A Hard and Bitter Peace

Chapter 8 (New Leadership 1953 to 1957)

20th Century World: The Cold War

Chapter 7 (New Leaders, New Ideas)

New Look in US Foreign Policy

Eisenhower administration takes over in 1953 Stalins legacy makes US nervous about dealing with new leaders of the USSR Especially their proposals for peace initiatives US wanted A united Korea and Germany Withdrawn Soviet troops from Austria Eastern Europe to choose their own governments An end to the communist-led rebellions in SE Asia Churchill suggested that the West take a more flexible approach to the new Soviet leadership US disagreed because they did not want to compromise or seem conciliatory

New Look in US Foreign Policy

June 1953- anticommunist demonstrations and a general strike broke out in East Germany US encouraged such behavior USSR sent in tanks and soldiers to crush the strikes and the US did nothing because it was a Soviet-occupied zone Eisenhower administration was torn between two conflicting objectives The anticommunist crusade (Secretary of State Dulles) Using American power and influence to combat Soviet pressure anywhere in the world A reduction in government spending and a balanced federal budget (Secretary of the Treasury Humphrey) Meant big cuts in defense expenditures and trimming the vast military establishment inherited from Truman

New Look in US Foreign Policy

Result of two conflicting objectives for Eisenhower administration
Increased reliance on atomic weapons Relatively inexpensive Enabled the US to avoid unpopular efforts to increase the number of troops (especially conscription)

Dulless new policy- massive retaliation

Total cost of security (military) efforts were too costly, so the decision was to rely on the ability to retaliate instantly (more bang for the buck)

Within a few years the US defense budget was reduced by 1/3rd while its supply of nuclear weapons doubled (also B-52s to drop these bombs) Eisenhower administration created a new Cold War tacticbrinkmanship
to get to the verge without getting into war

New Look in US Foreign Policy

Eisenhower administration began to rely increasingly on covert operations performed by the CIA Under the direction of Allen W. Dulles (Secretary of States brother) Subverted leftist governments in Iran (1953) and Guatemala (1954) Sending military advisors to supplement anticommunist forces As French left Vietnam, US sent personnel to help organize and train the noncommunist South Vietnamese army Became a weak and ineffective police force

New Look in US Foreign Policy

Forming military alliances aimed at blocking communist advances in certain vulnerable areas (like NATO) Creation of SEATO (South East Asia Treaty Organization)
Unlike NATO, no military guarantees only mutual consultation in the event of aggression Key nations of SE Asia were not members and most were not SE Asian nations

Creation of CENTO (Central Treaty Organization)

Based on the Baghdad Pact initiated by Britain Proved counterproductive as it alienated the Egyptians and other Arab nationalists (USSR takes advantage)

New Look in US Foreign Policy

Created more so to prevent Soviet expansion than to liberate captive nations (not really an anticommunist crusade) An extension and institutionalization of the containment policy By 1955- Eisenhowers new look foreign policy looked like the old Truman containment policy

Khrushchev and the West

1953- Soviet Premier Georgi Malenkov introduced a new course
To spur the domestic economy and improve relations with the West Hardliners railed against the new policy
Made common cause with Nikita Khrushchev (Communist Party Boss)

1955- Malenkov forced to resign and was replaced by Defense Minister Nikolai Bulganin
Strengthened Khrushchevs position within the Kremlin

Khrushchev and the West

Khrushchev turned against the hardliners and adopted many of Malenkovs policies A new course of peaceful coexistence with the West and efforts to court the nonaligned nations First order of business was to approach Washington with a new proposal The creation of a permanent monitoring system, with foreign inspectors stationed at major airports, seaports, major highways, and railways in each of the superpowers A ban on nuclear testing Gradual reduction of nuclear stockpiles

Eisenhower administration was caught off guard

Agree and lose the edge in military strength- what to do?

Khrushchev and the West

May 1955- NATO admits West Germany USSR counters with the Warsaw Pact Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, USSR, and East Germany Counterweight to NATO in the West Allowed for Soviet command of six million soldiers in Eastern Europe Secondary purpose allowed for USSR to maintain an army presence in Eastern Europe Strange in that the Warsaw Pact would only use military force against its own member nations during its history

Khrushchev and the West

1955- Austrian State Treaty Results included
All occupying powers agreed to remove their forces Austria became a neutral and independent country Soviets gave up territory that had been under their control Eliminated NATOs land contract with Hungary and decreasing it with Yugoslavia Moscow could be reasonable- thus paving the way for direct talks between Soviet and Western leaders

