Peaceful Coexistence

Peaceful coexistence failed by 1961 because neither the east nor the west was fully committed to it “how valid is this assessment” (45 marks)

Peaceful co-existence is the idea that the two super powers in the world, the USSR and the USA can accept each other’s ideologies and consequentially their satellite states in the interests of peace, whether they were both was entirely committed to this notion is debatable due to the series of events between 1953 and 1961. The Austrian state treaty of 1955 seemed to show Khrushchev’s commitment to peaceful coexistence, but with the formation of the Warsaw pact in the same year and his aggression after the U2 spy plane incident of 1960 and the gamble with peace over the Berlin wall in 1961 suggest his commitment to peaceful co-existence was not genuine, but a delay tactic until opportunities to show the USSR system was superior to capitalism arose, whereas some may see their actions as a result of “peaceful competition.” The US on the other hand could be seen as a representative of peaceful coexistence due to their passive response to the aggressive actions of the Soviet Union, such as not retaliating to the building of the Berlin wall, the proposal of the “open skies” policy at Geneva and in many similar events before 1953. On the other hand it may be argued that the US were the more significant aggressors during the period due to the series of nuclear tests which were carried out and the constant need to be technologically in front of the USSR resulting in a constant space and arms race. It could also be seen that the US had over committed to the Korean War compared to the other countries within NATO proving they were taking a tougher stance on pushing back communism compared to everywhere else.

USSR – Not Committed

Formation of the warsaw pact in 1955

1961 berlin wall ( kruschev wants demilitarisation of berlin)

Aggression towards JFK at Vienna summit 1961

USSR – committed

Malenkov...