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Superpower Relations and the Cold War, 1941–91

The Cold War intensifies

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 2 booklet P

Overview

The Soviet atomic bomb, the hydrogen bomb, the Warsaw Pact, Khrushchev's attack on Stalin, Nagy's reforms and his break with the Pact, the invasion of November 1956, the western response and the UN veto.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Numbers

How did the Soviet Union end the American monopoly on nuclear weapons?

Numbers

Which far more powerful weapon did each side test in the early 1950s?

Key term

Why did piling up nuclear weapons make each superpower cautious rather than reckless?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    How did the Soviet Union end the American monopoly on nuclear weapons?

    Model answer

    It tested its own atomic bomb in 1949, years earlier than the Americans had expected.

  2. 2

    Which far more powerful weapon did each side test in the early 1950s?

    Model answer

    The hydrogen bomb, tested by the USA in 1952 and by the Soviet Union the following year.

  3. 3

    Why did piling up nuclear weapons make each superpower cautious rather than reckless?

    Model answer

    Because neither could attack without being destroyed in the reply, so the weapons deterred war even as they made it more frightening.

  4. 4

    What was the Warsaw Pact, and what prompted its creation in 1955?

    Model answer

    A military alliance of the Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellites, set up after West Germany was allowed to rearm and join NATO.

  5. 5

    Why did Khrushchev's criticism of Stalin in 1956 raise hopes in Hungary?

    Model answer

    His attack on Stalin's cruelty suggested Moscow would allow more freedom, so Hungarians expected they could loosen the harsh rule imposed on them.

  6. 6

    What changes did Imre Nagy announce after becoming Hungarian leader in October 1956?

    Model answer

    Free elections, the release of political prisoners, an end to the secret police and the withdrawal of Soviet troops.

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