Chapter 9

• Nikita Khrushchev

  - denounced Stalin's policies in 1956, having previously been a Stalinist hardliner.

  - He appeared to swing between an attitude of cooperation and one of aggression and provocation.

  - He is most notable for making the decision to place nuclear missiles on Cuba in 1962.

  -By 1964, he was ousted from power.
• De-Stalinisation

  - Stalin ensured that those Eastern European states that formed the pro-communist, pro-Soviet Bloc served as clones of the communist system in USSR

  - The Stalinist system was characterised by the cult of personality, centralised planning, a one-party political system, dominance of communist party, a secret police system, press censorship.

  - De-Stalinisation involved the removal of some/most of these controls.
• De-Stalinisation in the Soviet bloc

  Khrushchev wanted to redefine the relationship between the Soviet Union and its Eastern European Bloc Satellite states.

  
  

  He wanted to achieve through de-Stalinisation:

  - long-term political stability

  - economic growth

  - improved living conditions

  
  

  But he did not want to change the basic structure of the communist system
• What was Khrushchev's secret speech and when was it?

  25th February 1956

  - Reported Stalin's crimes

  - text circulated through Eastern Europe and by June it had reached the US State Department

  - profound implications for stability in the Eastern Bloc in 1956

  - Poland and Hungary uprisings 1956 soon after the speech was delivered

  
  

  - Criticised hero worship of Stalin and his exaggerated power. The cruel repression of anyone who disagreed with him. Propaganda that promoted a cult of personality. Terror and repression against perceived enemies

  
  

  - Reluctant to criticise command economy (no private enterprise) and the one-party state (no opposition parties allowed) as these were key aspects of communism and totalitarian control.
• What was Khrushchev's overall aim?

  - Put resources into consumer goods and housing

  - de-Stalinisation

  - overcome Stalin's terror/ hero worship

  - expose Stalin's leadership
• Summarise the main criticisms that Khrushchev made about Stalin's rule

  - cruel dictatorship

  - ordered the imprisonment and execution of thousands of good / loyal communists
• Revanchism meaning

  A French term for revenge

  - based on the idea that a people, such as those in West Germany in 1956, may wish to restore their lost territories and thereby threaten Poland's security
• What things did the Polish workers in Poznan, June 1956 demand in response to the speech?

  - Bread

  -Liberty

  - freedom for Roman Catholic Church

  - end to Soviet control in Poland
• What happened to the Poles who demonstrated in Poznan, June 1956?


  - 74 killed by Polish troops

  - show trial, sent to Gulag and punishment decided before trial
• Poland Uprising, June-October 1956: Leader who died and his replacement

  - Unexpected death of Boleslaw Bierut, the Polish communist leader

  - Khrushchev nominated Edward Ochab as successor to implement de-Stalinisation
• Poland Uprising, June-October 1956: What drove the Poles to strike? When was the worker's strike?

  June 28, 1956

  - workers began demonstrations demanding better conditions and pay and protesting a recent rise in taxes and higher work quotas.

  - The workers took to the streets, and were soon joined by workers from other factories, students, and intellectuals, resulting in over 100,000 people.

  - Among the demands were lower food prices and wage increases.

  - However the peaceful protest soon turned to an anti-communist armed uprising due to specific economic grievances.
• Poland Uprising, June-October 1956: Gomulka and Khrushchev - why was there a standoff and how was it resolved?

  - Oct 1956, Wladyslaw Gomulka elected as First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party

  - Khrushchev met with Gomulka and threatened military intervention if he refused to cooperate

  - Resolved as Khrushchev conceded that Gomulka could be appointed First Secretary if he agreed not to carry out reforms that might threaten local communist rule, or the unity of the Soviet Bloc.

  - Poland would remain under the Warsaw Pact. (Under Moscow's control)

  - Soviet troops already stationed in Poland but force not used mainly due to support shown from China towards the Polish Communist Party
• Poland Uprising, June-October 1956: Impacts on Poland

  - Many Poles supported Gomulka as he had preserved a Polish path to socialism rather than conforming to the Soviet view on how their satellites should behave

  - Gomulka skillfully balanced the need for Polish security with the presence of Soviet troops in Poland. The USSR would protect Poland from any revanchism from West Germany
• Poland Uprising, June-October 1956: Impacts on USSR's attitude to Eastern European states

  - The Polish Rising showed Moscow would allow satellites some national independence if led by trustworthy men

  - Soviet troops don't use force as China's support for the Polish Communist Party was part of its increasing role in international communism
• How had Khrushchev's speech and the Poznan riots of June 1956 affected the Polish communist party?

  - Began asking for removal of Soviet troops

  - Radical demands

  - want to introduce reforms
• The Polish Communists called for Gomulka to be their next leader. Why did this present a problem for Khrushchev.

