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=History Exam Revision=

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Joe B's Revision Notes:

 * History Revision 2010**

//__Background of the Cold War__//

//Define Cold War:// A cold war is a war between nations in which the difference is settled through indirect action – through proxy wars or races in technological development or arms. //Causes:// The main basis for the cold war is the polar opposite ideological differences of the two superpowers: the USSR and the USA. Despite their friendly relations due to a common enemy in WWII, but once Germany was split into a communist east and a capitalist west and their differences became more apparent and unsolvable – tension arose to the extent that the two superpowers became enemies. //__The Allied Conferences at Yalta and Potsdam__//

//Yalta////:// was held in February 1945. With Franklin Roosevelt (USA), Joseph Stalin (USSR) and Winston Churchill (England) present for post-war negotiations. The allies decided that: But, there were some points of tension: //Potsdam////:// was held in July 1945, with Harry Truman representing the USA as Roosevelt had died in April of the same year, but the other leaders remained present. Here, they accomplished: But still, there were a few points of tension: //__USSR__// //__Policy on Eastern Europe__//
 * Germany was to be defeated and disarmed and subsequently split into four sections for the USSR, England, USA and France.
 * That Eastern European countries could hold free elections to choose how they were to be governed.
 * Poland was to hold free elections and their eastern frontier would return to its pre-1921 position.
 * The USSR would fight Japan with the west three months after defeating Germany.
 * Finally, they agreed that they would set up a United Nations Organisation.
 * The USSR wanted to expand Poland’s western border into Germany and expel the German population living there, which none of the Western Allies could agree to.
 * They had to postpone negotiations on reparations as the West felt that light reparations were appropriate, whereas Stalin felt that a much larger sum was just.
 * Finalisation of German zones of occupation.
 * Banning of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) and planned trials of its leaders as war criminals.
 * Each country was to receive reparations in industrial material from their respective zones.
 * Poland’s boundary was finalised as a line made by the Neisse and Oder rivers.
 * In March, Stalin had invited non-Communist Polish leaders to Moscow and imprisoned them, meaning he had control over the important positions of the Polish government, which made the Western Allies highly suspicious of USSR motives.
 * More Germans were to be expelled from Eastern Europe than the Western Allies had suspected/were comfortable with.
 * Truman refrained from mentioning his plan to drop atomic bombs onto Japan.
 * Truman was less trusting of Stalin than Roosevelt had been. Stalin had refused to cut down his army, and had been developing an atomic bomb. Truman also believed that the USSR were trying to set up satellite states (or ‘buffer states’)

With the fall of Nazi Germany, Eastern Europe had been freed up. After World War II, the Red Army remained in the countries it occupied during the war and put Soviet influence onto the countries it occupied. Thus, the USSR set up Communist governments which were controlled by the Soviet government in Moscow. These were known as soviet states. This followed the same pattern each time: //__American Policy in Europe__//
 * Coalition governments were set up in which power was shared by Communists and other political parties.
 * Under influence by Stalin, the Communists took over the defence, media, civil service, and security.
 * Opposition leaders were exiled or arrested.
 * Elections were rigged in Communist favour.
 * “People’s democracies’ were set up.

//Greece// //and the Truman Doctrine:// Britain had been supporting the Greek government in a civil war against Communist forces, in February 1947; Britain finally withdrew due to costs. Greece appealed to the US for aid, and Truman provided $400 million. He did so due to his fear that if one country fell to Communism, those nearby would be at risk. This became known as ‘domino theory’. The USA formally took on a policy of containment – which meant supporting nations in danger of Communist take-over with economic and military aid – which was announced in a speech in March 1947. This policy remained the basis of American policy on Communism for the next forty years. Consequences of this include: · Greece defeated the Communists. · Rivalry between the US and USSR increased. · The US became committed to its policy of containment. · Stalin set up a Communist Information Bureau, called Cominform, to link Communist parties in Eastern Europe and worldwide, in common action, in 1947. //Marshall Aid:// President Truman did not want to send troops into Europe to fight Communism. Rather, as he believed Communism grew from poverty, he felt that by sending financial aid he could fight Communism at its roots. The program was known as ‘Marshall Aid’ as it was announced by American Secretary of State, General George Marshall. The program worked two ways, the USA offered money, machinery, food, and technological advancement to European states willing to work with the US to spur economic recovery. In return, countries receiving Marshall Aid, agreed to buy American goods and allowed American companies to invest capital in their industries. Although successful in an economic sense (the USA had provided $17 billion to rebuild the economies by 1953) – the plan enhanced the already terse relations between the US and USSR. Stalin prevented Eastern European countries such as Poland and Czechoslovakia from becoming involved, and accused the USA of using the plan to dominate the world economy.

