Who did the Americans elect as their President in 1961?
Which two places in the Far East did Kennedy finance anti-communist fighters?
How many refugees had fled to West Berlin by 1961? Why was this bad for Russia?
- 3 million:
- It was an embarrassment because it showed Communism was NOT better for people.
- Many of the people who fled were skilled workers.
What did Khrushchev demand at the Vienna summit of June 1961?
- That the Americans leave West Berlin.
What date did Khrushchev begin to build the Berlin Wall?
Why did Khrushchev say he built the wall?
- The Americans were using West Berlin as a base for spies and sabotage.
When did Fidel Castro come to power in Cuba?
What did his 1960 trade agreement with Russia say?
- Cuba sent sugar to Russia in return for oil, machines and money.
What did Castro do to America companies in 1961 which angered America?
What was the name for the failed invasion of Cuba in 1961. Why was it an embarrassment for Kennedy?
- Bay of Pigs: although the CIA supported the invasion, it failed miserably.
What did a U-2 spy-plane discover on Cuba in October 1962?
What were Kennedy’s FIVE options, and which did he choose?
- Nuclear strike
- Conventional attack
- Work through UN
- Do nothing
- Mount a naval blockade – this is what he chose to do, at a meeting on 16 October 1962.
What did Khrushchev accuse America of?
- Piracy, and trying to destroy humankind.
What deal was done between Kennedy and Khrushchev?
- Khrushchev dismantled the Cuban bases publicly; Turkey dismantled the Turkish bases secretly.
What event during the crisis (27 Oct) almost caused a nuclear war?
- An American U-2 spy-plane was shot down by the Cubans.
What did the two leaders set up after the Missiles Crisis to prevent another such crisis?
What agreement began a detente in 1963? When was Khrushchev dismissed from the Soviet Politburo, and why? - 1964, for his “harebrained” and “adventurist” schemes
Who took over the leadership of the Soviet Union in 1964? - Leonid Brezhnev (Foreign Minister), Alexei Kosygin (Premier) and Yuri Andropov (Head of the KGB – the Soviet Secret Police)
When did Albania leave the Warsaw Pact?
Who was the hard-line leader of Albania 1945-85?
Which Romanian leader forged a friendship with China, rather than Russia?
How was the USSR a ‘weak hegemon’ in 1968? - Its leadership was divided,
- pressured by its Polish and East German counterparts,
- seriously troubled by Romanian dissent and
- worried about domestic developments
Who does American sociologist Jerome Karabel blame for the Prague Spring?
Name one Czech newspaper which led the criticism of the Regime - Literarni Noviny (or Kulturnv Zivot, or Kulturni Tvorba)
Which banned Czech writer was celebrated at a conference in Liblice in 1963?
What did the Congress of the Union of Czechoslovak Writers demand in 1967 - Freedom of expression and democracy
How did the Communist government of Czechoslovakia damage small businesses in 1953? - A devaluation in 1953 reduced the koruna to one-fiftieth of its value
What did the Czechoslovak government admit in 1962? - That its Five-Year Plan had failed
Who introduced the ‘New Economic Model’ in 1965, and why was it a disaster? - Deputy Premier Ota Sik; it encouraged people to ask for political reform
Why did many Czechs hate the Soviet Union? - In the midst of the economic crisis, large amounts of goods - notably uranium – were sent to the Soviet Union without payment.
What was the name for the Czech Secret Police? - STB: Státní bezpečnost (‘State Security’)
Who was the failing President of Czechoslovakia in 1967 and how was he deposed? - Antonin Novotny – he asked Brezhnev for help, but Brezhnev sided with his opponents.
What did Dubcek call his April 1968 Action Programme of reform? - Socialism with a human face
Name THREE things the Programme of Reform included. - a free-market economy,
- freedom of speech;
- freedom of religion;
- the right to join a trade union;
- freedom of travel to the West;
- a reduction of the powers of the secret police;
- elections;
- to set up a new National Assembly (Parliament) where the Communists would not be the only Party.
What publication alarmed Soviet politicians on 17 June 1968 - Ludvík Vaculík's Two Thousand Words was published, criticising the Czech Communist Party and calling for democracy and reform
What did Dubcek promise at the 3 August Bratislava Conference? - the reforms were loyal Marxism–Leninism;
- to suppress any ‘anti-socialist’ movements;
- Czechoslovakia did not intend to leave the Warsaw Pact
What warning sign did Dubcek ignore on 13 August? - Brezhnev phoned Dubcek expressing his "alarm" that the Czechoslovak press was still attacking Communism and the Soviet Union
With what did the Warsaw Pact invade Czechoslovakia on 20 August 1968? - 500,000 troops and 200 tanks
Who took over from Dubcek in Czechoslovakia?
Who burned himself to death in protest?
What was the Brezhnev Doctrine? - That socialist countries had the right to suppress counter-revolutionary forces in any other socialist country
Which Soviet leader used the hotline during the 1967 Six Day War? - Alexei Kosygin – to propose that the two nations use their influence to achieve a ceasefire
What treaty was signed in 1968? - The Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty agreed to restrict nuclear weapons technology to the US, the USSR, China, France and Great Britain
In 1969 the USA was losing the war in Vietnam; how did this help detente? - The USA needed the Soviet Union to influence North Vietnam to bring about peace
What economic problems was the USA facing in the early 1970s? -
Stagflation and the Oil Crisis
What was the Nixon Doctrine? - That, beyond existing treaties, it was up to each country to defend itself against communism
How did Henry Kissinger help détente? - He used ‘shuttle diplomacy’ and ‘triangular diplomacy’.
What was the Soviet government ideologically inclined to razryadka ? - It was a Leninist concept
What percentage of the Soviet GNP was spent on armaments?
What developments of the 1960s had made the USSR feel more confident? - The USSR had caught up with the USA in nuclear weapons;
- the USSR had greater conventional forces;
- the Berlin Wall and Czechoslovakia had stabilised the Warsaw Pact;
- France signed a trade agreement in 1964;
- West Germany’s Ostpolitik policy
What economic and social problems was the USSR facing? - Agriculture could not feed the population;
- industrial growth was slowing;
- corruption and the black market;
- housing crisis;
- alcoholism;
- dumping of industrial waste;
- ‘dissidence’.
How had China alarmed Russia in 1969? - Armed conflict had broken out along the Sino-Soviet border, which for a time raised the prospect of nuclear war
What started a US-China détente in 1971?
What 1972 agreement sealed a US-China détente, and what did it agree? - Shanghai Communique:
- peace,
- better trade and cultural contacts;
- the USA would ‘dump’ Taiwan.
What 1972 agreement with the USSR did Nixon regard as one of his greatest achievements? - The ‘Basic Principles of Relations Between the USA and the USSR’
What did SALT1 agree in 1972? - The Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty construction of new ICBMs
Which treaty reconciled the Soviet Union to West Germany?
Which treaty reconciled East Germany and West Germany?
Why was 1975 the year of détente in space? - American and Soviet astronauts docked their Apollo and Soyuz spacecraft together
In what 1975 agreement did the USSR promise to regard human rights?
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