Chapter 15: Krushchev and Kennedy Flashcards
What pressures affected Krushchev before the Cuban Missile Crisis?
He was interested in improving the Soviet economy and standards of living, but had to contend with challenges from Mao Zedong that he was not sufficiently revolutionary. He was interested in peaceful coexistence but had o show a strong anti-Western position to maintain Soviet dominance in the communist world.
What pressures affected Kennedy before the Cuban Missile Crisis?
Was initially inclined to conciliation like Krushchev, but had to demonstrate a strong anti-communist stance to appease his opposition.
What were Kennedy’s and Krushchev’s stances after the Cuban Missile Crisis?
Both of them became much more interested in engagement and discussions after the crisis, as could be seen in their policies in 1963.
What profound impact did the Cuban Missile Crisis have on Kennedy?
In speeches, he makes allusions to ending the arms race, and peace. “a request: that both sides begin anew the quest for peace”, “interest in a just and genuine peace and in halting the arms race”
How was Kennedy’s thinking on Nuclear Weapons backed up by General Leon Johnson, the director of the National Security Council’s Net Evaluation Subcommittee?
Johnson’s report on the results of a nuclear war between the USA and the USSR concluded that “neither the US nor the USSR can emerge from a full scale nuclear exchange without suffering very severe damage and high casualties”. Estimated 93 million casualties.
What was Kennedy’s perspective after the Cuban Missile Crisis?
Nuclear war was undesirable to both sides, and especially after the Cuban Missile Crisis, Kennedy recognised that rather than winning a nuclear war, the US objective should be the avoidance of one.
What was MAD?
An outcome of nuclear weapons development was the idea of MAD. According to Mutually Assured Destruction, it was advantageous for the US and USSR to have nuclear equality. If one side launched a nuclear war, the other side would respond in kind, so this in itself was a deterrent.
What was the conditions of MAD?
It assumed that all nuclear powers were rational actors, which based on the CMC 1962 this was true. However, there was no guarantee that they would maintain a nuclear monopoly so Kennedy needed to go beyond agreements with the USSR and prevent the spread of nuclear weapons to potentially volatile countries.
Who were the nuclear powers in 1963?
USSR, USA, UK and France and in Kennedy’s estimation it should remain this way.
How did the destruction of Japan affect Kennedy?
The devastation that the world saw in Japan after Hiroshima and Nagasaki was so great that in 1963 the country was still reeling from the effects of the aomic bombs and so Kennedy felt that such destruction of the world’s environment should be ended or at the very least limited.
Due to MAD, Japan, and the CMC, what were Kennedy’s actions regarding Nuclear weaponry/
He began negotiations with the other nuclear powers int he hopes of preventing further use of nuclear weapons. His assassination in Nov 1963 delayed some of the discussions but did not prevent them and the USA and USSR continued talks through the US presidential administrations until the end of the Cold War.
What was Krushchev’s perspective after the CMC?
Presented his withdrawl from Cuba as a triumph. Russian newspaper ‘Pravda’ referred to Krushchev’s ‘calm and wisdom’ as an asset for Soviet diplomacy’ which had saved the world from a nuclear catastrophe. Krushchev was amendable to a US-Soviet relationhip based on mutual restraint rather than brinkmanship.
Why was conciliation with US also important to Krushchev?
Due to Sino-Soviet split. The USSR no longer had a reliable ally in Asia, but had managed to reconcile with Josip Broz Tito in Yugoslavia, demonstrating to him that foreign policies were not permanent.
Where did Krushchev and Kennedy agree?
With the idea of limiting the number of countries with nuclear weapons and manners by which nuclear weapons could be tested.
Did Krushchev achieve his aims?
No. As with Kennedy, he was ousted in Ocober 1964. However the negotiations persisted under the leadership that emerged after him.
