AP US History

AP US History

Cold War: Eisenhower

Candy Question!

Who spearheaded Truman’s foreign policy?

Answer

Dean Atchison

Candy Question!

Who spearheaded Eisenhower’s foreign policy?

Answer

John Foster Dulles

Eisenhower and the Cold War

• Eisenhower used experienced diplomat John Foster Dulles to spearhead his foreign policy

• Dulles believed Truman’s containment policy was too passive

• He advocated a policy of challenging the USSR and China

• He declared if the US pushed communist powers to the brink of war they would back down because of nuclear superiority-the idea was known as “brinkmanship”

Massive Retaliation

• Dulles advocated placing greater reliance on nuclear and air power

• The idea was to get “more bang for your buck”-spend less money on conventional forces and more on destructive forces

• To some the policy looked like “mutually assured destruction” rather than a deterrent

Unrest in the Third World

• The collapse of colonial empires after WWII may have been the single most important development of the postwar era

• These new third world countries often lacked stable political and economic institutions and their need for foreign aid made them pawns the the US or USSR

Covert Operations

• Part of Eisenhower’s new look foreign policy involved covert operations in other countries

• Using operatives was less expensive and objectionable than using troops

Candy Question!

In the early 1950’s, what two countries did the CIA heavily use

covert operations in?

Answer

Iran & Guatemala

Two Examples of Covert Operations

• In Iran in 1953 the CIA played a major role in helping to overthrow a government that tried to nationalize the holding of foreign oil companies-in return, the west was provided favorable oil prices and Iran made enormous purchases of American arms

• In Guatemala in 1954 the CIA overthrew a leftists gov’t that threatened American business interests

• US opposition to communism sometimes drove the gov’t to support ruthless dictators particularly in South America

Fall of Indochina• After WWII the French tried to

re-acquire Indochina• Cambodians and Vietnamese

resisted and supported nationalist and communist leader Ho Chi Minh

• By 1950 the war had become a staging ground for the struggle between capitalism and communism

• The French suffered a crushing defeat at Dien Bien Phu

• Indochina was divided into the countries of Cambodia Laos, and Vietnam at the Geneva Conference in 1954

Division of Vietnam

• By the terms of the Geneva Conference (1954), Vietnam was to be temporarily divided at the 17th parallel until general elections could be held

• The North was led by Ho Chi Minh and the South by Ngo Dinh Diem-they were backed by anticommunist, catholic, and urban Vietnamese

• The election was never held mainly because the South feared the communists would win the election

Division of Vietnam

• From 1955-1961, the US gave over $1 billion in economic and military aid to South Vietnam

• In justifying this president Eisenhower made the analogy to a row of dominoes-if one fell, it would create a chain reaction and most or all of Asia and Australia would fall

Candy Question!

What defensive organization was formed to stop the spread of

Communism in Asia?

Answer

SEATO

Candy Question!

What does SEATO stand for?

Answer

South East Treaty Organization

SEATO

• To prevent the “fall” to communism, of South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, Dulles put together a regional defense pact called the Southeast Asia Treaty organization

• The pact agreed to defend one another in case of an attack within the region

• It was signed by the US, Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Thailand, and Pakistan

SEATO

Candy Question!

In the Middle East, the United States had to engage in a “balancing act”. What two

things did they have to balance?

Answer

The U.S. had to retain friendly relationships with Arab oil producing

countries while assisting Israel.

Middle East

• In the Middle East the US had the difficult balancing act of maintaining friendly ties with oil-rich Arab states with supporting the new country of Israel (1948)

Suez Crisis (1956)• In order to gain funds for the

Aswan High Dam project, Egyptian nationalist General Gamal Nasser seized and nationalized the British-French owned Suez canal

• Britain, France, and Israel carried out a surprise attack on Egypt and retook the canal

• Eisenhower was furious partly because he was not informed of the attack

• He sponsored a UN resolution condemning the attack

• The forces withdrew under mounting world pressure

Ongoing Controversy in the Middle East

Eisenhower Doctrine

• The US quickly replaced Britain and France as the leading western influence in the Middle East

• It faced a growing Soviet influence in Egypt and Syria (the USSR had provided Egypt with funds for building the Aswan High dam)

• The US pledged economic and military aid to any Middle Eastern country threatened by communism

• The doctrine was first applied in Lebanon in ’58 by sending 14,000 marines to prevent a civil war between Christians and Muslims

US-Soviet Relations

• In terms of security, nothing was more important than diplomatic relations with the USSR

• Relations constantly fluctuated between periods of calm and extreme tension

Spirit of Geneva (1955)• After Stalin’s Death

(1953) Ike called for a slowdown in the arms race

• The USSR withdrew troops from Austria

• Both Ike and Soviet Premier Bulganin agreed to meet in Geneva

• Although no agreements were reached, the event was the first “thaw” in the Cold War and was dubbed “Spirit of Geneva” by the press

Hungarian Revolt

• In October, 1956 a Hungarian uprising succeeded in overthrowing the Soviet backed gov’t

• The new leaders encouraged getting out of the Warsaw Pact

• The USSR sent tanks and troops and destroyed the uprising

• The US did nothing

Effects of the Hungarian revolt

• By allowing Soviet tanks to roll into Hungary, the US gave de facto recognition of the Soviet sphere of influence in Eastern Europe

• In effect, this recognition ended Dulles’ talk of liberating the region

• The event also ended the first “thaw” in the Cold War

Sputnik• The USSR launched not one but

two satellites into space, greatly alarming the US and calling their technological superiority into question

• Many blamed the education system and in 1958 Congress passed the NDEA (National Defense and Education Act) to increase funding for science and foreign language education

• In 1958 Congress also created NASA (National Air and Space Administration) to compete with the Soviets

• Fears of nuclear war were intensified by Sputnik because nuclear missiles delivered from satellites could hit their target in minutes

Second Berlin Crisis (1958)

• Bolstered by Sputnik, Soviet Premier Kruschev gave the West six months to pull out of West Berlin

• Eisenhower refused but invited Kruschev to discuss the issue at Camp David and the crisis was put off

U-2 Incident

• US spy plane shot down

• USSR mad• Ike

apologized/showed weakness

• 1960 Paris Summit called off

CUBA

• Probably the most alarming development of the Cold War was the loss of Cuba to Communism

• Fidel Castro took control and was supported by the Soviet USSR

• Eisenhower responded by cutting all trade with Cuba

• Ike also authorized the CIA to create a plan to train Cuban exiles to retake the island

Eisenhower’s Legacy

• In his farewell address, Ike spoke out against the negative impact of the Cold War on US society

• “The nation should guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence…by the “military industrial complex.”

• To some, the US was going down the road of ancient republics such as Rome and turning into a military or imperial state

Cold War Timeline1945 Yalta ConferenceGerman surrenderAtomic bombs used to defeat JapanCreation of the United Nations

1946 "Iron Curtain" speech by Churchill1947 Truman Doctrine for containment of communism

Marshall Plan: European Recovery Program1948 Communist rule imposed on Czechoslovakia

Berlin blockade and airliftPublication of Orwell's 1984

1949 Establishment of NATOEast Germany: German Democratic RepublicWest Germany: German Federal RepublicIndependence of Israel; Communist revolution in ChinaSoviet Union tests atomic bomb

1950-53 Korean War1953 Death of Stalin; Street protests in East Germany1955 Warsaw Pact founded1956 Khrushchev "secret speech"; anti-communist uprising in Hungary1961 Construction of the Berlin Wall1962 Cuban Missile Crisis1963 Kennedy speech at the Berlin Wall