Eisenhower and ‘New Look‘
- Dwight D. Eisenhower elected in 1952
- Republican
- Very critical of Truman administration
- Truman was too soft on communism
- He and his Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, had campaigned on a strongly anti-Communist message
- Had to introduce tougher policies to follow up on promises
- Also red scare in America is increasing tensions
- Eisenhower administration developed a new policy of containment called ‘New Look’
- Formalized in NSC 162/2 in October 1953
- Continued with the policy of containment but made it more aggressive
- Shifted the focus from conventional military forces to ‘air-atomic’ capability
- Eisenhower wanted to avoid ‘an unbearable security burden leading to economic disaster’
- The plan called for ‘massive retaliation; in order to deter an enemy, using nuclear weapons if necessary
- Threatening the use of nuclear weapons
- Raised the fear of war in the world
- During the Korean War, the US military budget had quadrupled
- Eisenhower was keen to reduce costs
- Shouldn’t be fearful when they had nuclear weapons
- ‘New Look’ was a way to maintaining a credible deterrence threat whilst reducing military costs
- Eisenhower was keen to reduce costs
- Secretary of State Dulles called this policy ‘brinkmanship’
- “The ability to get to the verge without getting into the war is the necessary art’
- Used very successfully in 1955, when China was threatening Taiwan
- US threatened massive retaliation which was enough to scare Chinese into backing down
- However this was a high-risk strategy
- Defensive strategy based on very offensive threats
- “The ability to get to the verge without getting into the war is the necessary art’
Changes in Soviet Foreign Policy
Other reasons for the ‘thaw’
Diplomatic Achievements
Geneva Summit 1955
Increasing Tensions after 1955
Increasing Tensions after 1958
- After death of Stalin in March 1953, the USSR became led by a triumvirate of Georgy Malenkov, Nikita Khrushchev and Nikolai Bulganin
- Malenkov initiated the policy of a ‘New Course'
- When Khrushchev finally won the power struggle in 1956, he renamed the policy ‘peaceful co-existence’
- Policy called for the acceptance of the USA rather than the Leninist idea of the inevitability of war
- He believed that capitalism would die out on its own eventually
- His policy was less antagonistic to the West
- In February 1956, this ‘new course’ in Soviet policy took a dramatic turn when Khrushchev gave his ‘Secret Speech’ to the 20th Party Congress
- It was a four hour demolition of Stalin’s reputation
- “He often chose the path of repression and physical annihilation, not only against actually enemies, but also against individuals who had not committed any crimes..’
- The speech lead to a policy of ‘de-Stalinization’ within the Soviet bloc with a relaxation in totalitarian control
- Many in the West viewed this as a chance for peace or ‘détente’ with the USSR
Other reasons for the ‘thaw’
- The UK led by Prime Minister Winston Churchill was also pressing the US for the need for more dialogue with the USSR
- At the Bermuda Conference in December 1954, Churchill called Eisenhower to extend the ‘hand of friendship’ to the USSR
- Both superpowers were also concerned with economics
- US spending over 12% GDP on its military
- USSR spending almost 1/3
- With the end of the Korean War in 1953, both sides wanted to reduce military spending
Diplomatic Achievements
- In this new atmosphere of co-operation, both superpowers attempted to reduce tensions
- In April 1952, Eisenhower gave his ‘Chance for Peace’ speech criticizing the arms race
- The USSR now led by a collective leadership of Malenkov, Bulganin and Khrushchev began to pursue a ‘New Course’ that sought to reduce Cold War tensions
- Malenkov believed ‘a nuclear war could lead to global destruction’
- Eisenhower replied with his ‘Atoms for Peace’ speech at the UN General Assembly in Dec 1953
- He called for the repurposing of nuclear energy for civilian projects and disarmament
- In April 1955 the USSR proposed a formal peace treaty with Austria which had been occupied by the USA, USSR, Britain and France since 1945
- The Austrian State Treaty created an independent and neutral Austria
- This was followed by the Geneva Summit in July 1955
- It was the first meeting of Heads of State since the war
- Achieved little but led to better relations
- It was the first meeting of Heads of State since the war
Geneva Summit 1955
- USSR proposed
- a mutual disbandment of NATO and Warsaw Pact
- Withdrawal of all foreign forces from Europe
- Free elections for a united Germany
- West European governments were hostile to this
- Believed if America withdrew troops from Europe there would be nothing to stop Soviet Union spreading influence across the continent
- USA proposed ‘Open Skies’
