CW intensifies

• The United States initially had a monopoly of nuclear weapons, but the emergence of the Soviet Union as a nuclear power in 1949 led to the start of the nuclear arms race.
• The formation of the Warsaw Pact in 1955 further added to Cold War tensions in Europe.
• 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 first 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 added to Cold War tensions in Europe.
• In 1955, the USA developed the H-bomb.
• Imre Nagy was arrested, tried and executed.
• Some countries boycotted the 1956 Olympics in protest.
• 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.
• Khrushchev disapproved of Nagy’s reforms and proposals, fearing that if Hungary left the Warsaw Pact, other countries would soon follow.
• 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.
• Khrushchev appointed a more liberal Prime Minister for Hungary – Imre Nagy – in the hope that the situation would calm down.
• In October 1956, poor harvests and bread shortages led to demonstrations against communist control, with statues of Stalin pulled down and local communists attacked.
• In 1956, Khrushchev hinted in his 'secret speech' that Soviet control would relax.
• Hungarians, aware that the United States was not prepared to help them, grudgingly accepted this modified form of communist rule.
• On 4 November 1956, Khrushchev sent 200 000 Soviet troops into Hungary to depose Nagy and restore order.
• Kadar introduced the Fifteen Point Programme, which aimed to re-establish communist rule in Hungary.
• Satellite states saw that the USA would not defend them against the Soviet Union.
• Many Hungarian soldiers loyal to Nagy and the revolution fought against Soviet troops.
• The United Nations condemned Soviet actions.
• The USA accepted 80000 refugees from Hungary.
• Khrushchev wanted to prevent rebellions in other communist countries, such as Poland, and hoped he could do so by making an example of Nagy.
• Nagy wanted to leave the Warsaw Pact and hold free elections leading to no more single-party communist government.
• Khrushchev claimed that communists were being slaughtered in Hungary, but a number of Hungarian communists had been killed and members of the state security forces, the AVH, attacked in the violence of October 1956, which took place in Budapest and other Hungarian towns and cities.
• Khrushchev feared the unrest would spread to other satellite states.
• The end of Stalin's rule would bring an end to communism in Hungary, especially as Soviet troops had already withdrawn from neighbouring Austria.