//__Berlin__// //__Blockade__//

The Berlin blockade was the first Cold War “crisis” of sorts, and occurred on the 24th of June 1948. The USSR blocked the West’s access to railway and roads to prevent the Allies from providing Western Berlin with supplies. There are mixed causes for this conflict, long term, short term, and immediate events. Long term causes include: Short term causes include: Immediate triggers include: The USSR wanted to force the Western Allies out of Berlin, and thought they could starve them into surrender. Also, they wanted to send a message to the West to tell them to stop the separate development of their zones. In response to this, the US and Britain organised a round the clock airlift of supplies to West Berlin, and the US stationed a B-29 in Britain as a warning to the USSR. This solution is generally viewed as a success for the US as it avoided war with minimal casualties and in May 1949 the USSR opened routes to West Berlin. As a result of the crisis, the Western Allies announced that their zones would form a Federal German Republic (or West Germany) – and the Soviets formed the East into a German Democratic Republic. Thus, Germany was permanently divided. This division was further confirmed with the formation of the West/East rival defence organisations, NATO and Warsaw Pact. __NATO, Warsaw Pact, and Other Alliances__
 * **Political issues**: the Soviets attempted to force the Socialist party and the Communist party of Berlin into a coalition, so the Communists could have majority in the council. But, backed by the West, the Socialists refused.
 * **Reconstruction**: with WWII over, the USA and Britain wanted Germany rebuilt to its previous glory as quickly as possible, whereas the USSR wanted Germany to remain weak – and thus refused to allow its zone to trade with the other three.
 * **Berlin**: The USSR felt that the West had no place in their zone of Germany, and grew hostile as this meant that the allies had a base inside a Soviet zone, and that the East were seeing a capitalist lifestyle on display.
 * **Economy**: as the Soviets had no interest in quickly developing the economy of Germany as a whole, the Western Allies decided to help the economic recovery of their zone. The Soviets feared this because they felt that the West’s economic success would undermine the East’s ideals and highlight its relative poverty.
 * The Western Allies combining their zones into a united West Germany.
 * Introduction of a new currency in Western zones, and eventually West Berlin.
 * Soviets walking out of Allied Control Commission meetings, complaining about Western attitudes.
 * Western zones receiving Marshall aid.

//Cominform:// was the Communist Information Bureau was a forum for Communist parties to converse and debate on topics of Communism in Eastern Europe. //Comecon:// was a Communist organisation set up to discuss matters relating to Communist economy including reference points for prices for general products, etc. //NATO:// was an organisation set up by Western European states which eventually included the USA, as a defensive alliance. Its manifesto was that it would only fight if attacked. //Warsaw// //Pact:// was set up by the USSR as had condemned NATO as an ‘aggressive alliance.’ It too, had a similar policy of only attacking if provoked.

__Arms Race: Reasons and Consequences__

//Arms Race:// In years of terse relations between superpowers after WWII, each superpower began to develop their weapons in attempts to ‘outgun’ each other. This meant that they would try and build both, more powerful weapons and more of whichever weapons the other possessed. Both powers developed nuclear weapons for numerous reasons: //Space Race:// The USSR under Kruschev was eager to venture into space before the USA, as (similar to the Arms Race) it was a representation of ideological supremacy in terms of technology. In 1957, the Soviets launched the first satellite into space ever. It was called Sputnik. This was a huge blow to American pride as it suggested that Communism was more efficient than Capitalism. Later on in 1957, the Americans faced another blow as they failed to get their satellite off of the ground due to a fire on the launch pad. Again, in 1961, despite America’s success in eventually launching their own satellite, the USSR triumphed again by sending Yuri Gagarin to be the first man in space. __Korean War__
 * Nuclear weapons were more cost effective. It costed less money to build nuclear weapons than build large armies.
 * Nuclear weapons act on a deterrent. The concept (known as MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction)) was to have so many nukes that they could not all be destroyed if the other side were to strike first. Each power would not dare to launch an attack for fear of retaliation.
 * The public saw the Arms Race as a metaphor for success in the struggle between East and West, so it was important to put emphasis on development of weapons.