Khrushchev and the West

July 1955- Geneva Talks First summit conference of the Cold War Eisenhower, Khrushchev, Bulganin, Premier Edgar Faure of France, and Britains Anthony Eden Spirit of good will prevailed among apprehensions among all participants Eisenhowers open skies proposal was most dramatic event Superpowers would exchange blueprints of their military force dispositions and allow each to make regular flights over the others territory Khrushchev called it a very transparent espionage device and refused to give it serious consideration

Khrushchev and the West

No real substance to the Geneva Talks of 1955 Psychologically speaking Cordiality reigned Leaders got along well Cultural and economic ties between East and West were improved Later in the year- USSR decreased the size of its army, returned a naval base to Finland, and extended diplomatic recognition to West Germany November 1955- Khrushchev announced in India that the socialists and the capitalists have to live side by side Age of peaceful coexistence seemed to be well on its way

Moscow and the Nonaligned Nations

Khrushchev made it known that he was going to use peaceful means for the eventual destruction of capitalism and the triumph of world communism Similar to Wests containment policy Belief was that eventually the western capitalistic way of life would self-destruct and would find its path to a socialist future Khrushchev turned his attentions to the Third World nations of the world African and Asian nations were seeking independence from the imperialism of the West and the USSR was right there to help pick up the pieces Soviets provided arms, advisors, and financial aid

Moscow and the Nonaligned Nations

Indias Jawaharlal Nehru (r. 1950-1964) Adopted a foreign policy known as nonalignment Leader at the 1955 Conference of Nonaligned Nations (Bandung, Indonesia) Linked himself with leaders like Indonesias Sukarno and Egypts Nasser in promoting an alternative to capitalism and communism Pakistan aligned itself with the US Provided with significant amounts of military and developmental aid Khrushchev and successors stepped into India and aided them with technical and economic assistance

Moscow and the Nonaligned Nations

Sukarno of Indonesia embraced nonalignment April 1955- Sukarno hosted a summit meeting in Bandung, Indonesia Leaders from 29 nations (mostly Asia and Africa) Purpose was to create a nonaligned movement and pursue an independent course Major players included Sukarno, Nehru, Tito, and Nasser US was horrified by Sukarno, but USSR wooed him, thus making Indonesia a Soviet client into the mid-1960s 1960s- unsuccessful war with Malaysia and a failed military coup led to Sukarnos ousting by 1967 General Suharto took control of Indonesia and his anticommunist crusade killed over 100,000 people and pushed Indonesia into the Western camp

Moscow and the Nonaligned Nations

Indonesia provides an example to the limits of nonalignment Indonesia was a client state and could not truly be nonaligned Needs included economic and military aid from the superpowers Cause for alignment and independence to be compromised Also showed the difficulties encountered by the USSR in seeking relationships with nonaligned nations No guarantee that their influence would last Investment in Indonesia was lost, but back in the early years of this policy (1950s) things were going well and looking to prosper (Soviet stature in the Third World was on the rise)

Khrushchev and Stalins Legacy

February 1956- Twentieth Party Congress met in Moscow

Khrushchev still preaching peaceful coexistence between the East and West
February 24, 1956- Khrushchev holds a closed party meeting to denounce Stalin and his many crimes such as

His creation of a cult of personality Orders to torture and murder many loyal party members Imprisoning legions of innocent people Leaving the USSR unprepared for war and causing the Soviet break with Yugoslavia

Many were shocked and stunned by this address Copies of the speech quickly made the rounds throughout the Soviet Union and by June, 1956, the US had translated a copy as well An obvious attempt by Khrushchev to break with the past and a move against his internal Stalinist rivals Goal was to make the USSR a more attractive model for the developing nations of the future

Khrushchev and Stalins Legacy

April 1956- the Cominform was formally dissolved and Khrushchev made a state visit to Britain June 1956- Molotov steps down from position of foreign minister Yugoslavias Tito visited Moscow later that year Welcomed with open arms and talking about separate roads to socialism USSR looked poised to improve relations with the West and relax its grip on Eastern Europe Set the stage for dramatic events in places throughout Eastern Europe who still had ties to the Stalinist regime of the USSR (Hungary and Poland in particular)

Khrushchev and Stalins Legacy

July 1956- Poznan, Poland Bloody riot between factory workers and police Threatened to become a nationwide liberation movement Hardliners were being replaced with moderates not linked directly with Soviet control Wladislaw Gomulka (purged by Stalin as a Titoist and released from prison in 1955) was selected as first secretary of the Polish United Workers (Communist) party Khrushchev flew to Warsaw and threatened to use the Soviet army to calm things down Gomulka did not back down, but the Kremlin did Did not want war in Poland and sought to negotiate Poland staying within the Soviet Bloc

