Continuation of the Cold War during the 1950s

Continuation of the Cold War during the 1950’s By Johnson and Josiiaaaah

Key Topics • Development after Truman and Stalin • Khrushchev and Soviet motivation, bid for improved relations, cuts in the red army and withdrawal from Austria • Concept of peaceful coexistence • Eisenhower, Dulles and Kennedy’s responses • Roles of personalities • Paris Summit, U 2 incident and Vienna summits • Impact of the failed Hungarian uprising • Tensions over Berlin

Timeline of events 1950 • February – Sino-Soviet Alliance • June – Korean War 1953 • 5 th March – Stalin’s Death • 27 th July – Ceasefire in Korea 1955 • May – Warsaw Pact Established • July – Geneva Summit 1956 • February – Khrushchev Critical of Stalin in secret speech • November – Soviet Troops in Hungary 1958 • August – Taiwan Straight crisis Developments • November – Start of second Berlin crisis

Death of Stalin • Stalin was found on the floor covered in urine after suffering a stroke on the 1 st March, he died four days later. • Sigh of relief in west as he was seen as the dominant factor in development of the Cold War. • Liberal historians have emphasised the role of personalities and the impact of Stalin’s death on the thaw.

Development after Truman and Stalin • New Look policy adopted by Eisenhower after Truman left office. • Use of military means to contain communism and the policy of massive retaliation. • However, the New Look policy seemed unlikely to produce compromise. • The policy of brinkmanship was devised by Dulles to get on the verge of war without actually getting into it. • This was a risky strategy which was hard to master without inevitably getting into war.

Khrushchev and Peaceful Coexistence • Khrushchev believed in Marxist idea that capitalism would ultimately fail, so the idea of peaceful coexistence was the best of way of conducting relations. • Khrushchev said ‘there are only two ways – peaceful coexistence or the most destructive war in history. There is no third way. ’

Impact of Peaceful Coexistence • There was a ceasefire in the Korean War in 1953. • The Austrian State Treaty was signed in 1955. Both the US and USSR would withdraw its armed forces from Austria. • Soviets withdrew from Finland in 1956. • This reduced tension between the two superpowers.

De-Stalinisation • De-Stalinisation within the USSR was the brain child of Khrushchev. He wanted to move away from Stalin’s policies and liberalise, but there were limits. • The uprising in Hungary showed that the liberalisation would not be able to threaten the security of the Soviet Bloc.

Hungarian Uprising, 1956 • Soviets invaded Hungary to restore government to their own liking after Nagy caved in to popular protest for reform. He was replaced by Kadar. • These actions showed a willingness of the soviets to maintain a hold over it’s eastern sphere of influence.

U 2 incident and Paris Peace Summit • During the Paris Summit a U-2 spy plane was shot down over Russia after the US promised to respect the fly-zone ban. • This increased distrust between the two superpowers and Khrushchev walked out the summit.

Exam Style Question • To what extent was the development of the post Stalinist thaw in superpower relations between 1953 -1962 the result of Khrushchev’s policy of peaceful coexistence?