Cold War: Crises

• Berlin Ultimatum 1958


  Khrushchev wanted Berlin to be part of East Germany and threatened France, USA and UK to remove their troops from Berlin
• Paris Summit 1960


  This was one of the summit meetings that France, USA and UK had in response to the Berlin Ultimatum

  The ‘U2’ spy plane was shot down by the USSR, which caused talks to break down
• Prague Spring

  Dubcek, leader of Czechoslovakia, wanted to give people more freedom and so they got more political freedom

  Countries of the Warsaw Pact sent troops into Czechoslovakia and invaded it

  Dubcek was arrested, but later returned to a less important position, and Husak replaced him as leader
• Cuban Revolution

  Cuba was previously ruled by an unpopular leader, Fulgencio Batista, and the US controlled most of Cuba’s industry, railways and electricity

  In the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro overthrew Batista and became leader
• Bay of Pigs Incident

  Cuba began to trade with the USSR, but the US feared they would turn to communism, so they tried to overthrow Castro

  So, the US tried to invade Cuba by using their exiles to attack them.

  However, they were met with 20,000 troops and surrendered.

  This caused the USA to be humiliated and for their relations to worsen
• Cuban Missile Crisis

  The USA discovered Soviet missile sites in Cuba, which made them panic.

  So, Kennedy decided to make a quarantine zone to prevent Soviet ships reaching Cuba.

  This led to an agreement between USSR and US: the USSR wouldn’t put missiles in Cuba as long as the US removed their missiles in Europe
• Limited Test Ban Treaty 1963


  The Limited Test Ban Treaty was signed by the USA and USSR. This meant that Nuclear weapons could no longer be tested above ground.
• Outer Space Treaty 1967


  This was when they agreed not to use nuclear weapons in outer space.This was like a patch to the 1963 Limited Test Ban Treaty. If nations could not test above the surface of the Earth, there was an incentive to test in space.
• Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty 1986


  This stopped the USA and USSR from sharing their nuclear missiles with other nations.