After the death of Stalin in March 1953, Nikita Khrushchev emerged as leader of the USSR. There was also change in the US Presidency as Harry Truman was replaced by Dwight Eisenhower. Both the USA and the USSR felt secure enough to pursue different approaches to foreign policy, and these changes led to the establishment of a framework for improved relations. Peaceful Coexistence was adopted by Khrushchev during the 20th Party Congress, with aims to reduce hostility between the two superpowers. Despite hostility created by Hungary in 1956 and Berlin 1958-1962, superpower relations after 1953 did generally stabilise, as pressures from the arms race and economic concerns pushed them towards accommodation.
Peaceful coexistence was a theory developed and applied by the Soviet Union at various points during the Cold War in the context of its ostensibly Marxist–Leninist foreign policy and was adopted by Soviet-influenced "Communist states" that they could peacefully coexist with the capitalist bloc (USA) who had also decided they did not wish to continue in a hostile manner with the Soviet Union. Many tensions between the USA and the Soviet Union during the Cold War seemed to have been eased by ‘peaceful coexistence’. Developments such as the end of the Korean War in 1953 and factors such as the Austrian independence, improved Soviet-Yugoslavia relations in 1955 and the ‘Geneva Spirit’ based on east-west summit diplomacy and Khrushchev’s visit to the USA in 1959 showed ‘peaceful coexistence’ easing up the Cold War tensions in the years 1953 – 1961’. However, factors, which ensured Cold War tensions remained in the years 1953-61, were the US attitudes towards communism in the 1950s such as the domino theory and the Soviet concept of peaceful coexistence based on long-term victory of communism. The impact of the Berlin Crisis and the u2 spy plane incident in 1960 also displayed the tensions between the superpowers during the Cold War years.
Stalin helped Communist parties in them to win power, he made sure that these eastern European countries followed the same policies as the Soviet Union by becoming one-party states. * There was also a need to restore law and order. This provided a good excuse to station Soviet troops in each country. * The economies of Eastern Europe were shattered. Governments followed the economic policies of the Soviet Union.
‘Peaceful coexistence' is an ideology enunciated by Khrushchev after the Twentieth Congress which governed Soviet foreign policy during the so-called Khrushchev Thaw. This emphasised the possibility of ideological coexistence of both the Communist bloc and the capitalist bloc which marked a paradigmatic shift from the Stalinist doctrine of antagonistic contradiction and inevitable conflict between Communism and capitalism. Furthermore, it highlighted that countries should be allowed to take ‘different roads to socialism’ thus decreasing the role of the USSR for stringent bolshevisation of states as seen in the dissolution of Cominform. Due to the emergence of brinkmanship politics and development of nuclear weapons such as the H-Bomb, the ideology aims to minimise possibilities of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD), alongside ‘military conflict with the West’. ‘Peaceful coexistence’ was argued by revisionist historians such as Alperovitz that it eased political tensions between the two superpowers through modus vivendi such as in the Austrian State Treaty.
When Reagan became President he had only one well-defined foreign policy goal: containing the Soviet Union or the "evil empire" as he once referred to it (Reagan 1983). He primarily wanted to stop the USSR from growing larger and to keep other non-Communist countries from becoming Communist. He disliked the decade-long Détente begun by President Nixon and continued by President Ford. Détente is defined as a relaxation of strained relations or tensions between nations, in this case the two nations being the United States and the Soviet Union. Reagan firmly believed that the USSR was using Détente and the SALT talks to take advantage of the United States.
When Stalin agreed to join a partnership with the Americans, officials were having second thoughts. Stalin was considered a troublesome ally. When news of the successful Alamogordo test reached Potsdam, top American officials began to view the atomic bomb as a way to avoid the need for Soviet involvement in the Pacific War, rather than viewing Soviet involvement as a way to avoid the need for the Bomb. Secretary of State James Byrnes was eager to “get the Japanese affair over before the Russians got in” and felt that knowledge of America’s new weapon would make the Soviets more manageable. Ways to avoid dropping the atomic bomb were never really a matter of discussion.
An important factor as to why Stalin was able to emerge as leader was due to the advantages that he had as a result of his position within the communist party. Stalin managed to obtain the role of head of central control commission. His role presented him with the power to investigate and discipline members of the party. He used this to the best of his manipulative ability by not expelling those who disagreed and went against him ideologically. Another important factor was the weaknesses of his opponents for example Trotsky was a weak powerbase due to his old age although he had high authority as he was the leader of the red army.
It can be seen that, even after Poltava, Russian industry was still instrumental in Peter’s absolutism, as the stable economy prevented the revolt of important members of society such as merchants, who could now trade effectively with other countries. However, there were some reforms that were unconnected with foreigners, and others which were Western in origin but not designed to strengthen his rule. The abolition of the position of Patriarch was a move prompted not by any Western influence but by Peter’s desire to remove opposition, and hence maintain his absolutism. The actual date (1700) was determined by the convenient death of Patriarch Adrian, and Peter chose not to appoint a successor as the war was going badly and he was unpopular, and the Patriarch would have been a focus for disillusioned Russians. The assemblies which were held from December 1718 in St Petersburg and included the compulsory presence of women, were a complete break with the Muscovite tradition but owed more to Peter’s desire to show the extent of his Westernisation, rather than any advance in royal
Japan had made clear overtures to peace, but cultural differences made this nearly impossible (the shame of unconditional surrender goes against their code of honour). The determination to use an expensive bomb instead of letting it rust away; the desire to find out how devastating it was and the opportunity to use the bomb as a strong showcase of US supremacy, made Japan the ideal target. Obviously, the USSR would eventually succeed in creating the a-bomb. Therefore, making Hiroshima & Nagasaki the example of the tremendous power of the bombs would make it clear to the USSR that they too needed such weapons to defend themselves. Moreover, other countries claimed the right of nuclear weapons to defend their citizens.
The Prague Spring which Czechoslovakia was to invade on was important for the Soviet Union as it was again able to put down a revolution for reforms against the strict communism employed. The Korean War was beneficial to both countries and no ground was obtained in either’s attempt to spread either communism or democracy. The Tet offensive was beneficial to the soviets as North Vietnamese showed that they could fight against the U.S. in open fields and conventional warfare which was the beginning of the end for the U.S. in Vietnam. The bombing of the Ho Chi Minh Trail was helpful for the Soviet Union as the bombing destabilized the neighboring Cambodia. The overthrow of Ferdinand Marcos was a victory for the U.S. as it lead to democratic elections in which Corazon Aquino was elected.