The ‘Thaw’ Flashcards
All 15 cards in this deck
What changes did Nagy's government plan in Hungary in 1956?
Free elections, the withdrawal of Soviet troops, and Hungary leaving the Warsaw Pact to become a neutral state.
How did Khrushchev respond to the Hungarian Uprising in November 1956?
He sent Soviet troops and tanks into Budapest to crush it; thousands were killed, many Hungarians fled to Austria, and Kádár was installed as a loyal leader.
True or false? Nagy was arrested and executed after the Hungarian Uprising.
True. He was removed, arrested and executed in 1958, and Hungary was kept firmly inside the Warsaw Pact under Kádár.
What was the international reaction to the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956?
The UN condemned the invasion but the Soviet veto blocked action; the West protested and took in refugees but sent no military help, being distracted by the Suez Crisis.
How did Khrushchev's de-Stalinisation in 1956 encourage unrest in the satellite states?
He attacked Stalin's methods in a speech, freed political prisoners and dissolved Cominform. Many in Eastern Europe took this as a sign they could have more freedom from Moscow, which encouraged protests in Poland and Hungary.
Who was Mátyás Rákosi?
Hungary's harsh Stalinist leader, put in power with Soviet backing. Discontent with his rule grew in 1956, and he was removed; after protests in Budapest in October, the reformer Imre Nagy became prime minister.
What was significant about Khrushchev's visit to the USA in 1959?
He was the first Soviet leader to visit the USA. At talks with Eisenhower at Camp David he dropped the deadline of his Berlin ultimatum, and they agreed to discuss Berlin further at a summit in Paris in 1960.
Why did the Paris Summit (May 1960) collapse?
Shortly before it, the USSR shot down an American U-2 spy plane and captured its pilot. Eisenhower refused to apologise, so Khrushchev walked out and no agreement on Berlin was reached.
What did Khrushchev mean by 'peaceful coexistence'?
That communist and capitalist states could compete without going to war; it raised hopes in Hungary and the satellite states of greater freedom.
Why did the USSR fear Nagy's reforms in Hungary in 1956?
If Hungary left the Warsaw Pact and rejected communism, other satellite states might follow, breaking up the Soviet buffer zone in Eastern Europe.
What false claim did the USA make after the U-2 was shot down in May 1960?
That the plane had been studying weather conditions; Khrushchev then revealed that pilot Gary Powers was alive and had confessed to spying.
What effect did the U-2 Crisis have on blame and alliances in the Cold War?
The USA was criticised even by its closest ally Britain, and could no longer claim the USSR was wholly responsible for Cold War tension.
What happened at the Geneva Summit (1955)?
The leaders of the USA, USSR, Britain and France held the first East–West summit since Potsdam (1945). The talks were friendly and both sides promised to keep talking, though no agreements were signed.
Whose death in March 1953 opened the way for the 'Thaw'?
Stalin's. Khrushchev emerged as Soviet leader, and with Eisenhower newly US President there was hope of a fresh start.
Give one reason the West did not intervene militarily in Hungary in 1956.
Fear of nuclear war: Hungary lay inside the Soviet bloc, so sending troops could have meant fighting the USSR directly. (The Suez Crisis was also a distraction.)