History Cuba Missile Crisis

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  1. What was America’s response to the nuclear bombs in Cuba?

USA were not happy that USSR had placed Nuclear Bombs in Cuba as it was so deep in USA’s “Sphere of Influence” America Responded to the placement of Nuclear Bombs by forming a Naval Blockade around Cuba preventing any more Nuclear Bombs reaching it.

  1. Describe the key features of “Prague Springs”

Czechoslovakia “Prague Springs” occurred in 1968 in the capital of Czechoslovakia, Prague. The events that followed were similar to that of Hungary in 1956. Czechoslovakia was a satellite state which meant that they were independent, but in reality were controlled by the USSR. This relationship had very few benefits for Czechoslovakia, as they were still run by secret police who were very brutal and ruthless. The country’s economic state was poor and it was in turmoil and struggling. Citizens of Czechoslovakia were unhappy with this way of life, especially students and intellectuals. The citizens agreed that they would revolt against the communist government. They overthrew the current leader, Antonin Novotny. This left the Russian Premier, Brezhnev, in a dilemma of who to select as the new Czechoslovakian leader. It seemed the natural choice to replace Novotny was Dubcek.

Dubcek was perfect because he was committed to communism and was close friends with the Russian Premier. Also his aim was to create a popular form of communism which suited the requirements of the Czechoslovakian people. He called this new form of communism “socialism with a friendly face”. Within this concept he planned to reduce the oppressive aspects of communism and bring in common capitalist aspects. He announced his reforms including: a relaxation of press censorship; the legalisation of political criticism and political opposition groups. These reforms were very popular amongst the citizens of Czechoslovakia but not with older Czechoslovakian communist traditionalists and certainly not with Brezhnev, the new Russian Premier. Brezhnev’s response to Dubcek’s reforms was ruthless. He quickly ordered the USSR army to invade Czechoslovakia with tanks. Dubcek’s response to this was to ask his people not to be violent in their protests against the USSR army, and he said only peaceful protests would be needed. Many Czechoslovakian civilians were killed in this invasion, including Dubcek. Czechoslovakia got its time of freedom, though it was short lived, as Brezhnev ripped the country apart.

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  1. Describe the key features of the Berlin crisis.

During the 1950s many refugees from the Soviet zone fled to the West. Between 1950 and 1961, the refugees continued to leave at a rate of 100,000 to 200,000 a year. Workers were attracted by the jobs and houses open to them in West Germany. By the late 1950s, most of those leaving were professional people and students whose skills were needed for national .

In November 1958, Soviet Premier Khrushchev gave USA six months to agree to withdraw from Berlin and make it a free and undivided ...

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