The U-2U-2U-2, single-seat, high-altitude jet aircraft flown by the United States for intelligence gathering, surveillance, and reconnaissance. Perhaps the most famous spy plane ever built, the U-2, also known as the Dragon Lady, has been in service since 1956.

What were the consequences of the U-2 crisis?

The fallout over the incident resulted in the cancellation of the Paris Summit scheduled to discuss the ongoing situation in divided Germany, the possibility of an arms control or test ban treaty, and the relaxation of tensions between the USSR and the United States.

How did the U-2 crisis lead to an international crisis?

The US was embarrassed as it was shown to be using espionage and that it had lied about the U2’s mission. They no longer held the moral high ground in the Cold War. No deal was reached over the future of Berlin or Cuba and both would remain major sources of tension for the remainder of the Cold War.

What was the U-2 crisis GCSE?

Just thirteen days before the summit on 1 May 1960, an American U2 spy plane , piloted by Gary Powers, was shot down over the USSR. The USA claimed that the U2 was a weather monitoring plane that had lost its way.

How did the U-2 incident affect the Cold War?

The U-2 spy incident increased the tension between the two nations and helped escalate the Cold War. The Soviet Union knew the exact moment Francis Gary Powers crossed over into their territory and knew exactly how high he was flying over their cities.

How did the US react to the U-2 incident?

Initially, American authorities acknowledged the incident as the loss of a civilian weather research aircraft operated by NASA, but were forced to admit the mission’s true purpose a few days later after the Soviet government produced the captured pilot and parts of the U-2’s surveillance equipment, including

What happened as a result of the fall of the Soviet Union?

The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the process of internal disintegration within the Soviet Union (USSR) which resulted in the end of the country’s and its federal government’s existence as a sovereign state, thereby resulting in its constituent republics gaining full sovereignty on 26 December 1991.

What was the crisis that led to the fall of the Soviet Union?

The unsuccessful August 1991 coup against Gorbachev sealed the fate of the Soviet Union. Planned by hard-line Communists, the coup diminished Gorbachev’s power and propelled Yeltsin and the democratic forces to the forefront of Soviet and Russian politics.

What caused the tension between the US and the Soviet Union?

As World War II transformed both the United States and the USSR, turning the nations into formidable world powers, competition between the two increased. Following the defeat of the Axis powers, an ideological and political rivalry between the United States and the USSR gave way to the start of the Cold War.

What caused the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union?

Historians have identified several causes that led to the outbreak of the Cold War, including: tensions between the two nations at the end of World War II, the ideological conflict between both the United States and the Soviet Union, the emergence of nuclear weapons, and the fear of communism in the United States.

Why did the Soviet Union collapse GCSE?

There were 6 key events which led to the collapse of the USSR: ❖ Gorbachev attempted to reform the USSR to save communism. ❖ The USSR lost control of eastern Europe between 1989 and 1990 because of Gorbachev’s reforms. ❖ There was an attempted coup against Gorbachev by the Gang of 8 in August 1991.

How did the shooting down of a U2 spy plane became an international crisis?



During the Summit, the Soviets were angry because they had shot down a US U2 plane which had been sent to spy on their military sites. Khrushchev was even more annoyed because the Americans lied about it and refused to apologise. As a result the Summit collapsed with no improvement in Cold War relations.

What were the main causes of ww2 GCSE?

Causes of the Second World War

  • Hitler’s foreign policy aims.
  • How Hitler destroyed the Treaty of Versailles.
  • Rearmament 1934 and the Rhineland.
  • German territorial expansion Anschluss, the Sudetenland 1938.
  • Arguments for and against appeasement.
  • The Munich Conference.
  • The actions of other dictators.

What were the consequences of the Berlin Crisis?

The Berlin Crisis of 1948–1949 solidified the division of Europe. Shortly before the end of the blockade, the Western Allies created the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Two weeks after the end of the blockade, the state of West Germany was established, soon followed by the creation of East Germany.

What are the major consequences of the disintegration of Soviet Union?

The consequences of the disintegration of the Soviet Union are fall of socialist ideology and the rise of capitalism, change in power equations among world countries, end of Cold War, emergence of unipolarity and the emergence of new countries.

What were the long term consequences of the Berlin Crisis?



The Berlin wall divided families who found themselves unable to visit each other. Many East Berliners were cut off from their jobs. West Berliners demonstrated against the wall and their mayor Willy Brandt led the criticism against the United States who they felt had failed to respond.

What impact did World War II have on the Soviet Union?

Postwar Demographic Crisis—The war drastically reduced the population of the Sovi- et Union. While exact figures are not availa- ble, more than 20 million Soviet citizens are believed to have been killed during the war. Men were most affected due to the large num- ber of military casualties.

How did the U 2 incident affect the American Soviet relationship?

The U-2 incident was a confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union that began with the shooting down of a U.S. U-2 reconnaissance plane over the Soviet Union in 1960 and that caused the collapse of a summit conference in Paris between the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and France.

What was the most significant impact of World War 2?

World War II was, arguably, the most significant and influential event of the twentieth century. The devastation is almost incalculable: total military and civilian deaths are estimated at 70 to 85 million, about 3% of the global population during that time. World War II also saw the dawn of the nuclear age.