- For Stalin it was intolerable that the West could keep hold of territory deep within the Soviet zone, and use it to embarrass and undermine the communist system. The new currency in the West would certainly do this.
- If Stalin failed to tighten his grip on Berlin, he could, in the long run, lose control over the Soviet zone of Germany, as well as the rest of Eastern Europe.
- In March, Berlin’s socialist leaders Ernst Reuter and Louise Schroder appealed to the West for help.
- Stalin needed to prevent any possibility of such help.
In May 1948, Stalin’s representative left the Kommandatura in protest at the new Western currency. On 23rd June 1948, all surface links between Berlin and the West were cut. The Berlin Blockade had begun.
How did the Allies react?
The Western Allies were not prepared to surrender West Berlin, and were ready to supply the people of West Berlin whatever the cost.
- The Allies started to supply West Berlin by air, using 3 flight routes from the Western zones.
- During the winter of 1948-9 American & British planes brought in 2.3m tonnes of supplies, including 5,000 tonnes of coal a day.
- 1,400 flights occurred on one day.
- 79 American British and Germans died in accidents.
- The Airlift cost $100,000,000.
In May 1949, Stalin called off the blockade.
Why did Stalin’s blockade fail?
Stalin seriously underestimated the determination of the Western Allies to resist Soviet pressure.
- 98% of West Berliners supported the presence of the Western Allies in an opinion poll taken in July 1948.
- The Western Allies believed that if they gave up Berlin, Stalin would press to extend his empire into Western Europe.
- Berlin became a symbol of democracy’s fight against Communism: the Berlin Airlift was therefore an important propaganda exercise to prove the strength of democracy and the evils of Communism.
- The West saw that Stalin was calling their bluff with the airlift. The airlift was their way of calling his bluff.
Stalin had no choice but to call off the blockade, since the only other way to get the Allies out of Berlin would have been by force. That would have led to a 3rd world war.
What were the results of the Berlin Blockade?
Relations between the superpowers were permanently affected by the Berlin Blockade:
- All attempts to cooperate over Germany ended: in 1949, Germany was permanently divided (until reunification in 1990):
- the German Democratic Republic was established in the East, with a communist, pro-Soviet government
- the Federal Republic of Germany was set up in the West.
- The superpowers were now open enemies:
-
in 1949 the US and Western Europe bound themselves even more closely together through a military alliance, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
- It was obvious to all that this was an anti-Soviet alliance: an attack on one member would be considered an attack on all.
- US Congress granted $1.5bn in military aid to NATO members
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In 1955, when West Germany was allowed to join NATO, Stalin set up the Warsaw Pact, a military alliance that tied the countries of Eastern more closely to Moscow.
The Cold War that started with the Berlin Blockade was to remain ‘cold’: despite the arms race and the war of words, the superpowers did everything they could to ensure that they never actually went to war with each other.
Why did the superpowers become involved in Korea?
The superpowers couldn’t agree on the future of Korea
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In 1945 Korea was occupied by Soviet and American troops after the defeat of Japan, rather like Germany: the Soviets held the land north of 38th Parallel; the Americans occupied south Korea
- Elections were held in 1948, but the Soviets refused to accept the new Nationalist government under Syngman Ree. Instead it established a communist government in the north, led by Kim Il Sung
- The communist takeover of China (Sept ’49) meant that North Korea now had 2 powerful communist neighbours (USSR and China).
By 1950, both superpowers had withdrawn their troops from Korea, but it remained divided at the 38th Parallel.
On June 25th 1950, the North Koreans began a full-scale invasion of the south, which had the approval of both China and the USSR
- The US got the UN to condemn the invasion, and authorise the creation of a UN army to help South Korea.
- The USSR could have blocked this UN decision. However, they were boycotting the UN in protest at the UN’s refusal to recognise the new Chinese government.
- US therefore had a free hand to act against North Korea with UN support.
- The UN force was commanded by General MacArthur, and was made up of troops from 16 countries, although the US made up half the troops, over 93% of the air force and 86% of the navy. MacArthur took his orders from Truman, not the UN.
Truman and his advisers had become convinced of the Domino Theory: unless the US acted, communism would spread from country of South East Asia to another.
How did superpower involvement influence the nature and course of the war?
Stalin was careful not to be seen to get directly involved in the conflict, since the US had secured UN support.
- In just 2 months, the North Korean army overran the South, trapping the South Korean and UN forces into a small area around Pusan.
- After invading Inchon (Sept), MacArthur’s troops recaptured Seoul, and moved up rapidly through North Korea within 100km of the Chinese border.
- Secretly, Stalin gave his support to an invasion of 300,000 – strong Chinese ‘volunteer’ army, which inflicted a humiliating retreat on UN troops (Nov ’50 -Jan ’51). The Chinese secretly used Soviet fighter planes and pilots.
