Lecture 11: A continuing European Cold War

A period of status quo/stalemate: 1953-1958

Important ideas in this lecture

Long

term efforts in contributing to the end of the Cold War: the Austrian Neutrality treaty Long term impact on USSRs military budget: Red Army and role in ending uprisings in Czechoslovakia (1953), Poland (1956), Hungary (1956).=incur cost, military overspending

1945-1953: A stalemate
Europe

divided into an Iron curtain

1953-1958: Peaceful coexistence

Uprisings

in Eastern Europe: Why? Death of Stalin and impact The Austrian State Treaty: 1955: neutrality West German rearmament and NATO membership The creation of the Warsaw Pact (1955) Destalinisation (1956)

President Eisenhower and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev

Death of Stalin

Eastern Europe uprisings

Czechoslovakia

(1953) Political and economic grievances against Stalinss ruthless exploitation of resources. Result: use of Red Army, force to put down. No aid from USA.

Uprisings in Eastern Europe

Polish uprising Economic and political grievances. Result: disaster averted but pro-Soviet leader in place. The Hungarian uprising Economic and political grievances Crushing of the uprising and noninterference from USA. Use of Red Army: brute force

Imre Nagy

Rakosi

The Hungarian Uprising

Hungarian uprising

Times Man of the Year 1956

An overview
The

status quo continued and the frontier between USA and USSR remain unchanged.

Lecture 12: The Continuing Cold War

1953-82

Important ideas for this lecture

Long term efforts in improving relations. Ostpolitik
1.

2. Soviet overspending in Eastern Europe Brezhnev doctrine, Eastern European uprisings/problems E.g. Berlin crisis, Prague Springs,

Khrushchevs Cold War

The

Rapacki Plan The settlement over Berlin The Second Berlin crisis The Third Berlin crisis The Berlin Wall Winners or losers? Made 3 attempts to change CW situation in Europe to his favour.

The Rapacki Plan (1958)

Reduction

in conventional forces and nuclear-free zone in Central Europe. Rejected by USA. This was at odds with US policy of deterrance. No safety net for Germany.

nd

Berlin crisis 1958

Exodus

of East Germans to West Germany. Economic stability of E. Germany affected as many were part of skilled labour force. Khrushchev attempted to force west to hand West Berlin over and leave in 6 months. USA refused.

Temporary resolution
Both

sides met and Khrushchev withdrew demand. temporarily

3rd Berlin Crisis: 1961: The Berlin Wall

Threatened

to conclude separate treaty with East Germany which will close off corridors to West. Failure of Vienna Summit Both sides unyielding

Building of the Wall

6-month

deadline for withdrawal rejected by Kennedy. Barbed wire fences and wall constructed. US forces sent to establish access to West Berlin.

Tensions at Checkpoint Charlie

Classic Cold War confrontation ensued. Tanks on both sides until both withdrew. Tensions eased over gradually, no crisis. Khrushchev achieved objective of preventing E. Germans. from escaping. Berlin remained a Western enclave for rest of Cold War within communist Eastern Europe. Issue ceased to be of problem between the two powers.

The Berlin Wall and its checkpoints

Checkpoint Charlie: Then and now

The Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall

Winners or losers?
Both

sides lost. USSR needed to build a wall to keep people in and couldnt live up to threats. West unable to prevent the building of Wall.

Escaping from East Berlin

Media and books

Eastern Europe uprisings (again)

Czech uprising (1968): Prague Spring Led by Dubcek: progressive Socialist. Soviet response was one of intimidation and cancelling of reforms. Czechoslovakia failed to toe the line and was invaded by Soviet troops and Warsaw Pact countries. Dubcek sought for restraint on both sides. Reformers removed.

Czechs argument
Different

faces of socialism and had right to define own. USSRs slow response to novel situation let it fester till breaking point.

The Prague Spring 1968

Dubcek

Effects of Prague Spring

Fatally

weakened communist movement Led to implementation of Brezhnev doctrine

Fatally weakened communist movement

Czechoslovakia

turned into a country of despair and anti-Soviet. Soured relations with outside world. Halted economic and political reforms in Eastern Europe. Slowed economic reform in USSR. Why? Strain on Soviet budget

Brezhnev doctrine
USSR

and Warsaw Pact countries duty bound to intervene whenever socialism was under threat in a member country. Long term: bleed Soviet Union of her economic development. Overspending militarily Stagnation in USSR economically.

