its based on the cold war
Explain two of the following:
-The importance of the Truman doctrine for the development of the cold war
-The importance of the construction of the Berlin wall for relations between the USA and the Soviet Union in the years 1962-63
-The importance of the Helsinki agreements for superpower relations
Option 1:
The Berlin Wall was formed after the refugee crisis in which East Germans were fleeing to West Germany through Berlin. In retaliation to this Khrushchev gave Western troops an ultimatum which was to leave Berlin in 6 months as it rightfully belonged to East Germany. However, despite the several summits such as the Geneva summit and Paris summit, no decision or middle ground was met between the two superpowers, so Khrushchev decided to build the Berlin wall. This made the USSR look weak as they had to physically divide Berlin as the crisis was too much for them to handle. It was a propaganda victory for the USA.
The Berlin wall worsened relations between the USA and the Soviet Union as it enforce the official divide between the east and west Germany, despite it previously being known as the iron curtain. This meant that tensions were rising between the two superpowers as they were unable to even come to a mutual standing or agreement. The wall also served as a strong division between communism and capitalism.
Option 2 :
The Helsinki Agreements was formed after a conference between superpowers in the period of detente. It had three key features known as baskets, one of them was that there would be no violation of the Eastern European borders . this benefited the soviet union as it meant the Americans wouldn't be able to get involved in the Soviet Union's satellite states. This developed tension but was more table as they came to this agreement to help their countries rather than keep up the arms race and come close to war again.
One other feature of the Helsinki Agreement was that human rights had to be respected. This was directly targeted to the Soviet Union, as their way of communism was very controlled and did not allow much freedom to the members of their satellite states. The Helsinki Agreements was evidence of the USA and Soviet Union’s attempting to build a better relationship and ease tensions which had been increasing for over 30 years.