//Causes for Conflict:// When Japan was defeated in 1945, Korea was still a colony of Japan. American troops occupied the South of Korea and USSR troops occupied the North. The 38th parallel divided the two areas of occupation. In 1947, elections were held in Korea to choose a national government. In 1948, the South elected a government that set up the Republic of Korea – its capital was Seoul. In turn, the USSR set up a North Korean government called the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea, its capital at Pyongyang. Each government claimed to rule Korea nationwide. Both the USSR and USA withdrew their forces but continued to financially support their respective sectors of Korea. At the same time, China had become a communist state. Stalin and Kim Il Sung encouraged the North Korean government to attack the South. In 1950, North Korea attacked the South and the Korean War began. Officially, the retaliation was led by the UN – but the USA dominated the UN force in numbers. The fighting was very lopsided, with varying extremes in occupation. Initially, the UN were very successful in pushing back the North Korean force. China threatened the US and UN effort not to push to the Chinese border. MacArthur, the head of the military ignored this and approached the border. The Chinese then entered the war and pushed the UN/South Korean effort far back into the south. Then, a counter attack led by the UN force pushed the front of fighting back to the 38th parallel where it more of less remained the same until the armistice in 1953. //Results of the War:// · Huge loss of Korean life: 1.5 million South Koreans and 3.5 million North Koreans were killed. · 33,000 Americans killed. · The Cold War was no longer purely a European issue; it had spread to Asia and involved China. · Generally seen as a success in the fight against Communism for the USA, and it encouraged public involvement in the future Vietnam war. · Mixed results for the prestige of the UN: - Failure to unite Korea under UN supervision. - Gain of respect as it had taken firm action in the face of aggression. - Success in preventing Northern aggression. - Many critics felt that the USA was using the UN as another tool in its ideological war against Communism. __Crises in Europe__

//Hungarian Uprising of 1956:// In 1956, Hungary, a satellite state of the USSR, was growing restless and opposed Soviet control. They opposed their control for varying reasons such as: censorship, the secret police (AVO), the poor standard of living, their repressed patriotism, the soviet troops present in Hungary, and having their religion (Hungary was a strongly Christian country) oppressed by Soviet rule. The uprising was somewhat encouraged by Khrushchev’s softer approach to Soviet rule in Eastern Europe, as opposed to Stalin’s. Ultimately, despite the success of the revolution in electing Imre Nagy (their preferred leader) as Prime Minister, the Red Army eventually invaded Budapest and instating Janos Kadar as Prime Minister. //U-2 Incident in 1960:// In 1960, a U-2 spy plane flown by Gary Powers is shot down by a Soviet missile, and the pilot was captured. Eisenhower (the US president of the time) eventually admitted that the U-2 plane was on a spying mission, and as a result Khrushchev refused to attend the Paris Summit unless all U-2 flights were cancelled and Eisenhower apologised. Eisenhower cancelled flights but did not apologise and as a result, Khrushchev walked out of the Paris Summit. As a consequence of this crisis, the Paris Summit was cancelled. It going to be held in May of 1960 and would have been a huge step forward for East-West relations. Khrushchev also demonstrated to China and other Communist nations that he could take a hard line with the West. //Berlin// //Wall, 1961:// The Berlin Wall was built in 1961 by the USSR to separate East and West Berlin – this resulted in another crisis. The wall was built largely due to the prosperity of the West Berlin (as they were receiving aid as part of the Marshall Plan). The East became sick of the capitalist lifestyle on display, and refugees escaping to the West of Germany through West Berlin. The building of the wall had several significant effects both in Germany and outside, on an international scale. For starters, Berlin now had a physical division, and it divided families for years – no communication passed through the two sides. Kennedy also submitted to the wall, although it was a blatant breach of the four powers’ policy regarding Berlin. This made Kennedy appear weak internationally, but Americans used the Wall as a symbol of Capitalism’s success over Communism – seeing Communism as having something to hide. __Cuban Missile Crisis__

