Lecture 8 Flashcards
Hungary 1956
Series of uprisings in the East brought to an end by Soviet tanks – Hungarian Revolution 1956;
popular uprising in Hungary in 1956, following a speech by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in which he attacked the period of Joseph Stalin’s rule. Encouraged by the new freedom of debate and criticism, a rising tide of unrest and discontent in Hungary broke out into active fighting in October 1956.
In November 4 the Soviet Union invaded Hungary to stop the revolution, and Nagy was executed for treason in 1958. Nevertheless, Stalinist-type domination and exploitation did not return, and Hungary thereafter experienced a slow evolution toward some internal autonomy.
NSC 68
Given to Truman April 1950. Prevent Soviet expansion (not just contain, but check future expansion). More military, more money approach: defence spending triples. Date is significant KW started June 1950.
“the issues that face us are momentous, involving…”
NSC= National security council.
By 1950 containment has taken a more expansive approach in NSC 68: “the issues that face us are momentous, involving the fulfilment or destruction not only of this Republic but of civilization itself”. NSC 68 sought to prevent the growth of Soviet expansion – not just contain it. Required a big leap in defence spending.
Berlin Wall
in the early 1960s clear that E Germany is experiencing a brain drain – thousands of E Germans escaping to the West. (recall the curious geography of Berlin – divided city as an island in the middle of E Berlin). Therefore E Germany decides to build a wall to block off this escape route in 1961. Has Khruschev’s support: Khruschev thinks JFK is weak, and after the Bay of Pigs disaster, assumes the US will be unwilling to respond in a serious way. Khruschev is correct: very little US response. Wall stands until 1989.
Bay of Pigs
On April 17, 1961, 1,400 Cuban exiles launched what became a botched invasion at the Bay of Pigs on the south coast of Cuba.
Before his inauguration, John F. Kennedy was briefed on a plan by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) developed during the Eisenhower administration to train Cuban exiles for an invasion of their homeland. The plan anticipated that the Cuban people and elements of the Cuban military would support the invasion. The ultimate goal was the overthrow of Castro and the establishment of a non-communist government friendly to the United States.
The disaster at the Bay of Pigs had a lasting impact on the Kennedy administration. Determined to make up for the failed invasion, the administration initiated Operation Mongoose—a plan to sabotage and destabilize the Cuban government and economy, which included the possibility of assassinating Castro.
Any leader (even the President of the US) must make a decision in conference with a group of senior advisors, and different groups will have a different impact. People will listen to different advisors depending on who they are. JFK didn’t trust the CIA because of the Bay of Pigs and the CIA wanted invasion. He ended up trusting his brother, the attorney general.
Jupiter missiles
The PGM-19 Jupiter was the first nuclear armed, medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) of the United States Air Force.
In April 1959, the secretary of the Air Force issued implementing instructions to USAF to deploy two Jupiter squadrons to Italy. The two squadrons, totaling 30 missiles, were deployed at 10 sites in Italy from 1961 to 1963. In October 1959, the location of the third and final Jupiter MRBM squadron was settled when a government-to-government agreement was signed with Turkey. The U.S. and Turkey concluded an agreement to deploy one Jupiter squadron on NATO’s southern flank.
In July 1962, Khruschev and Castro agreed to place nuclear missiles in Cuba. Officially this was to even up the missile gap with the US, who had missiles in Turkey and Italy capable of reaching the Soviet Union. In October 1962 a US spy plane provided clear evidence of the missiles, prompting a huge crisis; the US created a naval blockade of Cuba to prevent further deliveries. Solution was that Khruschev moved the missiles out, and the US would remove missiles from Turkey.
