Cold war continued 1953 -62 1953 Harry

Cold war continued 1953 -62

1953 Harry S. Truman defeated in election and new US president is Dwight D. Eisenhower Joseph Stalin dies and is replaced by Nikita Kruschev (and Georgy Malenkov from March 1953 -September 1953) USSR explodes 1 st hydrogen bomb (250 times more powerful than Abomb) Korean War ends Worker uprising in East Germany is put down with Soviet tanks. USSR was considering leaving East Germany, but after this they decide to help “prop up” the regime to make sure there aren’t any problems.

1954 Geneva Conference splits Vietnam at 17 th parallel President Eisenhower comes up with the “Domino Theory” that if Vietnam falls to communism, the rest of S. E. Asia (and then the rest of the world) will fall like dominoes.

1955 Warsaw Pact is formed (that’s what it’s known as in the West. . . the official name is “Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance. ” Founding members were: People’s Republic of Albania, People’s Republic of Bulgaria, Czechoslovak Republic, People’s Republic of Hungary, People’s Republic of Poland, USSR, German Democratic Republic (East Germany) in 1956 Was Soviet response to NATO

1956 Khrushchev shocks the world when he attacks Stalinism at the 20 th Congress of the Communist Party in February. . . people think maybe the old “police state” ways will end. Polish riots against the government in June lead to the release of Gomulka (a popular leader imprisoned in 1951 for “Titoism”) and put back in charge. The Soviet leaders allowed this because it was ok as long as he didn’t threaten the Soviet influence or Soviet safety. Hungarians were impressed by this and they decided to do the same. There was a call for the return of Imre Nagy as premier. Gero (who was ruling Hungary at the time and had agreed to Nagy’s return) asked for Soviet troops to “help keep the situation under control. ” This only angered the Hungarians and fights broke out around the country. . . Then Nagy abolished the one party system and said he would take Hungary out of the Warsaw Pact.

1956 Continued American radio programs urged the Hungarians to revolt. Hungarians expected that the US would send them help (and Khrushchev probably thought the same) Soviet troops crushed the revolt (30, 000 Hungarians killed and 7, 000 Soviet troops killed). . . Americans didn’t come to help. One reason was that Israel, France, and GB invaded Egypt. . . The president of Egypt (Nasser) decided to nationalize the Suez Canal. It had been controlled by the British (and was originally built by the French) before this. Israel, France, and GB decide to try to overthrow Nasser and put in a more friendly regime. International pressure (including from the US) forced them to withdraw from Egypt.

1957 Eisenhower Doctrine commits the US to defending Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan from Communist threats Sputnik is launched into space by the USSR. . . First man made satellite (and increases fears of Soviet attacks in the US. . . starts the Space Race

1959 Cuban Revolution where Fidel Castro overthrows US backed gov’t. He doesn’t claim to be Communist in the beginning. US refuses to recognize his gov’t so he began nationalizing industries in Cuba. This led to US boycott of Cuba and his then claiming Communism and asking USSR for aid.

1960 US spy plane (U 2) is shot down over USSR. US gov’t initially denies it, but when Soviets show the pilot (Francis Gary Powers) on tv it is a huge embarrassment for the Eisenhower administration. Sino-Soviet Split as China claims it doesn’t like being treated as a junior partner to the USSR. They claim their version of Communism is better. Mao still not happy after lack of support from Korean War and Krushchev’s attack on Stalin’s “Cult of Personality” (which Mao wanted for himself). Makes things interesting for US. . . John F. Kennedy elected new president of the USA

1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion: US trained, funded, and supplied Cuban refugees try to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro’s gov’t. Complete failure and huge embarrassment to Kennedy administration. US puts missiles in Turkey (after already putting them in GB and Italy) that can reach Moscow. Berlin Wall built to stop flood of people leaving East Germany. Another embarrassment for Kennedy administration.

1962 Cuban Missile Crisis: USSR supplied missiles found on Cuba by US spy planes. President Kennedy calls for a “quarantine” (a naval blockade actually, but that’s a term of war and he didn’t want that) of Cuba to stop any more missiles from coming in. Ships were on their way from the USSR and it seemed that war was inevitable. After a 4 day standoff, the Soviet ships turned around and the missiles in Cuba were dismantled and returned (angering Castro). The US had secretly agreed to take the missiles out of Turkey and promised not to invade Cuba again. No one knew this though and Khrushchev looked very week in agreeing to the terms given. This would help lead to his downfall by hard-liners in USSR.