Kennedy had shown that he could stand up to Khrushchev and that he was not a weak leader, silencing many of his critics.
- the removal of missiles from Cuba meant that there was no direct nuclear threat to the USA. Missiles were not yet powerful enough to reach the USA from the USSR.
NEGATIVES:
- the removal of American weapons from Turkey and Italy, had it been public knowledge, would have been seen as a major retreat from Europe by the USA.
CZECHOSLOVAKIA
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THE SOVIET INVASION
On 20 August 1968, Soviet forces entered Czechoslovakia and seized control of Prague. Although there was some civilian resistance, Dubček ordered the Czech army not to resist. A hundred protesters were killed and 500 were wounded. The Prague Spring was over and a new hard-line government was installed by Moscow.
The Western response:
- the USA condemned the invasion and cancelled a meeting between Brezhnev and Johnson. However, the American government was much more concerned with the situation in Vietnam and wanted to avoid increased tensions with Moscow.
- other Western governments condemned the invasion and there was an attempt to pass a Resolution, or statement, at the United Nations condemning the violence. The USSR's veto made this impossible.
- it had been established in Hungary, in 1956, that the West would not interfere with Soviet actions behind the Iron Curtain.
The global communist response:
- Communists around the world were outraged by USSR's actions.
- Many communists in the West saw the invasion as a betrayal of communist principles and an act of imperialism.
- There were protests in Yugoslavia and China- communist countries that were not part of the Soviet sphere of influence.
- there was even a small protest in Red Square, in Moscow.
- the biggest threat to Soviet leaders came from the Red Army. The soldiers had been told that the invasion was at the request of the Czech people. When they arrived, it was clear that this was a lie. Returning soldiers shared their experiences and this damaged the reputation of the Soviet leadership.
- for many, events in Czechoslovakia destroyed their faith in communism.
THE BREZNEV DOCTRINE
In November 1968, Brezhnev made a speech in which he made clear that if any other Warsaw Pact country behaved in the same way as Czechoslovakia had done, it would face the same consequences.
Impact in the West
At first the USA ended talks intended to improve relations with the USSR. However, it quickly decided to take a different view of the policy in order to save the progress that had been made.
Impact in the East
China regarded the Brezhnev Doctrine with suspicion; the Chinese were worried that it suggested the USSR might interefere in China, which was undergoing a cultural revolution.
AN EASING OF TENSIONS
By the late 1960s, both sides were keen to avoid the high levels of nuclear tension that had almost led to nuclear war. However, there remained two main issues between the superpowers:
- Vietnam: the USA involvement in Vietnam had grown significantly by the end of the 1960s. The Soviets saw the USA's actions as an attempt to force its political system on an area that was embracing communism. The war finally ended in 1973. By 1975, Vietnam was entirely communist.
- Human rights: the lack of free speech and other human rights within the USSR and the rest of the Warsaw Pact was a source of concern for the USA. Many saw the Cold War as a struggle between freedom and oppression. Although the issue did not disappear, American leaders didn't want it to stop progress when it came to peace talks and so chose not to push the issue.
DETENTE
The period from the late 1960s to the early 1970s saw an improved relationship between the USSR and the USA. There was much more dialogue between the leaders and the threat of war decreased - there was even a joint space mission.
The China-Soviet split: As relations between Moscow and Beijing deteriorated, the USA seized the opportunity to build a relationship with the world's second communist power. In February 1972, Richard Nixon became the first US President to visit China.
The lessons of conflict: The war in Vietnam had shown that nuclear weapons did not help win conventional wars. Neither side wanted war with the other and so talking made sense.
The nuclear issue: The Cuban Missile Crisis had shown that neither side was willing to use nuclear weapons and bring about their own destruction. There was also concern that other less stable countries could develop nuclear bombs. Co-operation could help limit the spread of technology.
The economic issue: Both countries were spending billions of dollars fighting the Cold War. Continuing the arms race would have bankrupted the USSR.
SALT I:
The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT), which began in 1969, were the most serious talks that have ever taken place between the two superpowers. A number of treaties were signed that included:
- banning new ballistic missiles
- reducing the number of anti-ballistic missile defence systems that could be built.
SALT I was officially signed by Brezhnev and Nixon at the Moscow Summit of May 1972. Talks for SALT II began immediately. The improved relations did not last, however, and the Cold War continued for another 20 years with significant moments of tension, most notably in Africa, the Middle East and Central America.
Cold War warriors to peacemakers: Brezhnev and Nixon: Nixon and Brezhnev were unlikely peacemakers. Nixon had built his career as an anti-communist in the US Senate and as Eisenhower's vice president. Brezhnev had been a senior figure in Moscow since the days of Stalin. Some have argued that their experiences helped them to understand what was at stake if tensions were allowed to increase once again.