-
Between January and March 1951, UN forces pushed back across the 38th Parallel.
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Between March ’51 and the armistice of July ’53 both sides were at stalemate along the 38th Parallel – exactly where the conflict had started.
- Superpower involvement greatly increased the human and material cost of the war: c.4 million died; millions were made homeless; huge areas of land destroyed.
Truman was equally anxious to contain the conflict: he sacked MacArthur for wanting to attack China with nuclear weapons.
What effect did the Korean War have on superpower rivalries?
Despite the immense cost, the Korean War was a victory for the US:
- Communism had been contained.
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The 38th Parallel was now a barrier to communism in South East Asia, just as the Iron Curtain was a barrier to capitalism in Eastern Europe.
- South Korea remained democratic and pro-American.
- The war provided an enormous boost to the Japanese economy, and could therefore be relied upon to stay anti-communist.
However, North Korea remained loyal to the Soviet Union.
Unlike Germany, Korea today remains a divided country.
How far did relations between East and West change after 1953?
Changes ‘at the top’ led many people to think that superpower relations would improve at this time:
- Joseph Stalin died in 1953. People on both sides of the Iron Curtain felt that things could only get better with Stalin gone.
- In the USA, Truman was replaced by Eisenhower. ‘Ike’ was regarded as less confrontational than Truman.
- Nikita Khrushchev, Stalin’s successor, gave the appearance of being a more moderate ruler.
- In 1955 he ended the long conflict Stalin had had with the Yugoslav leader, Tito, by accepting his right to independence.
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In 1956 Khrushchev surprised many by denouncing Stalin in a speech to the Soviet Communist Party in 1956, and by beginning a programme of de-Stalinisation.
- These events raised hopes of greater independence for other Eastern European countries (see pages 10 & 11)
- Khrushchev also gave the impression of being friendlier to the West
- In 1955, an Austrian State Treaty ended Soviet occupation, and Khrushchev withdrew Soviet troops from Austria.
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He believed in Peaceful Co-existence. Rather than try to destroy the West, the Soviet Union should accept that it had a right to exist.
- However, Khrushchev did not intend to weaken the ties between the Soviet Union and the other countries of Eastern Europe.
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He set up the Warsaw Pact in 1955. This was a defensive alliance of the Eastern European countries, controlled by Moscow.
- He was prepared to act forcefully against signs of rebellion within Eastern Europe (See notes below on Poland and Hungary, pages 10 - 11)
- He was not going to take a more lenient attitude to West Germany. In 1958 he began a campaign to force the Allies out of West Berlin (See pp 12).
- Khrushchev wanted to prove that the Soviet Communism was better. He wanted to compete with the USA throughout the world.
- He poured money into sport in the Soviet Union to try to win as many Olympic gold medals as possible.
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He put the first satellite, Sputnik, into space in 1957 and the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin, in 1961.
- He offered foreign aid to the new countries in Asia & Africa, e.g. Vietnam.
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He began to build more and more weapons, contributing to the military arms race. (See Nuclear Arms Race notes below)
- He travelled the world meeting world leaders and grabbing the headlines wherever he went.
By 1956, it was clear that superpower relations were getting worse again.
Why did relations between the USA and the Soviet Union grow worse in the late 1950s and the early 1960s?
Summary Answer:
During the late 1950s and early 1960s, a number of important events and developments led superpower relations to get worse.
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They competed with each other in a nuclear arms race
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Khrushchev’s policy in Eastern Europe angered the West
- The U2 Incident
Khrushchev tried to gain the advantage in the Cold War from the young and inexperienced President Kennedy by
- Trying to force the West out of Berlin
- Attempting to deploy Soviet nuclear missiles on Cuba
By 1963 it was clear that Kennedy had won the battle of wits. However, these events had brought the superpowers dangerously close to a nuclear war.
1. The Nuclear Arms Race
What was the Arms Race?
The Arms Race was a race between the superpowers to build bigger and more destructive weapons.
- It began in 1945, when the Soviet Union began to construct an atomic bomb to balance the bomb that the USA had developed in 1945. It continued until the 1980s.
- In 1949, the USSR tested its first A bomb, four years after the USA first used the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. By this time, the USA had over 100 A-bombs, and long-range aircraft to drop them.
- By 1952, the US had developed and tested the hydrogen bomb, but only a year later, the USSR tested their own.
By the 1980s, the superpowers had enough nuclear bombs to kill the entire human race several times over.
Why did the superpowers produce so many nuclear weapons in the 1950s?
The superpowers had financial, political and military reasons for continuing the arms race:
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At the time President Eisenhower came to power in 1953, it was 70 times cheaper to match Soviet military strength with nuclear, rather than conventional weapons.
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Eisenhower hoped that the USA’s nuclear superiority would stop the USSR from any threatening action. This policy was known as nuclear deterrence.
