9 - Khrushchev and East-West relations, 1955 - 1960

What happened May 1955?

The Austrian State Treaty

Federal Republic of Germany is admitted to NATO

What happened July 1955?

The Geneva Summit

What happened February 1956?

Khrushchev’s Secret Speech is delivered

What happened June - October 1956?

The Polish Rising

What happened October - November 1956?

The Hungarian Rising

What happened September 1959?

Khrushchev and the Camp David talks

What happened May 1960?

The Paris Summit

What happened June 1960?

Kennedy and Khrushchev meet in Vienna

When did Khrushchev take over from Stalin?

March 1953

(following Stalin’s death)

What did Khrushchev hope to achieve through de-Stalinisation?

• redefine the relationship between Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc satellite states

• long-term political stability

• economic growth

• improved living conditions

• NOT changing the basic structure of the communist system

de-Stalinisation involved the removal of some or most of the controls that the Stalinist system was characterised by

When did Khrushchev deliver his ‘Secret Speech’?

25 February 1956

What was the ‘Secret Speech’?

• OFFICIAL BEGINNING OF DE-STALINISATION

• attacked Stalin’s cult of personality (demanding worship)

• condemned Stalin’s persecution of innocent people who disagreed even slightly with him

What was the Stalinist system characterised by?

• cult of personality

• centralised planning

• one-party political system

• dominance of the Communist Patty

• secret police system

• press censorship

What the events of the Polish rising?

• June 1956 - workers were on strike in protest at wage cuts + poor working conditions

• specific economic grievances soon led to an anti-communist armed uprising

• October 1956 - once discredited Gomulka (a nationalist) elected as First Secretary of the Polish Communist Party

• Khrushchev met with Gomulka, threatened military intervention if didn’t cooperate

• Khrushchev conceded that Gomulka could be First Secretary if agreed not to carry out reform that might threaten unity of the Soviet Bloc → Poland would remain member of Warsaw Pact

• Soviet troops already stationed in Poland, but were not needed

• force not used primarily because of support shown from Beijing towards Polish Communist Party

What were the many impacts of the Polish Rising?

• Gomulka supported by many because they viewed him as preserving Polish path to socialism rather than conforming to Soviet views on how satellite states should behave

• Gomulka balanced need for Polish security with presence of Soviet troops in Poland, to placate Moscow

• USSR would protect Poland from any revenge from West Germany (trying to restore lost territories)

• showed that Moscow would allow its satellites a measure of national independence if regimes were led by trustworthy men

• Khrushchev’s instinct had been to use force - not used primarily because China supported Polish Communist Party - part of increasing role being played in international communism by China

What were the events of the Hungarian Rising?

• 22 October 1956 - students in Budapest demonstrated + listed 16 demands - included appointment of Imre Nagy as prime minister, withdrawn of Soviet troops from Hungary, freedom of speech, free press, multi-party elections

• 23 October - situation escalated into armed revolted, demonstrations were fired on by the Hungarian Secret Police

• workers’ groups joined the students, seized power from communist local authorities

• 24 October - Nagy appointed prime minister

• immediately met with Soviet delegation to convince them that military intervention wasn’t necessary, assured Moscow of Hungary’s loyalty

• 28 October - Khrushchev agreed to withdraw Soviet forces from Budapest + Hungary as a whole in part due to pressure from China

• 31 October - USSR shifted position

• 1 November - Nagy announced Hungary had withdrawn from Warsaw Pact + declared its neutrality

• within days the rising was crushed by the Red Army + new government led by a hard-line communist loyal to Moscow was installed

• normality had been resumed in Eastern Europe + the rising had limited impacts

Why did Moscow reverse its decision to withdraw from Hungary?

feared:

• collapse of communism in Hungary

• introduction of a multi-party political system

• dissolution of the Secret Police

• unacceptable moves towards freedom of the press

How many Hungarian citizens were killed during to 1956 Hungarian Rising?

How many went into self-imposed exile?

