The Cold War Begins: Eisenhower's Policies and Achievements
President Dwight D. Eisenhower's era marked by the concept of massive retaliation, the space race, brinksmanship strategies, and efforts to combat communism. Eisenhower's leadership during the Sputnik Crisis and Korean War showcased his commitment to containing communism and advancing U.S. interests. Despite challenges and failures, such as in Central/South America, Eisenhower's presidency left a lasting impact on Cold War history.
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The Cold War Begins Eisenhower s Policies
Learning Targets: Explain the concept of massive retaliation . Describe the space race that took place between the Soviet Union and the United States. Give examples of the use of brinksmanship . Describe how the United States fought the spread of communism in Central/South America. Give examples of United States failures in the Cold War
President Dwight D. Eisenhower After the Soviets had acquired the atomic bomb, China had fallen to Communism, and American troops were fighting in Korea: Americans were ready for a change in leadership. Dwight D. Eisenhower is elected President Eisenhower declared that the nation must be prepared to use atomic weapons in all forms .
Massive Retaliation The Korean War had convinced Eisenhower that the United States could not contain communism by fighting a series of small wars. Such wars were unpopular and too expensive. Instead, they had to be prevented from happening in the first place. The best way to do that seemed to be to threaten to use nuclear weapons if a Communist state tried to seize territory by force. This policy came to be called: massive retaliation.
The Sputnik Crisis On October 4, 1957 the Soviets launched Sputnik The first man-made satellite to orbit the Earth Americans feared that if the Soviets could launch a satellite into space, that they could also launch and land a nuclear missile on the United States America was falling behind in scientific research In response congress created: NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) NDEA (National Defense Education Act) to fund education and training in science, math, and foreign language
Brinksmanship The willingness to go to the brink of war to force the other side to back down
The Korean War Ends Upon becoming President: Eisenhower communicated to the Chinese that the United States might continue the Korean War under circumstances of our own choosing a hint at nuclear attack. In July 1953 negotiators signed an armistice. The battle line at the armistice became the new line dividing North and South Korea. A demilitarized zone separated them. There was no victory but the war was over and communism was contained. American troops are still stationed to help North Korea protect its border.
The Taiwan Crisis China threatened to seize Taiwan and began shelling the island. Eisenhower asked congress for permission to use force against China to protect Taiwan Eisenhower warned China that any attempts to invade Taiwan would be resisted by American Naval forces stationed nearby (hinting at the use of nuclear weapons) China backed down
The Suez Crisis Eisenhower did not want Arab nations in the Middle East to align with the Soviet Union To prevent this, the US offered to finance a dam to be built in Egypt Congress would not authorize the deal because Egypt had bought weapons from Communist Czechoslovakia A week later Egypt seized control of the Suez Canal to pay for their dam British and French troops were sent to invade Egypt The Soviet Union threatened rocket attacks on France and Great Britain Eisenhower threatened to use everything in the bucket (including nuclear weapons) against the USSR if they attacked Britain and/or France Britain and France backed off at Eisenhower s request This was a major victory for the Soviet Union who supported Egypt
Fighting Communism Covertly To prevent Communists from staging revolutions within countries, Eisenhower decided to use covert, or hidden, operations. Containment in Developing Nations Many of the CIA s operations took place in developing nations The CIA used covert operations to overthrow anti-American leaders and replace them with pro-American leaders
Iran and Guatemala Two examples of successful covert operations: Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh had nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and was ready to make a deal with the Soviet Union Mossadegh had sent the pro-American Shah into exile Secretary of State Dulles sent CIA agents in to Iran to start street riots and arrange a coup that ousted Mossadegh, and the Shah returned to power Jacob Arbenz Guzman won elections in Guatemala with communist support Guzman started a land reform program which took land away from American owned business in Guatemala The CIA secretly trained rebels to invade Guatemala and over throw Guzman
Uprising in Hungary In 1953 Stalin died and Nikita Khrushchev became the new Soviet Leader Khruschev delivered a secret speech to Soviet Leaders attacking Stalin s policies and claiming there were other ways to build a Communist society The CIA obtained a copy of the secret speech and broadcast it to Eastern European countries under Communist rule Many Eastern European countries were frustrated with Soviet Communist rule Riots broke out in Europe and in Hungary a full scale uprising began Khrushchev could allow greater freedom, but not an end to Communism in these countries Khrushchev sent in Soviet tanks and troops to Hungary to end the rebellion
Continuing Tensions The uprising in Hungary forced Khrushchev to reassert Soviet power and the superiority of Communism At first Khrushchev was willing to coexist with capitalism, After Hungary, Khrushchev vowed to crush capitalism In 1958 Khrushchev demanded that the US, Great Britain, and France withdraw from West Berlin The US used brinksmanship to make Khrushchev back down To try to improve relations with the Soviet Union and Khrushchev, Eisenhower set up a meeting, or summit, between the US and the USSR
Francis Gary Powers Shot down flying a U-2 spy plane over 60,000 feet above the USSR: Lucky shot created one of the major confrontations of the Cold War In a meeting between leaders, Eisenhower claimed it was a weather balloon that had strayed off course Khrushchev (new Soviet leader) brought out Francis Gary Powers to catch Eisenhower in his lie Eisenhower refused to apologize Khrushchev left the meeting disgruntled
Essay Question Explain the reasoning behind massive retaliation and brinkmanship, and describe how Eisenhower used these concepts to help end the Korean War.
Essay Question Explain the reasoning behind massive retaliation and brinkmanship, and describe how Eisenhower used these concepts to help end the Korean War. The Korean War had convinced Eisenhower that the United States could not contain communism by fighting a series of small wars. Instead, theses wars had to be prevented from happening in the in the first place. Thee best way to do that seemed to be threatened to use nuclear weapons if Communist state tried to seize territory by force. This policy came to be called massive retaliation. Brinkmanship was the willingness to go to the brink of war to force the other side to back down. Eisenhower used two concepts in international confrontations. In Korea, for example, he quietly let the Chinese know that the United States might continue the Korean War under circumstances of our choosing. The message was a hint at nuclear attack. The threat to go to brink of nuclear war seemed to work, because negotiators soon signed an armistice.
