Cambridge IGCSE History - Core Content Option B Topic 6

Focus Points
• Why was there opposition to Soviet control in Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968, and how did the USSR react to this opposition?
• How similar were events in Hungary in 1956 and in Czechoslovakia in 1968?
• Why was the Berlin Wall built in 1961?
• What was the significance of ‘Solidarity’ in Poland for the decline of Soviet influence in Eastern Europe?
• How far was Gorbachev personally responsible for the collapse of Soviet control over Eastern Europe?

 Specified Content
• Soviet power in Eastern Europe:
   o resistance to Soviet power in Hungary (1956) and Czechoslovakia (1968): Listen to Audio Revision by Mr Allsop
   o the Berlin Wall
   o ‘Solidarity’ in Poland
   o Gorbachev and the collapse of the Soviet Empire. Listen to Audio Revision by Mr Allsop


Hungary (1956)

 Describe the events in Hungary in 1956.
There was fighting on the streets. It was invaded.
 Rakosi, leader of the Hungarian Communist Party, was forced to resign. His successor, Erno Gero, was not popular and soon began to lose control. Nagy, the PM, wanted to leave the Warsaw pact. This was a threat to Soviet security.
On 6th October thousands turned out to watch state funeral of Rajik.
On 23rd October there was rioting on the streets of Budapest.
Khrushchev sent in tanks but they were withdrawn after a week.
It was announced that Hungary would withdraw from the Warsaw Pact.
On 4th November 200,000 Soviet troops and 2,500 tanks arrived in Budapest.
After two weeks it is thought that 27,000 Hungarians had died and Soviet control restored. Nagy was hanged.

Describe how the Soviet Union reacted to events in Hungary in 1956.
It was brutal.  They employed the military and used force to suppress the reforms. 
Khrushchev sent in tanks but they were withdrawn after a week. On 4th November
200,000 Soviet troops and 2,500 tanks arrived in Budapest.
After two weeks of bitter street fighting, about thousands of Hungarians had died and Soviet control restored.
They executed Nagy and his fellow leaders.  It prevented Hungary from leaving the Warsaw Pact.
The Soviet Union was determined not to let go of countries within its sphere of influence.


Berlin Wall (1961)

Describe how the Berlin Wall affected the people living in Berlin.
It was a physical barrier.     It split Berlin.    West Berlin was cut off from East Berlin.
If you tried to cross you were shot.  It took no account of roads and buildings.
It put some people in communist held area and others in capitalist area. 
It stopped the movement of refugees.  People from the east could not move to the more prosperous west.
There was only one crossing point – Checkpoint Charlie.  Families were divided.

Why was the Berlin Wall built?
As a warning.  To maintain the east-west split.  Because Kennedy would not back down.
To prevent people moving from the east.
The city had been split at the end of the war and the west enjoyed a higher standard of living.
Many skilled people left East Germany for the West. This loss of citizens was humiliating for communism.
Berlin was a focus of Cold War tensions with Khrushchev trying to force the west out of Berlin.
It was to prevent refugees escaping to the west.
The East German authorities said it was to keep spies from the west out of East Berlin.
To try to help the Soviet Union maintain control of its east European satellites.


Czechoslovakia / the Prague Spring (1968)

Why did the USSR invade Czechoslovakia in 1968?
Why was the Soviet Union worried by developments in Czechoslovakia in Spring 1968?
The USSR thought they would lose control as Dubcek launched reforms known as the “Prague Spring”. Dubcek planned to modernise communism with “Socialism with a human face” by introducing free expression and ending rule of terror by secret police. There was talk of setting up the Social democratic Party as a rival to the Communists. The USSR thought this would threaten their control of Eastern Europe.
Dubcek assured Brezhnev that he did not want to leave the Warsaw Pact but Brezhnev knew that if control was lessened in one country others would follow. This would undermine Soviet control. The USSR feared that Czechoslovakia would ally with Yugoslavia and Romania.
Czechoslovakia was too important to the security of the Soviet Union as it had borders with West Germany and the USSR.
Brezhnev was the new Soviet leader and he was just as determined as previous leaders to maintain Soviet control of eastern Europe and he felt this control was being threatened.


