1. The Cold War 1955-1963

2.  COMECON:  The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance 1949–1991, was an economic organisation under hegemony of Soviet Union.  It was established to facilitate the economic development of Eastern European belonging to the Communist Bloc.

3.  Dwight Eisenhower takes over from Truman in 1953 :  Democrats charged Republicans for “missile gap”.  Eisenhower responded.

4.  Enlarged defense spending + create the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).  By 1962-63, the U.S. had 450 missiles and 2,000 bombers capable at striking the Soviet Union, compared to 50-100 ICBMS and 200 bombers that could reach the US (but the Soviet had biological weapons!).

5.  Took place in era of deStalinization.  Renewed optimism in East-West relations.  Attending was Eden (UK), Eisenhower (USA), Mendes-France (France), and Bulganin (USSR).

6.  Four leaders discussed security, armaments, German unification, and closer contacts between East and West.  The former Allies agreed to end the joint occupation of Austria.  No major agreement were made but a friendly climate was created.

7.  May 1955 – the four major powers signed a treaty making Austria an independent state = Austrian State Treaty, 1955:  Bound Austria to permanent neutrality by forbidding the country join any military alliances.

8.  Was the only peace treaty since 1946 signed western nations and the USSR  Signalled co-operation and relaxation of international tensions

9.  1955 – Egypt (Nasser) concluded a trade agreement with the USSR whereby Egypt received arms from Czechoslovakia.  Threatened the security of Israel, whom Egyptian president Nasser had signalled out in his propaganda attacks.

10.  1956 – American Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, in retaliation for Nasser’s agreement with the USSR, announced the withdrawal of American intentions to help Egypt build the costly Aswan Dam.  Led to Nasser’s nationalization of the Suez Canal.

11.  After increasing tension between Egypt and Israel, the Israelis, in the fall of 1956, attacked Egypt and drove through the Sinai Peninsula towards the Suez Canal.  The British and French, apparently still angered by Nasser’s nationalization of the Suez Canal Company, demanded a ceasefire and permission to occupy key points on the Canal.

12.  When Egypt refused, British and French forces invaded the Suez Canal zone.  The UN General Assembly arranged the withdrawal of belligerent armies by sending UNEF (United Nations Emergency Force) to the Near East.  These forces, in the future, became known as first peacekeeping forces.

13.  After this crisis the USSR extended its influence to Syria and Iraq.  An effect of the crisis was to drive Nasser closer to the USSR and Britain and France were discredited and the US and the USSR became the major powers in the region.

14.  1956 – Khrushchev stated that the USSR was ready to peacefully compete with the USA on a global basis.  The American response to Khrushchev was the Eisenhower Doctrine:  A heavy handed policy of using the USA troops if necessary to intervene in the Middle East to help against communist instigated aggression.

15.  It seemed the new policy of peaceful co- existence was indeed a relaxation of tension (détente) within the Cold War.

16.  Yet, it signalled a new era of competition between the USA and the USSR:  The Space Race.  Khrushchev’s “We will bury you” speech.  Soviet aggression in the Middle East.  New pressure on Berlin.  Cuban Missile Crisis.

17.  August 4, 1957 – USSR launched the first satellite, Sputnik, into orbit:  The Sputnik launch confirmed the Soviet Union’s superpower status.  Two months earlier they had tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

18.  The USA felt that it was unable to control the destiny of the world.

19.  Khrushchev made his “We will bury you” speech while addressing Western ambassadors at a reception at the Polish embassy in Moscow on November 18, 1956:  In fact, it was somewhat distorted = the actual quote reads: "Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will dig you in“.

20.  1959 – Premier Khrushchev announced his governments intention of signing a peace treaty with East Germany.  The western nations feared this treaty would result in the East Germans attempting to block the access routes from West Germany to West Berlin.

21.  Khrushchev proposed that Berlin be made a free city.  The western leaders felt this action would just be a prelude to communist domination of the entire city.

22.  PM Harold MacMillan of Britain succeeded in getting Khrushchev to postpone the treaty and influenced Eisenhower to agree to Khrushchev’s desire for a summit meeting.

23.  1960 – Paris : the meeting between MacMillan, de Gaulle, Eisenhower, and Khrushchev collapsed when Khrushchev refused to meet with the western leaders until the US apologized and took action against those responsible for the flight of an American spy plane over the USSR.

24.  Known as the U-2 Crisis/Incident:  Francis Gary Powers (pilot) was shot down by a missile over the USSR.  The US had flown this spy plane (CIA) over the USSR without impunity defying the USSR to shoot one down.  This was a reconnaissance mission over Soviet Union airspace.

25.  The invention of the rocket powered missile changed the ability to shoot down spy planes.  Khrushchev’s accusation/boycott indicated an intensification of the Cold War.

26.  Khrushchev pressed Kennedy (became President in 1960) and the Allies to get out of Berlin.  He was worried about the number of people leaving for the West – “brain drain” + ideological embarrassment for the Soviets.

27.  President Kennedy increased American strength and Khrushchev responded by building the Berlin Wall.  A hastily created wall was erected on August 13, 1961.

28.  A permanent wall later erected was made of concrete, barbed wire and guarded with “shoot to kill” guards.  Americans could only protest.  Became a symbol of the eroding relations between the Soviet Union and the United States + a symbol of the Cold War itself.

29.  Kennedy and Khrushchev both faced pressure and criticism at home for being soft regarding Berlin.  Khrushchev ordered a new round of nuclear tests including a fifty-eight ton megaton bomb = Tsar Bomb.  Kennedy ordered a new round of tests himself.

30.  June 26, 1963 – Berlin crisis escalated when Kennedy made his famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech (I am a Berliner).

31.  “ All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’”.  Boldly announced his commitment to the defence of Berlin.  What he really said was “I am a jelly donut”!

32.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH6nQ hss4Yc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH6nQ hss4Yc

34.  In the 1950s, French intellectuals coined the term “Third World”.  Used to describe the efforts of countries seeking a “third way” between Western capitalism and Soviet communism.

35.  By the early 1960s, the term had come to identify a large bloc of countries from Asia, Africa, and Latin America.  Charting a “third way” proved difficult, both economically and politically = both the Soviets and the Americans saw the Third World as “underdeveloped”.

36.  By the middle of the 1960s, as the euphoria of decolonization evaporated and new states found themselves mired in debt and dependency.  Many Third World nations fell into dictatorship and authoritarian rule.