Soviet Union Cold War Test - Key Terms

Joseph Stalin

• Dictator of the USSR for nearly ¼ of a century

• (“the muscle”)

  • Lesser known

  • General Secretary of the Communist Party

  • Believed in “socialism in one country”

  • Though Lenin chose no successor, Stalin rose to dictatorship by manipulation

    • Misled Trotsky on funeral details —> made Stalin look more loyal

    • Shifted alliances within the Communist Party to expel Trotsky

• Developed the 5 Year Plans

Five Year Plans

• Goals:

  • Increase industrial output by around 250%

  • Focus on heavy industry (not consumer goods)

    • Ex: coal, gas, oil, electricity, factories, transportation networks, etc.

  • Collectivization of agriculture - why it’s part of the Five Year Plans

    • Government able to control production and distribution of food —> focus = feed industrial pop, not agricultural

  • Catch up with the West - make 50-100 years of industrial progress in only 5 years!

• Results:

  • Significant (but inconsistent) rise in industrial output

  • Massive urbanization

    • Cities = where jobs are

  • Standard of living did NOT rise

    • Goods that were produced didn’t help the average ppl

Collectivization of Agriculture

• Purpose: to ensure total gov’t control of production; to provide food for urban workers

• Mechanize (replace human labor w/ machines) agriculture as much as possible —> more industrial workers

  • Less ppl needed for agriculture now, so they can shift to work in the city

• Eliminate individually owned farms; move peasants to collectives

Results of Collectivization

• 1. Gov’t could supply cheap food to urban workers BUT there was not enough food for peasants.

  • Up to 8 million peasants starved in Ukraine alone (Ukraine was a grain-heavy zone, but all of the grain was taken. Also, despite there being less food available, Stalin still took the same amount)

• 2. “Liquidation” of the kulaks (wealthiest peasants)

  • Heavy resisted collectivization - destroyed crops and livestock

    • Bc their legacy = serfs, and they worked very hard for generations to escape this

  • Symbolized socialism

  • Could not join collectives —> forced into labor camps (gulags), deported or summarily executed

• 3. Control by fear and famine - peasants no longer a threat to communist gov’t

Purges/Gulags

• Purges: filled the gulags w/ potential enemies (could be sent to one for even a joke)

• Gulags: forced labor camps that kulaks, religious figures (bc Communism opposed religion), “enemies” of Communism, and etc. went to

  • Very bare bones - thin beds, no decorations, etc.

  • Workers often died from harsh conditions

• Helped 5 Year plans

  • Cheap labor to fuel industrialization

  • Kulaks went here, which freed up their land for collective farms

Containment

• Western strategy to stop the spread of communism beyond its preexisting sphere of influence

Example #1 of Containment (Truman Doctrine)

• Truman Doctrine (1947) “Political” —> Doctrine: strong foreign policy recommendation that often shapes future policies

  • US program to stop the spread of communism

  • Formed by US President Harry Truman

  • Offered to poor nations likely to fall to communism

  • States that the US would give military and economic aid to any country fighting communism

  • $400 million in aid given to Greece and Turkey

  • Idea = any country vulnerable to the Soviet presence —> US could justifiably give them aid

Example #2 of Containment

• Marshall Plan (1947) “Economic”

  • Gave US financial aid to rebuild Europe

  • Named after US Secretary of State George C. Marshall

  • Gave over $13 billion in aid, including food, machinery, and raw materials

  • Welcomed by all nations of Europe except the USSR and its Communist allies

  • One of most successful examples of containment

Example #3 of Containment

• North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) (1949) “Military”

  • Military alliance of U.S., Canada and many western European nations

  • Formed to stop Communist takeovers in Europe

  • Maintained troops, military equipment, and weapons

  • Considered an attack against one member an attack against all

  • The Soviet Union responded by creating the Warsaw Pact, a military alliance of eastern European nations

Division of Germany and Berlin

• Temporary division of Germany into 4 occupation zones - Britain, France, U.S., and Soviet Union

