The twentieth-century world, Year 10: the space race, Hungary and the U-2 crisis (East and West (Cold War) option)

Sputnik

提示Its name is also the Russian word for satellite.

为什么Sputnik 1 was launched on 4 October 1957. It was a polished metal sphere about 58 cm across, and its launch came as a shock to the United States.

They feared the USA was falling behind the USSR in military technology

提示A rocket does not care what it carries.

为什么Soviet success fed fears that the USA had fallen behind in developing new technology. Soviet successes in space triggered fears that the USA was falling behind.

Yuri Gagarin

提示He was a Soviet pilot.

为什么Gagarin's flight in Vostok 1 lasted 108 minutes and took him once around the Earth. It came only days before the Bay of Pigs landing in Cuba, and it added to Soviet prestige.

John F. Kennedy

提示He set the goal a few weeks after Gagarin's flight.

为什么The Apollo programme was designed to meet that national goal. Security and prestige were the two motives behind the space race.

Apollo 11

提示Neil Armstrong commanded it.

为什么Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon, while Michael Collins stayed in orbit. The USSR had been first with the first satellite, the first man and the first woman in space, so the landing was a major American success.

Imre Nagy

提示The Soviets backed his appointment as a way to calm the protests.

为什么The Soviets supported Nagy's reforms at first. Later, when Nagy's government announced that Hungary would leave the Warsaw Pact, the USSR crushed the uprising, and Nagy was executed.

The secret police fired on unarmed demonstrators

提示It was a violent reaction by the authorities.

为什么The uprising was caused by anger over declining living standards and a desire for greater freedom. For about a week the revolution seemed to succeed.

That Hungary would leave the Warsaw Pact

提示It concerned the military alliance of the Eastern Bloc.

为什么Moscow feared that if Hungary left the pact, other satellite states might follow. The Soviet forces attacked on 4 November 1956 with overwhelming military force.

They condemned it but did not send forces to help

提示Consider the risk of fighting a nuclear power.

为什么The West was deterred by the reality of a nuclear-armed Soviet Union, and was distracted by the British, French and Israeli military action in Egypt at the same time. The episode showed that the West would not risk war to free Eastern Europe.

200,000

提示A figure in the hundreds of thousands.

为什么Most of those who fled went to Austria. A new government under Janos Kadar imprisoned many people and executed leaders of the revolution.

Francis Gary Powers

提示He was later exchanged for a Soviet intelligence officer.

为什么The U-2 flew at altitudes that Soviet fighters could not reach, until a surface-to-air missile brought it down. Powers parachuted to the ground and was captured.

An apology for the spy flights over the USSR

提示He wanted the USA to admit it had done wrong.

为什么Eisenhower first denied the spying, and the USA then refused to apologise. Khrushchev walked out, and the summit, which was meant to discuss Germany and a possible test ban, was cancelled.

That it was a weather research aircraft

提示It was a story meant to hide spying.

为什么American authorities claimed it was a civilian weather research aircraft, but had to admit the true purpose of the flight after the Soviet government produced the captured pilot.

It wrecked the Paris Summit and increased tension between the superpowers

提示Look at what happened to the planned meeting of leaders.

为什么Before the crisis relations had shown signs of improvement. The summit was supposed to try to resolve issues such as Berlin and nuclear testing, but it collapsed.