  - Did not consult the Kremlin - Moscow did not have control

  - Demonstrations showing desire for liberty

  - Shows Khrushchev as weaker than Stalin if he allows Gomulka back.
• Why Khrushchev's response to Polish demands changed?

  Initially threatened Polish communists with armed intervention. Gomulka had support of people and army, so Khrushchev agreed to let him stay in power on condition that Poland stayed loyal to Moscow and Warsaw Pact.
• How does Khrushchev's final response represent a change from Stalin's approach?

  - Diplomatic and willing to negotiate / compromise for domestic control.

  - Poland given some independence.
• When was the Polish Uprising?

  June - October 1956
• Hungary under Soviet control

  Hungary had been controlled by Russia since 1945.

  - The death of Stalin brought people in many Eastern European countries the hope of freedom and change, but as the 1956 uprising in Hungary proved, this was not to be the case.
• Hungary, October-November 1956: Demands made by Students and initial protests

  - 22nd October 1956, Students in Budapest demonstrated and listed 16 demands.

  - Included appointment of Imre Nagy as prime minister, freedom of speech, free press, multi-party elections

  
  

  - Students, workers and soldiers in Hungary attacked the AVH (the secret police) and Russian soldiers, and smashed a statue of Stalin.

  
  

  4. Nagy met with Soviet delegation to convince them military intervention was not necessary

  5. Khrushchev agreed to withdraw Soviet forces from Budapest

  6. Moscow reversed its decision, fearing the collapse of communism in Hungary

  7. Nagy announced Hungary had withdrawn from the Warsaw Pact and declared neutrality

  8. Red Army crushed the rising, installing a new government led by János Kádár, a communist loyal to Moscow

  9. About 4,000 Hungarian citizens killed, 200,000 went into exile
• How did the Soviet leadership respond to the situation from 23 Oct to 28 Oct?

  Soviet troops sent to Budapest

  4 days of fighting against revolutionaries with heavy losses on both sides.

  Soviet Union agreed to begin withdrawal of troops once Imre Nagy organised a ceasefire.
• Why did events escalate into an armed revolt?

  - Demonstrators were fired on by the Hungarian Secret Police.

  - Events moved quickly as workers' groups joined the students and seized power from communist local authorities
• When did Nagy become prime minister of Hungary? What did he immediately do?

  On 24 October 1956 Imre Nagy - a moderate and a westerniser - took over as prime minister.

  - Immediately met with Soviet delegation to convince the USSR military intervention was not necessary.

  - Nagy argued that the revolt could be calmed and assured Moscow of Hungary's loyalty.
• When did Soviet troops withdraw and from where? When and why did they reverse this decision?

  28th October 1956

  - Withdraw from Budapest

  - Declared they would withdraw from Hungary as a whole (In part due to pressure from China)

  
  

  - However they did not want to compromise the integrity of the Soviet Bloc in Eastern Europe.
• What was the attitude of the West and USA to the Hungarian revolution from 28 Oct to 1 Nov?

  Western correspondents flocked to Hungary to report on a victorious revolution and a liberated country

  Many looked to USA and West to guarantee the revolution

  West's attention diverted due to Suez crisis in Middle East - Britain, France and Israel attacked Egypt without consulting USA
• How did Imre Nagy manage to regain control of the situation and why did events in Hungary under his leadership from 28 Oct to 1 Nov worry the USSR?

  Called a ceasefire and decided to give cautious backing to revolutionaries

  
  

  Communist Party offices destroyed and raided, red flag burned, secret policemen strung up

  
  

  Nagy declared Hungarian neutrality and divorce from Warsaw Pact - he hoped international pressure would prevent USSR from crushing revolution
• What was the response of the West and USA during the Soviet invasion of Hungary from 1 Nov?

  As far as Eisenhower was concerned he believed Hungary belonged in Soviet sphere of influence - told Khrushchev this. Radio Free Europe told Hungarian fighters to fight for a few more weeks before help would be provided.
• Why did the USSR intervene in Hungary from Nov 1st? What did Nagy announce?

  31st Oct Moscow reversed its decision.

  USSR feared:

  - the collapse of communism,

  - introduction of a multi-party system

  - the dissolution of the Secret Police

  - unacceptable moves towards the freedom of press.

  
  

  1st Nov - Nagy had announced that Hungary had withdrawn from the Warsaw Pact and declared its neutrality.
• Soviet crushing of the Uprising

  By 3rd Nov:

  - 15 divisions of the Red Army

  - 4000 tanks had surrounded Budapest.

  Within a few days the rising was crushed.

  
  

  - New government led by Janos Kadar was installed. He was a hardline communist loyal to Moscow.