  • Because of their role in ending WWII

  • Berlin lay w/ Soviet zone, also divided

• Western zones gradually recovered (e.g. Marshall Plan), Soviet zone became totalitarian regime; recovery stalled (bc not receiving Marshall Plan aid)

  • Because of the democratic election results

  • Trying everything they can —> rallies

• 1948: Soviet blockaded supplies coming into West Berlin

  • Because ppl wanted more eco. opportunities in West

  • Trying to drive out West

Berlin Blockade/Airlift

• Blockade: Soviets blockaded all land access to West Berlin to prevent western eco. aid

  • Germans had no access to food, medical supplies, electricity, etc.

• For nearly a year, the U.S. (and Britain and France) sent vital supplies by air to West Berlin

  • Caused USSR to end blockade; prevented Soviets from expanding influence into western occupied territories

Berlin Wall

• East Germany firmly in Soviet Control; lags behind while West Germany recovers

• Soviets unable to control the flood of East German refugees —> built a wall to keep them in!

• Wall heavily militarized; escapees were shot on sight

• Wall succeeded in maintaining Soviet Control, but failed at improving their international reputation

• Wall destroyed in 1989 when East and West Germany reunified

De-Stalinization by Khrushchev

• Reform (launched February 1956) by Soviet Communist Party First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev

  • Condemned the crimes (e.g. purges, gulags) committed by Stalin

  • Destroyed Stalin’s image as an infallible leader (e.g. cult of personality)

    • Took down statues bc usually statues celebrate someone for what they’ve done

    • Cult bc statues erected before his death

  • Called for a “peaceful coexistence” between the communist countries from the East and the capitalist countries of the West

    • Coexist = not friendship,  just ease tensions

• Did it work?

  • Easing of cultural censorship (e.g. art and literature)

  • Amnesty for 1.5 million political prisoners in gulags

    • Not everyone, but at least a start

  • Foreign military intervention continued

    • Crushed 1956 uprising in Hungary

      • Sent in their tanks to stop this

    • Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) put “peaceful coexistence” to the test

      • Close to nuclear warfare, so not fully peaceful

Cuban Missile Crisis

• Background/Context: Cuban Revolution (1959): Cuba become a communist state under the leadership of Fidel Castro

  • U.S. responds by invading Cuba (Bay of Pigs Invasion, 1961)

  • Cuba turns to USSR for help —> USSR places missiles in Cuba

  • Missiles within range of U.S. —> panic over nuclear war.

• What Happened:

  • U.S. issues blockade on Cuba

    • Cuba doesn’t have many resources, so now they don’t benefit from US products/goods

  • JFK and Khrushchev negotiate:

    • USSR will remove missiles from Cuba

    • U.S. will end blockade and remove missiles from Turkey

    • U.S. promises not to re-invade Cuba; USSR promises not to invade Turkey

• Significance

  • Containment —> didn’t work much bc Cuba became communist

  • Peaceful coexistence —> yes, they made a deal

Détente

• An easing of tension and/or hostility between two countries

• How did the U.S. and USSR implement détente?

  • Nuclear arms reduction treaties

    • Agreeing not to produce new ones

  • Diplomatic meetings and international visits

    • Ex: at White House and Air Force 1

  • Brezhnev eased Soviet restrictions on western culture

    • Media, literature, culture, etc.

• Complex bc could be fake, both sides secretly hiding their intentions

Prague Spring

• Took place in Czechoslovakia in 1968

  • Reforms —> loosening of censorship, more autonomy, greater freedom for its citizens

• USSR felt threatened, so Brezhnev labeled it counterrev. and sent tanks into Prague

  • Feared other Soviet countries would do the same

Brezhnev Doctrine

• Foreign policy put forth by Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in 1968, calling on the Soviet Union to intervene—including militarily—in countries where socialist rule was under threat

  • Response to the Prague Spring (1968), a period of liberalization and protest in the Soviet-bloc country Czechoslovakia

    • Soviet forces invaded Czechoslovakia, and communist hard-liners returned to power