Poland's Solidarity Movement

What was the Solidarity?
- A trade union of workers in Poland at the end of 1980s.
- It was led by Lech Wałęsa
- backed by popular opinion and the use of non-violent methods to seek workers rights, more freedom of speech, the right to strike, and release of political prisoners.
- the 1st non–communist party-controlled trade union in a Warsaw Pact country.
- reached 10 million members before 1981 (1/3 of Poland's work force).


Why was the Solidarity Movement important?
- Solidarity began calling for greater political and religious freedoms.
- Government feared to take action!
- The banning and imprisonment did not work. Solidarity went from strength to strength.
- a symbol for opposition to communism. It set an example to the rest of Eastern Europe. It was the first successful movement in the late 1980s within the Warsaw Pact against the communist dictatorship.
- It pushed the USSR under Gorbachev to implement his polices of 'Perestroika' and 'Glasnost', which eventually led to the fall of the Warsaw Pact and the USSR.



8 mark question: Poland's Solidarity Movement / Gorbachev / Fall of the Soviet Union

How important was Solidarity in the decline of Soviet influence in Eastern Europe?
How far can decline of Soviet power in Eastern Europe be blamed on the Solidarity Movement?
Gorbachev was responsible for the collapse of Soviet control over Eastern Europe. How far?

Factor #1 - Solidarity

Very important as it brought change and it set an example to others.

It challenged the USSR by showing that if people stood together against oppression, it would force the government to give way through popular opinion and non-violent methods.

The government in Poland had lost the confidence of the people and Solidarity showed that a Communist government could not solve Poland’s economic problems.

Solidarity began calling for greater political and religious freedoms. As it was strong, the government feared to take action, as did the Soviet Union. The USSR did not use force to ensure this unlike in Hungary and Czechoslovakia.

The movement showed that tough moves of threats, banning and imprisonment did not work. Solidarity only grew stronger. In the free elections of 1989, Solidarity won massive support and Walesa became first non-communist President.

This set an example to communist control for the rest of eastern Europe.


Factor #2 - Gorbachev

Gorbachev created a more open atmosphere and no longer used armed forces to enforce Soviet rule over Satellite states. This helped to reduce spending on the military.

Gorbachev proposed that the Soviet economy should be improved by “perestroika” – restructuring, including capitalist practices. More competition in industry was encouraged.

 Interest in free market capitalism and trade with the West increased. This also increased Soviet awareness of better standards of living in the West.

 He introduced “glasnost” – openness to restoring faith in government and end corruption. People who criticised the government should no longer be persecuted. This allowed discontent to grow.

He proposed a cut back in money spent on the arms race and signed arms limitation treaty with the USA.
He sought to establish more friendly relations with the west and signed arms reduction treaties.

 In 1989, communist regimes of eastern Europe toppled one by one as Gorbachev's reforms signalled that the Soviet Union could no longer intervene.

BUT: The problem was that the reforms were introduced too quickly and without preparation. The Soviet Union was in confusion and economic chaos.


Factor #3 - Weaknesses of the Communist system and the Warsaw Pact

 Communism was seen by many as corrupt and Soviet industry and agriculture inefficient.
The Soviet Union was in economic crisis. Food shortages were everywhere. Large sums of money were being spent on defence at the expense of many citizens living in poverty. An expensive war was being fought in Afghanistan in 1979.

Crisis in Soviet Union and communism played its part: Communism is based on equality and fairness but many had lost faith in it as there was much corruption; Industry and agriculture were inefficient leading to significant levels of imports; Large sums of money were being spent on defence and the Afghanistan war.
Warsaw Pact countries were clearly behind western countries in both economic and social development. The economy of the Soviet Union was failing.

 Corruption ran too deeply for the changes to happen. His withdrawal of Red Army support for other communist countries resulted in one by one the communist governments coming to an end.

 Communist governments in E. Europe could no longer expect support from Red Army to exercise control.
There was much corruption with Party members living in luxury whilst the workers were living in poverty.
The people no longer had faith in their government as they saw the West getting richer.

 Industry and agriculture were not efficient and there was the need for expensive imports.