- However, the USA over-estimated the strength of the USSR:
- In 1955 the USA ordered twice as many new B-52 bombers as necessary, because the Soviets had cleverly given the impression that they had double their actual number of B-4 bombers.
- After the Soviets tested the first ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile) in 1957, US experts predicted a ‘missile gap’ by 1961 (USA would have 10 times fewer than the USSR). J F Kennedy promised to close the gap in the presidential election campaign of 1960. Once in office, Kennedy saw the gap was exaggerated, but carried on with the missile programme, so that by 1963, USA had 550 ICBMs to USSR’s 100.
By the early 1960s, it was clear that the deterrence policy was mistaken.
- How did Khrushchev’s treatment of Poland and Hungary affect superpower relations in the mid 1950s?
Khrushchev’s suppression of protest movements in these countries showed the West that Khrushchev was determined to keep a firm grip on Eastern Europe. It also showed that he could be as brutal as Stalin if he needed to be.
What was life like in the East? Why did people want reforms?
- People living in Eastern Europe wanted reforms for two main reasons:
- Firstly, they had had communism forced upon them.
- Secondly, by the mid 1950s it had not made their lives better.
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The economies of Eastern Europe were controlled by Moscow through COMECON, set up by Stalin in 1949. It provided member countries with subsidies, but was a massive drain on the economy of the USSR (see pages 21-22).
- As in all other communist states, no other political parties were permitted and elections involved a selection from a list of candidates supplied by the communists.
- The Communist Party controlled the media, which meant that there was no legal means of finding out about what was happening in the world on the other side of the Iron Curtain: only the official version of the news was public.
- People were subject to the secret police (in the Soviet Union, the KGB). The secret police operated outside the law and there was little that an ordinary citizen could do about their actions.
- Freedom of expression was restricted, and although Khrushchev relaxed some of the controls that Stalin had put into place and reduced the powers of the Secret Police, he did not allow complete freedom. Criticism of the Communist Party and the Soviet way of life was not allowed. Religious freedoms were denied.
- Consumer goods were limited and often of poor quality. Sales of foreign goods were restricted. Foreign travel was difficult and currency sales were strictly controlled in an effort to obtain foreign exchange.
Were there any benefits to living in the East?
- All citizens of the countries of Eastern Europe had a job.
- Prices were controlled at a low level. Rent, electricity, gas and telephone charges were minimal by western standards.
- Public transport was very cheap and very reliable.
Such benefits counted for little compared to the loss of individual rights and freedoms, or the higher earnings and a much higher standard of living enjoyed in the West.
What happened in Poland?
- After Khrushchev’s anti-Stalin speech, rioting broke out in June 1956. Instead of the reforms Polish workers campaigned for, the protests were brutally suppressed: more than 100 people died.
- Khrushchev later intervened and removed some unpopular Stalinists from the government, on condition that the new leader Gomulka stayed loyal to the Warsaw Pact, and the Communist Party remained firmly in control.
What happened in Hungary?
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In October 1956 fighting broke out in Budapest between Hungarians and Soviet troops. The people wanted to get rid of Rakosi, the ‘mini-Stalin’ Prime Minister. On 24th October Khrushchev ordered the replacement of Rakosi for Imre Nagy, a more moderate communist. He also ordered the withdrawing of Soviet troops from Hungary, to try and calm the situation. However, popular protests continued.
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Nagy set up a new government, which included non-communists, and then on 30th October announced free elections and, on 2nd November, Hungary’s withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact.
- On 4 November Khrushchev ordered the Soviet army to invade Hungary and crush the uprising. There was bitter street fighting; 7,000 Soviet troops and 30,000 Hungarians were killed.
- Nagy was arrested and later hanged.
The Hungarians called on the West for help. Western leaders protested, but did nothing
- they were afraid that military action would lead to war.
- their attention was diverted by the Suez Crisis.
- The U2 incident
Relations between the Soviet Union and the USA were worsened by the U2 incident, when a US spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960. The pilot Gary Powers was put on trial in Moscow. This occurred during a Summit Meeting of important countries in Paris. Khrushchev was able to use the incident to embarrass the USA and stormed out of the meeting.
- Why did Khrushchev order the building of the Berlin Wall?
Khrushchev needed to stop the flow of Eastern European defectors to the West.
- It had always been possible for Berliners to travel from one part of the city to another. Many worked in one sector and lived in another. It was easy for them to see what life was like on the other side.
- Many thousands of people had escaped from East to West, since the end of the Blockade in May 1949. On average, between 20-25,000 each month.
- Most defectors were well educated; engineers, teachers, doctors, lecturers. They were just the sort of people that the Communist Bloc could not afford to lose as it tried to modernise its industry and agriculture.
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In November 1958 Khrushchev demanded that the three western powers should leave West Berlin. The West refused and called for talks on the reunification of East and West Germany. (In fact at the Rome Olympics in 1960 there was a united German team.)
