Objections in East European states to Soviet control met with resistance.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Oct/Nov 2024). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [4] Families and friends were separated.
2. [4] Those who had been working in the West were unable to go there.
3. [4] People were prevented from leaving the East.
4. [4] Many of those who tried to escape the East were killed.
5. [4] Living standards for those in the East declined.
6. [4] People from the East could not buy goods from the West.
7. [6] One reason for the demand for change was that Czechoslovakia was suffering economic problems. There was a recession in the 1960s and Czech industry struggled to produce goods for the people to buy. The standard of living dropped. People resented this because the economy was controlled by the Soviet Union. The Czechs wanted restriction on the economy lifted so that wages could be increased and those running the factories and businesses would be free to make decisions.
8. [2-3] The Czech economy was struggling in the 1960s.
9. [2-3] Living standards fell and the Czechs wanted to take control of how businesses operated.
10. [2-3] There was a new leader of the Communist Party, Alexander Dubček, who wanted to introduce reforms.
11. [2-3] Dubček wanted to end censorship.
12. [2-3] The people wanted the opportunity to criticise the way the country was run without being punished.
13. [2-3] The Czech people were tired of having no control over their own country.
14. [1] An uprising called the Prague Spring broke out in Czechoslovakia in 1968.
15. [10] Although there were some differences, the reaction was broadly similar in that troops were deployed to stop the uprisings. Also, the outcome was the same in that Soviet power was re-established.
16. [4-6] The Soviet reaction to the uprising in Hungary seemed to be harsher than their reaction to the Prague Spring. One way this was evident was in how they dealt with the leaders of the uprisings. In Hungary, the leader Nagy had been promised that he would be allowed to leave the country safely. This was not true, as he was hanged in Moscow in 1958. The leader of Czechoslovakia, Dubček, was dealt with differently. He was replaced as party secretary, expelled from the party and spent the next twenty years working as a clerk.
17. [4-6] The way the Soviets reacted to events was not all that different. Both countries were invaded by Soviet forces and Soviet-dominated communist power was re-established. In Hungary, Soviet tanks moved into Budapest in November 1956, and captured Hungary's airfields, highway junctions and bridges. Similarly, Soviet tanks moved into Czechoslovakia in August 1968.
18. [2-3] In Hungary, Nagy was hanged.
19. [2-3] In Czechoslovakia, Dubček was expelled from the Communist Party.
20. [2-3] In late October 1956 the Russian army pulled out of Budapest.
21. [2-3] The Russian army remained in Czechoslovakia throughout the crisis.
22. [2-3] There was bitter fighting in Hungary between the people and Soviet troops.
23. [2-3] In both countries the Soviet reaction was invasion.
24. [2-3] In both countries protest was crushed.
25. [2-3] In both countries the leaders were removed from power.
26. [1] Uprisings broke out in both places because the people did not like Soviet control.