Tag Archives: Communism
The execution of Hungarian Communist leader Imre Nagy
On June 16th 1958, Hungarian Communist politician Imre Nagy was executed.
The origin and start of the Prague Spring
On the 5th January 1968, the Prague Spring began when Alexander Dubček became the new First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
The construction of the Berlin Wall
A short film documenting the construction of the Berlin Wall, featuring interviews with people who were affected by it.
Interpretations of the Berlin Wall
This video compares the West’s and East’s interpretations of the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961.
Why the USA cut diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1961
On the 3rd January 1961, the United States of America severed its diplomatic relationship with Cuba and closed the American embassy in Havana.
The Cuban Missile Crisis – revision podcast
In 1962 the world came closer than it had come before to a ‘hot war’ in the nuclear age. Cuba, a small island about 90 miles from the coast of Florida in the USA, was the focus of the world’s attention for 13 nerve-wracking days in October.
This podcast begins with an overview of Cuba’s revolution led by socialist rebel Fidel Castro against the right-wing Batista and explains how the USA’s subsequent trade embargo led Cuba to begin a relationship with the USSR. The episode then goes on to describe the failed Bay of Pigs invasion a year before a U2 spy plane revealed that the USSR was helping Cuba to develop bases for nuclear missiles.
The second part of the podcast presents the different options offered to President Kennedy, and how his decision to mount a naval blockade against any more Russian ships coming to Cuba led to both sides settling the dispute via a series of telgrams.
The episode concludes with a consideration of whether either side ‘won’ the crisis. Evidence is presented on both sides of the argument.