  - 4000 Hungarian citizens had been killed

  - 200,000 went into self-imposed exile

  - Nagy executed
• Consequences of the uprising

  Repression in Hungary - thousands of Hungarians were arrested and imprisoned. Some were executed and 200,000 Hungarian refugees fled to Austria.

  
  

  - Russia stayed in control behind the Iron Curtain - no other country tried to get rid of Russian troops until Czechoslovakia in 1968.

  - The lack of intervention from the West confirmed that the post war status quo had been accepted. This reassured the USSR that, should any further problems erupt in Eastern Europe, it would have no interference from the West.

  - The rising was demoted to a debating issue in the UN - they would not interfere either

  - Moves towards peaceful co-existence were compromised

  - The rising did show that there was need for social and political reform in Eastern Europe
• What were the similarities between the causes, course and consequences of the Polish and Hungarian risings of 1956.

  •Worker unrest

  •Deaths due to repression of uprising

  •Change in leadership of Party - Gomulka and Nagy

  •Khrushchev threatened intervention in both

  •Fear of leaving Warsaw Pact prompted USSR's intervention

  •Radio Free Europe encouragement

  •Lack of actual US support
• What were the differences between the causes, course and consequences of the Polish and Hungarian risings of 1956.

  •Students in Hungary as well

  •Soviet troops fired on protestors in Hungary

  •Greater resistance to repression in Hungary - worker unrest quickly crushed in Poland

  •Nagy didn't compromise with USSR in the way that Gomulka did

  •Much greater death toll in Hungary

  •Nagy executed but Gomulka allowed to remain as leader
• To what extent was there a 'thaw' in Cold War relations from 1955-1960?

  SIGNS OF THAW

  •Peaceful Coexistence and Destalinization

  •USA did not interfere in Soviet Sphere of Influence

  
  

  Increased diplomacy

  •Face to face meetings ('personal diplomacy') e.g.

  -Geneva Summit 1955

  -Khrushchev to USA Sept 1959

  -Paris Summit 1960

  More agreements

  
  

  •Significant agreements to defuse potential tensions

  -Withdrawal of troops from occupied Austria

  -Khrushchev pressured Kim Il Sung to discuss a settlement to Korean War (1953) and pressured Ho Chi Minh to discuss a settlement to 1st Indochina War (1954)

  -USSR agreed to recognise West German state (1955)
• To what extent was there a 'thaw' in Cold War relations from 1955-1960?

  SIGNS OF CONTINUED TENSION

  - Arms and Space race increased significantly during 1950s

  
  

  - USA = New Look - aggressive foreign policy adopted

  Roll back, Massive retaliation

  - Radio Free Europe

  - Covert Operations

  
  

  - No agreements on nuclear disarmament or future of Germany at summits

  - Paris summit broke up due to U2 incident

  - Khrushchev denied a visit to Disneyland in USA visit!

  
  

  -Strengthening hold over spheres of influence by both sides

  -Khrushchev's response to Poland and Hungary uprisings in 1956

  -US support for South Vietnam and Taiwan during 1950s
• 1.What did Khrushchev mean by 'peaceful co-existence'?

  Friendly, co-operative relations with USA to achieve peace and security
• 2.Why does he think 'Peaceful Co-existence' is necessary?

  To prevent a large scale escalation of the arms race. To avoid the 'most devastating war in history'. Impact of the arms race. Plus the USSR can't afford the costs of the Cold War.
• What were the aims of Peaceful Coexistence?

  •To ease the strained relationship between the USA and USSR - negotiate where possible

  •To avert the possibility of nuclear war.

  •To allow the USSR some respite - allow them to focus on consumer goods

  •It was not designed to end the ideological standoff between the 2 powers - 'we will bury you' (economically)

  •Communism would succeed in the long term so war/ conflict should be avoided.

  •The USSR would still act in their national self interest.
• Khrushchev's foreign policy imperatives:

  - the Soviet Union must remain the unchallenged leader of the socialist world, especially in Eastern Europe, in the face of growing competition from China and its leader, Mao Zedong

  - Soviet dominance must be maintained over the Eastern Bloc satellite states

  - the USSR must continue to expand its nuclear capability and thereby stay engaged in the nuclear arms race between East and West

  - Spending on military security, including on Soviet conventional forces in Eastern Europe, has to be reduced

  
  

  - International tension has to be defused and care taken to not unnecessarily provoke the USA. = Peaceful co-existence
• What was the purpose of Khrushchev's policy of peaceful coexistence

  - not a move to end the Cold War, but a strategy to consolidate Soviet international power and security by existing in a less volatile environment.

  
  

  - Stalinist aggression had led to an escalation of expenses and government debt at a time when Khrushchev wanted to concentrate Soviet resources on domestic developments

  -Khrushchev understood the implications of a nuclear war

  
  

  1. Engaging the USA in diplomacy to diffuse tensions where possible

  2. Preventing direct confrontation