- Khrushchev refused to discuss unification and in April 1960 threatened another blockade.
- In September 1960 East Germany forced West Berliners who wanted to travel to East Berlin to obtain a police pass. This was the first time that any restriction had been placed on travel between the four sectors in Berlin.
Khrushchev thought the new US President, Kennedy was weak.
- After the U2 incident and Kennedy’s disastrous attempt to invade Cuba (see page 14, Khrushchev came to the conclusion that Kennedy could be pushed around. He decided that the time was right to cut West Berlin off from East Berlin
- Finally, on 13 August 1961, the East German government closed the border between east and West Berlin and on 15 August began to build the Berlin Wall. East and West Berlin became completely cut off.
- The Wall remained in place until November 1989, during which time more than 300 people were killed trying to cross it.
How did Kennedy react?
There was nothing Kennedy could do about the Wall
- He went to Berlin and made a speech to hundreds of thousands of West Berliners, to demonstrate his sympathy for their difficulties.
- He ordered three increases in the US defence budget in the next two years. He realised that he could not afford to lose out again.
However, this incident made Kennedy determined to stand up to Khrushchev the next time.
- Why was there superpower conflict over Cuba?
What were relations between Cuba and the USA like before the Crisis?
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In 1959 Fidel Castro seized power in Cuba. Until then Cuba had been under US influence and many companies had invested heavily in the country. When Castro nationalised all businesses (which meant taking over US firms as well), the USA cut off all aid to Cuba.
- In 1960 the Soviet Union signed an agreement to buy 1,000,000 tonnes of Cuban sugar every year. This tied the two countries closely together.
- In December 1961 Castro announced that he was a communist. There was now a communist country within 90 miles of American soil.
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In April 1961 the CIA tried to overthrow Castro by staging the Bay of Pigs invasion.
- 1,400 Cuban exiles were landed at the Bay of Pigs with CIA support.
- It was a disaster and they were all either killed or captured.
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Kennedy, who had only become President a few months before, was made to look foolish. Although Kennedy authorised the invasion, it had already been planned before he took office.
What was the Cuban Missiles Crisis?
On 14 October 1962, a US spy plane took photographs which showed Soviet missile bases being built on Cuba.
Why did Khrushchev build Missile Bases on Cuba?
Khrushchev had three main reasons for deploying missiles on Cuba:
- The Soviet Union saw Castro as an important ally: a communist state on America’s doorstep.
- Khrushchev was determined to restore the nuclear balance:
- by 1962 the USA had 295 long-range missiles, to USSR’s 75
- deploying SS-4 and SS-5 intermediate-range missiles on Cuba, was a cheaper and quicker way for the USSR to catch up in the arms race.
- The USA had 15 Jupiter missiles in Turkey targeting every city in the south of the USSR. The missiles in Cuba would be capable of targeting almost every American city. The US would lose the strategic advantage.
How and why did Kennedy respond to the problem?
On hearing the news, Kennedy called together a committee of his closest advisers, ExComm. During a whole week, from 16-22nd, they discussed 3 possible responses:
- To launch a nuclear strike on the missile sites in Cuba.
- To launch a full-scale invasion of Cuba.
- To impose a naval blockade – preventing any ships carrying military equipment arriving to Cuba.
All these options ran the risk of provoking a war with the USSR. To do nothing was not an option.
Kennedy could not allow the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba
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It wasn’t really that they threatened US security: Soviet long-range missiles could already destroy American cities: all the Cuban missiles could give would be a first strike advantage to the USSR (but because of MAD, this hardly counted for anything).
- The presence of Soviet missiles 90 miles from the US outraged American public opinion:
- For most Americans, the missiles were proof of the USSR’s hatred of democracy, its desire to spread Communism, and its readiness to threaten death and destruction to achieve its ambition.
- After previous humiliations over the Berlin Wall and the Bay of Pigs, Kennedy was under a lot of pressure to ‘score a victory’ over the USSR.
- Elections for the US Congress were only 3 weeks away.
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If the USA did not respond strongly to a threat in its own backyard, the USSR would certainly be encouraged to challenge American power elsewhere in the world e.g. Western Europe.
How did the Crisis develop?
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On Oct 22nd, Kennedy went on TV to tell the US public of the missiles, and his decision to impose a naval blockade which would remain in force until the missiles already on Cuba were removed.
- The blockade came into effect on 24 October:
- 180 ships were used including a fleet of nuclear submarines.
- US nuclear bases were placed on ‘DefCon 2’ - the highest stage of readiness.
- The largest sea-borne force since WW2 gathered on the Florida coast in preparation for an invasion.
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On 26th, Khrushchev sent a secret message suggesting a deal: he would remove the missiles, if Kennedy promised not to invade Cuba. The next day 2 Soviet ships sailing to Cuba turned back. It seemed as if Kennedy’s hard line was working.
