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Eisenhower’s foreign policy: How successfully did Eisenhower manage the…
Eisenhower’s foreign policy: How successfully did Eisenhower manage the Cold War in Europe?
How did Eisenhower’s attitude to the Soviet Union change between 1946 and 1947?
In 1946 he felt confident that the Soviet Union were not a threat to the USA because of the security they felt as a result of the US developing the atomic bomb. The fast development of the Soviet missile programme sparked fear.
By mid-1947 his opinion had changed as he now viewed them as being aggressive and he favoured Truman’s policy of CONTAINMENT. This was a direct result of the Soviet Union’s policy of the ‘Sovietisation’ of the former Nazi controlled countries of eastern Europe and the establishment of Communist governments between 1945 and 1947 in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, East Germany etc.
How did Eisenhower summarise the essentials of his ‘global strategy’ in 1953?
Western Europe must not go communist, so the US needed to intervene and support Western Europe. – Dominion theory.
He also highlighted the need to protect the USA’s access to oil supplies by ensuring that the Soviets were not able to control the countries of the Middle East.
He supported the continuation of France’s control of its colonies in South East Asia (Vietnam especially).
Clearly the achievement of the above aims was not going to come cheap – yet at the same time as pursuing these foreign policy aims Eisenhower wanted to limited defence spending (retrenchment) so that the US could remain strong. – especially due to Eisenhower recessions.
Why did Eisenhower develop his ‘New Look’ defence policy?
To avoid inflation he needed to make cuts in military spending. The new Look defence policy was designed to reduce the overspending on conventional forces – Truman had been spending $50 billion p.a. He simparly wanted to save money.
What exactly was the ‘New Look’ defence policy?
It was a policy that would switch the focus of US defence strategy from conventional forces (army, navy & air force) to nuclear weapons.
John Foster Dulles was Eisenhower’s Secretary of State who developed this strategy which he referred to as being one of ‘massive retaliation’ – so cash would be saved because instead of having ground troops in all potential trouble spots the US would have the nuclear capability to respond to Soviet aggression with ICBMs (Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles).
Why was there a thaw in the Cold war in 1953?
The thaw occurred mainly because Stalin died and his replacement (Malenkov) gave a speech hinting that he wanted the USA and Soviet Union to get on better. In response Eisenhower gave the ‘chance for peace’ speech. This was closely linked to his domestic policy (dynamic conservatism) – trying to spend more on social improvements at home while at the same time reducing the budget deficit by reducing defence spending.
Eisenhower reached out to the Soviets calling for an end to their occupation of East Germany and East Berlin and for the Sovietised states of Eastern Europe to be given their independence. The USSR refused. Despite the limitations of these events in terms of results the Cold War had thawed a little. BUT the nuclear arms race continued and soon a new leader of the Soviet Union would emerge in the shape of Khrushchev. He had a much less open attitude to a rapprochement with the USA.
How did the nuclear arms race develop between 1953 and 1958?
These events worried Eisenhower who warned about the dangers of the arms race in the ‘chance for peace’ speech and then tried to decrease the tension:
• In his 1953 ‘Atoms for Peace’ speech at the UN Eisenhower advocated that the USA and USSR work together to work on the peaceful use of atomic power. However, the Soviet Union refused because the Americans had more fissionable material than they did.
• At the 1955 Geneva Summit meeting Eisenhower advocated ‘open skies’ where the USA and Soviet Union would be able to fly over each other’s territory freely to check for any military build-up. Khrushchev rejected this idea.
• In 1958 Soviet-American talks on a nuclear bomb test ban treaty (a plan for both the USA and Soviet Union to stop nuclear testing) nevertheless this treaty failed.
Dates:
1945: US produced 1st atomic bomb
1949: Soviet Union produced their 1st atomic bomb
1952: US exploded 1st H bomb and possessed 1500 nuclear weapons
1953: Soviet Union exploded their H bomb
1961: The USA possessed 6000 nuclear weapons
Eisenhower was trying to decrease the tension between the USA and Soviet Union and was keen to halt the arms race BUT he faced a lot of political pressure from Republicans to stay ahead of the Soviets in the stockpiling of nuclear weapons – this was amply demonstrated by the
What impact did the launching of Sputnik have upon Eisenhower’s foreign policy?
October 1957: Soviet Union launched the 1st space satellite into space. Many Americans falsely believed that this launching meant that the Soviets had the ability to launch nuclear missiles at America. The USSR was unable to do this but still hysteria ensued, and Eisenhower was accused of not doing enough to protect the US. In January 1958 the US launched its own small satellite into space. But in May 1958 the Soviets launched Sputnik II which was 300 times bigger than their 1st Sputnik satellite. Panic still continued and tensions grew causing Eisenhower to ask Congress to establish NASA.
What were the key events of the U-2 Crisis?
The US government used 2 secret methods to ensure the USA’s defence.
One way to overthrow government was through the use of the CIA. The CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) was set up in 1947 to monitor Communist threats early in the Cold war. The CIA organised the overthrow of unacceptable governments in Iran in 1953, Guatemala in 1954 and planned one for Cuba (1960).
The second way involved spying. The USA used reconnaissance plans to photograph the enemy. If there were any problems the pilots were meant to press a self-destruct button. In 1960 US pilot Gary Powers was shot down in a U-2 spy flight over the Soviet Union. Eisenhower said the plane was on a meteorological (weather related) mission. He believed that the pilot would have self-destructed and that there would be no evidence. The Soviets produced Powers and his plane and then Eisenhower made the excuse that Powers had no authority to be flying over Soviet airspace. Eventually Eisenhower admitted that Powers was on a spying mission and agreed to meet Khrushchev at the Paris summit.
At the Paris summit Khrushchev demanded an apology before the summit continued. Eisenhower refused and Khrushchev shouted anti-American abuse for 45 minutes before the summit broke down. This was the nail in the coffin for improved relations. This was Eisenhower’s fault as he had approved the U-2 missions.
How successful had Eisenhower’s ‘rollback’ policy been by 1956?
Eisenhower achieved some success with regard to strengthening the NATO alliance which was a precursor to rollback. In 1953 he put pressure on the countries of western Europe for a closer alliance against the Soviet Union in order to save the US money. In December 1954 he was successful in persuading France to agree to Germany rearming which greatly strengthened NATO.
Despite this rollback had not been achieved despite the Republicans 1952 campaign promises. Eastern Europe was still with the Soviet sphere of influence and was Communist controlled. He was forced to take a step back from rollback using warfare. His 1956 election campaign platform was based on achieving rollback using peaceful methods. Events in 1956 in Hungary showed that rollback was a sham.
How well did Eisenhower handle developments in Hungary and Berlin?
The Americans did nothing to assist the Hungarians who protested in 1956 about Soviet rule. The Hungarians had expected help from America because of Eisenhower’s promises of rollback – they received none.
In 1958 Khrushchev had demanded that West Berlin become a ‘free city’ and threatened to turn the access routes to berlin over to East Germany (that would force Western recognition of East Germany). Eisenhower did not respond. Eisenhower was accused of not taking the crisis in Berlin seriously. He made it clear that the US would always support West Berlin but denied that there was a Berlin Crisis. That gave Khrushchev room to retreat and the crisis passed.