U.S. RUSSIAN RELATIONS SINCE WW2 PART 3
COLD WAR CONTINUES
Stalin seemed reclusive and possibly paranoid, this may have been a well grounded concern, he refused to fly, he seldom left territory under his control, and was ruthless with his adversaries.
Khrushchev was much more outgoing and a bit of a showman, much more willing to travel around the world and made several trips to the U.S.. Khrushchev, who was one of Stalin's top underlings, took part in many of the excesses of the Stalin era. He took part in the purges and did as he was ordered by Stalin. After Stalin's death, he did close the Gulag camps, freed many political prisoners and instituted many reforms that benefited the people. He was willing to use extravagant language and props to bring attention to his cause. He was noted for a tirade at the U.N in 1960 were he pounded his hand on the podium and finally used his shoe to continue making his point. While he still advocated the expansion of communism, he also attempted to warm relations with the West.
With the loosening of the iron grip of Stalin, there were self determination movements in Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland in the 1950's, and 1960's some that were put down by force. NATO added Greece and Turkey in 1952. West Germany was added in 1955 and the Soviets then formally instituted the "Warsaw Pact" in the same year. This tit for tat chess game continued and culminated in the Cuban Missile Crises in 1962. The U.S. stated in no uncertain terms that there could be no Soviet missiles in Cuba. Castro advised the Soviets to launch a preemptive nuclear attack on the U.S.. Finally Khrushchev relented and withdrew the weapons with an agreement that the U.S. would withdraw their missiles from Turkey. This was an agreement kept secret until the 1970's. In 1964 Khrushchev was removed and retired from politics, he died of natural causes in 1971. He was a step in the right direction for normalization of relations with the West, but change sometimes moves slowly.
Khrushchev was replaced by Leonid Brezhnev, who ended many of the cultural reforms of his predecessor. He reintroduced some of the oppressive policies of Stalin and stepped up the arms race with the West. He also supported the North Vietnamese in their war with the south. Khrushchev was opposed to the continuation of this war. Brezhnev instituted the "Brezhnev Doctrine", which stated that the Soviet policy was to support socialist governments and movements worldwide. While more of a hardliner than Khrushchev he was by no means another Stalin. While supporting communist movements in central America and Afghanistan, he moved to negotiate several arms control agreements with the west. The domestic economy moved into a period of stagnation during his term. He died on Nov. 10, 1982 and was replaced by Yuri Andropov.
Andropov was an ex KGB director, he intensified the internal struggle against dissidents and was again increasing the arms race with the west. He died on Feb. 9, 1984. He was replaced by Konstantin Chernenko who died March 10, 1985
It should be noted that the last few leaders were old and in ill health when they came into office. These men were all early leaders of the Communist party and found it difficult to lead reforms. It seemed that most who came after Stalin hoped to lessen tensions with the west, but after a lifetime of devout communism it was difficult task. Most drank heavily and often were heavy smokers. This may have been a result of a life of uncertainty and danger that may have been hard to overcome. There may be a similar situation with many in the western defense and intelligence communities who grew up in a era of the cold war and cannot put it behind them.
Chernenko was replaced by Mikhail Gorbachev on March 11, 1985, he was 54 years old, the first leader born after the revolution in 1917. He had given speeches in the Kremlin advocating reform and now had a chance to try to bring about those reforms.
This was originally publishes 1 /16/17 part 3 of 7
Khrushchev was much more outgoing and a bit of a showman, much more willing to travel around the world and made several trips to the U.S.. Khrushchev, who was one of Stalin's top underlings, took part in many of the excesses of the Stalin era. He took part in the purges and did as he was ordered by Stalin. After Stalin's death, he did close the Gulag camps, freed many political prisoners and instituted many reforms that benefited the people. He was willing to use extravagant language and props to bring attention to his cause. He was noted for a tirade at the U.N in 1960 were he pounded his hand on the podium and finally used his shoe to continue making his point. While he still advocated the expansion of communism, he also attempted to warm relations with the West.
With the loosening of the iron grip of Stalin, there were self determination movements in Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland in the 1950's, and 1960's some that were put down by force. NATO added Greece and Turkey in 1952. West Germany was added in 1955 and the Soviets then formally instituted the "Warsaw Pact" in the same year. This tit for tat chess game continued and culminated in the Cuban Missile Crises in 1962. The U.S. stated in no uncertain terms that there could be no Soviet missiles in Cuba. Castro advised the Soviets to launch a preemptive nuclear attack on the U.S.. Finally Khrushchev relented and withdrew the weapons with an agreement that the U.S. would withdraw their missiles from Turkey. This was an agreement kept secret until the 1970's. In 1964 Khrushchev was removed and retired from politics, he died of natural causes in 1971. He was a step in the right direction for normalization of relations with the West, but change sometimes moves slowly.
Khrushchev was replaced by Leonid Brezhnev, who ended many of the cultural reforms of his predecessor. He reintroduced some of the oppressive policies of Stalin and stepped up the arms race with the West. He also supported the North Vietnamese in their war with the south. Khrushchev was opposed to the continuation of this war. Brezhnev instituted the "Brezhnev Doctrine", which stated that the Soviet policy was to support socialist governments and movements worldwide. While more of a hardliner than Khrushchev he was by no means another Stalin. While supporting communist movements in central America and Afghanistan, he moved to negotiate several arms control agreements with the west. The domestic economy moved into a period of stagnation during his term. He died on Nov. 10, 1982 and was replaced by Yuri Andropov.
Andropov was an ex KGB director, he intensified the internal struggle against dissidents and was again increasing the arms race with the west. He died on Feb. 9, 1984. He was replaced by Konstantin Chernenko who died March 10, 1985
It should be noted that the last few leaders were old and in ill health when they came into office. These men were all early leaders of the Communist party and found it difficult to lead reforms. It seemed that most who came after Stalin hoped to lessen tensions with the west, but after a lifetime of devout communism it was difficult task. Most drank heavily and often were heavy smokers. This may have been a result of a life of uncertainty and danger that may have been hard to overcome. There may be a similar situation with many in the western defense and intelligence communities who grew up in a era of the cold war and cannot put it behind them.
Chernenko was replaced by Mikhail Gorbachev on March 11, 1985, he was 54 years old, the first leader born after the revolution in 1917. He had given speeches in the Kremlin advocating reform and now had a chance to try to bring about those reforms.
This was originally publishes 1 /16/17 part 3 of 7
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