4000 killed

200,000 self-imposed exile

What were the limited impacts of the Hungarian Rising?

• lack of intervention from West confirmed post-war status quo had been accepted + reassured USSR that it would have no interference from the West if future problems emerged in Eastern Europe, which was firmly back under Soviet control

• rising was demoted to merely a debating issue in UN, illustrated that UN wouldn’t interfere in Eastern Europe either

• moves towards peaceful coexistence were compromised

• showed there was a need for social + political reform in Eastern Europe, this wasn’t entirely lost on either USSR or national communist movements across region

What conventional Marxist-Leninist view did Khrushchev abandoned in February 1956 at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union?

that war between the socialist and capitalist camps was inevitable

claimed that communism had become so powerful it would be victorious without war + communist states within Soviet Bloc could concentrate resources on internal progress rather than on preparation for ideological war against West

What were Khrushchev’s foreign policy imperatives in February 1956? (6)

• Soviet Union must remain as unchallenged leaders of socialist community in Eastern Europe and in face of growing competition from China + Mao

• firm grip must be maintained over Eastern Bloc satellite states

• Germany must be prevented from rearming + becoming future threat to Soviet Union

• expansion of USSR’s nuclear capability + stay firmly implanted in nuclear arms race between East + West

• spending on military security - including conventional forces in Eastern Europe - had to be reduced

• international tension must be defused + care taken to not unnecessarily provoke USA

How did post-Stalinist Soviet leadership propose to meet and counter the growing power of the USA?

through a policy of peaceful coexistence - understood the potential risks of a nuclear war

not a move to end the Cold War, but to consolidate Soviet international power + security by existing in less volatile environment

What did Khrushchev want to concentrate Soviet resources on?

domestic developments

What was peaceful coexistence?

policy involved engaging USA in diplomacy to diffuse tensions where possible + prevent direct confrontation

When was the Austrian State Treaty?

1955

What happened to Austria after the war?

had been divided into occupation zones - USSR had focused on receiving economic aid rom Austria as had from the Soviet Zone of Germany

By 1955 what did the USSR show serious intentions of doing with Austria?

showed serious intentions of embarking on negotiations over future of Austria, despite Austrian leaders in Western Zones freeing that Austria could easily be absorbed into the Soviet sphere of influence

What was the 1955 Austrian State Treaty?

• agreement between the four occupying powers of Austria

• led to withdrawal of all occupying powers + declaration that Austria would be a neutral state → in line with USSR’s willingness to accept both Finland + Yugoslavia as neutral states (not liable to be subjected to joining the Soviet sphere of influence)

What did the agreements of the Austrian State Treaty show?

• serious intent towards mutual cooperations between Cold War powers

• removed a major source of potential conflict + eased path towards further cooperation between East and West

Following the Austrian State Treaty, what did the Western powers do in Germany?

removed their occupation forces from West Germany - this cooperation consolidated the East-West position + was the essence of peaceful coexistence

After the Austrian State Treaty and the removal of Western troops from West Germany, what was the next step taken towards peaceful coexistence?

the decision to resume summit diplomacy

Why did Khrushchev want a less confrontational relationship with the West, leading him to urgently organise a summit (the 1955 Geneva Summit)?

• incentive for Khrushchev to slow the ongoing nuclear arms race down

• USSR needed extensive conventional forces to ensure compliance + protect Eastern Bloc states

• needed to promote internal economic development within Soviet Union

• May 1955 - Federal Republic of Germany admitted to NATO and rearmament began - to reassure France USA agreed to place large + permanent force of troops in Europe → concerned Khrushchev + increased urgency of organising summit

What were the two major issues the Geneva Summit discussed?

Were any satisfactory outcomes reached on either?

NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT + FUTURE OF GERMANY

no satisfactory outcome reached

What was the ‘Open Skies’ proposal?

