CW reaction to crisis

• The construction of the Berlin Wall affected relations between the Soviet Union and the United States, making war over Berlin less likely.
• West Berlin became an enduring symbol of freedom during the Cold War.
• The Berlin Wall and US–Soviet relations are discussed in this chapter.
• The impact of the Wall included the solution of the refugee problem, as East Germans could no longer travel to West Germany.
• The number of military alerts in Berlin declined as a result of the construction of the Wall.
• President Kennedy commented that, although not a nice solution, a wall was at least better than a war.
• The Wall suggested that the Soviets were no longer interested in unifying Berlin under communist rule, as Khrushchev had originally demanded in November 1958.
• The Wall was a humiliation for the Soviet Union and a propaganda victory for the West, as it suggested that East Germans preferred living in capitalist West Germany and had to be forced to stay in communist East Germany.
• The Wall meant West Berlin became an enduring symbol of freedom.
• Over 200 people lost their lives trying to cross the Wall.
• Khrushchev mistakenly thought that Kennedy had shown weakness by allowing the Wall to be built, and this encouraged him to think about deploying missiles in Cuba.
• Kennedy visited West Berlin in 1963 and claimed “Ich bin ein Berliner” (“I am a Berliner”), expressing solidarity with the people of West Berlin.
• The construction of the Berlin Wall filled the last remaining gap in the Iron Curtain and divided Europe into two different alliances, two Germanys, two different ideologies, and two sides of the Iron Curtain.
• During the Cuban Missile Crisis the world came very close to nuclear war, and relations between the United States and the Soviet Union improved after the crisis, leading to a period of cooling tensions, known as détente.
• The short-term consequences of the Cuban Missile Crisis included the survival of communist Cuba, the weakening of the Soviet Union, and the improvement of US ‘doves’.
• The USA initiated a move to détente – a less stressful, more informed relationship between the USA and the Soviet Union.
• Countries such as Poland pursued policies that ignored public opinion, which increasingly demanded change.
• Both Romania (led by Nicolae Ceauşescu) and Yugoslavia (led by Josip Broz Tito) condemned the invasion and signed alliances with communist China, dividing the communist world.
• The invasion strengthened Soviet control over the Eastern bloc as they could use military force to ensure their dominance.
• The Soviet Union withdrew warheads from Italy and Turkey in response to the discovery of missiles in Cuba.
• The Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia led to Western communist leaders developing a form of communism different to that in the Soviet Union.
• The Soviet Union was determined to catch up with USA in the arms race and achieved this by 1965.
• The USA and the Soviet Union also signed the Outer Space Treaty in 1967, which limited the deployment of nuclear weapons in space, and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1968, which prevented nuclear weapons being given to other countries.
• The Hotline Agreement created a direct communication link between Washington and Moscow.
• Kennedy decided against an attack on Cuba and ordered a blockade of Cuba on 22 October 1962.
• Communist leaders, such as Jacques Duclos in France and Enrico Berlinguer in Italy, were appalled by the Soviet invasion, leading France and Italy to end their links with the Soviet Union.
• The United States and West Germany condemned the Soviet invasion and the Brezhnev Doctrine that followed it.
• The Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia did create a sense of complacency in Brezhnev’s mind.
• The Soviet response to the Prague Spring brought about a mixed reaction in both the East and the West.
• Khrushchev agreed to the deal: missiles withdrawn in return for USA agreeing never to attack Cuba and taking its missiles out of Italy and Turkey on 28 October 1962.
• The Cuban Missile Crisis showed how easily a nuclear war could start.
• The Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia did little to damage the growing détente between East and West.
• In 1963 Kennedy gave a speech about working with the Soviet Union to focus on their ‘common interests’.
• The Limited Test Ban Treaty (August 1963) banned all nuclear weapon testing except for underground tests.
• The USA and West Germany offered no military support or assistance to the Czechoslovakians during the Soviet invasion.
• The USA and Soviet Union prepared for an immediate nuclear attack on 25 October 1962.
• The Soviet invasion was even described as ‘the rape of Czechoslovakia’.
• The invasion and the Brezhnev Doctrine limited reforms in other Eastern bloc countries who feared a Soviet invasion.
• The United States was already bogged down in the Vietnam War and also did not want to provoke an international crisis.