The Soviet Union And The Sixth War

None of the Middle East war had no relationship with the Great Powers, so did the case in the Six Day War (June5,1967-June10,1967). Although the Six Day War broke out under the shadow of the cold war, the event itself was beyond its geographical scope. The two opposing camps, especially the U.S.A and the Soviet Union involved the war with varying degrees. The Soviet Union’s factors in the Six Day War had attracted lots of historians’interest. So, among series of factors leading to the Six Day War, what was the role of the Soviet Union? Whether did the Soviet Union deliberately provoke the war, or did the Soviet Union want the war to break out? In the course of the war, what was the Soviet Union’s attitude towards the ceasefire between Israel and Arabia state? Did the Soviet Union ever consider intervening the Six Day War by means of direct military? After the war, what attempts did the Soviet Union make in order to achieve the peace between Israel and Arabia states? During the war, whether did the Soviet Union’s behaviors win the Arab’s heart? Based on some archives, writings and other materials related to the Six Day War, we can discuss and solve these questions mentioned above. The full text is divided into five parts:Part Ⅰ:An overview of the Soviet Union’s policies in the Middle East since the Word War Ⅱ. Firstly, This part analyzes the Soviet Union s Middle East policies in the times of Stalin, mainly discussing the topic from two aspects:the Soviet Union’s policies towards Iran, Turkey based on the considerations of the state security in the southern border; the changes in the attitudes to the Palestinian issue which can be descried as being neutral to the Arab-Israeli conflict, then supporting for the Israel, finally being neutral to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Secondly, we will discuss the Soviet Union’s Middle East policies in the times of Khrushchev. This topic is composed of the relationship between the policy of "peaceful coexistence" and " Non-Aligned Movement", the relations between the Soviet Union and Syria, Egypt. Finally, we discuss the military factors’ consideration in the Soviet Union’s Middle East policies in1960s.Part Ⅱ:discussion about the increasingly-strained Arab-Israeli conflict and the Soviet response. This part is composed of three parts: the Soviet Union’s reaction to the conflict between Syria and Israel; the false information from the Soviet Union to the Arabia states; the Soviet Union’s attempts to keep the war breaking out. As far as I concerned, the false information from the Soviet Union produced the opposite result which the Soviet Union did not expected. The false information promoted the Egyptian to take a series of actions which gave grave pressures to Israel. The Great Powers’ mediation led to no veil results. At the same time, the Soviet Union’s efforts in preventing the war also failed. Finally, with the connivance of the U.S.A, Israel took the lead in launching the Six Day War.PartⅢ:the Soviet Union’s reaction in the Six Day War. At the beginning of the war, the Soviet Union was eager to broker a ceasefire, but the Arabia states’"confidence" made the Soviet Union have to passively support for the war to Israel. When the Arabia states were impatient to reach the ceasefire agreement, the Soviet Union seemed being in the flawless, because there was no comprise in the issue of Israeli withdrawal of its army. After Israeli army realized its targets in Egypt, Jordan battlefield, the Arabia states had to accept the reality, to comply with the truce agreement. When the Security Council passed the ceasefire agreement which demanded ceasefire motion between Syria and Israel, the Israel did not comply with it, and still launched military offensive to Syria. In the opinion of the Soviet Union, Israel had its plan to overthrow Syria. In order to prevent the incoming tragedy, the Soviet Union issued an ultimatum, threatening to intervene in the war. However, after the Israeli army captured the Golan Heights, the military confrontation came to an end. During the war, the Soviet Union made a quick response to the Arabia states’requests for military assistance. But the Soviet Union’s behaviors did not win the Arabia states’identity.Part Ⅳ: the Soviet Union’s efforts in seeking the solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. First of all, the Soviet Union continued to provide military assistance to compensate for the loss of the Arabia states in the Six Day War in order to consolidate the Arabia states. The other important measures were to make diplomatical efforts to achieve requirements which would ask for the Israeli withdrawal of its troops. But on the issue of acknowledgement of Israeli existence, the Arabia states could not retreat. As a result, the Soviet Union’s diplomatical efforts did not produce the results that the Soviet Union expected.Part Ⅴ:conclusion. During the Six Day War, the Soviet Union’s Middle East policies did not get rid of the cold war thinking. Although the Soviet Union did not want the Six Day War to break out, the Soviet Union’s false information eventually became one of the most important factors that led to the outbreak of the Six Day War. On the issue of reaching ceasefire agreement, the Soviet Union attitudes were complex. In order to maximize the maintenance of the Arabia states’interest, the Soviet Union gave the necessary assistance except for military intervention. As the matter of fact, the Soviet Union’s performance did not win the Arabia states’ reorganization. After the Six Day War, in order to restore the damaged image, besides the economic, military assistance, the Soviet Union also tried its best to ask for the withdrawal of the Israeli troops. Resolution242passed by Security Council could be seen as the achievement, but it did not realize the peace between the Arabia states and the Israel for ever.