• part of attempt to end deadlock over issue of superpowers inspecting each others nuclear arsenals → step closer to disarmament

• called for each side to provide details of military installations + allow the other nation to fly over and verify what the other was doing, eliminating paranoia

• Khrushchev rejected the proposal → limits of the ‘thaw’ of the 1950s

What was discussed about the future of Germany at the 1955 Geneva Summit?

• Eisenhower proposed reunified Germany, free elections + Germany’s freedom to ensure its own security → effectively meant it would become part of NATO

• Khrushchev would only consider reunification if a future Germany was demilitarised + neutral

• Khrushchev refused to discuss the future of the Eastern Bloc states

• AGREED - the principle of free elections - but no procedures set up to make this a reality

What did the value of the Geneva Summit lie in?

• NOT its practical outcomes

• fact it appeared to mark beginning of a dialogue between superpowers + marked a point of calm in international relations - suggested the foundations of peaceful coexistence firmly in place

• the crises in Poland + Hungary the following year placed peaceful coexistence under huge strain

When were the Camp David talks?

September 1959

What was discussed at the Camp David talks?

Khrushchev became first Soviet leader to visit the USA

discussed:

• disarmament

• situation in Berlin

• agreed to settle international issues through diplomacy rather than force

reaffirmation of Khrushchev’s faith in peaceful coexistence

What was the impact of the Camp David talks on international relations?

• visit likely caused deterioration in Soviet Unions’ relations with China

• reinforced the West’s certainty that a communist power bloc had not been created by an alliance between China + USSR

• served to calm the German issue + led direct to the Paris Summit in May 1960

When was the Paris Summit?

May 1960

Was everyone Khrushchev was close with as committed to peaceful coexistence?

NO

opposition from:

• the Chinese

• many in the Soviet hierarchy

Other than a deal over Berlin, what did Khrushchev also want regarding peaceful coexistence?

• agreement to prohibit nuclear weapons in the Pacific

• ban on nuclear weapons in Germany

balancing act destined to fail when China announced it would not consider itself bound by any agreement it hadn’t been involved in - China’s nuclear arsenal close to completion by 1960

Why did the Paris Summit collapse?

• news an American U-2 spy plan had been shot down while on mission over Soviet Union

incident gave Khrushchev opportunity to calm opposition from China

When did John F. Kennedy take over from Eisenhower?

January 1961

What was Kennedy’s agenda?

• reaffirmed Truman’s doctrine, said USA would do whatever necessary to support freedom → seemed to damn the future of peaceful coexistence

• increase defence budget

• promised more flexible conventional forces

• favoured expansion of USA’s nuclear arsenal + missile submarine force

When and why did Khrushchev decide that Kennedy was a young and politically vulnerable leader whom he could easily manipulate?

What issue continued to hang US-Soviet relations?

• met first time in June 1961, little achieved, but Khrushchev left convinced of this

• recent Bay of Pigs situation reinforced this view

Why was the issue of the future of Germany STILL an issue after Kennedy took over?

• Kennedy’s refusal to compromise on the status of Berlin + accommodate Khrushchev’s demand that Berlin should CEASE to be an ‘escape route’ for East Germans

STALEMATE IN EAST-WEST RELATIONS IN EUROPE

• Kennedy saw West Berlin as a symbol of freedom + believed the threat was global, not confined to an isolated outpost in Europe

What did Kennedy do after his first meeting with Khrushchev in June 1961?

asked Congress to:

• increase defence spending

• call up army reservists

• reactivate ships about to be scrapped

JULY 1961 - called for a build-up of NATO forces

Summary

• post-Stalinist leadership moved towards adopting new basis for international relations, developed most fully by Khrushchev who favoured peaceful coexistence

• had USA accepted it it would have enabled USSR to avoid containment

• Soviet move was happening at time when USA was seeking to strengthen its own Cold War position + when USSR was willing to use direct aggression to ensure compliance of satellite states in Europe

• events in Poland + Hungary convinced West that any form of new relationship with USSR = not likely in immediate future

• attempts to establish a new relationship, but little success + collapse by 1960