Khrushchev and Stalins Legacy

October 22-23, 1956- students in Budapest, Hungary began to demonstrate Encouraged by Polish success Students called for the reinstatement of reform-minded Premier Imre Nagy, who was forced out of office one year earlier Soviets sent tanks and planes to put down the riots Only angered the freedom fighters more as they took to the streets in clashes against the Red Army Nagy returned as premier and formed a new government that included prominent non-communists Soviets began to withdraw their forces from Budapest the next day Khrushchev again showed his willingness to allow an Eastern Bloc nation to choose its own path to socialism

Khrushchev and Stalins Legacy

Hungarians, unlike the Poles, were unwilling to settle for partial autonomy Demonstrations continued November 1, 1956- Nagy announced that he would establish a multiparty government, declare his nations neutrality, and withdraw Hungary from the Warsaw Pact The West was giddy over the recent developments But was short-lived November 4, 1956- Soviet tanks rolled into Budapest and the Red Army was quickly embroiled in a battle with Hungarian resistance fighters Janos Kadar (head of the Hungarian Communist Party) announced the formation of a new government and appealed to the USSR for military aid Within a week the resistance had been crushed, Kadar was in power, and Nagy was on the run in Yugoslavia Eventually, he was talked into leaving, arrested, and executed by the Soviets

Khrushchev and Stalins Legacy

Britain and the US were unable to mount any kind of response due to the simultaneous Suez Crisis Secretary of State Dulles was incapacitated due to cancer surgery US presidential election on November 6 complicated things even further
Even so, the US would probably not have acted and once again showed that when push came to shove, the US was not willing to interfere directly within the Communist Bloc

Khrushchev and Stalins Legacy

These events had a devastating effect on international relations Destroyed all climate of hope UN formally denounced the actions of the USSR Western leaders and citizens expressed shock and outrage at the brutal and bloody affair Retrenchment within the communist world Harsher attitude toward the West seemed to emerge Tito and Gromulka gave their support to the Soviet actions in Hungary Khrushchev took a tough and unapologetic stance Whenfighting against imperialism, we can state with conviction that we are all Stalinists

The Suez Crisis, 1956

Late October 1956- Israeli invasion of Egypt
US in preparations for presidential election USSR embroiled in battle with Hungary Britain and France intervene on Israels side

Major underlying issues affecting the Cold War

Wests dependence on Mideast oil Rise of Arab nationalism Existence of a Jewish state in the midst of the Muslim world

The Suez Crisis, 1956

Both superpowers relied on Mideast oil Arabs had taken an anti-Western and anti-Soviet stance because of their support of Israel Most notable of which was Egypt because of their humiliating loss to Israel in 1948-49 Also adding to their hostilities was that Britain still controlled the Nile Valley and the Suez Canal July 1952- King Farouk overthrown in military coup led by General Naguib and Colonel Nasser 1955- Nasser attended the Bandung Conference in Indonesia Initiated contacts with Third World leaders Hoped to become the leader of the nonaligned nations and unifier of the Arab world

The Suez Crisis, 1956

US offered substantial aid to Egypt in order to keep them out of the Soviet camp US and USSR urged Britain to turn over control of the Suez Canal to Egypt Brits agreed to leave by 1954 and the US hoped that Egypt would join the Baghdad Pact (CENTO)
Longstanding Mideast rivalries prevented this from happening

September 1955- Egypt approached the USSR with cotton for Czech weaponry
Soviets jumped at the chance to get Egypt aligned with them and show themselves as champions of Arab nationalism Weaponry would help Egypt in their crusade against Israel

The Suez Crisis, 1956

US and British agree to provide funding for an Egyptian irrigation and power project called the Aswan High Dam Spring 1956- Egypt recognizes Red China in protest against a US decision to let France sell to Israel arms originally intended for NATO July 21, 1956- US withdraws funds for the Aswan High Dam July 26, 1956- Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal Toll money would go towards building the dam USSR stepped in to provide financial backing for the dam Britain and France worried over access to Mideast oil Nasser became the de facto leader of the Arab world
Syria and Jordan drew closer to Egypt

Fall 1956- Britain, France, and Israel conspired to attack Egypt

Preventative attack on the assumption that Nasser was planning to cut off Europes oil supplies and then attack Israel Also assumed that the USSR would not aid Egypt because they were involved in Poland and Hungary

