CW increased tension

• The whole Eastern bloc might collapse.
• In 1945, the USA dropped two atomic bombs on Japanese cities.
• In 1952, the USA developed the H-bomb (hydrogen bomb).
• In 1949, the Soviet Union tested its rst atomic bomb.
• In 1953, the Soviet Union developed the H-bomb.
• The nuclear arms race led to both superpowers having nuclear weapons, which was a powerful reason why a cold war did not become a hot war.
• The formation of the Warsaw Pact led to two opposing alliances in Europe separated by the Iron Curtain, both planning for military action against the other, including the use of nuclear and conventional weapons.
• The Warsaw Pact gave the Soviet Union control over the armed forces of its satellite states, thus strengthening its grip on Eastern Europe.
• The formation of the Warsaw Pact was a significant development during the Cold War.
• After Stalin died, Soviet leader Khrushchev indicated Soviet control would relax.
• When Hungary started to move away from Soviet influence, the Soviet Union tightened its control for fear that if Hungary left the Warsaw Pact, other countries would follow.
• Hungary suffered a lot under Stalin’s control, with food and industrial products shipped off to Russia, any opposition ruthlessly wiped out, and Matyas Rakosi as a brutal ruler known as the ‘Bald Butcher’.
• Communist rule became very unpopular in Hungary.
• The Hungarian uprising in 1956, showing a statue of Stalin that had been pulled down.
• Destalinisation meant that the Soviet Union no longer saw itself as a dictatorship, instead it became a one-party state, governed by the Politburo with Khrushchev as its leader.
• Many Hungarians mistakenly believed that the end of Stalin’s rule would bring an end to communism in Hungary, especially as Soviet troops had already withdrawn from neighbouring Austria.
• In 1956, Khrushchev hinted in his ‘secret speech’ that Soviet control would relax.
• In October 1956, poor harvests and bread shortages led to Hungarians starting to demonstrate against communist control, with statues of Stalin pulled down and local communists attacked.
• Khrushchev appointed a more liberal Prime Minister for Hungary – Imre Nagy – in the hope that the situation would calm down.
• Nagy wanted the following reforms for Hungary: to leave the Warsaw Pact and become a neutral country, hold free elections leading to no more single-party communist government, and have UN protection from the Soviet Union.
• This was a problem for the Soviet Union because if Nagy succeeded in Hungary, other countries in Eastern Europe might follow.
• Imre Nagy was arrested, tried and executed.
• Some countries boycotted the 1956 Olympics in protest.
• The Soviet invasion of Hungary provoked a strong reaction in the West and in neutral countries condemning the invasion.
• Dubcček’s reforms resulted in the ‘Prague Spring’ – a period of increased political freedom – in April 1968 and lots of criticism of communism resulted.
• Brezhnev and other communists in Eastern Europe, such as Eric Honecker, the leader of East Germany, were especially concerned.
• Brezhnev feared the Prague Spring would lead to demands for reform elsewhere in the Eastern bloc that would threaten communist rule in Eastern Europe.
• Over 5000 Hungarians were killed as a result of the invasion, including around 1000 Soviet troops.
• Hungary was on its own against the Soviet Union: they had to give in.
• Nagy and his government were deposed.
• A new leader, Janos Kadar, was appointed.
• The USA supported Hungary’s uprising with money, medical aid and words.
• Soviet control retightened across Eastern Europe.
• Kadar’s policies were more moderate than those of other Soviet satellite states and resulted in Hungary having better living standards than other East European states.
• Dubcček was a good friend of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev.
• Brezhnev now had a dilemma: Dubček was a friend and military action would damage the Soviet Union’s reputation.
• The USA couldn’t send troops: would risk nuclear war.
• Khrushchev disapproved of Nagy’s reforms and in 1956 Soviet troops invaded Hungary.
• Hungarians, aware that the United States was not prepared to help them, grudgingly accepted this modified form of communist rule.
• Dubcček was a communist and supporter of the Warsaw Pact but wanted to make communism better and easier to live under.