Impact

 of  Leaders  on  CW  Development  

 
Eisenhower  (1953-­‐1962)   Khrushchev  (1953-­‐1964)  
-­‐ Ran  on  a  platform  of  being  harder  on  Communism  (during   -­‐ As  soon  as  he  and  a  collective  leadership  took  over  from  the  late  
McCarthyism)  and  became  the  first  Republican  president  in  20   Stalin,  there  were  immediate  positive  changes  to  the  Cold  War  
years   o 1953:  Signed  an  armistice  with  Korea    
-­‐ Introduced  the  New  Look   o 1954:  Arranged  peace  conference  in  Geneva  to  deal  with  
o Still  supported  Truman’s  policy  of  containment,   the  Indochina  War  under  USSR  and  British  leadership  
although  his  Secretary  of  State,  John  Foster  Dulles,   o 1955:  Power  summit  in  Geneva  between  USSR,  US,  
expressed  a  desire  for  a  rollback  policy   Britain,  and  France  
o Regarded  nukes  as  the  first  resort,  implementing  a  policy   § First  time  they  met  since  Potsdam  in  1945  –  
of  massive  retaliation   “spirit  of  Geneva”  
o Scaled  down  the  size  of  the  conventional  military  and   o 1955:  Occupational  forces  of  Austria  decided  to  end  the  
increased  number  of  nuclear  weapons   occupation  and  re-­‐establish  full  independence  of  the  
§ 1953-­‐1960;  1,534-­‐871  size  of  US  army/thousands   country  –  not  possible  in  Germany/Korea  
-­‐ Formed  many  alliances   § Also  withdrew  from  Finland  
o 1954:  SEATO  with  US,  France,  Britain,  Australia,  New   o Khrushchev  reduced  the  size  of  the  Red  Army  (without  
Zealand,  the  Philippines,  Thailand,  and  Pakistan,   the  other  side  doing  it)  
preventing  communist  expansion   o 1955:  Khrushchev  went  to  Yugoslavia  to  heal  the  rift  and  
o 1955:  Baghdad  Pact,  aim  of  preventing  the  USSR  to  get   show  that  the  USSR  could  accept  a  communist  state  not  
a  foothold  in  the  Middle  East  –  US  didn’t  join,  but  stood   under  the  control  of  Moscow  
behind  it   -­‐ Claimed  in  his  Secret  Speech  in  1956  that  he  believed  in  
o 1955:  Offered  Germany  a  full  membership  of  NATO   peaceful  coexistence  with  the  capitalist  states  
§ Allowed  German  forces  again   -­‐ When  Hungary  announced  free  elections,  Khrushchev  wanted  to  
-­‐ Testing  of  the  extent  of  Eisenhower’s  commitment  to  rollback   make  sure  it  didn’t  go  too  far,  so  he  moved  in  the  Red  Army  –  
o 1953:  Revolt  in  East  Berlin  against  communist  rule  –  no   crushing  the  Hungarian  Uprising  
US  support   o Strained  relations  with  Mao  
o 1956:  Hungary  revolted  against  Soviet  control  –  no  US   o Brought  an  end  to  the  “spirit  of  Geneva”  
support   o Showed  the  emptiness  of  Eisenhower’s  “rollback”  
o 1956:  Suez  Crisis  –  US  refused  to  support  Britain,  France,   rhetoric  
and  Israel,  making  them  on  the  same  side  as  the  USSR   o Damaged  reputation  of  USSR  internationally  
o 1958:  2nd  Berlin  Crisis,  Eisenhower  declared  he  wanted   -­‐ 1956:  Suez  Crisis  –  gave  Khrushchev  the  opportunity  to  expand  
to  avoid  conflict  over  Berlin   Soviet  influence  past  the  Satellite  states  and  into  Latin  America  
-­‐ Times  he  used  it  legitimately   and  the  Middle  East    
o 1954:  There  was  a  coup  d’état  in  Guatemala,  which  was     o Escalation  of  tensions  and  departure  from  Stalin  
 Eisenhower  (1953-­‐1962)   Khrushchev  (1953-­‐1964)  
Organized  by  the  CIA  –  deposed  democratically  elected   -­‐
Participated  in  many  summit  meetings,  although  left  the  Paris  
President  Jacobo  Arbenz  who  seemed  to  be  leaning   summit  in  1960  in  anger  when  Eisenhower  refused  to  apologize  
towards  Communism  too  slightly   for  the  U2  Incident  
o 1956:  Eisenhower  allowed  spy  planes  over  Russian   -­‐ 1958:  Put  pressure  of  West  to  find  solution  to  Berlin  –  6-­‐month  
territories   ultimatum  –  if  not,  then  the  USSR  would  recognize  East  
o 1954-­‐55:  Eisenhower  committed  the  US  to  defend   Germany  and  hand  over  control  of  Berlin  to  the  DDR  (which  the  
Taiwan  during  the  Taiwan  Straits  Crisis   West  didn’t  recognize)  
o US  supported  Diem  in  Vietnam  after  France  left  –   o This  is  the  2nd  Berlin  Crisis,  and  failed  for  Khrushchev  
execution  of  Domino  Theory   when  he  extended  the  time  limit  
o 1957:  Eisenhower  Doctrine  –  stated  that  the  US  would   o Erected  Berlin  Wall,  and  was  seen  as  a  symbol  of  
defend  any  state  in  the  Middle  East  threatened  by   Communist  repression  
Communist  aggression   -­‐ 1962:  Cuban  Missile  Crisis  –  provided  Cuba  with  nukes,  brought  
o 1961:  Planned  the  Bay  of  Pigs  invasion  in  Cuba   the  world  to  the  brink  of  nuclear  war  
o Communist  Cuba  would  provide  the  USSR  with  a  
foothold  in  Latin  America,  and  reduce  Soviet  nuclear  
inferiority  
o Had  sobering  effect  on  both  powers,  establishing  the  
Hot  Line  between  the  Kremlin  and  the  White  House,  and  
led  to  the  signing  of  the  Test  Ban  Treaty  in  1963  
-­‐ Brought  détente  and  confrontation  to  the  Cold  War  
o Talked  about  making  “many  Vietnams”  
o Contrasted  with  “peaceful  coexistence”  –  impulsive    
 
-­‐ Both  contributed  to  confrontation  but  also  détente,  while  Stalin  and  Truman  were  more  Cold  Warriors  
-­‐ Khrushchev  was  more  unpredictable  –  see  Secret  Speech  and  Cuba