The Cold War Thaws

Learning Targets:

12. Analyze specific actions taken by the U.S.

13. Analyze specific actions taken by the USSR.

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The Cold War Thaws

• After WWII, the Soviet Union controlled Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Albania, and East Germany
• These countries were forced to develop industrial economies that benefited the Soviet Union
• This policy prevented economic recovery after the war
• After Stalin died, more moderate Soviet leaders came to power
• They allowed Eastern European countries more freedoms if they remained Communist and allies of the U.S.S.R.
• Many of these nations became rebellious in the 1950s and 1960s
• A strained relationship with China also became a Soviet concern

Destalinizaiton and Protest

• Stalin died on March 5, 1953
• Nikita Khrushchev was Stalin’s successor
• Khrushchev publicly criticized Stalin for the terror he brought to the Soviet Union
• He began a policy of destalinization, or purging the country of Stalin’s memory
• Workers destroyed Stalin’s monuments
• Khrushchev also called for “peaceful competition” with capitalist states
• Life did not change in the Eastern European satellites

Hungary

• In October 1956, the Hungarian army joined the protestors to overthrow Hungary’s Soviet-controlled government
• Imre Nagy, a liberal Hungarian Communist leader, formed a new government and promised free elections
• He also demanded that Soviet troops be withdrawn from Hungary
• In early November, Soviet tanks and troops put down the rebellion
• The Soviets replaced the Hungarian government with pro-Soviet leaders and eventually executed Nagy

Brezhnev

• In 1964, Soviet leaders voted to remove Khrushchev from power (result of the perceived failure of the Cuban Missile Crisis)
• Leonid Brezhnev was Khrushchev’s successor
• Brezhnev returned repressive policies to the U.S.S.R.
• Freedom of speech and worship were eliminated
• Censorship and secret police

Czechoslovakia

• The Czech Communist leader Alexander Dubcek eased controls of censorship
• This period of reform, when Czechoslovakia’s capital bloomed with new ideas, became known as Prague Spring
• On August 20, armed forces from the Warsaw Pact nations invaded
• Brezhnev stated he was preventing Soviet satellites from rejecting communism

Soviet-Chinese Relations

• Mao and Stalin had signed a 30-year treaty of friendship in 1950
• Both the Soviets and the Chinese wanted to be the Communist leaders in the world
• In 1959, Khrushchev refused to share nuclear secrets with China
• The next year, the Soviets ended economic aid to China
• Border disputes also led to a strain in Soviet-Chinese relations

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Brinkmanship

• The policy of brinkmanship followed by Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson administrations led to one crisis after another
• In 1960, the U-2 incident prevented a meeting between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. to discuss the build up of nuclear arms
• The Cuban Missile Crisis almost led to nuclear war
• Johnson was also committed to preventing the spread of communism and increased American involvement in Vietnam

Détente

• President Nixon turned to a new policy during his administration
• Détente was a policy of easing Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union
• This policy was based in the philosophy of realpolitik
• This aimed at dealing with foreign nations in a practical and flexible manner

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Nixon

• In 1972, Nixon was the first U.S. president to visit Communist China
• In 1972, Nixon also became the first president to visit the Soviet Union
• Nixon and Brezhnev signed the SALT I Treaty (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks)
• This five-year agreement limited to 1972 levels the number of intercontinental ballistic and submarine-launched missiles each country could have
• In 1975, 33 nations joined the United States and the Soviet Union in signing a commitment to détente and cooperation, the Helsinki Accords

Détente Cools

• In June of 1979, President Carter and Brezhnev signed the SALT II agreement
• Congress refused to ratify the agreement after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
• Many European and Asian nations began stockpiling nuclear weapons

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Reagan Abandons Détente

• Ronald Reagan, a anti-Communist president, took office in 1981
• In 1983, he announced the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) to protect the U.S. against enemy missiles
• This program, nicknamed “Star Wars,” was never put into effect
• Large military spending and rearming of 3^rd world countries
• A number of other situations also pushed the U.S. and U.S.S.R. closer to war

Review Questions

• What effects did destalinization have on Soviet satellite countries?
• What changes did Alexander Dubcek seek to make in Czechoslovakia in 1968, and what happened?
• Why was the policy of brinkmanship replaced?
• What was the result of Reagan’s move away from détente?

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• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkTO8ZDcOeg

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• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNpCn0nAlR0