Explain two consequences of the election of Alexander Dubcek as First Secretary of the Czech Communist Party in January 1968 (8 marks)
Answers
Answer:
Alexander Dubček. Alexander Dubček, (born Nov. 27, 1921, Uhrovec, Czech. ... [now in Czech Republic]), first secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (Jan. 5, 1968, to April 17, 1969) whose liberal reforms led to the Soviet invasion and occupation of Czechoslovakia in August 1968.
Answer:
Event Key Features Consequences
Tehran
Conference
November
1943
Meeting of the Grand Alliance. Mainly supported Stalin eg Britain and France
agreed to open a second front by invading France in 1944; USSR agreed to fight
Japan once war ended in Europe; United Nations was planned for after the
War; an area of eastern Poland was added to USSR
• Positive plan to end WWII in place eg 1944 opening of second front did help
defeat Germany by May 1945;
• Stalin’s Red Army has a free reign in Eastern Europe as they liberate from Nazism;
USSR is gaining land from Poland meaning Stalin can assume Soviet control in
Poland would be acceptable.
Yalta
Conference
February
1945
Grand Alliance met as Germany was close to defeat. Germany was the main
topic under discussion – agreed Germany would be divided into four zones, as
would Berlin; on the treatment of Nazi war criminals; USSR would help fight
against Japan; importance of free elections for liberated countries; USSR would
have a sphere of influence in the east. BUT disagreement re level of
reparations Germany should pay and Poland i.e. the location of the western
border with Germany and the nature of government.
• Agreement on the division of Germany i.e. four zones of occupation – Britain, USA,
France and the USSR. Berlin would also be divided into four sectors. Stalin felt
aggrieved that he had the poorer section of Germany and that the west had the
wealthiest and industrial areas. This created greater tension between the allies
• The situation on Poland created tension as the west believed there should be free
elections in Poland, yet Stalin wanted to ensure the coalition government
established in 1945 had more “Lublin poles” that were sympathetic to the USSR
than “London Poles” who were supporters of the USA. Stalin’s plan to build a
buffer zone against future attack meant that there were increased tensions
around Poland.
Potsdam
Conference
July 1945
Grand alliance met one last time. The atmosphere had changed – Stalin’s army had
liberated Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and
Romania; he had set up a communist government in Poland; the Red Army remained
intact and powerful unlike the demilitarisation in the west. In the case of the USA, they
had successfully tested the A Bomb without sharing secrets with the USSR. Also a
change in leadership – no longer Roosevelt and Churchill but Truman and Atlee.
Agreed on the division of Germany as at Yalta; democracy to be re-established in
Germany; reparations to be paid by Germany – most would go to the USSR to repair
their nation; Nazi Party banned; UN established; Poland’s frontier moved westwards to
the rivers of Oder and Niesse. BUT no agreement on Germany in the long term – Stalin
wanted them crippled with reparation so never strong enough to attack again; Truman
refused. Also the interpretation of “free elections” differed between the USA and USSR
• Differences were exposed about free elections. Truman expected democratic
elections in eastern Europe and eventually in Germany. Whereas Stalin viewed
the east of Europe as his “sphere of influence”. Insistence on free elections was
seen as interference from the west. Instead he slowly took control of the eastern
European countries through control of coalitions, control of state administration
and eventually rigged elections to establish loyal communist governments.
• Germany was divided into four sectors each to be administered by Britain, France,
USA and the USSR. The Soviet sector was in the east of Germany; Berlin was in this
sector but subdivided among the allies. The three western allies had control over
the west of the country. This deepened the east-west divide.