In 1962, over thirteen days, the world was brought to the brink of nuclear war as a result the Cuban Missile Crisis. America had previously had a rocky relationship with Cuba due to the Bay of Pigs operation and the conflicting ideologies, and as Cuba became closer to the USSR, America slowly cut off all trade and diplomatic relations with Cuba. In 1962, Khrushchev placed intermediate range nuclear missiles in Cuba which were within striking range of the USA and gave the USSR first strike capabilities. A true motive is unclear, but a few reasons could have been: A very terse thirteen days followed after the U2 spy plane spotted the missiles – including a “quarantine” of Cuba and a U2 pilot who was shot down and killed. Kennedy faced pressure from all sides of his government; he had extremists who were in favour of war, such as Dean Acheson, who wanted swift military action. There were also those with a view that the US should take moderate action – such as Robert McNamara – and supported tactics such as the naval blockade. Finally there were those full in favour of negotiation with the USSR, such as Adlai Stevenson who was the US Ambassador to the United Nations. The crisis resolved in a rather curious way. On the 26th of October, Khrushchev sent a message to Kennedy that appeared to be written whilst Khrushchev was under a great deal of stress. It hinted that the USSR would remove missiles from Cuba if the USA promised not to invade Cuba. The next morning though, a much more hard-lined and demanding statement was made via Moscow Radio. In the end, Kennedy and his government just decided to ignore the second message and respond to the first. Kennedy and Khrushchev made a deal; the USSR would withdraw its missiles from Cuba as long as the USA promised never to invade Cuba. Kennedy and Khrushchev also made a secret deal that the USA would remove their missiles from Turkey and Italy – so Kennedy could still give in without appearing weak to his public. There were important results for every country involved in the Crisis, as well as important results for the Cold War in general.
 * To defend Cuba after the USA’s failed Bay of Pigs operation.
 * To force the USA into bartering their missiles out of Turkey in exchange for the missiles in Cuba.
 * To “catch up” in the Arms Race against the USA, and perhaps gain an upper hand by placing them as close as possible.
 * To exert Soviet strength and try and force Kennedy to back down.
 * Khrushchev** felt that he had achieved his initial aims, which were to prevent a US invasion of Cuba. Despite this, he was heavily criticised by China because he backed down to American threats. This crisis probably contributed to his fall from power two years later.
 * JFK** increased his reputation in the US and on a world stage by not resorting to violence (thus avoiding war), and taking a hard line with Khrushchev.
 * Cuba** remained a Communist nation reliant on USSR aid.
 * Both Kennedy and Khrushchev** realised the need to have easy communication with each other. A telephone line was set up between the Kremlin and the White House. Furthermore, they attempted to improve US/USSR relations as a whole and agreed to a ban on Nuclear Testing.

__The Vietnam War 1965-1973__

In the years before WWII, France owned an area of Asia called Indochina. It consisted of Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Even before WWII, the French rule was wildly unpopular and several uprisings were attempted. In 1940, Japan invaded and occupied this area. The Vietminh, a secret guerrilla organisation were set up to resist the Japanese. This resistance was lead by the communist Ho Chi Minh. The Vietminh was supplied with weapons and assisted by the Western Allies. After the defeat of Japan, Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam an independent state – but after a few weeks, the French once again returned to Vietnam and fought the Vietminh who were this time supplied by the USSR and China. Eventually, France decided that the war was too costly and pulled out. A peace settlement was held in which each country of Indochina was given independence and also divided Vietnam into a North and South – North was controlled by the USSR and China and the South backed by the USA and France. The South Vietnamese leader was opposed in civil war by the Vietcong. Various South Vietnamese leaders were overthrown by military rulers. The US slowly became involved in Vietnam from 1954 onwards. They sent aid, equipment and military advisers. This number consistently rose as the Vietcong’s control and popularity in South Vietnam grew. In order to stick to the Truman doctrine to contain Communism, Lyndon Johnson (the President of the USA after Kennedy was assassinated) needed to send in troops. But in August of 1964 North Vietnamese torpedo boats attacked US destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin – this meant that Johnson had an excuse to send troops and begin to attack Vietnam. The USA was defeated for a number of reasons. Ultimately: The war had a number of effects for the countries involved and the Cold War as a whole: __Détente, 1970s__
 * They failed to effectively respond to the guerrilla tactics of the Vietcong.
 * The South Vietnamese army was largely inexperienced and weak.
 * American troops were inexperienced and generally had low morale, as they had no connection to the war – as opposed to the North Koreans and Vietcong who were fighting for their own country.
 * The US government lost support for the war at home, where it became unpopular.
 * South Vietnam fell, and Vietnam was unified as a Communist nation.
 * Relations between Vietnam and the USA remained hostile, and only began trading together in 1993.
 * There were Communist takeovers in Cambodia and Laos.
 * Nixon announced the ceasing of the Truman Doctrine, as the American government and public realised they could no longer contain Communism.
 * There was still inter-superpower tension for a while after the fallout of the war, but as that eased, the US and USSR relations thawed.

