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Cold War: Broadening (1949-1955) > Eisenhower; new policy and new alliances (S2.8) > Flashcards

Eisenhower; new policy and new alliances (S2.8) Flashcards

1
Q

What two leadership changes took place in 1953?

A

Eisenhower sworn into presidency in January 1953, succeeding Truman

Stalin’s death in March 1953, leading to a joint-leadership between Krushchev and Malenkov (until the end of 1955)

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2
Q

What was the joint leadership of Malenkov and Krushchev called?

A

A “collective leadership” - two factions struggling for power, with both emerging from Stalinism

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3
Q

What did Malenkov strive for, compared to Krushchev?

A

Malenkov = “a new course”
Krushchev = “peaceful coexistence”

Both wanted good relations with the West and de-stalinisation

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4
Q

What policy did Eisenhower abandon upon his appointment, and what did he instead employ?

A

Containment
> Pushed forward a “New Look”; brinkmanship, massive retaliation, ‘domino theory’ and rollback.

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5
Q

Who were the two most influential people behind Eisenhower?

A

Allen Dulles (Director of the CIA)
John Foster Dulles (JFD) (Secretary of State, 1953-1959)

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6
Q

What did Allen Dulles think about ‘peaceful coexistence’ (Krushchev), and what did the CIA intend to do in the third world?

A

Uninterested in ‘peaceful coexistence’
> CIA moved to overthrow democratically elected governments in the third world, if they aligned with socialism and/or communism.

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7
Q

What were the changes in the Soviet Union following the death of Stalin?

A
  • Destalinisation took place, with fundamental reforms
  • A million prisoners were released from the Gulag within weeks, powers of secret police contained, cultural controls loosened, and improved relations begun (‘controlled liberalisation’)
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8
Q

How did the US respond to changes in the Soviet Union?

A

US decided to ‘get tough with the Soviets’ and wanted to ‘roll back communism’; Dulles wanted to ‘keep our pressures on’.

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9
Q

What were the four factors which shaped Eisenhower’s ‘New Look’?

A
  • Red Scare
  • The need to get tough on communism
  • The need to get ‘value for money’ (more affordable attempts)
  • The need to build alliances with Cold War partners
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10
Q

When was the NSC 162/2 report made?

A

October 1953

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11
Q

What did the NSC 162/2 report of October 1953 state?

A
  • Claimed that the USA could deter aggression by displaying its willingness to use nuclear weapons against aggressive Communist states
    > Essence of the New Look policy (brinkmanship)
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12
Q

What was rollback?

A

Rollback was a strategy aimed at actively pushing it back by supporting uprisings or regime changes in communist-controlled areas.

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13
Q

What was brinkmanship?

A

A strategy designed to convince the opponent that there is a risk of war or actual conflict, showing no sign of backing down, and usually through the use of nuclear weapons.
> Reaching the verge of war without actually engaging in war.

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14
Q

What was ‘domino theory’?

A

This theory held that if one country fell to communism, neighbouring nations would follow in a domino-like chain reaction.

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15
Q

What was massive retaliation?

A

Massive retaliation was a military strategy that promised a swift and overwhelming nuclear response to any Soviet aggression, regardless of the scale of the initial attack.

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16
Q

Between 1954 and 1948, what changes did Eisenhower make to the military?

A
  • Cut army personnel by around 1/3
  • Shrank the Navy and Marines by 10%
  • Spending on defence fell from 2/3 to 1/2 of government expenditure, and dropped 4% in GNP (Gross National Product)
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17
Q

What was the result of a more effective, and more affordable military, through the cultivation of nuclear weapons?

A

By 1960, the US possessed the capability to devastate the USSR and PRC with nuclear weapons
> Backed up by the CIA’s enhanced capability for intelligence gathering and intervention in third world countries

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18
Q

What was the ‘bomber gap’ rumour, and how were these fears exemplified?

A
  • Spread in 1955
    > Put pressure on the Eisenhower administration, as it suggested that the Soviets had a sizeable ‘bomber gap’ on the US
    > Fears exemplified through the launch of Sputnik in 1958
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19
Q

Why was great importance placed on the expansion of alliance systems?

A

Wanted the creation of a global network of alliances, to encircle the USSR/China with pro-Western allies
> Would reduce US presence but retain fundamental US objectives

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20
Q

What was the ‘nuclear umbrella’?

A

Strategy was based on the US providing a ‘nuclear umbrella’, ensuring no ally would be endangered, acting as a form of collective deterrence.
> One key idea that propelled the creation of alliance systems.

