AP World HistoryPOD #24 – Europe Clings to Relevance

The Soviet East

Class Discussion Questions

McKay- “Soviet Eastern Europe, 1945-1968”,

pp. 1001-1006

What policies did Stalin institute during his final years?

• Stalin’s new foreign foe in the west provided an excuse for re-establishing a harsh dictatorship

• There was a new round of purges and a reintroduction of forced labor camps

• Reintroduced the Five Year Plans- heavy industry was given a priority- consumer goods and agriculture were ignored

Who was Joseph Tito and what type of relationship did he have with the Soviet Union?• Communist chief of Yugoslavia

• Successfully resisted Soviet domination and the Red Army in 1948

• Yugoslavia prospered as a multiethnic state until the 1980s

What changes did Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev make upon the death of Stalin?

• 1955-1964• reformer critical of the rule of Stalin

(destalinization)• liberalization of the Soviet Union• brought in new party members• “peaceful coexistence” with the west- relaxation

of Cold War tensions• Destalinization bred rebelliousness in the

eastern satellites- 1956 Red Army had to crush Hungarian revolt

What fears motivated Khrushchev in his domestic and foreign policy?

• He feared that the west would discover how weak the Soviet Union really was

• Soviet Union had 8 operating nuclear missiles while the United States believed there was a missile gap and that the USSR possessed over 200

• Refused President Eisenhower’s proposal of an “Open Skies” approach for this reason

Why was Khrushchev replaced in a bloodless palace coup in 1964?

• 1964 Bloodless Palace Revolution• led by conservative hard line communists• failures of Khrushchev • Backed down after the western alliance refused

to leave West Berlin in 1958• Sino-Soviet split in 1961• 1961- construction of the Berlin wall to keep

easterners in • Weakness in dealing with the United States

during the Cuban Missile Crisis (October 1962)

How did Leonoid Brezhnev look to avoid the mistakes made by Khrushchev?

• 1964-1982• Leonoid Brezhnev began a period of

stagnation and limited “restalinization” • determined never to suffer Khrushchev’s

humiliation in the face of American superiority

• began massive arms build up• avoided direct confrontation with the

United States

What was the Brezhnev Doctrine and how was it applied over the course of the Cold War?• Brezhnev Doctrine- Soviet Union had the

right to intervene in any socialist country whenever they saw the need

• 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia demonstrated the conservatism of the Soviet Union’s ruling elite and its determination to maintain the status quo in the Soviet bloc

What was life like in Brezhnev’s Soviet Union?

• There was a re-Stalinization in the Soviet Union, however, the new dictatorship was collective rather than personal and coercion replaced terror

• The standard of living rose slowly for ordinary people although there was still a shortage of consumer goods

• Nationalism provided a source of stability

Who were the Great Russian’s?

• Communist Party leaders identified themselves with Russian patriotism they stressed their role in saving the country during the Second World War

• The Great Russians feared greater freedom might lead to calls for autonomy and independence from national ethnic minorities in the Soviet Union

• Liberalism and democracy were feared as it was believed they would undermine the order and stability in the Soviet Union

• Dissidents were blacklisted

What is meant by the phrase: “The Country went through a social revolution while Brezhnev slept”?• rapid growth of an urban population• old peasant ways were replaced with education and

technical skills• there was a new class of specially trained scientists and

managers• the educated desired membership in the “invisible

college” of international academics• intellectual freedom was needed (and given to scientists

as their work had military purpose)• education fostered a Soviet public opinion the educated

felt worthy of having a public voice in social and political decisions