Détente was a period during the 1970s in which superpower relations improved. It perhaps ended in 1979 when Afghanistan was invaded by the Soviet Union, to the outrage of the USA. The Soviets wanted a break in tension for a number of reasons. Firstly, the USSR/China relations had broken down, and thus they needed to reduce unease with the USA. They also wanted to increase trade with the West. The USA also had a number of reasons for Détente. For starters, the USSR had caught up in the Arms Race, and thus the US needed to thaw relations with them. Also, the American public was pressuring Nixon’s government to reduce the risk of war. After the failure of Vietnam and the dumping of the Truman Doctrine, the USA wanted to improve relations with the Soviets and China. Both superpowers also shared motives for a relaxation in relations. A major concern was reducing the likelihood of nuclear war. Both countries wanted to improve relations so they could reduce the growing cost of keeping up in the Arms race. Both USA and USSR were concerned about Arab/Israeli conflict in the Middle East, as the oil supplied was of great importance to both powers. Successes of Détente include: Eventually, this thawing of relations ended. The West had become frustrated with the USSR’s lack of improvement of human rights. There were suspicions between the powers about abiding to their SALT I agreements, where in reality both sides were positioning more missiles against each other. Brezhnev made it clear that Détente was not an end to the struggle between Communism and Capitalism. __Soviet Involvement In Afghanistan__
 * Summit conferences, which were five conferences held between ’72 and ’79, initially between Brezhnev and Nixon. They achieved a number of successes, including the increase of inter-superpower trading and cultural exchanges, as well as agreements on making nuclear war less likely, and the organisation of a joint space mission in 1975.
 * Arms control (SALT conferences). These relaxations in terse relations lead to two Strategic Arms Limitation Treaties (SALT). The first of which was held in 1972, where each superpower agreed to reduce and limit their nuclear weapons. But the second SALT conference although planned and commenced, President Carter refused to accept the treaty due to Soviet involvement in Afghanistan.
 * European Security Conference. 32 countries from Europe as well as the US, Canada and the Soviet Union met in Helsinki, and in 1975 they signed the Helsinki Accords. The Helsinki Accords showed that the countries agreed that they recognised the Soviet control over Eastern Europe, and that West Germany would recognise East Germany. It also agreed that the countries would open trade links, observe cultural exchanges and share technological information. Lastly, they agreed to respect the human rights and allow people to freely travel across Europe.
 * Improved relations between the USA and China. This included Richard Nixon meeting with Mao in 1972, and ‘Ping Pong Diplomacy’.

Détente came to an abrupt stop on 24th December 1979 when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. The Soviets had a relatively good relationship with Afghanistan by providing money – their incentive to do so was that Afghanistan provided a land route to the oil-rich Middle East. In 1979 the Communist Hafizullah Amin seized power. He was not on good terms with the Soviets. Large Muslim groups throughout Afghanistan were opposed to him. The USSR was afraid that these groups would take control of the country and set up a Muslim state. Also, the Soviet Union themselves had a large Muslim population in the areas near the Afghani border, and there were afraid that if Afghanistan became a Muslim state, these parts of the USSR would break away and join with the Afghans. Although initially successful, they were quickly fighting a losing guerrilla war with tribe group known as the Mujaheddin. Eventually, in 1989 the USSR led by Gorbachev was completely removed from Afghanistan As a result of the Soviet invasion: __Solidarity in Poland__
 * US President Carter’s attitude toward the USSR completely changed. He refused the SALT II agreements, boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics, cut some trade links, and began to rearm.
 * Put an end to Détente.
 * Cost the Soviet Union masses of money and lives.
 * Huge loss of life for Afghanistan.