- Then two setbacks occurred:
- An American U-2 spy plane was shot down over Cuba (though this was not made public)
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Khrushchev sent a second tougher message, broadcast on radio. It demanded the US promise not to invade Cuba, and must remove her Jupiter missiles from Turkey. Khrushchev was under pressure from the rest of the Soviet leadership to take a stronger line.
Kennedy and his advisers found a clever solution to their dilemma:
- In public Kennedy accepted Khrushchev’s first offer – by promising not to invade Cuba, the Soviets would now have to stand by their part of the deal and remove the missiles
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In secret Robert Kennedy agreed with the Soviet ambassador that the Jupiter missiles would be removed from Turkey once the crisis was over. He also suggested that the two leaders should begin talks on arms reduction.
Thus, although the US had made compromises, in public it was Khrushchev who had been forced to back down.
Why did the Cuban Missiles Crisis end like this?
- Kennedy realised that he had to make a stand.
- Khrushchev realised that he had gone too far.
- Neither of them was prepared for nuclear war.
- The crisis focused the minds of the leaders of the Superpowers on their responsibilities.
How did the Cuban Missiles Crisis change relations between the Superpowers?
- Both Superpowers had realised how close they had come to nuclear war.
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Directly after the crisis, the telephone `hot-line` was established in 1963. This direct teleprinter between the White House and the Kremlin made communication between the two leaders much easier and it would hopefully lead to speedy decisions if there were any future crises.
- Thus the notion of `peaceful co-existence` could be put into practice.
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The Superpowers signed the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, August 1963. This banned all nuclear tests except underground ones for an indefinite period.
- The USA also agreed to sell the USSR grain.
- However, it did not end the arms race
- Soviet military leaders were determined to catch up with the US.
- The USSR increased their production of long-range missiles.
- The Soviet Union were also determined not to suffer such humiliation as Cuba again. In 1964 Khrushchev was forced to resign and was replaced by Leonid Brezhnev, who was regarded as a tougher leader.
Why didn’t relations between the superpowers improve after Cuba?
The Soviet Union’s long range weapons programme seemed to close the door on any arms reduction talks.
Brezhnev took a hard stance against opposition to Communist rule in E Europe
- within the Soviet Union itself, the KGB clamped down on dissidents
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in 1968 he ordered Warsaw Pact forces into Czechoslovakia to prevent the Czech Communist leader Dubcek, from introducing moderate reforms. The invasion became known as the Prague Spring.
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After the Czech invasion, Brezhnev said that if a communist country started to go back towards capitalism, other communist countries would take action to stop it. This became known as the Brezhnev Doctrine.
The new Soviet leader therefore did not come across as wanting to do business.
After the success of Cuba, Kennedy was more convinced than ever that it was better to stand up to communism rather than offer compromises:
- Kennedy had stepped up US involvement in Vietnam considerably.
- In 1965, President Johnson sent US combat troops into Vietnam.
Thus, during the mid 1960s, neither Superpower seemed to show any desire to reduce the tension between them.
What was MAD?
By the early 1960s the superpowers spoke less about nuclear deterrence and more about mutually assured destruction – MAD.
- Nuclear deterrence could not work in practice: the enemy would only fear a ‘massive retaliation’ if the destruction of all its nuclear weapons was certain: after a decade of the arms race, there were too many for this to be possible.
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Kennedy wanted to scale-down the arms race. Since both sides now had so many weapons, if a nuclear war started it would mean mutually assured destruction.
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It was therefore not necessary to have more weapons that the USSR; but to have roughly the same.
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The MAD theory was brought home to people when the superpowers came close to direct conflict during the Cuban Missiles Crisis (see pp 14-16).
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After Cuba, the superpowers agreed to the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963) and the Non-Proliferation Treaty (1968) (see below). Both these measures were designed to slow down the nuclear arms race.
However, new developments in nuclear technology meant that MAD was soon overtaken.
Détente
Détente is French for ‘relaxation’. It is used to describe the period between 1968 and 1979, when tensions between the superpowers were more ‘relaxed’.
What reasons did the superpowers have for détente?
The Soviet Union had ‘caught up’ in the arms race
- The superpowers’ supply of submarine-based nuclear weapons was almost equal.
- The USSR had slightly overtaken the USA in ICBMs.
Since they could completely destroy each other many times over, there wasn’t much point in continuing the arms race.
Both sides wanted to reduce the risk of a nuclear war.
- Despite their traditional hostility, neither could easily forget how close they had come to a nuclear war over Cuba.
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In 1968 the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was signed. The Superpowers guaranteed not to supply nuclear technology to other countries.
Both leaders had their own reasons for wanting détente:
Brezhnev was desperate to reduce Soviet military spending
- The USSR had paid a heavy price for catching up in the arms race.
