The Cold War Thaws

Objective: Students will investigate the purpose of the Eastern bloc countries and their revolts to break away from the Soviets as measured through their Cornell notes.

Setting the Stage Eastern European countries such as Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Albania, and East Germany were not allowed to develop their own economies They were used to meet Soviet needs

Destalinization After Stalin’s death, a new and more moderate group of Soviet leaders came to power These new leaders allowed their satellite countries a taste of independence as long as they remained Communist More groups in these satellite countries began to rise and Soviets began to lose their grip over the region

Nikita Khrushchev Joseph Stalin died on March 5, 1953 Khrushchev became the new Soviet leader Publicly denounced Stalin claiming that Stalin jailed and killed many loyal Soviet citizens Began a policy called Destalinization- or purging the country of Stalin’s memory Workers destroyed monuments of the former dictator

Hungary Hungary became the first satellite country to rebel against the Soviets Imre Nagy lead this revolt and managed to take down the Soviet gov. in Hungary to establish his own gov. Eventually the Soviets came back and overpowered him Executed Nagy

Justify Think Pair Share Why do you think these satellite countries started to rebel against the Soviets? Why during Khrushchev’s reign?

Leonid Brezhnev After the Cuban Missile Crisis, Khrushchev became unpopular Made the Soviets look weak Voted out of power and replaced by Leonid Brezhnev Brezhnev quickly enforced laws to limit basic human rights and freedom to retain his power Arrested many dissidents and censored many newspapers

Chinese Soviet relationship Earlier in the Cold War, Stalin signed a peace treaty with Mao for 30 years However, China became more independent and refused to share nuclear secrets with the Soviets Soviets ended economic aid to China and the two split Fighting broke out in the Chinese-Soviet borders

Brinksmanship to Detente United States began backing away from direct confrontation or (brinksmanship) Richard M. Nixon believed in the policy of Détente – a policy of lessened Cold War tensions While the U.S. continued to contain communism, the two superpowers agreed to pursue détente

Justify Think Pair Share Define brinksmanship and détente. Compare and contrast the two. Which do you think was a more effective policy? Explain.

China as allies? Nixon knew of the uneasy relationship between China and the Soviets Nixon was the first U.S. president to ever visit a Communist country Met with Mao Zedong in China and negotiated trade with China

Justify Think Pair Share Why do you think the U.S. wanted to develop a relationship with China? Explain.

QW #43 – Triangular Relationship Explain the dynamic relationship between the United States, Soviet Union, and China. What was the situation between the three countries when President Richard Nixon took office? Elaborate in detail. (1 paragraph)