Poles were against Soviet control for a number of reasons: Eventually, Polish shipyard workers led by Lech Walesa in Gdansk formed a movement called “Solidarity”. The movement wanted workers to have the right to form trade unions separate from the state. They also wanted more freedom and an improvement in standards of living and working. The government decided to negotiate with the popular movement, because it feared that using violence against protesters would gain the movement even more public support. They came to a few agreements, the workers agreed to: The government agreed to: The Solidarity movement was significant for a number of reasons. Firstly, the movement had forced a heavily Soviet backed government to back down. It also showed that a Communist government could not solve Poland’s economics problems – the government had lost the confidence of the people. Finally, the USSR did not use violence to enforce their one party government, unlike the cases of Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Eventually, in 1989 the Solidarity movement won a federal election and Lech Walesa was elected President in 1990. __Czechoslovakia____, 1968__
 * Attempts to oppress the Polish Catholic Church – but the Church remained free to preach and run schools.
 * Polish Nationalism. The Poles wanted to become an independent nation, even if they had to remain close to the USSR.
 * Under the Soviet Union, Poles had little human rights or freedoms, and the living standard was horrible.
 * Accept the leading role of the Communist Party in Poland.
 * Accept the Socialist economic system.
 * Accept Poland’s links with the USSR and the other East European countries.
 * The right to strike.
 * The right to form independent trade unions.
 * More open discussion of government policy.
 * A relaxation of censorship.
 * Improved wages and working conditions.

Czech’s wanted changes after being a Soviet satellite state for so many years for a number of reasons: In 1968, the Czechoslovakian government removed their President Novotny and replaced him with Alexander Dubcek. Dubcek wanted to change the way Czechoslovakia was ruled but still remain firmly allied to the USSR and remain a member of the Warsaw Pact. He proposed a number of reforms, including better standard of living, restrictions on powers of the secret police, end of censorship, free elections, freedom to travel overseas, increase in trade with the west, and provision of basic human rights. Soviet leaders felt that his proposed reforms threatened their hold on Eastern Europe. They fear that if there was more freedom in Czechoslovakia, other Eastern European states would demand them – thus effectively ending the Communist rule in these countries. They also were afraid that the Czech’s would ally with Yugoslavia, who had denied becoming a part of the Warsaw Pact, and Romania, who no longer attended meetings of the Pact. Five Warsaw Pact countries – USSR, Hungary, East Germany, Poland and Bulgaria – warned Dubcek, but to no avail. Eventually, the Warsaw Pact countries invaded Czechoslovakia on the 20th of August 1968 and Dubcek was arrested. Dubcek agreed to reverse most of his reforms and allowed Soviet troops to remain in Czechoslovakia. Dubcek was eventually removed from power the next year. The Soviet action had several consequences; having re-emphasized to other Eastern European countries that strict Communist rule would be maintained. Despite this, some countries drifted from the USSR, having felt alienated by the strict military action. China too, criticised the invasion by the Soviets, fearing that the USSR may do the same to them. //The Brezhnev Doctrine//
 * They wanted freedom of expression.
 * They wanted freedom to set up opposing political parties and vote in fair elections.
 * They wanted to end the secret police.
 * They also wanted an end to Soviet control of the economy, as the Soviets forced them to produce raw materials, the standard of living dropped as no consumer goods were made.

Brezhnev succeeded Khrushchev as leader, and announced that if forces opposed to Socialism tried to overthrow Communism towards Capitalism, it was the responsibility of other Communist nations to intervene. This doctrine caused a rift in the Communist world. Yugoslavia, Romania, China, as well as Western Communist states opposed this stance. __Gorbachev and the Collapse of Communism__

In 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the Soviet Union. He had several aims to take the Union in a new direction. He generally wanted to give limited freedom throughout the USSR in the economy and government, as well as open up publicity to do with government policy. Gorbachev and Reagan began to have inter-power conferences, and a perhaps second Détente surfaced. In these talks, Reagan and Gorbachev made stunning progress in nuclear arms limiting, called START (Strategic Arms Reduction Talks) which resulted in a treaty in 1991 – both superpowers agreed to remove all missiles in Europe within three years. //Perestroika:// was the restructuring of the Soviet economy. It allowed more competition and more incentive to produce goods. It allowed people to buy and sell for a profit for the first time in 60 years. //Glasnost:// was the ideal of the government listening and responding to public opinion and becoming more open about government policy. Gorbachev was extremely popular overseas because he was a moderate leader, but in the Soviet Union he lost popularity quickly. He upset hard-line Communists by handing away so many freedoms, and they said that he was raising the expectations of Soviet public too much. They were right in many respects. Once free speech was allowed, many media outlets spoke up against Communism. Gorbachev looked weak for a number of reasons. Firstly, he had lost a few Eastern European governments. The economic reforms he introduced had no immediate effects to the standard of living also. Now, many just wanted to see an all together collapse of the Communist system rather than simple reforms. Eventually, Gorbachev was overthrown and the USSR was replaced by the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) of which the Russian Federation was a member.

