Download Chapter 18: Cold War Conflicts

Chapter 18: Cold War Conflicts
Section 4: Two Nations Live on the Edge
Pgs. 622-627
Brinkmanship Rules US Policy
 The nuclear arms race began during Truman’s presidency. The Soviet
Union exploded its first atomic bomb in 1949 causing Truman to make a
decision…does the US build a more terrible weapon or not?
 The scientists who developed the atomic bomb believed that they could
make a more destructive thermonuclear weapon, the hydrogen bomb, or
the H-bomb. This bomb would have the power of a million tons of TNT.
 The scientists argued about the morality of such a weapon, but the US did
not listen. They entered into this weapons race with the USSR not
knowing what would happen, but knowing what COULD happen.
 On November 1, 1952 the US detonated its first H-bomb. But our
advantage would not last long because the Soviets built their own by
1953.
 By the time that the US and USSR had their H-bombs, Dwight D.
Eisenhower was elected president. His Secretary of State was John
Foster Dulles and he was a huge anti-communism fanatic.
 Under Dulles, Eisenhower went to the edge of all out war by promising to
use all of our nuclear weapons as a threat against the spreading of
communism. This policy became known as brinkmanship.
 Under Eisenhower, the army and navy were trimmed in size and the air
force was enlarged.
 The idea was to intimidate the Soviet Union, but instead they just mirrored
our actions.
 Because of this, Americans prepared for the worst. Stocking up on
supplies, buying and building nuclear bunkers, practicing air raid drills and
much more. This would be their way of life for 30 more years.
The Cold War Spreads Around the World
 Because of the shift to a reliance on nuclear weapons, Eisenhower really
depended on the information given to him by the Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA).
 The CIA was in charge of spying, carrying out secret missions and
gathering as much information as they could about enemy nations.
 First place covert actions took place was in the Middle East. It was 1951
and Iran’s prime minister nationalized their oil fields. The British protested
and stopped buying Iranian oil.
 The economy started to fail and the US was afraid that the prime minister
would turn to the USSR for help. We sent in millions of dollars to antiMossedegh supporters. The hope was an American influenced overthrow
of Mossedegh and an implementation of an American friendly Shah of
Iran.
 The plan was successful and the US got its pro-American Shah.
 The CIA also took action in Guatemala because Eisenhower believed the
government there had communist sympathies. The US sent in troops and
the Guatemalan army refused to protect their president and he resigned.
The army leader than became the dictator of the country.
 Stalin died in 1953 and for a while it seemed like things would get better
between the US and the USSR. Things were well until West Germany was
granted permission to rearm and to join NATO. Fearing another German
attack, the USSR formed its own military alliance with seven Eastern
European countries called the Warsaw Pact.
 In 1955, Eisenhower went to Geneva to meet with Soviet leaders. The
goal of the meeting was to “open the skies”. Eisenhower wanted both
countries to have permission to fly over each other’s territory to guard
against surprise nuclear attacks. The Soviet Union did not like the idea,
but the rest of the world saw the meeting as a step toward peace.
 Also in 1955, GB and the US promised to help Egypt to build a dam at
Aswan on the Nile River. Their head of government Gamal Abdel-Nasser
started to play the Americans and Soviets against each other in order to
see who would give Egypt more aid.
 Dulles found out about it and withdrew the aid package…Nassar got angry
and he nationalized the Suez Canal. (It was owned by France and Great
Britain)
 This nationalization caused a problem because Nassar would not allow
Israel to pass its ships through the canal (that was to be open to all
nations). Israel got mad and sent in troops, along with Great Britain and
France. They were able to seize control over the Mediterranean portion of
the canal.
 The UN stepped in and BG, France and Israel withdrew their troops.
However, the control of the canal stayed with Egypt.
 Because of the issue in the Middle East, Eisenhower issued a statement
that became known as the Eisenhower Doctrine. This stated that the US
would defend the Middle East against an attack by any communist
country.
 In 1956 there was a revolt in Hungary. They were protesting communist
rule. Imre Nagy who promised free elections, denounced the Warsaw Pact
and wanted all Soviet troops to leave Hungary led them.
 The Soviet response was brutal. They stormed Hungary with tanks and
killed 30,000 Hungarians. Nagy was executed and 20,000 Hungarians fled
to the west. The US and the UN did nothing to help the Hungarians during
their revolt and many were disappointed.
The Cold War Takes to the Skies
 After Stalin died in 1953, there was no real one Soviet leader. However,
as time passed, Nikita Khrushchev emerged with power. He believed that
communism would take over the world.
 The Soviets got the upper hand in what would become known as the
“space race” when they launched Sputnik on October 4, 1957. This was
the world’s first artificial satellite.
 The US was shocked and embarrassed. They poured millions into
scientific research to try to “catch up” with the Soviets. The US launched
its first satellite on January 31, 1958.
 After the Geneva meeting, the US starting sending U-2 planes over Soviet
territory to take picture of troop movement and missile sites. The US
officials were nervous about this program because they press knew about
it and so did the Soviets.
 Eisenhower decided he wanted to discontinue the flights, but Dulles
convinced him to allow one last flight. Pilot Francis Gary Powers was shot
down and he had to parachute into Soviet territory. The Soviets sentenced
him to 10 years in prison.
 At first, Eisenhower denied that the planes were spying, but Khrushchev
had proof. Finally Eisenhower admitted it. Khrushchev wanted an apology,
but Eisenhower would not. He did agree to end the U-2 program.
 Because of this U-2 incident, the 1960’s started with a renewed tension
between the US and USSR.