foreign policy under Kennedy 1961-63

Question 1

what was Kennedys approach to the cold war?

Answer 1

‘flexible response’

Question 2

what was Kennedys ‘flexible
response’?

Answer 2

a military strategy that would allow the USA to respond to aggression with a variety of methods of warfare, rather than through nuclear weapons alone.

Question 3

when was the Berlin crisis?

Answer 3

1961

Question 4

how did the Berlin crisis start?

Answer 4

• Krushchev gave the US a ultimatum at the Vienna summit to leave Berlin
• Kennedy responded by asked Congress for additional $3.25 billion on military spending and sent 40,000 US troops to Europe.

Question 5

when did the USSR start to build a wall separating East and West Berlin? (Berlin crisis)

Answer 5

13 th August 1961

Question 6

how did tensions increase after 13th of august 1961 (Berlin crisis)?

Answer 6

Between 27 th and 28 th October, US and Soviet tanks faced each other in a tense stand-off. Eventually the tanks were withdrawn after negotiations between the two superpowers.

Question 7

significance: how did the Berlin crisis affect tensions?

Answer 7

• increased tensions closest they ever came to conflict
• building of the Berlin Wall actually helped to ease tension
• was a “massive propaganda victory for the
  West.”

Question 8

when was the cuban missile crisis?

Answer 8

1962

Question 9

what were the causes of the Cuban missile crisis 1961?

Answer 9

• since the Cuban Revolution of 1959 the USA had lost its dominance in Cuba’s economic affairs

Question 10

what was the Bay of pigs invasion (Cuban missile crisis)?

Answer 10

17 th April 1961, Kennedy sanctioned an invasion of Cuba with 1,400 Cuban exiles, supported by the USA, due to increased tensions between the USA and Cuba.

Question 11

why was the Bay of pigs invasion a failure (Cuban missile crisis)?

Answer 11

poor planning and a lack of support in Cuba, it was a humiliation for Kennedy

Question 12

when did the soviets start to install missiles in Cuba?

Answer 12

September 1962

Question 13

how did the US become aware of the USSR missile bases in Cuba?

Answer 13

14 th October an American U-2 spy plane took photographs of Soviet nuclear missiles.

Question 14

why where the missiles in Cuba a threat to the USA?

Answer 14

they were in range of almost all US cities

Question 15

when was Kennedy informed that the USSR had nuclear missiles in Cuba?

Answer 15

16 th October 1962

Question 16

how did Kennedy react to the Cuban missile crisis?

Answer 16

• 18 th October 1962 Kennedy met with Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs, who claimed that the weapons were for defensive purposes only.
• 22 nd October 1962 Kennedy decided to impose a naval blockade around Cuba to prevent Soviet missiles reaching Cuba. He then made a broadcast to the American people, informing them of the potential threat and what he intended to do.

Question 17

how did the Cuban missile conflict get resolved?

Answer 17

• 26 th October 1962 Khrushchev sent a letter to Kennedy stating that he would withdraw the Soviet missiles from Cuba if the USA promised not to invade Cuba.
• 27 th October 1962 Khrushchev sent a second letter stating that the USA would also need to withdraw its missiles from Turkey and Italy. Kennedy agreed to the terms of the first letter (26 th October) publicly and secretly agreed to remove missiles from Turkey and Italy.
• 28 th October 1962 Khrushchev announced the Soviet’s intensions to withdraw missiles and dismantle the missile sites in Cuba on Radio Moscow. The crisis was over.

Question 18

significance: how did the cuban missile crisis decrease tensions?

Answer 18

• were on the brink of nuclear war which gave the leaders a shock at how sewrious the situation had gotten and tried to decrease tensions.
• June 1963, the Moscow-Washington hotline was agreed upon, which would
  provide a direct communications link between the USA and USSR. The purpose
  was to ensure that the leaders of the superpowers could easily communicate
  during such a crisis.
• August 1963, the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed by the USA,
  USSR and Britain and stated that the testing of nuclear weapons in the
  atmosphere was now prohibited.

Question 19

what was the 2 sides in the Vietnam war?

Answer 19

• French Indo-China (capitalist) lost a guerrilla war with the Viet Minh (communist) 1954
• this lead Vietnam to be split into 4 territories
• The War was fought between the People’s Army of Vietnam (North Vietnamese Army), and the anti-communist forces of South Vietnam (Army of the Republic of Vietnam – ARVN).

Question 20

what were the Reasons for US involvement in the Vietnam War?

Answer 20

• uphold containment, had set the precedent on Korea
• Domino Theory
• threaten global position, would represent a defeat in the Cold War.
• The Gulf of Tonkin incident provided President Johnson with the excuse to dramatically increase US involvement in the War.

Question 21

when was the Gulf of Tonkin incident?

Answer 21

2 nd August 1964

Question 22

what was the Gulf of Tonkin incident 1964?

Answer 22

the USS Maddox (usa boat) was fired at by North Vietnamese patrol boats in the Gulf of Tonkin. Following the attack, Congress
passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and gave Johnson the power to take any
military measures he thought necessary to defend South Vietnam.

Question 23

what was Kennedys approach to Vietnam?

Answer 23

• Kennedy was a firm supporter of containment
• he did not want the USA to get involved in the War militarily.
• he increased economic aid and military supplies and sent more advisers to help the ARVN.
• strategic helmet programme

Question 24

what was Kennedys ‘strategic helmet’ programme? (vietnam)

Answer 24

the placement of Southern Vietnamese peasants into fortified villages to isolate them from the Viet Cong.