Crises of the Cold War in the 1950’s

 

Use the sites linked to answer the questions in the sections below for your notes.

 

The Mood in the Soviet Bloc

http://www.fsmitha.com/h2/ch24t60.html

 

  1. Describe the problems facing the Soviet Union and it satellite nations in this time period.  Address issues surrounding Korea, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland and East Germany specifically.
  2. How did Stalin’s death create problems for the Soviet leadership?

 

Hungarian Rebellion

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/hungary_1956.htm

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB76/

 

  1. What was Hungary’s status at the end of WWII?
  2. Who were Imre Nagy and Janos Kadar?  How did they get into power?
  3. What did Nagy do and why did it upset Moscow?
  4. Describe Moscow’s response.
  5. What was the US response and why?
  6. What were the repercussions for the people of Hungary and their leadership?

 

Suez Crisis

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5199392.stm http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/suez.htm

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/COLDsuez.htm

 

  1. How did the crisis erupt?  Describe the goals and interests of each involved party.
  2. Examine the documents below the general discussion on the Spartacus site.  What concerns do the British appear to have?  What is the position of the Americans as reflected by Eisenhower?
  3. How was the crisis solved?  What is the Canadian connection?

 

Cuban Missile Crisis

http://library.thinkquest.org/11046/days/index.html

  1. How did the crisis erupt?  Describe the goals and interests of each involved party.
  2. Visit the Recon Room to see some of the evidence that the leaders had to work with.
  3. Go to the “Briefing” section of the site for an overview of the various phases of the crisis.  Note each phase and the key events in each.
  4. Go to the situation room to check out some primary documents relating to this crisis.  What do they reveal about the personalities of the leaders and their roles in solving the crisis?

 

Cold War Chronology

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/cold%20war%20chronology.htm

 

  1. Consider the position of these three events in the Cold War timeline.  Did they draw the world closer to or back from a large-scale “hot” conflict?
  2. Create you own timeline combined with a graphed “tensionmeter.”  Be creative—it could be a line graph, bar graph or tension ranking with stars and/or hammers to demonstrate the degree of tension and responsibility.  Leave room for the major events we have not yet discussed as you will be adding them on as we proceed.

 

Created by S. Blom

For CHY 4UW--2007