History

• In the USSR, Khrushchev was replaced by Brezhnev in 1964.
• Brezhnev's first test as premier was in the important Eastern European country of Czechoslovakia.
• Czechoslovakia had become Communist after World War Two, but this was not wholly successful.
• People in Czechoslovakia were deeply angry about the economic impact of communism which seemed to have created a lot of poverty in a previously prosperous country.
• The Czech Communist leader Novotny was unpopular and people began to demonstrate for change and reform.
• In January 1968, change seemed to come about when Novotny was replaced by Dubcek, a much more moderate and reforming Czech Communist leader.
• Dubcek was a Communist and believed in communism, but he wanted to allow much more freedoms.
• Dubcek called his ideas 'Socialism with a Human Face'.
• The Czechoslovakian people were very happy with the proposed reforms, this time became known as the Prague Spring as a new spirit of openness and freedom was briefly encouraged.
• Unfortunately for the Czechoslovakians, the USSR did not share their views.
• Brezhnev was only recently made premier when the Prague Spring happened, he was regarded as hard line and therefore determined to make his mark.
• Brezhnev was not happy about Dubceks reforms, he feared other East European countries would follow Czechoslovakias example and that this would lead to a collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe.
• In response to the Prague Spring, Brezhnev ordered 400,000 Warsaw Pact soldiers into Czechoslovakia.
• Dubcek, possibly remembering the massacre of 30,000 in Hungary in 1956, feared a bloodbath in Prague.
• Dubcek was ordered to Moscow to speak with Brezhnev.
• When Dubcek returned, he told the Czech people that the Prague Spring was over and he was soon replaced by another more hard line leader.
• The Brezhnev Doctrine aimed to justify the Soviet actions against the Prague Spring, stating that the USSR had the right to intervene in the affairs of other socialist countries.
• There was a lack of Western intervention over Czechoslovakia, the U.S./West did not act over Czechoslovakia due to its own serious problems with Vietnam and civil rights protests, and they also did not want to risk a nuclear confrontation over an Eastern European country.
• On 13th August 1961, East German police sealed off the crossing points with barbed wire.
• The Berlin Blockade and Airlift took place in 1948-49.
• Tensions mounted in Berlin as the Cold War progressed, with the USSR determined to make Germany pay harsh reparations for wartime damage and strip Germany of assets.
• The city of Berlin was divided in Yalta (1945) as the powers couldn't agree on the future of Germany.
• Berlin was divided into four zones and was located 100 miles inside the Soviet zone.
• The USSR was also worried about the western zones merging into a strong west German state opposed to the USSR.
• The USSR also worried about Berlin being used as a centre of western spying on the USSR.
• In June 1948, Stalin, angry about the west's introduction of the new currency, was determined to put pressure on the west.
• The USSR blocked all road and rail access into Berlin, cutting off its 2 million residents in the western sector from the outside world and supplies.
• The west was determined to resist this first major East West confrontation and started an airlift supplying the people of Berlin with 13,000 tonnes of supplies every day for over 10 months.
• Stalin couldn't challenge this airlift as it risked confrontation and potential nuclear war.
• The western determination to resist surprised Stalin and he was forced to lift the blockade in May 1949.
• The blockade had proved CONTAINMENT had worked and succeeded.
• The Berlin Airlift also proved the importance of US involvement in European affairs as they set up NATO in 1949 which was a military alliance promising that 'an attack on one is an attack on all'.
• In the 1950's, Berlin was the only area in the iron curtain where East met west so obviously, East Berliners were permitted to work in the western sectors of Berlin.
• The west pumped money into the western sectors of the city, creating a BRAIN DRAIN as up to 2 million East Germans used Berlin as an escape route to the 'GOLDEN WEST'.
• Khrushchev feared the impact on the East German population and the rest of soviet controlled Eastern Europe and tried and failed to persuade President KENNEDY to come to an agreement over Berlin.
• The failure of this would lead to the Berlin Wall.
• On 13th August 1961, East German police sealed off the crossing points with barbed wire, this was soon replaced by a well defended Concrete wall over 100 km long which completely divided Berlin.
• The Western powers soon began to see West Germany as an important potential ally against the USSR and aimed to make it economically strong.
• A NEW CURRENCY the DEUTSCHMARK was introduced along with MARSHALL AID investment, this worried the USSR who saw an economically prosperous Germany as a threat.
• The USSR did not want a repeat of the Nazis and they worried people in their zone would be attracted by the prosperous west.