__Reasons for Fall of the Soviet Union__

//Impact of Détente:// The Détente in relations led to an interest in Capitalist trade methods, as the East began trading more with the West. It also made other countries aware of the better living standards of the West. Finally, these countries felt as if the Soviet military protection was redundant, as they did not feel threatened by the west. //Growing Opposition to Communism in Satellite States://


 * **Political reasons:** many people wanted free elections, which were not allowed under the Communist one party system. Furthermore, the public hated the state-controlled secret police. Finally, many wanted freedom of the press and media.
 * **Economic reasons:** the economy controlled by the state was seen as inefficient, as people wanted goods which it could not provide. They wanted more consumer goods to improve the overall standard of living.
 * **Social reasons:** many people had a very low standard of living, especially in the 1980s due to a rise in food prices as the economy became more privatised. People were desperate for better living and working standards.
 * **Religious reasons:** most of the Eastern European states were strongly religious and wanted freedom of belief, as opposed to the Soviet oppression of the church.
 * **Nationalism:** the Communist party expected loyalty to the party and to the union rather than to ones country. People wanted to be an independent nation, who were concerned with their own citizens, rather than that of the USSR.

A movement set up in Poland in 1980 by Lech Walesa to campaign for greater freedom and more workers’ rights. This movement campaigned for workers to have the right to form trade unions independent of the state and for the Polish government to grant Poles more freedom and improve standards of living and working. Solidarity forced a government backed by the Soviet Union to give way through the use of non-violent methods with industrial workers backed by popular opinion. It was not until 1989 that Solidarity triumphed in elections, where the Communist government were forced to appoint a non-Communist leader and agreed to legalize Solidarity, increase press freedom and hold elections (while still reserving majority seats for the Communists).
 * MATT:**
 * Solidarity in Poland**

The movement showed that a Communist government could not solve Poland’s economic problems where the government had lost the confidence of the people. The Soviet Union still wanted Communism in Poland, but would not dare to use force to achieve this. As a result, people in Communist countries throughout Eastern Europe felt safe to speak out against in inequalities through non violent measures. This caused the USSR to have limited control over their Eastern states and could not fight the people.
 * Results of the Solidarity Movement**

Lech Walesa was an electrician who worked on shipyards. He created solidarity as like may other Polish workers at the time; he was poorly paid when inflation was high. In 1981, he was arrested under the command of then Polish leader, General Jaruzelski, along with other union leaders. Walesa was then released in 1982, however Jauzelski banned Solidarity. In 1990, once democracy had triumphed in Poland, Lech Walesa was elected President of Poland.
 * Who was Lech Walesa?**

[] []



MADDY AND TOM: ** DÉTENTE 1969-1975 ** Definition à A thaw in the ‘cold’ relations between the superpowers In French, the word détente means to ‘let go’ or ‘relax’. Détente was a period of time when the Cold War was somewhat calmed and thought of as a predominantly peaceful existence. President Nixon was desperate to remove his troops from Vietnam, meanwhile; Brezhrev knew that the arms race was proving quite expensive and the Soviet economy was falling. With both leaders in need of relief, Détente became a necessary avenue.

[]

** THE FALL OF THE DETENTE ** By the late 1970’s the establishment of Détente had fallen. There are several reasons for this. Perhaps the most important of these was the Soviets invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. This was against the agreement of Détente and angered the USA. Because of this the USA,

· Failed to ratify the 1979 SALT 2 treaty. · Boycotted the Olympics in Moscow 1980. · Placed a embargo on U.S. grain shipments to the Soviet Union.

Another reason for the failure of Détente was the Soviet Union’s broken promise on improving human rights. The USA was also unsure about wether the USSR were holding up all of the agreements of SALT 1. As a result of this both Superpowers created more nuclear weapons. Brezhnev made it clear that the agreement of Détente was not the end of communism and capitalism. USSR retaliated by saying the west were only interested in Détente because it would improve there trade links to other countries and form new friendships with them which the Soviets didn’t want.