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21
Q

When was SEATO founded?

A

September 1954

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22
Q

What was SEATO?

A

South-East Asia Treaty Organisation
> Included UK/US/FR/AU/NZ; Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand,

  • Intended to contain communist powers and protect Laos/South Vietnam (former French powers)
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23
Q

When was CENTO founded?

A

Founded by the Baghdad Pact of February 1955 with US support

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24
Q

What was CENTO?

A

Central Treaty Organisation
> Included Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, and the UK
> US supported and officially joined in 1958

Committed the nations to mutual cooperation, protection, and non-intervention into eachothers affairs
> Goal was to contain the USSR on their south-western frontier
> Largely a continuation of Truman’s policy of containment

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25
Q

When does Dulles announce the ‘massive retaliation’ strategy?

A

January 1954

26
Q

What did the FDR join in November 1949?

A

FDR and Adenauer join the ‘Council of Europe’, committing West Germany to the OEEC
> Recognised full sovereignty of the FDR, in exchange for renouncement of nuclear weapons

27
Q

What did West Germany join in May 1955, and what did this spark?

A

West Germany was admitted to NATO in May 1955
> USSR immediately recognised the sovereignty of the DDR and created the Warsaw Pact

28
Q

When was the Warsaw Pact established?

A

May 1955

29
Q

What was the Warsaw Pact?

A

Means of legitimising its influence in Eastern Europe
> Included the USSR, Bulgaria, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, East Germany and Albania

Presented as a collective security strategy; served as military reinforcement and consolidation of the political and economic relationship between the USSR and its satellites

30
Q

When did Eisenhower threaten nuclear strikes against China?

A

The First Taiwan Straits Crisis (September 1954-May 1955)
The Second Taiwan Straits Crisis (August-October 1958)

31
Q

What happened in the First Taiwan Straits Crisis (September 1954-May 1955), and what was the US response?

A

Mao began attacking small islands (Quemoy and Matsu)
> In March 1955, Dulles publicly stated that the USA was considering using nuclear weapons

32
Q

What was the result of the First Taiwan Straits Crisis (September 1954-May 1955)?

A
  • PRC stepped back by April 1955
    > Arguably a success for brinkmanship; fundamental issues remained unresolved, and both sides subsequently built up their military
33
Q

What happened in the Second Taiwan Straits Crisis (August-September 1958), and how did the US respond?

A

August 1958
> Mao begins shelling Quemoy and Matsu again, suspected of being in preparation for a full-scale invasion by Eisenhower and Dulles

US responded by putting the American military on full alert, and sending nuclear forces to the region, as well as a large American fleet; aimed to deter Chinese aggression through a strong display of force.

34
Q

What was the result of the Second Taiwan Straits Crisis (August-October 1958)?

A

Mao stopped shelling in October 1958
> American brinkmanship made the PRC back down and thus were successful examples of key American policies in the 1950s (brinkmanship and containment)

35
Q

Who was Ho Chi Minh?

A

Central in the foundation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945
> Staunch communist and nationalist
> Engineered the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu

36
Q

How much did the US fund the French in Indochina?

A

$4 billion

37
Q

By April 1954, what had developed in the First Indochina War (1946-1954)?

A

Battle at Dien Bien Phu
> Paved the way for French withdrawal and a divided Vietnam
> First time that a non-European nationalist force had defeated elite troops from a European colonial power, acting as inspiration for other third world nationalists.

38
Q

What assumptions underpinned Eisenhower’s foreign policy?

A
  • Belief in inherent superiority of Anglo-Saxon civilisation, capitalism, and the belief that problems in the Third World could be explained by the USSR or PRC
  • Belief in liberal democracy (until the people of the country made the ‘wrong choice’)
  • Belief that the USA was world policeman
  • A commitment to rolling back communism, the use of nuclear weapons, and the creation of alliance systems
39
Q

What was the importance of the primacy of domestic politics?

A

US foreign policies were often designed to protect administrations from accusations that it wasn’t being sufficiently patriotic or tough enough on communism and the Third World
> Impact of presidential elections and mid-terms (every two years)

40
Q

What were the results of the 1948, 1952, 1956 and 1960 elections?

A

1948 = Truman
1952, 56 = Eisenhower
1960 = Kennedy (JFK)

41
Q

What were the three examples of rollback in the third world through the 1950s and early 1960s?

