The Cold War – Eisenhower and the 1950s

1. The Cold War – Eisenhower and the 1950s

2. Eisenhower’s Policies • When Eisenhower entered office in 1953, he had added a “New Look” to the traditional foreign policies: • Brinksmanship – going to the verge of war without getting into it. The purpose was to intimidate your opponent • “Roll back” communism – not just containment of communism, but rolling it back • Massive retaliation – use of all weapons in disputes & build up of nuclear weapons

3. Eisenhower’s Policies • New Look foreign policy (continued) • Strategic Air Command (SAC) – develop an bombers that could carry nuclear weapons • Open Skies – allowing satellite reconnaissance in order to minimize a surprise attack

4. Domino Theory • Eisenhower’s foreign policy regarding Southeast Asia followed this policy • The idea was that if one country was allowed to fall to communism, then others would also fall • Anybody who was anti-communist in the Far East was likely to receive American backing regardless of their political beliefs • Eisenhower began sending advisors to Vietnam after the French left

5. The “Thaw” • The Cold War thawed after 1953 because: • The Korean War ended (1953) • Austrian State Treaty (1955) – ended the 4-power occupation of Austria and created an independent, neutral country • Geneva Summit (1955) – The first meeting of the heads of the U.S. and USSR since 1945 • Both countries were spending too much on the military

6. Khrushchev’s Policies and Continuing the Thaw • Peaceful coexistence – meant that capitalism and Communism should accept the continuing existence of one another, rather than use force to destroy each other • The secret speech – In 1956, he declared in a secret speech that Stalin had jailed and killed loyal citizens. Workers destroyed monuments of Stalin and his body was removed from its place of honor next to Lenin

7. Ending of the Thaw: The Hungarian Rebellion (1956) • The Hungarians rose up against their Soviet masters and felt badly betrayed when the U.S. did nothing • Rebellion was brutally crushed • U.S. was preoccupied with the Suez Crisis and felt like Khrushchev might risk nuclear war to protect a satellite state

8. Ending of the Thaw: Suez Crisis (1956) • President Nasser of Egypt, an Arab nationalist, was seeking funds to build an immense dam on the upper Nile for urgently needed irrigation and power • America and Britain offered financial help, but when Nasser began to negotiate with the Soviets, Secretary of State Dulles withdrew the offer • In response, Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal (took it from British and French stockholders). This action cut into Western Europe’s oil supply

9. Ending of the Thaw: Suez Crisis (1956) • The French and British sent troops, along with Israel, to Egypt in October 1956 • President Eisenhower refused to support Britain and France because he believed they were the aggressors • Khrushchev was preoccupied with the Hungarian revolt, but still threatened Britain and France with ICBMs • The allies withdrew their troops, and a U.N. police force sent in

10. Results of the Suez Crisis (1956) • The British and French had failed to topple Nasser, so his prestige was increased among Arabs • The Egyptians blocked the Canal with sunken ships, disrupting trade • The Arabs reduced oil exports to the West, causing oil rationing for a while • British and French influence in the Middle East waned • Nasser took Soviet money and became an opponent of the West

11. Eisenhower Doctrine (1957) • The president pledged U.S. military and economic aid to Middle Eastern nations threatened by communist aggression • Could be argued Real threat to the U.S. in the Middle East wasn’t communism, but nationalism. The poor countries in that area decided to reap as much of the benefits of oil wealth as possible • In 1960, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, and Venezuela formed the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). This organization’s stranglehold on Western economies would tighten to a degree that no one could’ve imagined

12. Testing of the Eisenhower Doctrine: Problems In Lebanon (1958) • In July 1958, both Egyptian and communist plotting threatened to endanger Western-oriented Lebanon • Under the Eisenhower Doctrine, the U.S. landed several thousands troops and helped to restore order without a single person dead

13. Ending of the Thaw: Space Race • Soviets sent up the first satellite on October 4, 1957, called Sputnik I (first unmanned spacecraft to escape Earth’s gravity) • A month later they sent up a bigger satellite, called Sputnik II • Cast doubt on America’s scientific superiority and raise the question of whether the Soviets could fire intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) to America

14. Ending of the Thaw: Missile Gap • The Gaither Report, a top secret investigating committee, promoted the idea of a missile gap and recommended: • A vast increase in missile development • A build-up of conventional forces • A massive building program for fallout shelters

15. Results of the Space Race & Missile Gap • NASA was created for missile development; they put into orbit a small satellite in February 1958 • By the end of the decade, several small satellites had been launched and successfully tested its own ICBMs • Led to a critical comparison of the American educational system to the Soviets • Congress passed the National Defense and Education Act (NDEA) of 1958 which authorized $887 million in loans to needy college students and in grants for the improvement of teaching the sciences and languages

16. Ending of the Thaw: Berlin Ultimatum #1 (1958) • Khrushchev demanded that Berlin should be demilitarized, Western troops withdrawn, and Berlin changed into a “free city” • He did this because: • He feared West Germany acquiring nuclear weapons • He was being pressed by the leader of the E. Germany – Walter Ulbricht • He was concerned over the failing E. German economy • In the face of Western outrage at his proposal, Khrushchev dropped his ultimatum

17. Ending of the Thaw:Paris Summit & the U-2 Incident • Summit Conference II (1960) • Both the Soviets and U.S. took a firm stand on the Berlin issue • Furthermore, an American U-2 spy plane was shot down deep in the heart of Russia. The U-2 incident shattered our confidence and createdresentment of the U.S. bythe Soviets • The pilot, Francis Gary Powers, survived and served 18 months in a Russian jail

19. Effects of Eisenhower’s Policies • The number of nuclear warheads increased from: • 1953 – 1,000 • 1961 – 18,000 • In 1955, the B-52 bomber, the first true jet bomber designed to carry nuclear weapons was developed • Funding for the KGB and the CIA increased greatly as they spread around the world • Massive retaliation meant that any incident could potentially lead to an all out war • Rolling back or containing communism increased involvement in world affairs in the Middle East and Asia