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    Test your Knowledge

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  •  Who did the Americans elect as their President in 1961?
    • John F Kennedy.
  •  Which two places in the Far East did Kennedy finance anti-communist fighters?
    • Vietnam and Laos.
  •  How many refugees had fled to West Berlin by 1961? Why was this bad for Russia?
    • 3 million:
    • It was an embarrassment because it showed Communism was NOT better for people.
    • Many of the people who fled were skilled workers.
  •  What did Khrushchev demand at the Vienna summit of June 1961?
    • That the Americans leave West Berlin.
  •  What date did Khrushchev begin to build the Berlin Wall?
    • 13 August 1961.
  •  Why did Khrushchev say he built the wall?
    • The Americans were using West Berlin as a base for spies and sabotage.
  •  When did Fidel Castro come to power in Cuba?
    • 1959.
  •  What did his 1960 trade agreement with Russia say?
    • Cuba sent sugar to Russia in return for oil, machines and money.
  •  What did Castro do to America companies in 1961 which angered America?
    • Nationalised them.
  •  What was the name for the failed invasion of Cuba in 1961. Why was it an embarrassment for Kennedy?
    • Bay of Pigs: although the CIA supported the invasion, it failed miserably.
  •  What did a U2 spy-plane discover on Cuba in October 1962?
    • Nuclear missile bases.
  •  What were Kennedy’s FIVE options, and which did he choose?
    • Nuclear strike
    • Conventional attack
    • Work through UN
    • Do nothing
    • Mount a naval blockade – this is what he chose to do, at a meeting on 16 October 1962.
  •  What did Khrushchev accuse America of?
    • Piracy, and trying to destroy humankind.
  •  What deal was done between Kennedy and Khrushchev?
    • Khrushchev dismantled the Cuban bases publicly; Turkey dismantled the Turkish bases secretly.
  •  What event during the crisis (27 Oct) almost caused a nuclear war?
    • An American U2 spy-plane was shot down by the Cubans.
  •  What did the two leaders set up after the Missiles Crisis to prevent another such crisis?
    • A telephone ‘hotline’.
  •  What agreement began a detente in 1963?
    • Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
  •   When was Khrushchev dismissed from the Soviet Politburo, and why?
    • 1964, for his “harebrained” and “adventurist” schemes
  •   Who took over the leadership of the Soviet Union in 1964?
    • Leonid Brezhnev (Foreign Minister), Alexei Kosygin (Premier) and Yuri Andropov (Head of the KGB – the Soviet Secret Police)
  •   When did Albania leave the Warsaw Pact?
    • 1961
  •   Who was the hard-line leader of Albania 1945-85?
    • Enver Hoxha
  •   Which Romanian leader forged a friendship with China, rather than Russia?
    • Nikolai Ceausescu
  •   How was the USSR a ‘weak hegemon’ in 1968?
    • Its leadership was divided,
    • pressured by its Polish and East German counterparts,
    • seriously troubled by Romanian dissent and
    • worried about domestic developments
  •   Who does American sociologist Jerome Karabel blame for the Prague Spring?
    • The Intelligentsia
  •   Name one Czech newspaper which led the criticism of the Regime
    • Literarni Noviny (or Kulturnv Zivot, or Kulturni Tvorba)
  •   Which banned Czech writer was celebrated at a conference in Liblice in 1963?
    • Franz Kafka
  •   What did the Congress of the Union of Czechoslovak Writers demand in 1967
    • Freedom of expression and democracy
  •   How did the Communist government of Czechoslovakia damage small businesses in 1953?
    • A devaluation in 1953 reduced the koruna to one-fiftieth of its value
  •   What did the Czechoslovak government admit in 1962?
    • That its Five-Year Plan had failed
  •   Who introduced the ‘New Economic Model’ in 1965, and why was it a disaster?
    • Deputy Premier Ota Sik; it encouraged people to ask for political reform
  •   Why did many Czechs hate the Soviet Union?
    • In the midst of the economic crisis, large amounts of goods - notably uranium – were sent to the Soviet Union without payment.
  •   What was the name for the Czech Secret Police?
    • STB: Státní bezpečnost (‘State Security’)
  •   Who was the failing President of Czechoslovakia in 1967 and how was he deposed?
