-
Period: to
Land reform in Vietnam
confiscating and redistributing land by landlords to poor and landless peasants. This program resulted in executions of "landlords and reactionaries," 13,500 killed = resistance, eg rioting, in countryside. NV gov apologized for the excesses and attempted to rectify errors. The communist government of North Vietnam followed up land redistribution by establishing collective farms, but collectivized agriculture failed to result in large gains in agriculture production. -
USA tests Lithium bomb
-1500 times more powerful than the atomic bombs launched in hiroshima & nagasaki -
Hallstein Doctrine
FRG wouldn't support GDR if they remained in Soviet control -
FRG joins NATO
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Warsaw Pact created
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Austrian State Treaty
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Geneva Summit
marked beginning of dialogue between usa + ussr
discussed: future of germany
- eisenhower proposed a reunified G w/ free elections and member of NATO. Kh would only contemplate if g = demiliatised and neutral open skies
- end the arms race tension, each side provides details for military installation + aerial reconaissance - ussr rejected- didnt discuss future of eastern block states
-
Vietnam War starts
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Secret Speech
Kh denounced Stalin and criticised concept of one-man-rule dictatorship
condemned his use of oppression & brutality & accused him of economic mismanagement (korean war) set off a chain reaction that led to calls for reform in e europe and new policy in soviet union for dealing w the west accused by China as revisionism -
Period: to
Polish uprising
following stalins death, industrial workers of poznan = impatient, wanted better standards of living; wage increases, lower food prices (inf at 100%?)
30k demonstrators in june- brutally suppressed, killing 60 and wounding 200 gomulka elected in oct as 1st secretary of polish communist party. kh feared he would want independence but g assured kh of no withdrawal from warsaw pact this and hungary showed the need for social & political reform in e.e, and proved us failure to roll back -
Period: to
Hungarian Uprising
23- students in budapest listing demands eg freedom of speech & press, multi party elections, appointment of nagy
24- nagy is pm
28th- nagy negotiated soviet withdrawal
31- ussr returned to hungary due to fear of collapse of communism in hungary
1- nagy announced withdrawal from warsaw
3- 15 divisions of red army & 4k tanks surrounded Budapest, crushing uprising- killed 4k and 20k gone exile
4- nagy replaced by jados kadar, hard line communist loyal to moscow -
Period: to
Suez Crisis
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Gaither Report
revealed missile gap between usa & ussr tech
us is falling behind soviets in missile capabilities
urges a vigorous campaign as usa's long term prospect was threatened by ussr's increase in power
HOWEVER, the gaither report based its concs on soviet nuclear strength on inadequate evidence. U2 spy planes provided more sufficient evidence in showing that ussr deployment was limited guaranteed Khrushchev was exaggerating soviet nuclear capacity -
Eisenhower Doctrine
commits the US to defending Lebanon, Iran, Pakistan & Afghanistan from communist influence
triggered by the sues crisis a country could request American economic assistance and/or aid from U.S. military forces if threatened by armed aggression from another state. “to secure and protect the territorial integrity and political independence of such nations, requesting such aid against overt armed aggression from any nation controlled by international communism.” -
Bermuda Conference
USA & GB
negotiation to station IRBMs in GB -
USSR develops 1st ICBM
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Sputnik
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Sputnik 2- Laika
developments in soviet tech alarmed usa
sputnik 2 convinced usa that ussr had the technology to launch nuclear missiles, creating an alarming sense of urgency to usa -
Flopnik
-
Period: to
Paris Summit
"a reconsideration of the relationship of the strategy for the defense of Western Europe", particularly in light of fading US nuclear superiority with regard to the Soviet Union. respose to launch of sputnik unanimous agreement to deploy IRBMs in Europe & emphasize diplomatic negotiations with the Soviets- "dual-track" approach in dealing with threats to international stability. Macmillan argued in favor of two separate, but parallel agendas—one military and the other political. -
Khrushchev= USSR PM
aims:
peaceful coexistence
strengthen ussr economy
strengthen ussr defences
global ideological expansion -
Sino-Soviet relations deteriorating
also galvanised by 1956 speech -
NASA founded
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US artificial satellite
US army launched 1st american artificial satellite -
Period: to
Berlin Crisis
Khrushchev acted strongly against emigration from GDR to FRG & american nuclear warheads located in FRG nov- 6 month ultimatum; declare berlin a free city or withdraw western troops from west berlin
dec- usa rejected 1961- 10k GDR > FRG
1956- 150K
1953- 300K -
Castro overthrows Batista
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Kh indirectly supported India in its border dispute w china
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Luna 1
launched by soviets
failed as targets were missed by 5990km -
Luna II
1st man made object to land on moon -
Period: to
Camp David
discussed disarmament & situation in Berlin; agreed to settle international issues diplomatically and not through force -
Period: to
Luna III
launched to take photos of the moon
22nd - lost contact w luna -
USSR aid to Cuba
Mikoyan offers economic & military aid to cuba -
NLF formed
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Castro nationalised oil refineries
moreover, castro seized $1bil of assets
as a response, USA reduced sugar imports by 95% -
Kh removes technological aid from China
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U2 Spy Affair
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Paris Summit
both sides knew the potential destructive power of nuclear weapons
Berlin: the Soviets were exasperated that East Germans were continuing to escape to the West.
america concerned about Castro regime in Cuba- Communist- Feb 1960 Mikoyan aid to Cuba outcome:
failure, heightened tensions- U2 spy affair just happened, USSR accused USA of espionage
No agreement on Test Ban Treaty
Nothing was resolved on the issues of Berlin and Cuba. Both would remain major sources of tension in the Cold War. -
Kennedy becomes President
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JFK military support for Vietnam
sends sends helicopters and 400 Green Berets to South Vietnam and authorizes secret operations against the Viet Cong. response to creation of NLF in dec 60 -
Period: to
Bay of Pigs
1.5k anti castro exiles attempt to overthrow him, failure -
Vienna Summit
Khrushchev explained that the USSR desired to sign a separate peace treaty with East Germany. He told Kennedy that if the United States failed to support a peace treaty, the Soviet Union would sign the peace treaty unilaterally.