Brezhnev 1964 took power

Ostpolitik (eastern policy) : attempts to improve relations in the long run (1969-73)
Brandts

initiative. Less subordination to USA. Relations with USSR would prevent nuclear war. Normalize West Germanys relations with the East.

Willy Brandt and ostpolitik

Ostpolitik: improving relations

Ostpolitik treaties
1.

Treaty of Moscow 1970 Accept post-war political boundaries.

2. Quadripartite Agreement 1971 Status of Berlin resolved. 3. East-West German Agreement 1972 Normalizing East-West German relations.

Battlefield Europe
Later

1970s dtente declined. US disillusionment with Soviet expansion into Third World. Renewal of arms race and threat in Europe.

Polish Crisis 1981-82

Escalating economic woes in Poland. Government of Poland, PUWP (Polish United Workers Party) capitulated to demands. USSR held military exercises along border to put pressure on Poland. Polish leaders imposed martial law and banned opposition (Solidarity Trade Union) USSR saved the role of having to intervene as Polish leaders gave in to Soviet pressure and acted on it.

Lecture 13: The Arms Race

Reference
The

Cold War Steve Philips Page 169 Why did an arms race develop and what impact did it have on the nature of the Cold War

Key Idea
The

arms race was a cause of tension and a significant factor responsible for the continuation of hostility between the superpowers.

The period of US nuclear monopoly between 1945 and 1949 gave the Soviet Union a disadvantage in the maneuvering for position in the early years of the Cold War. Causes a tit-for-tat reaction in advancing persona ambitions through arms race. By 1957 the USA was concerned that the Soviet Union had pulled ahead in the arms race and a missile gap had developed.

Arms race served to increase insecurity between the superpowers

The arms race an integral part of the struggle for supremacy

A long term reason for the End of Cold War especially on Soviet Unions inability to keep up with the continuous spending (refer to page 4) The arms race also became a weapon in itself. The vast resources needed to sustain the arms race posed severe economic strains on both the USA and the USSR. By 1980s it was used as a deliberate method of bankrupting the enemy.

The year 1981 saw the number of Soviet warheads had increased to 6800: the USA had 7000. Both sides came to a rough balance in the number of missiles. Part of this programme was the expensive SDI (Strategic Defence Initiative) Star Wars Programme. The Soviet Union had come to a conclusion that it could no longer bear the cost of continuing arms race.

**The constant pressure of matching US military capability had undermined the Soviet economy and was a significant factor

Significant of arms race in the Korean War

The dangers in the use of nuclear missiles became increasingly evident. This had an impact on the nature of military strategy. The danger of initiating nuclear war restrained both the USA and USSR from direct, armed confrontation. The concept of limited war (derived during the Korean War) was used to avoid direct confrontation.

Significant of arms race in the Cuban Missile Crisis

The US government was concerned to develop a strategy that seemed to avoid the dilemma of how to use nuclear weapons. Under Eisenhower and Dulles, the US government developed a strategy of Massive Retaliation. This was based on the threat of using large numbers of US nuclear bombs against communist aggression. The result of this strategy was the tactic of brinkmanship, of being prepared to go to the brink of nuclear war in order to stop enemy

The Cuban Missile Crisis proved that both superpowers possessed enough nuclear missiles to destroy the other leading to a situation referred to as MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction).

**This volatile situation forced each side to recognise the limitation of this all-ornothing approach and decided that a more flexible range of responses was needed.

Paradox
Nuclear

weapons became instruments of maintaining status quo rather than weapons of direct conflicts.

How did the arms race influence the Cold War?

Made dtente more viable Accelerated the ending of the Cold War Drained economies on both sides. Drained USSRs economy severely, pushed economy to breaking point. Needed to end the race and Cold War to focus on internal economic problems to save USSR. Gorbachev and change in foreign policy. Could not keep up with the race.