Cold War and Space Race and Arms Race and Post Stalin and Partition of India

Berlin Wall

A wall built by the USSR between West and East Berlin to prevent citizens of East Berlin from entering the West. The citizens of the East suffered under Soviet control due to economic hardship, and thus tried to escape. The Soviets attempted to bolster security to prevent this, but the wall eventually fell.=

Partition of India

Following the victory of the Indian Independence Movement, Britain split India into two countries: a Muslim majority Pakistan and a Hindu majority India. This resulted in a mass migration of people in both countries trying to move to the country that suited their beliefs. It was an incredibly bloody and horrible time, with people having to walk on foot to migrate through conflict between the new countries, even being cut off from family.

Kashmir

A heavily disputed territory between Pakistan and India, where conflict has been prevalent for years due to the split between Muslim and Hindu peoples in the region.

Arms Race

A period of time where countries around the world began the development of nuclear weapons and devices to deliver them, such as ICBMs.

ICBM

Short for Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. During the space race, these missiles were modified to be outfitted with nuclear weapons, allowing for them to be launched to any place in the world to devastating effect.

Space Race

A economic and technological “race” between the USSR and the US to make achievements in space, such as launching satellites and sending people for tactical purposes. Early on, the USSR was mostly victorious, launching Sputnik into space on October 4, 1957. It culminated in the race to the moon, with America being the victor, landing Apollo 11 on the moon in 1969.

Detente

A term for the period of time in which the USSR and the US reduced the time in resources poured into making nuclear weapons, which was a policy implemented by Brezhnev.

Khrushchev

The leader of the USSR after Stalin’s death. His policies were focused around De-Stalinization, which was the removal and condemnation of anything and everything related to Stalin and his oppressive, fanatical role. He also strived to achieve peaceful coexistence with the west. Some of the events during his time in power were the building of the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the crushing of the Hungarian Rebellion.

Brezhnev

The leader of the USSR following Khrushchev. He was a brutal leader, but not to the extent of Stalin. Some of his policies included Detente and the SALT negotiations, or Strategic Arms Limitations Talks, which was to discuss the ending of the production of ICBMs. Some of the events during his rule included the Invasion of Czechoslovakia, the Brezhnev Doctrine, and the Invasion of Afghanistan.

Hungarian Rebellion

The Hungarian people were becoming increasingly restless under communist rule, eventually leading to various riots. Imre Nagy was appointed as Prime Minister, and while he was communist, he was opposed to Soviet beliefs, and was heavily reformist. After Kruschev removed his troops from Hungary, Nagy imposed massive reforms, including political, religious, and speech freedom, as well as announcing the withdrawal of Hungary from the Warsaw Pact. As a result, the Soviets invaded and quashed the rebellion, arresting and executing Nagy. It sent a clear message to other satellite states - the West would not help them and they would not allow any opposition to their oppression.

Prague Spring

Alexander Dubceck introduced reforms into Czechoslovakia that allowed the communist party to remain the main party but ended some of the more restrictive policies of the party, such as censorship and criticism of the government by the people. As a result, many newspapers published criticisms of the government. Brezhnev as a result of this act sent troops to reassert Soviet dominance in Czechoslovakia, which resulted in the reinstatement of Soviet control in the state and the formation of the Brezhnev Doctrine.

Brezhnev Doctrine

A doctrine created by Brezhnev that outlined the USSR’s policy of intervening in conflict if there is a threat to communist rule or SOviet control, Either by trying to leave the Soviet sphere of influence or even moderate its policies.