Main Causes
What was the US-USSR relationship prior to the thaw?
Tense and hostile, marked by suspicion, nuclear arms race, and proxy conflicts.
Between whom was there a short-term easing of tensions?
The US and the USSR
Why was the Iron curtain symbolic in the cold war?
Because it was the dividing line between the Western and Eastern side
Who was Nikita Khrushchev?
Soviet leader who initiated The Thaw.
In what year did the Soviet Union fall
1991
What reforms did Khrushchev want to make to the USSR?
De-Stalinization, agricultural and industrial modernization, and easing political repression.
What was the U-2?
A spy plane sent to the USSR by the United States
What did the possession of atomic warheads caused in both superpowers?
It caused consciousness in the superpowers’ leaders that a nuclear war would lead to a potential extinction of humanity
Who was Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn?
He was a Russian writer and a criticism of Soviet socialism
What is NATO?
North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a military alliance formed in 1949 to counter the Soviet threat
Who won the competition of power in the USSR after the previous president’s demise?
Nikita Khrushchev won the power struggle after Stalin's death
What of the following events didn’t occur shortly after the thaw: Cuban Missile Crisis, Yugoslavia collapse, Berlin Crisis.
Yugoslavia collapse
Explain how “The Thaw” cooled down Soviet relations with the west
With the death of Stalin and the new president Khrushchev in charge, the Soviet Union became a much less repressive and radical communist state, making the west less worried about an aggressive expansion of this ideology.
How Joseph Stalin relates to The Thaw
Because of his death
What was going Mexico through during the thaw?
A period of political stability under the PRI and growing U.S. influence during the Cold War
What characterized the nuclear Anxiety?
Fear of nuclear war, widespread public worry, and preparedness drills
What happened after the U-2 was shot down?
It worsened US-USSR relations
What is détente in the context of the cold war?
Détente in the context of the cold war refers to an easement in general tensions between the two blocks, like a cool down, a thaw.
What did Nikita Khrushchev do?
Pursue both reforms and ideological confrontation with the West.
What is the Warsaw pact?
Military alliance of communist countries led by the USSR, formed in 1955 to counter NATO
Explain what De-Stalinization consisted of
Rejecting Stalin's policies, releasing political prisoners, and promoting more openness.
Mention three temporary benefits brought by the thaw.
Greater freedom of expression, cultural revival, and fewer political arrests
What did the thaw exposed about Soviet politics?
The duality between changing domestic policies while keeping hard control in satellite states
Mention any US president during the thaw
Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy.
Mention 5 countries alligned with the US and 5 alligned with the USSR. (Not including the US and the USSR)
US: UK, France, West Germany, Canada, Japan.
USSR: East Germany, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania