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History Essay By 1968, the USSR faced many challenges regarding its control over Eastern Europe, especially after Stalin's death and the control of the USSR by Nikita Khrushchev. Some examples include Hungary in 1956, and Czechoslovakia in 1968. In this essay I will discuss the challenges that the...

History Essay By 1968, the USSR faced many challenges regarding its control over Eastern Europe, especially after Stalin's death and the control of the USSR by Nikita Khrushchev. Some examples include Hungary in 1956, and Czechoslovakia in 1968. In this essay I will discuss the challenges that the USSR faced by 1968 and why. One challenge that the USSR faced by 1986 was the situation of the Soviet Union after the death of Stalin, and the appointment of Khrushchev. Khrushchev emerged as the new leader of the USSR in 1955. From the start, he believed that regaining control of Eastern Europe was the priority for the Soviet Union. He was determined to carry out political and economic reforms. In 1956, Khrushchev denounced Stalin in a speech known as the 'Secret Speech'. He urged the development of peaceful coexistence with non-communist nations in a process called de-Stalinisation. This speech was widely welcomed by the West as well as the Soviet Bloc. The satellite states experience d hardships in the time that Stalin was in power, for example they had to provide the USSR reparations in exchange for protection. While Khrushchev's criticisation suggested that Stalin's policies would be reversed, this wasn't implemented at once. and this caused riots to break out in countries such as Poland in 1956. Demands for political reform were defused with a programme of reform under Gomulka. He reassured Khrushchev that Poland would stay in the Warsaw Pact. However, this encouraged riots to break out in Hungary. Overall, The USSR faced the challenge of retaliation as Khrushchev's policies didn't happen immediately, causing unrest in several satellite states. Another challenge the USSR faced in 1968 was the state of Hungary due to the reforms in other satellite states. From 1948, Hungary was ruled by a pro-Stalin dictator called Matyas Rakosi. He used violence and terror to emphasise his control. In 1947, he killed around 2,000 people and imprisoned 200,000 political opposition. Numerous of Rakosi's economic reforms failed and this caused unstable relations with the Soviet Union. However, once Rakosi started becoming unpopular and riots broke out, he was replaced with a more popular communist leader Imre Nagy who believed that Khrushchev was not as strict as Stalin. Riots began on 23^rd^ of October and on November 1^st^ Nagy announced that Hungary would hold free elections and would withdraw from the Warsaw Pact. This would destroy the unity of the Soviet Union and weaken their defences, so the USSR took immediate action. On 4^th^ to 14^th^ November in Budapest, more than 6000 Soviet tanks crossed the border into Hungary and over 30,000 Hungarians were killed. While Nagy sought refuge in the Yugoslav embassy, he was captured and later executed. He was replaced by a pro soviet government led by Kadar. The West became engrossed in issues in Suez, as well as difficulties getting to Hungary over Austria's neutrality. Khrushchev threatened the West however, to prevent them from helping. Overall, the USSR faced challenges to its control over Eastern Europe by 1968 as riots and demands for reforms increased over Rakosi's harsh soviet government. Their trial to leave the Warsaw Pact proves the USSR's lack of control over Eastern Europe. Another challenge that the USSR faced by 1968 was the reforms that took place in Czechoslovakia. Due to dissatisfaction with his domestic and foreign policies, Khrushchev was removed and replaced with a more hard-line Leonid Brezhnev. He was also determined to retain Soviet control over Eastern Europe. The failure of reforms encouraged many Czechoslovakians to demand greater democracy and as the situation worsened, demonstrations began against the Czech leader Antonin Novotny in 1968. Therefore, the Communist Party sacked Novotny in January 1968 and replaced him with Alexander Dubcek, who wanted to introduce modest political and economic reforms. He introduced these reforms in April 1968 called the 'Action Programme' aiming at providing 'socialism with a human face' to improve communism. There would be greater political freedom, including free speech, improved working conditions and a 10-year programme for political change that would bring democratic elections. These reforms were widely welcomed and this era was called the 'Prague Spring' symbolising the new life in Czechoslovakia after the hard year that passed. Dubcek was a commited communist and stressed that Czechoslovakia would remain within the Warsaw Pact and Comecon. However the USSR feared that the liberal ideas of the Prague Spring would spread to other Eastern Bloc countries causing instability and threatening the security of the Soviet Union. Brezhnev tried to reason with Dubcek but he would risk getting criticised if he tried to backtrack his reforms. Despite this, in late July 1968 Soviet leaders met Dubcek and they reached an agreement called the Bratislava declaration. However on the night of the 20^th^ of August 1968, a 'tourist' flight from the USSR landed at Prague airport with 52 KGB officials who took over the Control Tower. Five members were involved, USSR, Poland, Hungary, East Germany and Bulgaria. 400,000 troops into Czechoslovakia in the night. Preparations were disguised as a part of a military exercise and NATO radar stations have been jammed in West Germany. Only a few casualities resulted as the government urged resistance. Czechs showed their opposition through Passive resistance but due to this, Dubcek was demoted and the communist government was restored. Due to the riots, other communist states were appalled by the incident, and this also caused a challenge for the USSR. For example, China spoke out against the invasion, introducing the emerging Sino-Soviet split, and Romania refused to co-operate with the USSR. In conclusion, many challenges were faced by the USSR over its control over Eastern Europe by 1968 because of economic failures, riots that were influenced by other countries, and poor leadership skills. The soviet's violence resulted in increased tension and instability as other countries were afraid of the USSR, and people began to turn away from communism especially seeing other Western countries thriving, and this resulted in the USSR's weakening control over the people of Eastern Europe and the people of Eastern Europe as well.