A

Iran (1953)
Guatemala (1954)
Congo (1961)

42
Q

What company dominated Iran?

A

AIOC (Anglo-Iranian Oil Company)

43
Q

What two leaders heavily impacted its political landscape in the early 1950s?

A

Mosaddegh; democratic nationalist (democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran, overthrown by a CIA-led coup in August 1953)
v
the Shah of Iran (briefly-exiled, returns to rule over Iran in August 1953; originally had failed to overthrow Mosaddegh)

44
Q

Why did the US back Britain and the AIOC?

A
  • Saw it as a potential destabilising force in Iran, which could allow for Soviet expansion into the Middle East
  • Idea of ‘domino theory’ (could spread in the Middle East)
45
Q

How did Mosaddegh fall from power?

A
  • CIA funded gangs which caused civil disobedience; this led to public calls for the return of the Shah
    > Mosaddegh was removed from power in a coup in August 1953, arrested, tried and convicted for treason; jailed and later utnder house arrest for the rest of his life
46
Q

How long did the Shah of Iran last in power, and how did it end?

A

Shah of Iran stayed in control until January 1979
> Went into exile following the outbreak of revolution, having run a secular, brutal, repressive, pro-Western regime

47
Q

How did the US benefit from the fall of Mosaddegh?

A

Eisenhower and America was promised 10% of Iranian Oil

48
Q

Who was Jacobo Arbenz?

A

Democratically-elected President of Guatemala, overthrown in June 1954
> A democratic nationalist (not communist) who attempted to nationalise road and railway, and enact land reform (this led to an economic boom)
> UFC (large landowner in Guatemala, with connections to both Dulles) asks Eisenhower to move to overthrow Arbenz

49
Q

How did Eisenhower and the CIA overthrow Arbenz?

A

Operation PBSUCCESS
> American government began a series of public statements alleging that the Guatemalan government had been infiltrated by communists
> CIA armed, funded and trained an army, and invaded, utilising psychological warfare, in June 1954
> Destabilised the government and intimidated the army; Arbenz was destroyed politically, and steps down in June 1954; replaced by Armas in July 1954

50
Q

Who was Patrice Lumumba?

A

Democratically-elected Prime Minister of the Congo, overthrown in a coup in September 1960, and executed in January 1961

51
Q

Who did Lumumba appeal to after Belgium and Belgian-backed businesses funded separatist militias in order to weaken the new state, and what was their response?

A

Appealed to the UN but recieved little practical support (effectively useless)

52
Q

After rejection from the UN, who was Lumumba forced to turn to?

A
  • Forced to turn to the Soviet Union for help
    > USSR agrees to provide weapons, logistical and material support, and over a thousand Soviet military advisors
53
Q

What was the US response after Lumumba turned to the USSR?

A

CIA and Eisenhower established a $100,000 fund to overthrow/execute Lumumba
> CIA in touch with overthrowers/killers on both days of his overthrowing/execution

54
Q

Who was Diem?

A

Diem
> Anti-communist vietnamese national; leader of South Vietnam
> Established a ‘sectarian state’ but suppressed buddhism (95% of South Vietnam was Buddhist)
> By 1954, US begins giving South Vietnam millions of dollars.

55
Q

When was the Geneva Conference?

A

May-July 1954

56
Q

What was the problem with the Geneva Conference?

A

South Vietnam and the United States did not directly sign nor accept the agreements; this set the scene for further conflict, as Eisenhower/Diem rejected the proposal.

57
Q

What was the Geneva Conference?

A
  • Seperated Vietnam along the 17th parallel into two zones (northern communist zone // southern capitalist zone); decided a temporary split of Vietnam
58
Q

What did the Geneva Conference decide?

A

Provided that a general election would be held by July 1956 to create a unified Vietnamese state.

59
Q

What did the results of the October 1955 referendum in South Vietnam reveal?

A

Won 98% of the votes
> In many districts, there were more votes in his favour than there were registered voters (i.e. in Saigon)

60
Q

What happened in November 1955?

A

Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) was officially established under President Ngo Dinh Diem in November 1955
> Marked the beginning of the formal conflict between North Vietnam, led by the communist government of Ho Chi Minh, and the non-communist South Vietnam, supported by the United States.

61
Q

When did Eisenhower articulate the concept of the ‘Domino Theory’?

A

April 1954

62
Q

Why did the US refuse to sign the Geneva Accords?

A

Eisenhower feared the domino effect.

Cold War: Broadening (1949-1955) (5 decks)

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