- The domestic economy of the Soviet Union would be bankrupt unless Brezhnev found a way to cut spending. The most obvious way was to cut defence spending.
Richard Nixon, who became President of the USA in 1969, was elected for his promise to bring US troops out of Vietnam.
- US public opinion had turned decidedly against involvement in Vietnam.
- Nixon hoped that a deal with USSR over nuclear arms might encourage them to use their influence with North Vietnam to secure an end to the conflict.
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Two new nuclear weapons developed between 1966-8 made a limited nuclear war possible for the first time:
- Anti-Ballistic Missiles (ABMs) were rockets that could intercept ICBMs before they reached their target.
- Multiple Independently Targeted Re-entry Vehicles (MIRVs) were missiles carrying more than warhead which could be launched at different targets.
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The possible use of nuclear weapons on strategic targets was called NUTS – Nuclear Utilisation Targeting Strategy by the US.
In 1970 Brezhnev agreed to begin Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. They ended with the signing of the SALT I Treaty in 1972.
- This limited the increase in numbers of nuclear missiles as follows
USA Soviet Union
ICBMs 1000 1600
SLBMs 650 700
- There would be a five year delay on the building of more missiles. At the end of the five year period a further agreement would be necessary.
In what other ways did the Superpowers cooperate at the time of SALT I?
- A separate treaty restricted the number of ABMs, Anti-Ballistic Missiles.
- Mutual and Balanced Force Reduction Talks (MBFR) began:
- These continued until the 1980s, when there had been more than 300 meeting with almost no agreements.
- Both sides did agree to allow each other to use spy satellites to make sure that the numbers were being kept to.
- The USA signed a trade deal to export wheat to the Soviet Union and both sides agreed to develop artistic and sporting links.
- In 1975 Soviet and US astronauts carried out a joint Soyuz-Apollo space flight.
SALT I was the first time that the Superpowers had reached an agreement on arms limitation, but
- the talks only dealt with strategic weapons, long-range nuclear weapons.
- they did not cover multiple warhead missiles or battlefield weapons (tactical nuclear weapons).
- The USA continued to produce multiple warheads, at the rate of three a day, throughout the 1970s.
The influence of détente over other aspects of superpower relations looked promising but yielded little benefit:
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In 1975 the USA and the Soviet Union, along with 33 other countries signed The Helsinki Agreement on Human Rights. This guaranteed that they would respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion.
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However in 1977 President Carter of the USA criticised the Soviet Union’s human rights’ record. He wanted to link the issue of human rights to arms reduction. The Soviet Union was not prepared to do this.
- Throughout the 1970s, the usually features of the Cold War continued
- Espionage
- Backing opposite sides in other countries’ wars e.g. Arab-Israeli War of 1973
- Propaganda
- Rivalry in Space, sport etc.
SALT II began in 1974 and continued until 1979.
Agreement was reached on further reductions in strategic weapons, which were to last until 1985.
USA Soviet Union
ICBMs 1054 1398
SLBMs 656 950
SALT II was signed by Brezhnev and Carter in 1979. However before SALT II was ratified, relations between the Superpowers began to break down.
Why did Détente collapse in 1979?
Relations soured when both sides began updating weapons deployed in Europe:
- New Soviet SS-20 missiles were sent to Eastern Europe, and there was a build up of conventional forces in the Warsaw Pact.
- In December NATO announced that Cruise and Pershing missiles would be deployed in Europe.
Both superpowers met with challenges to their power in parts of the world they traditionally controlled.
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In Iran the Shah, who was pro-western, was overthrown and an Islamic republic was set up. The US embassy was attacked and hostages seized. In Nicaragua Communist guerrillas seized power. Cuba sent armed forces to Africa to help rebels in Angola.
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On Christmas Day 1979, Soviet forces entered Afghanistan, arrested and executed the Prime Minister, and set up a pro-communist government. Brezhnev claimed the Afghan government had asked for Soviet help.
The US reacted very strongly to the Soviet invasion
- Exports of US grain to the Soviet Union were stopped.
- The USA refused to ratify SALT II.
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The USA boycotted the 1980 Olympic Games, which were held in Moscow. This ensured that the Soviet Union would boycott the Los Angeles Olympic Games four years later.
Why did Soviet forces invade Afghanistan?
Like the USA in Vietnam, the USSR was afraid of losing its influence, and losing face:
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In 1978 a Marxist government had come to power in Afghanistan and a twenty year treaty of friendship had been signed with the Soviet Union.
- In September 1979 the Marxist president of Afghanistan, was deposed and murdered. He was replaced by the Prime Minister, Hafizullah Amin.
- The Soviet Union feared that this would lead to a collapse of the Marxist government and intervened following the Brezhnev Doctrine (see page 16).
But the situation in Afghanistan was more complex than the Soviet Union realised. Muslim resistance groups, the Mujaheddin, led armed opposition to the Soviet invasion.
