Cold War 1953- 1963

1953-1957

BIG changes take place on both sides of Cold War lines

United States: 1953- Eisenhower (Ike) elected president for Republican Party

Soviet Union: 1953 March 5- Stalin dies and a “troika” is set up to lead USSR

  1. includes Georgi Malenkov
  2. Nikita Khrushchev
  3. By 1956 Khrushchev is in power alone

Imperialism continues to collapse as more nations gain independence

Some notable examples:

  1. India (1947)
  2. Israel (1947)
  3. Egypt

-Many of these would call themselves “non-aligned nations” or the Third World, claiming to be neutral to both sides of the Cold War

-In reality, most lean to one side or the other

Example: India because of proximity to USSR, sides with them

Egypt later does the same and Israel leans to the US

1956: development of the Hydrogen Bomb (H-bomb)

Weakest of them at least 100 times stronger than the Hiroshima bomb!

Only a few could destroy the entire world

Secures the notion of MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) if war ever broke out between US and USSR.

Eisenhower Administration (1953-1961)

  1. Republican president and the mastermind of the D-Day invasion during WW2
  2. Republicans in US win elections on the promise to “roll back the Iron Curtain”
  3. All just political crap because they know they can’t do this without starting WW3
  4. Ike takes a hard-line stance against communism to confront it anywhere it pops up
  5. Dismisses Churchill’s suggestions of flexibility with the new Soviet leadership
  6. Introduces the idea of “Brinksmanship”- take nuclear war possibility to the edge so that other side backs down
  7. Helps to create SEATO (South-east Asian Treaty Organization) made up of:
  8. US
  9. UK
  10. France
  11. Philippines
  12. Australia
  13. New Zealand
  14. Pakistan

NOTE: few Asian countries in it because US is not very popular with them because of its support of former imperialist nations (UK and France)

The Dulles Brothers:

  1. Allen Dulles: head of the CIA (a complete ideologue; saw the world the way he wants rather than by the real facts)
  2. John Dulles: Secretary of State

Ike and Allen Dulles order many covert operations around the world to gain political support from other countries’ governments

Examples:

  1. Iran 1953: Operation Ajax for the overthrow of democratically elected socialist leader Mohammed Mosaddeq

Reasons:

  1. US and UK want cheap Iranian oil which leader had nationalized
  2. Iran close to USSR
  3. Us installs pro-US dictator Shah of Iran
  1. Guatemala 1956: United Fruit Company

US invades and removes the Guatemalan government when they nationalized the fruit plantations (owned by US businesses at the time)

Ike is a fiscal conservative (tries to not spend too much money)

  1. Cold War military spending taking huge drain on US economy
  2. Proposes massive cuts in the conventional spending with more focus put on the creation of non-conventional ICBMs and other nuclear weapons (described as being “bigger bang for the buck”)
  3. Ike gets away with this because people in the US see him as a military man who knows how to run it; no one would say he is “soft on the military”
  4. Allows for more domestic spending to improve Americans’ living standards

Nikita Khrushchev(c. 1953-1964)

  1. Came to power after “troika” with Malenkov
  2. Wanted to cut USSR military spending so he could improve living standards of Soviet people (military spending at times was 25%-60% of Soviet GDP)
  3. Wants better relations with the West
  4. Had to convince his military and government it was a wise policy
  5. Did this by relying on Ike’s reputation as an honest man
  6. Ike was respected by the USSR leadership
  7. Khrushchev told his government that Ike could be trusted
  8. Geneva Convention: Cod War leaders meet for the first time; see that each other are not demons, but people that can work together

“De-Stalinization”

At 20th Congress in February 1956, Khrushchev denounced Stalin in 4 hour speech

  1. Stalin cruel to his people
  2. created “cult of personality”
  3. slipped from communist ideals

Though he meant well from this speech, the political effects within Soviet sphere were HUGE

  1. Destabilized all Stalin appointed leaders in E. European countries
  2. Damaged relations with Chairman Mao (a Stalinist himself)
  3. Hurt communist ideology of being flawless revolutionary leaders (how can the leader of the revolution, Stalin, have flaws?)
  4. Also shows that Khrushchev is firmly in power to be bold enough to say this

Led to the Hungarian Revolution in 1956

  1. Hungarians rise up against Stalinist leader
  2. Soviet troops pull out of country
  3. Revolutionary Hungarian government wants to pull out of Warsaw Pact and establish multi-party, democratic system
  4. People encouraged by Radio Free Europe (CIA propaganda that said they would receive support from the West)
  5. November 6, 1956: Soviet Army invades Hungary and crushes revolution
  6. No US aid comes and Hungary remains most loyal member of Warsaw Pact until the end of Cold War

ParisSummit and U2 Incident

  1. Khrushchev has been bluffing on the strength of the USSR
  2. In reality, USSR has only 4-6 ICBMs and domestic front is not in very good shape; US by now has hundreds of ICBMs (winning the “missile gap”)
  3. New US spy planes show this
  4. Called U2 planes that fly at 70 000 feet
  5. Soviets know they are spying on them, but they are to high to shoot down
  1. Paris Summit of 1959 to discuss possible deal to limit nuclear weapons and military spending of both sides
  2. both leaders want this:
  3. Ike wants to look good in the eyes of the world for making a landmark deal
  4. Khrushchev wants to show his country it’s ok to cut military spending
  5. U2 plane, piloted by Francis Gary Powers, shot down May 1, 1960 (May Day in USSR)
  6. Very embarrassing to Khrushchev who had told Ike could be trusted
  7. Ike, under the impression the plane and pilot were destroyed in the crash, says it was a weather plane
  8. Khrushchev then shows the world the living pilot and pictures taken by the U2
  9. Deeply embarrassing to US and Ike, who is now seen as a liar to the world
  10. Khrushchev walks out of the Paris Summit and looks like a fool in his own country for being naïve to trust Ike; beginning of the end for his rule in USSR
  11. USSR military cutting plan not to happen now
  12. Cold War tensions rise sharply as a result of this

