USSR control over Eastern Europe Part 1

Question 1

Who was the Communist leader of Hungary 1948-56?

Answer 1

Rákosi

Question 2

What were four ways Hungarians suffered under Rákosi?

Answer 2

1. 26,000 people were removed from their homes in Budapest, which were given to Rákosi’s supporters.
2. Russian was made compulsory in schools.
3. Hungary was bankrupted to pay $300 million in reparations to the USSR.
4. The standard of living fell as everyone experienced shortages of goods.

Question 3

Who replaced Rákosi as Prime Minister on 24 October 1956?

Answer 3

Nagy

Question 4

What were Nagy’s four reforms which lasted five days?

Answer 4

1. Democracy
2. Freedom of speech
3. Freedom of religion
4. Cardinal Mindszenty was freed from prison

Question 5

What four things did Hungarians do to try and claim freedom in 1956?

Answer 5

1. Seized the radio building in Budapest.
2. Attacked Parliament, forcing Communist First Secretary Ernő Gerő to flee to the USSR.
3. Soviet forces were attacked in Budapest and across Hungary.

Question 6

On 1 November 1956 what did Nagy do to really anger Khrushchev?

Answer 6

Nagy announced that Hungary was going to leave the Warsaw Pact

Question 7

How did the USSR end the Hungarian Uprising?

Answer 7

At dawn on 4 November 1956:

1) 200,000 Red Army soldiers invaded.
2) 1000 Russian tanks rolled into Budapest. They destroyed the Hungarian army and captured Hungarian Radio the last words broadcast were “Help! Help! Help!”.

Question 8

What were four ways Khrushchev punished Nagy and Hungary?

Answer 8

1. Nagy was tried and exectued in 1958.
2. Kádár was made the new Prime Minister.
3. 22,000 Hungarians were imprisoned.
4. Hundreds were deported to prisons in the USSR.

Question 9

Why did calls for reform grow in Czechoslovakia in 1968?

Answer 9

1) Economic problems: before WW2 it had been economically successful but now standards of living were low.
2) In 1966 there were student demonstrations about the way the USSR controlled Czechoslovakia’s economy, and the lack of free speech.
3) Lack of democracy: before WW2 it had been a democracy and people now resented their lack of freedom of speech.

Question 10

Who was the new Communist leader appointed in Czechoslovakia in 1968?

Answer 10

Alexander Dubček

Question 11

What was Dubček’s programme of reform called?

Answer 11

Socialism with a human face

Question 12

Dubček’s reforms meant the early months of 1968 were called the ‘Prague Spring’. What were five of these reforms?

Answer 12

1. Farms and factories would be allowed to set their own targets and given more independence.
2. Trade unions would be given more freedom.
3. Foreign travel to the West would be allowed.
4. Censorship would be abolished, so there would be freedom of speech.
5. Criticism of the government would not be a crime.

Question 13

What were two ways Dubček tried to reassure Brezhnev, leader of the USSR, that his reforms were not a threat?

Answer 13

1. He said Czechoslovakia would remain a member of the Warsaw Pact.
2. He insisted Czechoslovakia would still be communist.

Question 14

What were four reasons Brezhnev was threatened by Dubček’s reforms?

Answer 14

1. He was afraid once freedom of speech was allowed, communist government would be challenged.
2. He felt that Dubček’s reforms would lead Hungary to leave the Warsaw Pact.
3. He felt if Hungary left the Warsaw Pact, America forces could march from West Germany to the Soviet-controlled Ukraine.
4. He felt Dubček’s reforms would encourage other eastern European countries to demand the same rights.

Question 15

In 1956 the Suez Crisis distracted America from Khrushchev’s invasion of Hungary. What distracted America in 1968?

Answer 15

1. Vietnam War had gone disastrously wrong for the USA.

2. There were race riots in several cities across the USA.

Question 16

What did Dubček do on 9 August 1968 which really worried Brezhnev?

Answer 16

He welcomed Tito to Prague. Tito was the leader of the independent Communist state, Yugoslavia, and Tito had arrived at his invitation. This made Brezhnev fear Czechoslovakia was definitely aiming for more independence.