Kennedy insisted that the U.S. maintain its position in Berlin for strategic purposes. Although Kennedy argued that the current balance of power in Germany was effective, Khrushchev said that "no force in the world would prevent the USSR from signing a peace treaty. -
Creation of Berlin Wall
a physical symbol for cold war confrontation
prevented an outbreak of war (yay!)- although rejected by kennedy, the wall did enable the avoidance of a nuclear confrontation
resolved GDR's immediate economic crisis -
Tsar Bomba
USSR detonated the most powerful thermonuclear weapon ever tested, with an explosive yield of 50 megatons -
Operation Mongoose
Kennedy tried to make up for the failure of Mongoose through his plans to sabotage and destabilise the Cuban government and economy through the use of covert operations to destabilise Cuba -
Attempted assassination of Diem
Diem survives a bombing of the presidential palace in South Vietnam as Diem’s extreme favoritism toward South Vietnam’s Catholic minority alienates him from most of the South Vietnamese population, including Vietnamese Buddhists. -
Operation Quick Kick
In March 1962 operation quick kick in the carribean. It was a show of military might and it made Khr defence minister conclude that in the face of a determined US attack, Cuba would stand no more than a week. Khr adopted a new stance, he decided to deploy nuclear missiles on Cuba in 1962. -
Strategic Hamlet Programme
S.V in conjunction w the US to combat the communist insurgency by pacifying the countryside and reducing the influence of the communists among the rural population outcome = unsuccessful, failing to stop the insurgency or gain support for the government from rural Vietnamese, it alienated many and helped contribute to the growth in influence of the Viet Cong. After President Ngo Dinh Diem was overthrown in a coup in November 1963, the program was cancelled -
Sino-Soviet split
China angered by USSR- Camp David, Paris Summit, felt like they were treated as the 'junior partner' -
Period: to
Operation Ranch Hand
in Operation Ranch Hand, U.S. aircraft start spraying Agent Orange and other herbicides over rural areas of South Vietnam to kill vegetation that would offer cover and food for guerrilla forces. -
Operation Anadyr
oviets provided:
- nuclear weapons, both short & med range, reaching 1100-2800km
-fighter planes
-bombers
-14k ground troops this deployment would enable khrushchev to direct more resources into the expansion & modernisation of the soviet nuclear arsenal, and still have resources left to invest in the non military civilian economy -
START OF CMC
U2 Spy Plane found USSR stationed missiles in San Cristobal, Cuba
CIA analysts spot launchers, missiles and transport trucks that indicate the Soviets are building sites to launch missiles capable of striking targets nearly across the United States -
Creation of ExComm
discuss how to respond to the missile threat. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara presents JFK with three options: diplomacy with Castro & Khrushchev, a naval quarantine of Cuba and an air attack to destroy the missile sites, which might kill thousands of Soviet personnel and trigger a Soviet counterattack on a target such as Berlin. JFK favours a quarantine / naval blockade, enabling him to buy time and focus on a diplomatic solution -
CMC publicised
In a dramatic 18-minute television speech, JFK shocks Americans by revealing “unmistakable evidence” of the missile threat, and announces that the United States will prevent ships carrying weapons to reach Cuba, while demanding that the Soviets withdraw their missiles. KH responds and says that missiles are solely for defensive purposes -
KH > Kennedy - letter
Khrushchev sends an indignant letter to Kennedy, accusing him of threatening the Soviet Union. “You are no longer appealing to reason, but wish to intimidate us,” he writes. -
Castro > KH - letter & Telegram to K
Castro sends a letter to Khrushchev, urging him to launch a nuclear first strike against the United States, which the Soviet leader disregards. Instead, Khrushchev sends a letter to President Kennedy, in which he appeals to the U.S. president to work with him to de-escalate the conflict and ensure that they didn’t "doom the world to the catastrophe of thermonuclear war. sends telegram to K on 26 agreeing to wtihdraw missiles on both sides -
CMC ends
mao criticised kh for removing missiles in cuba as a betrayal of the cuban revolution -
Buddhist Crisis
In a major incident of what becomes known as the “Buddhist Crisis,” the government of Ngo Dinh Diem opens fire on a crowd of Buddhist protestors in the central Vietnam city of Hue. Eight people, including children, are killed. -
Tri Quang & Buddhist Crisis
A 73-year-old monk immolates himself while sitting at a major city intersection in protest, leading other Buddhists to follow suit in coming weeks. The United States’ already declining confidence in Diem’s leadership continues to slide. -
Ich bin ein Berliner
showing his solidarity to germany and opposition to ussr and the wall that affirms the iron curtain metaphor established by churchill in 1946 -
Diem Assassinated
The United States backs a South Vietnam military coup against the unpopular Diem, which ends in the brutal killing of Diem and his brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu. Between 1963 and 1965, 12 different governments take the lead in South Vietnam as military coups replace one government after another. -
JFK assassinated