** THE HELSINKI ACCORDS ** Agreements singed by Canada, USA, USSR and 32 European countries which accepted boundaries and established Human Rights.

** PING **** PONG DIPLOMANCY ** Communist China was allowed to join the United Nations and the USA table tennis team travelled to and from, to play against Peking. This was soon given the label ‘Ping Pong Diplomacy’ and formed a much stronger relationship between the powers.

** SALT ** ** S ** trategic ** A ** rms ** L ** imitation ** T ** alks In the course of the cold war there were two SALT talks. In the first SALT, discussions were held between President Nixon (USA) and Brezhnev (USSR). The discussions centred around what number of nuclear arms each country possessed and the compromised number they thought was appropriate. In the second SALT talk, Nixon and Brezhnev sat down and again discussed the number of nuclear arms in each country. This was not successful and nether side could come to an agreement about how many nuclear arms each country could have.

** SATELITE STATES ** A ‘satellite State’ is a country that is formally independent, but is then put under the heavy control and observation of another country. These are generally eastern countries. At the end of WW2 the soviet government thought it best to have ‘satellite sates’ under there watch and control. These countries were all communist.


 * Poland.
 * Germany.
 * Romaine.
 * Hungary.
 * Bulgaria.
 * Czechoslovak.

** MAN ON THE MOON/SPACE RACE ** The space race was subsequently a direct outcome of the Cold War. For many years prior, the two superpowers; USA and USSR, had been battling against each other to prove their dominance. The Space Race was simply another competition to be the greater power and with this, placed even more emphasis on the tension of the Cold War. Famous Quotes: “That’s one small step for man… one giant leap for man kind.” “The Eagle has landed!” “This is the greatest week in the history of the world since creation. The world has never been closer together.”
 * NASA is an acronym for National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
 * The first satellite in space was named ‘Sputnik’.
 * The first astronaut in space was Alan Shapard
 * Apollo II launched in January 1969
 * ‘The Eagle’ was the name of the craft which carried the first astronauts to the moon.

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** Sequence of events in the Space Race: ** ** 1957… ** The Russians sent the first satellite into space. The circuit completed every hour and 36 mins. It was a radio transmitter and weighed 184 pounds. ** 1958… ** NASA chose 7 US men to be astronauts ** 1961… ** Russia launched one man into space and he circled the Earth in 108 minutes. The USA went into space for 15 minutes and became the second power in space. Russia then spent 25 hours in space and circled the Earth 16 times. ** 1962… ** An American Astronaut was sent into space. The vessel’s heat shield failed however, in an emergency landing, the man survived. ** 1963-1965… ** Russia sent 4 more astronauts into space for the first space walk. 3 men and 1 woman were sent. ** 1967… ** USA experienced a fire on the launch pas and it killed 2 people. One of Russia’s cosmonauts died when his spacecraft’s re-entry parachute failed.

// The allied conferences in Yalta and Potsdam // Lizzie Doery

Yalta - In February 1945 the leaders of Russia, USA and England met in Yalta.

__ Decisions: __ Germany was to be defeated then disarmed. It was to be split into 4 zones, Germany would pay reparations. Eastern Europe countries including Poland were allowed to have free elections The USSR was to join the war against Japan 3 months after Germany’s defeat A United Nations organisation was to be set up.

__ Tensions: __ Russia wanted reparations, US and UK didn’t Discussions about Polish borders and Polish Government Poland was known as the buffer country because Stalin wanted to use it to get closer to Germany Poland became a communist country

Potsdam – The allies met again in Potsdam in July 1945 __ Discussions: __ Details of the German zones were finalised. Nazi party was banned and leaders tried as war criminals. Each power received reparations of industrial equipment Poland’s border would be created along the Oder and Neisse River. Germans in Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia were to return to Germany.

__ Tensions: __ Truman had the bomb (just before the conference Truman heard that the nuclear bomb test was successful). He now felt he had more power-didn’t tell Stalin what weapon just that it was destructive Stalin and Truman mistrusted each other, disagreement about reparations. Stalin demanded more reparations than the US and UK. Polish Government became communist. The war was coming to an end and the Germans surrounded and communism established

Writing advise here [|what is a press release]