Why did the Soviet forces lose the war?
Like the USA in Vietnam, the USSR underestimated its opponents
- Despite initial successes in taking control of cities, Soviet forces were unable to counter the guerrilla tactics of the Mujaheddin and lost control of the mountainous countryside.
- Many of the Soviet troops sent to Afghanistan were conscripts, unprepared for the fighting that they were exposed to. Their heavy weapons could not be used effectively and they were subject to constant and sudden attacks.
- Soviet troops became demoralised. Afghanistan did not seem worth fighting and dying for. Their opponents, on the other hand, fought with fanatical zeal.
What effects did the Afghan War have on the Soviet Union?
Like the USA in Vietnam, neither the government, nor public opinion could defend the human and material cost of the war indefinitely:
- There was increasing opposition to the war from many people inside the Soviet Union as casualties mounted. A Superpower was being humiliated by guerrillas.
- The cost of the war was colossal and played a significant part in the bankruptcy of the Soviet Union in the 1980s. This in turn led to the attempts by Mikhail Gorbachev to reform the Soviet economy.
Was there a ‘New Cold War’ between 1980 and 1985?
On the surface there was a sharp deterioration of relations between the superpowers during these years. The main reason for this was the attitudes and policies of US President Ronald Reagan and British PM Margaret Thatcher.
- They realised that the Soviet Union’s economic problems were getting much worse because of the war in Afghanistan, and that it would soon be on the point of bankruptcy.
- Their policy was therefore to take a very hard line with the Soviet Union, since the USSR was in such a weak bargaining position.
- When Mikhail Gorbachev became Soviet leader, Reagan and Thatcher began to see the end to the Cold War in view.
It is better to see the events of these years not as a new Cold War, but the beginning of the end of the old.
In what ways did Reagan put pressure on the Soviet Union in the early 1980s?
Reagan became president in 1981. He made no secret of his hatred for the Soviet Union. He called it ‘The Evil Empire’.
Reagan made it clear that he was prepared to discuss arms limitation, but if things did not work out, he was not prepared to compromise.
- In 1981 talks on Intermediate Range Missiles (SS-20s and Cruise) began. Reagan offered the ‘Zero Option’. Both sides would dismantle and remove their weapons from Europe. Brezhnev refused.
- When martial law was imposed in Poland in December 1981 to stop the activities of the trade union ‘Solidarity’; Reagan stopped high technology exports to the Soviet Union.
- In 1982 Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) began. But all talks soon became deadlocked.
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In 1983 Reagan announced 'Star Wars', the Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI). This was a plan to shoot down Soviet missiles using lasers in Space. This was not a serious proposition in 1983, but it had the effect of putting pressure upon the Soviet leaders, who knew that the Soviet Union would be unable to compete.
To add to this pressure, the Soviet Union had three changes of leadership in four years: Brezhnev died in 1982, Andropov resigned through illness in 1983 and Chernenko was replaced with Gorbachev in 1985.
What contribution did Gorbachev make to the end of the Cold War and the beginning of a new world order?
Mikhail Gorbachev came to power with two main problems: the disastrous state of the Soviet economy and the strains of the Cold War.
Gorbachev realised that these problems were interrelated.
- The Soviet economy was bankrupt because it could not afford to support communist countries all over the world AND compete with the USA in the nuclear arms race.
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Gorbachev believed that the Soviet Union could only survive if the economy was completely rebuilt, doing away with the state-controlled economy which had existed since Stalin.
- He realised that the Soviet Union’s survival depended upon the West. He needed investment, new technology, but most of all arms agreements which would allow him to reduce the Soviet Union’s massive defence spending.
For this reason, Gorbachev’s key objectives were perestroika - economic restructuring and Glasnost - new sense of openness, both within the Soviet Union and also with the West.
Why was the Soviet Union bankrupt?
The Soviet economy became bankrupt over a forty year period. There were three main reasons for this:
- The communist economic system was inefficient.
- Prices in the Soviet Union were controlled and subsidised. This was a heavy drain on government’s funds.
- Soviet agriculture and industry was inefficient, so it had increasingly come to rely on imports of food and technology from the West. This had to be paid for in foreign currency.
- The Soviet Union was desperate for foreign currency. Sales of roubles were strictly controlled and foreign visitors were allowed to buy in ‘Beriozka’ shops which contained goods which were not available to Soviet citizens.
- Soviet exports were usually of poor quality. There was little incentive to workers to raise standards as everyone was guaranteed a job, cheap housing and public services. Officially the last person to be unemployed in the Soviet Union had found a job in 1932.
- There was immense ‘black market’ in western goods and currency. Tourists would be offered roubles at three or five times the official exchange rate.
- It could not afford to support communist regimes throughout the world through COMECON: the larger it got, the more it drained USSR’s resources:
- The USSR linked the countries of Eastern Europe to COMECON in 1949 in response to the US Marshall Plan.
