Transformation of the Cold War Flashcards
All 50 cards in this deck
What is meant by 'détente'?
An easing or relaxing of tension between the superpowers, especially in the 1970s.
What was SALT 1 (1972)?
An arms-limitation treaty signed by Nixon and Brezhnev — the first time the superpowers agreed limits on the number of nuclear weapons they held.
What was Khrushchev's Berlin ultimatum (1958)?
A demand that the West withdraw its troops from Berlin within six months, accusing the West of breaking the Potsdam agreements.
True or false? The summit meetings of 1959–61 solved the 'Berlin problem'.
False. The final summit, at Vienna in 1961, ended without agreement — Khrushchev restated the 1958 Berlin ultimatum to Kennedy.
How did the Cuban Revolution change Cuba's relations with the USA and the USSR?
The USA stopped imports of Cuban sugar after Castro took over US businesses, and broke off diplomatic relations in January 1961; Castro turned to the USSR, which sent economic aid, military equipment and technical advisors.
What was the Bay of Pigs incident (April 1961)?
A failed invasion of Cuba by US-backed Cuban exiles trying to overthrow Castro. Its failure humiliated the USA and pushed Cuba and the USSR closer together.
What was the Prague Spring (1968)?
Dubček's reforms in Czechoslovakia that loosened communist control; they encouraged further opposition, such as the forming of the Social Democrat party demanding even more reform.
What did East Germany do in August 1961, and why?
It sealed the border between East and West Berlin and began building the Berlin Wall, to stop the flow of refugees — many of them skilled workers — escaping to the West through West Berlin.
What did an American spy plane discover over Cuba in October 1962, and how did Kennedy respond?
Photographs showed Soviet nuclear missile sites being built. Kennedy set up ExComm for advice and ordered a naval blockade of Cuba to stop the missiles arriving.
How did the Cuban Missile Crisis end after thirteen days?
Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles from Cuba in return for a US promise not to invade Cuba, and a secret US commitment to withdraw its missiles from Turkey.
What was the Brezhnev Doctrine?
The USSR's declared right to intervene, with military force if necessary, in its satellite states if events threatened the security of the Eastern Bloc.
True or false? Dubček was executed after Soviet and Warsaw Pact troops entered Czechoslovakia in 1968.
False. He was removed from power and replaced, and Czechoslovakia remained a one-party communist state and a loyal member of the Warsaw Pact.
How did Kennedy react to the building of the Berlin Wall?
The West was powerless to stop it — Kennedy said a wall was better than a war — but he made a symbolic visit to West Berlin in 1963 to show US support for West Berliners.
What was the 'hotline' set up after the Cuban Missile Crisis?
A direct communication link between the White House and the Kremlin, so the two leaders could communicate immediately in a crisis.
What did the Limited Test Ban Treaty (1963) do?
It banned the testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, in space and under water; underground testing was still allowed.
Give two of Dubček's reforms in Czechoslovakia in 1968.
Any two of: relaxed censorship and freer speech; freedom to travel to the West; less central control of the economy; more power for trade unions. Dubček still promised Czechoslovakia would stay in the Warsaw Pact.
Give one reason why Khrushchev decided to place nuclear missiles in Cuba in 1962.
Any one of: to answer the US missiles based in Turkey, close to the USSR; to protect Cuba from another US invasion after the Bay of Pigs; missiles in Cuba could hit most of the USA with very little warning.
What happened in Czechoslovakia on 20–21 August 1968?
Around half a million Warsaw Pact troops, led by the USSR, invaded to end the Prague Spring. Most Czechoslovaks resisted without violence, through street protests, and Dubček was taken to Moscow.
Who replaced Dubček as leader of Czechoslovakia in April 1969?
Gustáv Husák, a hardliner loyal to Moscow, who reversed the reforms and returned Czechoslovakia to strict Soviet-style communism.
How did the Cuban Missile Crisis affect the reputations of Kennedy and Khrushchev?
Kennedy's reputation rose because he seemed to have faced down the USSR. Khrushchev looked weak, because the US promise to remove its missiles from Turkey was kept secret, and he was forced from power in 1964.
What happened when the UN tried to act over the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968?
A Security Council resolution condemning the invasion and calling for Soviet troops to leave was vetoed by the USSR, so the UN took no action.
Give two reasons why the superpowers pursued détente in the early 1970s.
Any two of: the crises of the 1960s, above all Cuba, showed how close they had come to nuclear war; the arms race was hugely expensive; arms spending was hurting living standards, especially in the USSR and Eastern Europe.
Which weapons did SALT 1 (1972) limit?
Anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems, which each side could have only a small number of, and, for five years, intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
Roughly how many East Germans fled to the West through Berlin between 1949 and 1961?
About 2.7 million — around a sixth of East Germany's population, many of them young and skilled.
What happened at Checkpoint Charlie in October 1961?
US and Soviet tanks faced each other across the Berlin crossing point for about 16 hours before both sides pulled back.
What did Kennedy say in his speech in West Berlin in June 1963?
'Ich bin ein Berliner' ('I am a Berliner') — pledging US support and calling the Wall proof that communism had failed.
Whose government did Castro overthrow in the Cuban Revolution, and when?
Batista's, in January 1959 — a corrupt, US-backed dictator.
What happened on 'Black Saturday', 27 October 1962?
A US U-2 spy plane was shot down over Cuba and its pilot killed; Kennedy chose not to retaliate, avoiding war.
What were the two letters Khrushchev sent Kennedy on 26–27 October 1962?
The first offered to remove the missiles if the USA promised not to invade Cuba; the second also demanded the removal of US missiles from Turkey. Kennedy publicly replied only to the first.
True or false? Castro took part in the talks that ended the Cuban Missile Crisis.
False. Khrushchev and Kennedy settled it directly, and Castro was furious at being left out.
What phrase did Dubček use to describe his reforms in Czechoslovakia in 1968?
'Socialism with a human face' — communism kept, but with greater freedom.
Give one reason the USSR was alarmed by the Prague Spring.
Any one of: the reforms might spread to Poland, Romania or other satellites; a weakened Warsaw Pact; the belief that reform would damage the communist system as a whole.
What reason did the USSR give for invading Czechoslovakia in 1968?
That Czechoslovak communists had invited it in to defend socialism from counter-revolution; Western newspapers and cartoons mocked this as an excuse for Soviet brutality.
Who was Jan Palach?
A Czech student who set himself on fire in Prague in January 1969 in protest at the Soviet occupation; he died and became a symbol of resistance.
What was 'ping-pong diplomacy' (1971)?
A US table tennis team's visit to China, which helped improve US–Chinese relations and put pressure on the USSR to negotiate.
Give one source of tension between the superpowers that remained during détente.
The Soviet record on human rights — the treatment of dissidents and limits on free speech, religion and emigration.
What happened at the Moscow Summit of May 1972?
Nixon became the first US president to visit Moscow, meeting Brezhnev to sign SALT 1 and agree basic principles for peaceful relations.
True or false? Détente meant the end of the Cold War.
False. Tension eased and arms were limited, but superpower rivalry and mistrust continued.
True or false? The USSR acted alone, with no other communist country involved, in crushing the Prague Spring in 1968.
False. Troops from other Warsaw Pact states, including Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria, took part, and Warsaw Pact leaders had already put diplomatic pressure on Dubček.
Why was the flow of refugees through Berlin a propaganda problem for the USSR?
Millions of East Germans choosing to leave made communism look like a system people wanted to escape, and the West used this against it.
How did the East German government justify the Berlin Wall?
It called it the 'Anti-Fascist Protective Rampart', claiming it kept Western spies out rather than East Germans in.
Give one reason Kennedy was privately relieved when the Berlin Wall was built.
By sealing off East Berlin, Khrushchev showed he would not try to seize West Berlin, so the Western presence there was safe and war over the city was less likely.
When did Castro publicly declare himself a communist?
In December 1961, months after the Bay of Pigs, confirming US fears about Cuba.
What was the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty?
A treaty signed in 1968 (in force 1970) in which the superpowers agreed not to pass nuclear weapons or the technology to make them to countries without them.
Who was Alexander Dubček?
The reforming First Secretary of Czechoslovakia's Communist Party from January 1968, whose reforms became known as the Prague Spring.
How did Romania and Albania respond to the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968?
Both refused to take part, and Albania left the Warsaw Pact soon afterwards — showing the invasion divided the communist bloc.
How did President Johnson respond to the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968?
He condemned it but took no military action, and he called off a planned summit with Brezhnev, which delayed the start of arms-limitation talks.
Why was Nixon's visit to China in February 1972 important for détente?
With China and the USSR now rivals, it made Brezhnev fear a US–Chinese partnership, so the USSR became keener to reach agreements with the USA.
Give one reason Nixon wanted better relations with the USSR in the early 1970s.
He hoped a breakthrough with Moscow would win him credit at home, where he faced heavy criticism over the Vietnam War.
Who was Leonid Brezhnev?
Soviet leader from 1964, after Khrushchev was forced out. He ordered the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia and later led the USSR into détente with Nixon.