The Suez Crisis, 1956

US aerial espionage found out about the attack two weeks beforenot pleased US obtained UN resolutions prescribing the cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of all invading troops USSR joined the US in condemning the war Britain and France were forced to agree to a cease-fire on November 6 and a pullout in the ensuing months Impact on the West was devastating
PM Anthony Eden was forced to resign Eisenhower administration uncomfortably had to condemn their Western allies and support Nasser and Khrushchev Failure to capture the canal struck fear in the West
Realized that they could not achieve military goals without US backing

Europes decline in the Middle East

The Suez Crisis, 1956

USSRs military impotence in the Mideast was exposed Nasser had nowhere to turn but to the USSR
A marriage of convenience that ended in the mid-70s when Anwar Sadat would end the Soviet-Egyptian friendship

As a result the USSR would be on the outside watching the USs potential influence in the region Soviet hypocrisy was exposed as they condemned Israel for use of force, but at the same time they were crushing the Hungarians US did the same in Lebanon in 1958

The Suez Crisis, 1956

Eisenhower Doctrine (1957)
Extension of the Truman Doctrine Offered military and economic assistance to any Middle East nation facing communist subversion Invoked July 1958- General Abdel Karim Kassem overthrew the Hashemite monarchy in Iraq US landed marines in Lebanon to protect that country and Jordan from similar coups

Arms and Space Race

Crises of 1956 served to derail the movement towards East-West dtente and undermined Khrushchev Molotov and Malenkov plotted to oust Khrushchev (original issue was his anti-Stalinist speech) June 1957- Khrushchev was in Finland and his enemies struck Khrushchev returned in a hurry ready for a fight
Declared that he could only be removed by the Partys Central Committee Convened the Central Committee to have them confirm his position

Khrushchev put down the revolt of the Anti-Party Group and retained his position
Malenkov became a manager of a power station in Kazakhstan Molotov was made ambassador to Mongolia

March 1958- Khrushchev became Soviet Premier

Arms and Space Race

Early 1950s- USSR and US had begun developing a new generation of nuclear weaponry
No longer based on fission, but fusion Authorized by Eisenhower in the US after the USSR had developed nuclear weaponry in 1949

November 1952- US achieved the first thermonuclear explosion

Equal to the blast of over three million tons of TNT The age of the hydrogen bomb had arrived

A year later, the Soviets exploded their own H-Bomb

Catching up in technology, but behind in the ability to mass-produce and to deliver them to distant targets

1953- US possesses over a thousand atomic bombs

Ten times more than the Soviets had Plus a fleet of B-52 bombers to deliver the bombs Also began to create tactical nuclear weapons designed for battlefield use

Arms and Space Race

Khrushchevs response was to deceive the West as to how many nuclear weapons the Soviets actually had
June 1955- Soviets held Aviation Day and had several long-range bombers fly over Moscow multiple times to make it look like they bunches of these planes

Impact of this was adding fuel to the arms race between US and USSR Eisenhower, believing the hype, authorized the building of a new U-2 spy plane
Designed to elude interception by flying long distances at very high altitudes

US citizens, believing the hype, began programs of civil defense

Construction and designation of fallout shelters

For the rest of the Cold War, US citizens would not feel secure

Arms and Space Race

Development of unmanned rocket systems
Capable of delivering nuclear payloads from one side of the world to the other Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs)
Destined to become the very symbol of the nuclear arms race between the US and the USSR

August 26, 1957- USSR announced a successful test of the worlds first ICBM
Stunning because it is the first time the USSR beat the US in developing a major weapons system

October 4, 1957- Soviets launched into orbit the first artificial earth satellite known as Sputnik I
The space race had begun and the USSR was in the lead

Arms and Space Race

US in response to the launching of Sputnik began to speed up production on its own artificial earth satellite December 1957- a new Vanguard missile blew up on its launch pad Compounding the national sense of humiliation and frustration January 1958- US joins USSR in space Team of scientists led by Wernher von Braun (of German V2 rocket fame) successfully launched a satellite into space November 1957- USSR launched Sputnik II Carrying a dog US now issued warnings of a missile gap Critics of the administration warned of imminent danger Reality was that the Soviets were faking how many rockets/missiles they had- which was not as much as the US Khrushchev had achieved his goal of deceiving the US

Arms and Space Race

US presidents no longer had the trump card of nuclear weaponry USSR had the capability to launch nuclear warheads at the US without the use of bombers Meant much quicker devastation US citizens were now frightened about national security Late 1950s- Cold War was permanent thanks to arms and space race Hostility and distrust ruled the relations between the US and USSR Nuclear confrontation was scary for both sides as the fallout would affect the entire world- not just the enemy