Edexcel History A The Cold War - 3 Major Conflicts

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The 3 major conflicts of the Berlin Wall, Cuban Missile Crisis and Prague Spring that you need to know for Edexcel History A GCSE
Natalia  Cliff
Flashcards by Natalia Cliff, updated more than 1 year ago
Natalia  Cliff
Created by Natalia Cliff over 7 years ago
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Refugee Problems -East German Government was highly unpopular -Many East Germans fled to West Germany -1949-1961 2.7 million East Germans escaped to West Germany -Many were highly skilled, causing a brain drain -Propaganda disaster for USSR as it proved that people preferred capitalism
Khrushchev's Ultimatum -November 1958 -Declared that all of Berlin belonged to East Germany -Gave US troops 6 months to withdraw
Series of Summits Eisenhower didn't want to give in, or go to war, so a series of summits were held -Geneva Summit May 1959, no solution but laid groundwork -Camp David September 1959, withdrawal of the ultimatum but no solution to the problem -Paris Summit May 1960, disaster because US spy plane shot down over Soviet soil and Eisenhower refused to apologise so Khrushchev walked out -Vienna Conference June 1961, Kennedy now president, neither willing to back down but Khrushchev thought new president would be weak so restarted the ultimatum
Kennedy's response -Refused to back down -Declared he wouldn't remove US troops -America began preparing for war -Additional $3.2 billion to defence spending -$207 million on nuclear fallout shelters
The Berlin Wall -Khrushchev knew he couldn't win a nuclear war against the USA -1961 US had 20 times more nuclear weapons than the USSR -Kennedy had called Khrushchev's bluff -12th August 1961 East German troops put up a barbed wire all around West Berlin at night -Fence was reinforced and eventually became a heavily guarded wall -Soviet tanks were deployed to block western access -18 hour stand off with US tanks -Eventually the tanks began to pull back
Berlin Wall: Impact -Stopped East Germans from escaping into West Germany -Allowed Khrushchev to avoid war and appear strong -Powerful symbol of division in Europe
Kennedy's Visit -1963 Kennedy toured West Berlin and expressed solidarity -Gave his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech -Germans lined the streets shouting "Kenne-dy"
Developing Arms Race -USA schools had had regular duck and cover rehearsal for the event of a nuclear attack -1960 Britain and France had nuclear weapons and China was close to developing one -Statistics on nuclear capacity was intended to intimidate the other side rather than reflect the truth
Arms Race: Numbers -Inter-continental ballistic missiles, USA 450, USSR 76 -Mid-range airborne ballistic missiles, USA 250, USSR 700 -Nuclear submarines, USA 32, USSR 12 -Long-range bombers able to carry nuclear missiles USA 2 260, USSR 1 600
Arms Race: Concerns -USA concerned with the rate that the USSR were producing missiles, Tsar Bomba 1961 was the post powerful bomb ever -USSR concerned that US missiles were much closer than their missiles, 1958 nuclear weapons on British bases, 1961 in their bases in Turkey and Italy -USSR had relatively few missiles and no way of dropping them on American soil
Space Race -1957 Sputnik was launched -1960 there was a Soviet robot on the moon -Many Americans believed that satellites in space could be used to launch nuclear missiles on them
Cuba -Cuba was traditionally a US ally -American companies ran: -90% of phone and electricity supply -50% of railways -40% of sugar production -Supplied and ran all oil refineries
Cuban Revolution -Cuban revolution overthrew the pro America government -Fidel Castro declared all land belonged to Cuba, France accepted money for this, USA didn't and banned import of sugar, nearly bankrupting the economy -Cuba traded sugar with USSR and took it's oil -US refineries refused to take the Soviet oil -Castro nationalised the refineries -USA banned all trade with Cuba
Bay of Pigs: Planning -By this time CIA had tried and failed to assassinate Castro on multiple occasions -CIA persuaded Kennedy to launch an invasion of Cuba to put Batista back into power They told Kennedy: -It would look like a Cuban revolt, they'd been training Cuban exiles as guerrilla fighters -Castro's hold on the country was weak -Most Cubans would join in the invasion
Bay of Pigs: Invasion -Castro was aware of the supposedly secret plan -Most Cubans did not want Batista back -Disguised US planes missed the target, were photographed and US involvement made public -Cuban exile army of 1 400 faced heavy air attacks and 20 000 of Castro's troops -Kennedy sent in planes but it was too late, the Cuban exiles surrendered