- In 1958 it was expanded to include China, North Korea, North Vietnam and Mongolia and in 1964 an International Bank of Economic Collaboration was established.
- In 1977 Cuba had joined. Cuba depended almost totally on the Soviet Union for aid.
COMECON was only a pale shadow of the economic institutions of the West. It became a major drain on the resources of the Soviet Union and helped to bring about its economic downfall.
- Similarly, defence spending was far more than the USSR could afford.
- Soviet leaders after Stalin did not dare offend the military for fear of being overthrown by a coup.
- Successive regimes could not lose face by appearing to be losing the arms race, so spending continued to increase.
- The USSR felt obliged to carry on supporting military action by communists throughout the world, even though it could not afford to. The Afghan War was the final straw. Soviet troops were withdrawn in 1989. Many had not been paid in six months.
The USSR found it impossible to afford the costs of being model communist state, chief benefactor and defender of communism all at the same time.
How and why did Gorbachev and Reagan help to end the Cold War?
Despite their many differences, Reagan and Gorbachev needed each other:
- Gorbachev knew that if the Soviet Union was to survive, it had to cut spending, get foreign aid and new technology. The only way of getting it was by making agreements to reduce arms with the West.
- Reagan also needed to cut military expenditure. In 1983 the USA spent $300,000,000,000 on defence; more than the entire British budget.
Gorbachev showed the West that the Soviet Union was really committed to change and reform. Gorbachev did this by
- Restricting the powers of the KGB.
- Allowing freedom of speech in public.
- Free elections were held in 1990.
In 1986 Gorbachev and Reagan met several times.
The Intermediate–range Nuclear Force (INF) Treaty, was signed in 1986.
- The treaty committed both sides to the getting rid of all medium-range missiles form Europe within 3 years. (SS-20s and Cruise missiles)
- This meant the USSR giving up 3000 warheads and the US 800.
- The INF was the most dramatic step taken towards nuclear disarmament.
Further talks were held to discuss the reductions in conventional forces. But before these reach any conclusions, in 1989 communism collapsed in Eastern Europe.
Why was 1989 the ‘year of miracles’?
In 1989, the Communist bloc of Eastern European countries which had seemed so solid crumbled in the space of a few months, and with hardly any bloodshed. To outsiders it seemed sudden and miraculous. Nevertheless, forces had been at work for decades that made the final collapse possible.
Human Rights Protests
The communist states had never been able to answer those inside and outside their borders who condemned the injustices of communist society.
- The protests in Berlin (1948 & 1953); Hungary and Poland (1956) & Czechoslovakia (1968) had kept alive the basic desire for freedom among the peoples of E Europe.
- The election of Pope John Paul II and his controversial visit to Poland in 1979 led inspired the creation of Solidarity, an independent Trade Union of Polish workers, that was brutally suppressed in 1981. Even then it continued underground.
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Against this background, Gorbachev’s call for Glasnost raised hopes throughout Eastern Europe that people would be given greater freedom.
Economics
The Eastern bloc countries were heavily reliant on COMECON for their survival. Gorbachev’s decision to abandon it meant that the days of the old regimes were numbered.
The Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact had kept individual Eastern European countries from introducing reform or change throughout the Cold War. After 1985, Gorbachev was no longer prepared to use Soviet or Warsaw Pact forces to control the individual states. This meant that the old regimes could offer little defence against mass popular action. In 1989, Soviet troops were withdrawn from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, and the countries became independent again. This only increased the pressure for change in the rest of Eastern Europe.
- In 1989 Communist rule collapsed in Poland and Lech Walesa, leader of Solidarity became President in 1990 after the first free elections.
- In September 1989 Hungary opened its borders with Austria and East Germany opened its borders with Austria. Massive numbers of refugees began to flood west.
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To try and stem the flood, the East German announced that people could travel abroad freely. The popular reaction was, on the weekend of 11-12th November, to tear down the Berlin Wall with hammers and chisels.
- In November 1989 the Communist governments of East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria all resigned.
- In December 1989 Ceausescu, the Romanian dictator was overthrown and shot.
In December Gorbachev met George Bush, the new US president and they declared that the Cold War was over.
Epilogue
In 1990 East and West Germany were reunited. After further talks, in 1991, the USA and USSR signed START (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty), getting rid of 8500 nuclear warheads in total. Meanwhile in the Soviet Union, one after another of the 15 member states demanded their independence, so that by the end of 1991 the Soviet Union no longer existed. Although the Cold War had ended, old problems reappeared: with the break up of Yugoslavia, terrible civil wars broke out in Croatia (1991-2) and Bosnia (1992).
Submarine-launched ballistic missile
When a treaty is made law by the parliaments of each country.
Sometimes called ‘spheres of influence’. Iran and Angola had been places where western influences were strong.
Marxist is another word for Communist.