Bipolarity

Predominance of of the two superpowers – the USA and the USSR

1955

By this time the Cold War stabilizedKorean war was overNATO vs Warsaw PactIron Curtain divided EuropeThreat of direct military intervention

recededAustria is finally independent

Khrushchev vs Eisenhower

Khrushchev – tough talker – but recognized the need for peaceful coexistence

Eisenhower – (53-61) continued containment and military buildup

Secretary of State Dulles – sees competition as contest between good and evil

Geneva Meeting – Khrushchev and Eisenhower

Friendly atmosphereTensions over BerlinSoviets demanded that USA end their

occupation of West BerlinUSA refused

Second Summit – Paris

Spirit of Geneva is overshadowed by the discovery of an American spy plane over the USSR

At the next UN meeting, Khrushchev was very down on the US and tensions mounted again

American acceptance of Soviet controlled Eastern Europe

1953 – Soviets put down anti govt riots in East Berlin

1956 – Soviets curbed Polish reform movements

Soviets crush Hungarian Revolt1968 – Czech uprising squashed No US involvement

Suez Crisis - 1956

US deterred Britain, France and Israel from military action against Egypt

Kept out Soviet intervention

Eisenhower Doctrine

Asserted American primacy in defense of the Middle East

Pledged protection to any govt against international communism

Eisenhower dispatched marines to Jordan and Lebanon in 1958 when their pro western govts were threatened

Sputnik

Soviets launch the first artificial satellite to orbit into space

Months later – USA launches Explorer I

SPACE AGE1958 – Soviets create ICBM and later

so does the US

Mutual Deterrence

France’s De Gaulle calls for European Union and independence from the US

HE drops France out of NATO

Kennedy’s plans

Race to the moonForeign aid to developing countries –

Peace CorpsAlliance for progress in Latin

America to support investment and growth

Cuba

Castro – agrarian program took away large American holdings

Executed political opponentsJoined ranks with the CommunistsEmbargo of trade Diplomatic relations fade away – plan

for an American invasion

Bay of Pigs 1961

Horrible failureCastro openly sides with the Soviet

Union as a result

Berlin Wall, 1961

Soviets upset – people fleeing to American side

28 miles long

Cuban Missile Crisis

Castro announced that he was going to defend himself against plans for another American invasion

He had Soviets come and set up missiles 13 tense days for Kennedy – he imposed a

blockade of the islandSoviets back down

US and Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh – led an anticolonial war against the french for 8 years

International conference in Geneva recognized the independence of Indochina

Vietnam – communists and anti communists confronted one another

Vietnam

North – Ho Chi MinhSouth – Ngo Dinh Diem Geneva conference had partitioned the

country until elections scheduled for 1956

Vietnam

South Vietnam refused to participate in elections

Viet Cong – communist guerilla forces in Southern Vietnam – try to undermine the South Vietnamese govt

Ho Chi Minh supported them and received aid from China and the USSR

Dominoes

Eisenhower – send limited aid and military advisors

Kennedy sends advisors, $$ and armsSpans five presidents – Eisenhower,

Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Ford

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

Johnson gets permission to order air strikes- and a resolution allowing him to take all necessary measures

1966 – 200,000 Am troops1969 – 550,000 troops

Vietnamization (Nixon)

Shift to South Vietnam – major defense

War actually broadenedCease fire 1973

Communists win

Cambodia and Laos also turned Communist

Effects

1.3 million Vietnamese dead58,000 Americans deadMistrust of presidential powerAmericans scarred from battle scenes

and the divisions within the countryVeterans demoralized

Khmer Rouge

North Vietnamese Communists – helped arm Cambodian insurgents

Khmer Rouge overthrew the Cambodian govt

1975 – Pol Pot (leader) helped in killing over 2 million people (1975-78) as a result of mass executions, forced labor and famine

Vietnam overthrows “pro Chinese” Khmer Rouge

1979China could not get the Vietnamese

out of Cambodia until the Soviets convinced them to in the 80’s

Prague Spring and Brezhnev

1968 reforms of Alexander Dubcek threatened the one party state in Czechoslovakia

Brezhnev sent 250,000 troops to suppress the revolution

Brezhnev doctrine = proclaimed the Soviet right to intervene in the name of Proletarian internationalism

1972 Nixon visits Mao

This event encourages détente between the US and the USSR

SALT I – each nation agreed to reduce its anti missile defense systems

China enters the UN

Helsinki Accords

35 nations met in 1975 and pledged to work for peace, economic and cultural cooperation and the protection of human rights