Bay of Pigs: Consequences -Ended any chance of a friendly relationship -Castro declared himself communist -Americans made new plans to overthrow Castro -USSR negotiated with Castro about military protection -Khrushchev decided to put nuclear missiles on Cuba, which would deter invasion and boost the USSR in the arms race
Spotting of the Missiles -25th September 1962 Khrushchev sent 114 ships to Cuba carrying (secretly) nuclear warheads and long-range missiles -Missiles spotted by US spy plane mid-october
Cuban Missile Crisis -16th October 1962 Kennedy discovers USSR's plans -20th October 1962 Kennedy imposes a naval blockade -22nd October 1962 Kennedy publicly announces the blockade and tells Khrushchev to recall his ships -Khrushchev says Soviet ships will break through the blockade -American and Soviet armies prepare for war -Khrushchev proposes to withdraw nuclear missiles in return for a guarantee that US won't invade Cuba -27th October 1962 Khrushchev learns that the US have plans to invade Cuba within 24 hours -Proposes withdrawal of missiles in return for no invasion of Cuba and a withdrawal of turkey missiles -Robert Kennedy accepts the deal but insists withdrawal of Turkey missiles is to remain secret -28th October 1962 Khrushchev accepts the secret deal
Hawks and Doves -Kennedy's advisers split into two groups, hawks and doves -Hawks wanted an aggressive policy, some US generals thought war was inevitable and Kennedy should start it as US had a good chance of winning -Doves advised caution and diplomatic strategies
Cuban Missile Crisis: Immediate Consequences -Khrushchev looked weak as withdrawal of missiles from Turkey remained secret -June 1963 hotline set up for direct communication between the Kremlin and the White House -August 1963 Limited Test Ban Treaty limited nuclear testing to only underground -Beginning of detente, a relaxing of tension
Cuban Missile Crisis: Long-term Consequences -Leaders of USSR determined not to be pushed around again, by 1965 caught up in the arms race with nuclear capability -Realised that war would be MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) -1966 France left NATO, as Cuban Missile Crisis had been too close a call
Czechoslovakia -Satellite state where communism had few benefits for the people -Majority of Czech people suffered a decline in standard of living -In mid 1960s secret police still brutally crushed all opposition -Political resentment and economic problems made Antonin Novotny highly unpopular -5th January 1968 Alexander Dubcek became communist party leader, the most powerful person
Dubcek -Committed communist who was friends with Brezhnev (Khrushchev's successor) -Wanted a genuinely popular form of communism, "socialism with a human face" -Wanted to get rid of oppressive parts of communism -Reform the economy -Allow cultural feedom
Prague Spring -Started April 1968 -Relaxation of press censorship -Legalisation of political opposition groups -Official toleration of government criticism -More power to regional Czech Parliament -More power to regional governments -"Market socialism" introduced capitalist concepts into the economy
Prague Spring: Popularity -Welcomed with enthusiasm by students, intellectuals, workers and younger people -Artists and writers took advantage of it and books, plays and essays critical of soviet-style communism were published -Older communists along with Brezhnev and Eastern European allies shocked
Brezhnev's Dilemma -Considered Dubcek a friend -Dubcek had made no attempt to leave the Warsaw Pact or harm the USSR -Intelligence reports suggested that the reforms were weakening soviet control though -From August to July was in constant contact with Dubcek trying to persuade him that the reforms had gone too far
Prague Spring: Soviet response -20th August 1968 Soviet tanks rolled into Czechoslovakia -Dubcek ordered the Czech people not to respond with violence -A lot of non-violent civil disobedience -Many students stood in the way of tanks holding anti invasion banners -Dubcek arrested and taken to Moscow -Forced to sign the Moscow Protocol which reintroduced press censorship and removed opposition
Brezhnev Doctrine The idea that the USSR has the right to invade any country that threatens the security of the Eastern Bloc
Prague Spring: American Response -America was very preoccupied with Vietnam -Kept detente -Publicly condemned the invasion but offered no military support
Prague Spring: Western European Response -Followed America's lead, publicly condemned the invasion but offered no military support -Communist parties of Italy and France declared themselves independent of the USSR
Prague Spring: Eastern European Response -Yugoslavian and Romanian government condemned the invasion and distanced themselves from the USSR -They also formed and alliance with China -East German and Polish Governments welcomed the response as their pro-Moscow leaders may lose they're jobs
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