All of this a huge misunderstanding between two sides:

  1. both want to improve relations, but ideology keeps them from seeing each others’ perspectives
  2. Example:
  3. Ike and US never understand that Khrushchev or any other Soviet leader never has the kind of power Stalin had
  4. Ike can’t admit to the world that USSR is not as strong as it makes out to be because it could lead to war
  5. Khrushchev cannot cut military spending now
  6. He has a mindset of “screw it! I’ll wait for the next president and try to make a deal with him”

Ike’s Farewell Speech (January 17, 1961)

-Warns of an increasingly powerful and influential “military-industrial complex” that is taking more and more of a toll on the US economy

-It must be kept in check or the country could become too dependent on it

-Idea being that military producers and heads of the companies (Boeing, Halliburton, Lockheed, etc.) retire from thieir positions and then enter politics to continue to have influence within their company and government.

-Fear that perhaps military producers and government become one and the same over time

Because of the U2 Incident, Khrushchev cancels the proposed 1.4 million man cut in the Soviet Army

1960 Presidential Election

John F. Kennedy vs. Richard Nixon

JFK is young, new and quite inexperienced

Nixon is an ideologue with a lot of experience but a bit of a jerk to many people…

In the closest election to that point, JFK wins and becomes president in 1961…

JFK Administration

-Democratic Party

-Personality of JFK: pragmatic, vain, and rather shallow (alleged to have several affairs)

-First Roman Catholic to ever become president (only ever since)

He and Khrushchev do not like each other before they even meet; much of it based on ideology and upbringing

JFK: rich, upper-class, young, very fancy

Khrushchev: born as a peasant, kind of rude, communist (obviously no lover of upper-class)

-Khrushchev however, has lots of diplomatic/political experience, so he feels that JFK will be easy to manipulate and dominate in Summits

Bay of Pigs

  1. Castro’s rise to power in Cuba (use with Castro outline for more detail)
  2. He nationalizes all Cuban property, all of it owned by US businesses and the Mafia
  3. Ike plans to intervene to end Castro’s rule
  4. Allen Dulles and CIA plan to use Cuban exiles to invade the island and return it to US control/ influence
  5. Plan includes:
  6. Train 1000s of Cuban exile in Latin America
  7. Land at a point in Cuba called Bay of Pigs
  8. Idea being: when they land, Cuban people (who as people must hate communism) will rise up, overthrow Castro, and love the US for “freeing” them
  9. All completely ideological crap because the Cubans loved Castro
  10. Reason: he gives them LAND
  11. Educates them
  12. Provides good doctors and medical care
  13. Most know nothing about communism, but like what they are getting under it
  1. Kennedy comes to power and authorizes the invasion
  2. The entire thing was not kept secret: all major newspapers knew of it but chose not to report it (“patriotic reasons”)
  3. April 16, 1961: CIA planes attack Cuba and it is not very successful; only alerts Castro of the coming attack
  4. Only 1300 disorganized Cubans land
  5. from then on, it is a complete DISASTER
  6. landing point is a thin sand beach surrounded by mountains on two sides and a swamp in front, all controlled by pro-Castro forces
  7. at least 10000 soldiers are sent to defend the beach
  8. no one on Cuba rises up as they are all very anti-US policy
  9. the invasion is quickly crushed

Legacy:

  1. JFK actually becomes more popular at home because he is seen as at least trying to confront communism
  2. JFK caught saying once: “the more I f**k up, the more they [Americans] like me!”
  3. Khrushchev sees him as weak leading into the Vienna Summit

At Vienna Summit, JFK and Khrushchev not good friends:

  1. JFK more pragmatic, Khrushchev more ideologue
  2. They argue over ideology
  3. Khrushchev demands that both sides leave Germany and allow it to unify (hopefully under communist rule in his mind)
  4. JFK says no
  5. Causes K to say JFK only wants war, and JFK says that Germany’s problems are all Moscow’s fault
  6. All very undiplomatic words from both sides
  7. Lessons learned from Summit:
  8. JFK feels he must stand strong against K
  9. K feels he himself is the superior diplomat and negotiator

Second Berlin Crisis

East and West Berlin fairly open to movement of people back and forth

Thousands of East Germans work in West Berlin by passing through the Brandenburg Gate

Many however, defect to the West for better opportunities

Walter Ulbricht: leader of E. Germany, fears a “brain-drain” of the people with skills in his country.

He presses USSR to build a wall to keep people from leaving his Germany

August 12, 1961: East German soldiers put up barbed wire fencing dividing East and West Berlin

IDEA: If the West does NOT respond by tearing it down, we will build a wall

-Being 90 miles behind the Iron Curtain, obviously there is nothing the West can do about it, so the wall soon goes up

Consequences:

  1. Intended: Flow of people stops between the two sides
  2. Unintended but good: Tensions ease in Germany and Europe
  3. Good end to the “Germany being the heart of the Cold” question

JFK proposes massive military increase in the US to Congress:

Includes:

  1. Large military spending increase
  2. Call up of reserve force
  3. Prepare for a possible second Berlin Airlift if USSR cuts off West Berlin
  4. Construction of fallout shelters in the US