    • Antonin Novotny – he asked Brezhnev for help, but Brezhnev sided with his opponents.
  •   What did Dubcek call his April 1968 Action Programme of reform?
    • Socialism with a human face
  •   Name THREE things the Programme of Reform included.
    • a free-market economy,
    • freedom of speech;
    • freedom of religion;
    • the right to join a trade union;
    • freedom of travel to the West;
    • a reduction of the powers of the secret police;
    • elections;
    • to set up a new National Assembly (Parliament) where the Communists would not be the only Party.
  •   What publication alarmed Soviet politicians on 17 June 1968
    • Ludvík Vaculík's Two Thousand Words was published, criticising the Czech Communist Party and calling for democracy and reform
  •   What did Dubcek promise at the 3 August Bratislava Conference?
    • the reforms were loyal Marxism–Leninism;
    • to suppress any ‘anti-socialist’ movements;
    • Czechoslovakia did not intend to leave the Warsaw Pact
  •   What warning sign did Dubcek ignore on 13 August?
    • Brezhnev phoned Dubcek expressing his "alarm" that the Czechoslovak press was still attacking Communism and the Soviet Union
  •   With what did the Warsaw Pact invade Czechoslovakia on 20 August 1968?
    • 500,000 troops and 200 tanks
  •   Who took over from Dubcek in Czechoslovakia?
    • Gustav Husak
  •   Who burned himself to death in protest?
    • Jan Palach
  •   What was the Brezhnev Doctrine?
    • That socialist countries had the right to suppress counter-revolutionary forces in any other socialist country
  •   Which Soviet leader used the hotline during the 1967 Six Day War?
    • Alexei Kosygin – to propose that the two nations use their influence to achieve a ceasefire
  •   What treaty was signed in 1968?
    • The Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty agreed to restrict nuclear weapons technology to the US, the USSR, China, France and Great Britain
  •   In 1969 the USA was losing the war in Vietnam; how did this help detente?
    • The USA needed the Soviet Union to influence North Vietnam to bring about peace
  •   What economic problems was the USA facing in the early 1970s?
    • Stagflation and the Oil Crisis
  •   What was the Nixon Doctrine?
    • That, beyond existing treaties, it was up to each country to defend itself against communism
  •   How did Henry Kissinger help détente?
    • He used ‘shuttle diplomacy’ and ‘triangular diplomacy’.
  •   What was the Soviet government ideologically inclined to razryadka ?
    • It was a Leninist concept
  •   What percentage of the Soviet GNP was spent on armaments?
    • At least 12%
  •   What developments of the 1960s had made the USSR feel more confident?
    • The USSR had caught up with the USA in nuclear weapons;
    • the USSR had greater conventional forces;
    • the Berlin Wall and Czechoslovakia had stabilised the Warsaw Pact;
    • France signed a trade agreement in 1964;
    • West Germany’s Ostpolitik policy
  •   What economic and social problems was the USSR facing?
    • Agriculture could not feed the population;
    • industrial growth was slowing;
    • corruption and the black market;
    • housing crisis;
    • alcoholism;
    • dumping of industrial waste;
    • ‘dissidence’.
  •   How had China alarmed Russia in 1969?
    • Armed conflict had broken out along the Sino-Soviet border, which for a time raised the prospect of nuclear war
  •   What started a US-China détente in 1971?
    • Ping-pong diplomacy
  •   What 1972 agreement sealed a US-China détente, and what did it agree?
    • Shanghai Communique:
    • peace,
    • better trade and cultural contacts;
    • the USA would ‘dump’ Taiwan.
  •   What 1972 agreement with the USSR did Nixon regard as one of his greatest achievements?
    • The ‘Basic Principles of Relations Between the USA and the USSR’
  •   What did SALT1 agree in 1972?
    • The Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty construction of new ICBMs
  •   Which treaty reconciled the Soviet Union to West Germany?
    • 1970 Treaty of Moscow
  •   Which treaty reconciled East Germany and West Germany?
    • 1972 Basic Treaty
  •   Why was 1975 the year of détente in space?
    • American and Soviet astronauts docked their Apollo and Soyuz spacecraft together
  •   In what 1975 agreement did the USSR promise to regard human rights?
    • 1975 Helsinki Accords