The Hungarian uprising, 1956

Causes:
I.

In 1953, the first open opposition to communist rule broke out

in East Berlin and west Berlin. This was crushed by the army
and police.

II. Changes in Soviet Leadership

March 1953 Stalin dies [Ruler of USSR> Absolute dictator
and ruled with an iron fist] He was then replaced by Malenkov but
it was clear that the government was actually being run by
Khrushchev. [He eventually became sole ruler of USSR in 1958]

III. Australian state Treaty, 1955

USSR agreed to sign an agreement made with the USA,
France and Britain. They agreed to remove their armed forces
from Austria. From 1955 Austria was a neutral country and this
gave hope to people in Eastern Europe that they might break free
from Soviet Rule.

IV. Khrushchevs secret speech

In 1956 Khrushchev made a speech where he criticized that
Stalin had too much power. He suggester that
1) De-stalinization; remove all Stalins policies in favor of some
liberal reforms [Give greater freedom]
2) Peaceful co-existence

V. Uprising in Poland, October 1956

People were disappointed. Rioting took place against
communist rule. This led to the appointment of a new prime
minister, Gomulka. But there were no change in communist rule.

VI. Hungarian uprising 1956

When Stalin was in power, Rakosi was the leader in
Hungary. He was a tyrant. When Stalin died, he was replace by
Imre Nagy [between 1953-55]. He was a moderate. There was
fighting between Hungarians and Soviet due to political,
economical and social & religious reasons. The reasons include:
1) Economical- Hungarians were poor
2) Political- The Hungarians were very patriotic and they hated
to be controlled by the Soviet- which included censorship and
the AVH (secret police). They also believe that US would help
them. Moreover the new policy of De-stalinization has caused
problems.
3) Social- The Soviet has banned religion and this angered the
Hungarians

Course:
October 1956, serious rioting against communist rule broke out in
the capital, Budapest. Facing an almost collapse of communist
rule, the USSR toke action. The soviet army entered Hungary by
force> street fighting occurred in Budapest between 4 and 11.

Consequences:
7,000 soviets were killed and 30,000 Hungarians died and
thousands has fled into Austria. Nagy was then imprisoned and
executed in 1958. He was replaced by a loyal communist, Kadar.

The Berlin Wall Crisis , 1961

Berlin was a centre of tension throughout the Cold War. The city
was divided in 4 military sectors at the end of WW2. USA, USSR,
Britain and France all had troops in Berlin. In 1948-49 there was
a failed attempt by USSR to blockade West Berlin. Tensions
increased and talks began about the future of Berlin. USSR
wanted the 3 Western powers to leave West Berlin whereas they
(western powers) wanted to have talks about uniting East and
West Germany. [No progress was made]

Causes:
I.

Many East Berliners left for West Berlin for a better life as
their living conditions were poor. This lead to a declination in
the population and this worried the USSR as it showed that
the people were unhappy under communist rule. 2.6 Million
left East to the West during 1949 till 1961.

II. U2 incident, may 1960

A US U2 spy plane was spotted in the USSR and was shot
down. The pilot, Gary Powers, was captured. Th US, President
Eisenhower, denied that the plane was spying but Khrushchev
announced tot he world that they had capture Gary Powers.
Tension increased as Eisenhower refused to apologize.
III. Cuba- Bay of pigs, 1961
Defeat of the Americans in over-throwing Castro also contributed
to the Berlin wall Crisis as Khrushchev felt strong enough to
threaten the US to leave West Berlin.

Course:
In June 1961, Khrushchev met Kennedy and during the meeting
Khrushchev felt that Kennedy was young and inexperienced,
therefore, he tried to take advantage upon this. In August 1960,
the East German government, backed by the USSR, closed the
bored in Berlin. Barbed wires fences was placed all around West
Berlin. On August 15 they began constructing the wall that
separated the West from the East.
For the West, the East represented Soviet Repression while for
the East, the west was seen as fascist. The wall remained from
1961 till 1989. 171 people were killed trying to escape to West
Berlin. The walls construction sparked off a major period of
tension between the USA and the USSR.
In 1963, Kennedy visited West Berlin and made a famous speech
to make the West Berliner value the freedom that democracy and
capitalism provided them.

Berlin Crisis
East German guards were placed along the wall to ensure that
no one flee, all western troops ere put on alert. There were 3
crossing points named Alpha, Bravo and Charlie. At checkpoint
Charlie, one US and Soviet tank came face to face to each other
and at one point the nuzzles touched. This led to a moment of
tension as the superpowers could see this as provoking war.
The confrontation was however avoided as the two leader
Khrushchev and Kenned decided to pull out their troops back
from the wall.Tension eased and the confrontation was avoided.
Following this, Kennedy greatly increased US military spending.

Prague Spring, 1968

Causes:
I.

Czechoslovakians were upset at poor living and working

conditions, and government corruption.

II.

January 1968, Alexander Dubcek was replaced by pro-soviet

Novotny, who was then replaced again in March by a Dubcek
supporter [Ludvik Svodoba]. He wanted to introduce a more
open communist and during the spring of 1968, he
introduced reforms. These reforms were called Socialism
with a human face. The reforms included:-

1) Easing of Censorship
The government could now be criticized in the media. [This never
happened before]. Soon evidence that Novotny government had
been corrupt and inefficient appeared in the newspaper. Dubcek
complained about Novotny poor record on living standards and
decided to make other major changes.

5) New parliament
In the elections, Communist party members no longer had to
follow the Partys views.
III. These reforms added up to a revolution called Prague Spring.
It greatly alarmed the Soviet Leaders. Kosygin replaced
Khrushchev in 1968 and when he visited Czechoslovakia he
was not happy. He reported in his return to the Soviet capital,
Moscow, that if these reform continued their would lose power
in Eastern Europe.
What USSR did?
In June, Warsaw pact armed forced entered Czechoslovakia.
This was a threat for Dubcek to stop making reforms but this had
no effects and eventually led to the soviet government taking
action.

Business were given greater control over their operation. They

can control what they produce and how much.

On the night of August 20-21, Warsaw Pact forces entered

Czechoslovakia. 150,000 Czechs and Slovaks fled the country to
the West. Dubcek and his supported were taken to Moscow for
talks. On August 28 Dubcek signed an agreement allowing
Soviet troops to occupy Czechoslovakia on a temporary basis.
Dubcek was removed from the government and had played no
part in Czech politics for the next 20 years.

3) Workers council

The Brezhnev Doctrine

2) Business

Workers in factories were allowed to elect workers councils.

These had the right to bargain with factory managers for better
pay and working conditions, just like trade unions in the West.

4) Foreign Travel
Czechs were given the opportunity to travel freely abroad.

In August 1968, Brezhnev made a very important speech

whereby he said that if any communist government tried to make
Western-style reforms, it was up to other communist government
to stop them.