- Allowed aerial surveillance of each others’ countries and sharing of military bases
- It was hoped this would reduce security fears but Khrushchev dismissed it as an ‘espionage plot’
- Didn’t want America to know that America had superior military weaponry
- Despite failures there were a number of future trade relations, scientific sharing and cultural exchanges
Increasing Tensions after 1955
- In Feb 1956, Khrushchev gave his ‘de-Stalinization’ speech
- Many interpreted it as an end to totalitarian government
- Especially in eastern Europe
- End to police control, uprising for more freedom
- It encouraged a mass uprising in Hungary which Khrushchev had no choice but to end with force
- Because it was encouraging more western liberal ideas
- Many interpreted it as an end to totalitarian government
- The West in response criticized the USSR for its use of force
- The Suez Crisis in the same year also increased tensions
- Suez Canal was a major lifeline for world trade
- Egypt was ruled by a dictator, Nasa, and he had ben slowly moving towards Soviet Union
- Nasa nationalized the Suez Canal taking control away from Britain and France
- With the help of Israel, Britain and France invaded Egypt
- USA was angry with Britain and France for acting like they had empires
- The US believed the USSR was increasing its influence in the Middle East
- In response, the US declared the ‘Eisenhower Doctrine’ of material support for nations fighting communism in the Middle East
- Developments in the arms race also increased tensiosn and competition during this period
- In October 1957 the USSR launched the world’s first satellite into space, Sputnik 1
- It was based on their ‘Semyorka R-7’ inter-continental ballistic missile
- This invention meant the USSR could now also use massive retaliation against the US as well
- USSR could send a missile anywhere in America at anytime
- Sent the USA into panic over a ‘perceived missile gap’
- Not helped with Khrushchev boasting on their military advancements
- The developments of ICBM’s meant that the US was now vulnerable to ‘massive retaliation’ itself
- US commissioned the top-secret ‘Gaither Report’ to find out about this ‘missile gap’
- It recommended an increase in military spending and fallout shelters
- US commissioned the top-secret ‘Gaither Report’ to find out about this ‘missile gap’
- In reality, their U-2 Spy programme had proved that there was no ‘gap’
- It could fly high enough that it couldn’t be shot down by any of the existing technology and took pictures of Soviet missiles
- Realized that Khrushchev had been bluffing
- However the US government used this paranoia to increase science spending and establish NASA in 1958 to research missile development
Increasing Tensions after 1958
- By 1958 the US was again confident about its missile and nuclear superiority
- Balance of power had resumed
- It therefore took steps to ban atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons in October 1958
- USSR did the same
- However tensions over Berlin again became a problem as it was still divided
- Both sides couldn’t agree what should happen to Germany long-term
- Refugees were flooding into West Germany which was called a ‘brain drain’
- To stop the flow, in November 1958, Khrushchev issued an ultimatum to the USA, UK and France to leave West Germany in 6 months
- They refused but agreed to a new summit meeting in the USA
- In September 1959 Khrushchev became the first Soviet leader to visit the USA, attending the Camp David summit
- Meeting over Berlin Issue
- Despite the lack of agreement, Khrushchev agreed their would be no firm deadline over Berlin
- Both sides agreed to meet again in Paris in May 1960
- There was optimism
- Both sides agreed to meet again in Paris in May 1960
- However in May 1960, a U-2 spy plane was shot down over the USSR
- Its pilot, Gary Powers was captured and confessed to spying
- This ruined all the progress in creating international relations
- At the Paris meeting in May 1960, Eisenhower refused to apologize for spying
- Khrushchev retaliated by cancelling plans for Eisenhower’s visit to the USSR
- With the election of US President John F Kennedy in 1960, a new summit was held in Vienna to discuss Berlin in June 1961
- Tried to threaten Kennedy because he believed he was inexperienced
- Challenged Kennedy to withdraw from West Berlin in 6 months or declare war
- Kennedy refused to back down
- In retaliation, Khrushchev ordered the construction of the Berlin Wall in August 1961
- It was designed to stop the flow of emigrants into West Berlin
- Crisis over Berlin was averted despite the Wall being built
- However tensions between the Superpowers remained high as both sides continued to develop their nuclear deterrents
- This culminated in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis in which nuclear war seemed like a very real possibility