Question 17

Which country did Dubček sign a ‘Pact of Friendship’ with in 1968, which also worried Brezhnev?

Answer 17

Romania: its leader was Ceasescu.

Question 18

What happened when the USSR invaded Czechoslovakia on 20 August 1968?

Answer 18

1. People protested on the streets but there was no bloody fighting, like there had been in Hungary in 1956.
2. Dubček was arrested and taken to Moscow, and made to resign as Prime Minister in 1969.
3. A pro-Soviet leader was put in Dubček’s place in Czechoslovakia: his name was Husák.
4. Czechoslovakia was made to sign a treaty with the USSR in May 1970, in which they had to thank the USSR for invading them and removing Dubček.

Question 19

What was the Brezhnev Doctrine?

Answer 19

1. It was formed in September 1968.

2. It was a policy that said that the USSR would not allow any communist country in eastern Europe to give up communism.

Question 20

How was the Hungarian Uprising (1956) different to the Prague Spring (1968)?

Answer 20

1. Nagy was executed in 1958, but Dubček was not executed: he was expelled from the Communist Party in 1970.
2. In 1968, China was unhappy about the way the USSR treated its fellow Communist countries: Mao encouraged Yugoslavia and Romania to remain independent of Moscow. Soviet and Chinese troops clashed on the USSR-China border.
3. In 1968, more Communists around the world were critical of the USSR’s actions: the powerful French and Italian Communist parties called for a new style of Communism that would allow for more freedom of speech and free elections.

Question 21

The Berlin Crisis of 1961 actually began a bit earlier. How did Khrushchev start the Berlin Crisis in 1958?

Answer 21

He called for the end of the four-power control of Berlin and declared in six months it should become a ‘neutral’ free city without Western troops in it.

Question 22

What did Eisenhower propose about Berlin in 1959, after Khruschev’s 1958 demand that it should become a neutral free city without troops in it?

Answer 22

Eisenhower said he was prepared to make concessions about the future of Berlin, and was ready to negotiate with Khrushchev.

Question 23

Why did the U-2 spy plane incident in 1960 make relations worse between Khrushchev and Eisenhower?

Answer 23

An American spy plane was shot down over the USSR and the pilot Gary Powers was taken prisoner and put on trial. Khrushchev demanded an apology, and Eisenhower refused.

Question 24

Why did discussions about Berlin between the USSR and USA get even worse in 1960?

Answer 24

Eisenhower was replaced by John F. Kennedy, who said he was going to stand up to the USSR over Berlin.

Question 25

Why did the USSR and the USA fail to agree over Berlin at the Vienna Summit in 1961?

Answer 25

Khrushchev demanded Berlin should become neutral and threatened war. Kennedy refused to accept a ‘neutral’ Berlin.

Question 26

When was the Berlin Wall erected, and why?

Answer 26

1. 13 August 1961.
2. It was erected to stop East Germans migrating from to West Germany, and escaping from Soviet control.
3. It was erected because Kennedy would not allow Berlin to become a neutral city.

Question 27

What were three reasons more and more east Berliners travelled to west Berlin in the late 1950s?

Answer 27

1. It was a way they could escape to West Germany.
2. The east German leader Walter Ulbricht was a hardline Communist.
3. Highly skilled workers and managers were attracted by better pay in the west, and the better living standards they saw in west Berlin.

Question 28

Why did the Berlin Wall’s creation on 13 August 1961 create a major crisis, to start with?

Answer 28

1. Divided families in Berlin.
2. Border guards shot anyone trying to cross without permission.
3. On 27 October Soviet tanks pulled up to Checkpoint Charlie and refused to allow US diplomats and troops any more access to east Berlin. It was a tense 18 hour stand-off: Khrushchev order Walter Ulbrich to avoid triggering a war, and both sides respected the new division of the city.

Question 29

In which year did John F. Kennedy deliver his famous speech in Berlin, saying west Berlin was a beacon of freedom?

Answer 29

1963