Transcript Cold War Confrontations: Asia, Latin America, and Europe

Cold War Confrontations:
Asia, and Europe and
Beginning Détente
Clarifying Question
All the notes you take need to help you answer the clarifying
questions below. As you analyze and evaluate the information
contained throughout this presentation you should be asking
yourself the following question:
How did the U.S. federal government react
to threats to the U.S. from Asia and Europe?
[I will not collect your answers but they should help you think
about the information. If you have any questions please share
them with me and your classmates before, during and after
classes.]
Advice from Eisenhower

In a speech given 3 days before
the end of Eisenhower's term,
he warned of the dangers of
the growing militaryindustrial complex.
Clip of Eisenhower’s speech [Click on link] to
the nation before he left office

Eisenhower is clearly referring
to the U.S.S.R, and
communism in general, but he
does not actually name them.

He warns his successor, JFK,
of the perceived challenges
these foes to Western freedom
would likely bring.
From the “Military-Industrial
Complex Speech” (1961)
…we yet realize that America's leadership and prestige depend, not merely
upon our unmatched material progress, riches and military strength, but on
how we use our power in the interests of world peace and human
betterment....
We face a hostile ideology -- global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in
purpose, and insidious in method. …
Crises there will continue to be. In meeting them, whether foreign or
domestic, great or small, there is a recurring temptation to feel that some
spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution…
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of
unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial
complex. …
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or
democratic processes. …
The Berlin Crisis

The crisis over Berlin was building
when JFK became President in 1961.
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The conflict pitted East Germany's
Walter Ulbricht and Soviet leader
Nikita Khrushchev against West
Germany's Konrad Adenaur and
Kennedy.
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Thousands of laborers defected from
East Berlin to West Berlin, which had
enjoyed political and economic
assistance from the US since WW II.
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The defections caused major strain on
East Germany's crippled economy.
The Berlin Crisis
Khrushchev and Kennedy in Vienna
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The U.S.S.R wanted Western interests out of West Berlin in order to deter the
migration and strengthen the Communist bloc.
At Vienna Summit of June 1961, Kennedy and Khrushchev were odds over the
proposed plan.
The President addressed the U.S. on the Berlin Crisis on July 25, 1961. His speech
was optimistic, yet firm. Khrushchev responded with a defiant speech of his own.
The Berlin Crisis: The Wall
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With dangerously mounting tensions, Khrushchev and Ulbricht ultimately conceived
of a plan which would avoid a costly conflict with the West.
The erection of a barrier would separate East and West Berlin in order to stem the
influx of migration.
The building of the wall began on August 13, 1961, with the U.S. opting not to act out
in aggression against the U.S.S.R.
Vietnam: The Kennedy
Administration
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The perceived threat of communism had an unmatched influence on American foreign
policy in the 1960s.
President John F. Kennedy was determined to enforce the American policy of the
containment of communism.
In doing so, Kennedy pledged American support of South Vietnam.
What began as financial assistance soon escalated into military conflict involving
American troops.
Vietnam: The Johnson Administration
LBJ and McNamara
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The assassination of Kennedy ushered in the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson.
Strong in his convictions, Johnson relied heavily on the word of Kennedy's advisors,
particularly the Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara.
In March 1964, McNamara issued a statement concerning Vietnam in which he pushed for
more military involvement and a continuation of Kennedy's policies.
Vietnam: The Gulf of Tonkin Incident
LBJ signing the Tonkin Gulf Resolution
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Despite the optimism of U.S. policy
makers, disaster occurred in early August of
1964.

Two American destroyers were attacked by
North Vietnamese gunboats; the attack
caught the U.S. by surprise.
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In an address to Congress, Johnson
requested and was subsequently granted a
large investment of money and troops to
fight against North Vietnamese
communism.
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The events in the Gulf of Tonkin on the
day of the incident are the subject of
controversy and dispute to this day.
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The years following the Gulf of Tonkin
incident saw a huge increase in American
casualties in Vietnam.
Shock and Disillusionment in the
Wake of the Tet Offensive
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As 1968 began, President Johnson and the military offered optimistic appraisals of the
situation in Vietnam.
January 30th, North Vietnamese and Vietcong troops launched a massive, unexpected
offensive on the lunar New Year holiday of Tet.
U.S. forces repelled enemy forces, but public support for the war plummeted as
Americans recognized the inevitability of stalemate.
Walter Cronkite’s “We are Mired in
Stalemate” Broadcast (February 27,
1968)
To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face
of the evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past.
To suggest we are on the edge of defeat is to yield to
unreasonable pessimism. To say that we are mired in stalemate
seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory, conclusion. On the off
chance that military and political analysts are right, in the next
few months we must test the enemy's intentions, in case this is
indeed his last big gasp before negotiations. But it is increasingly
clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to
negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up
to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could.
The Sino-Soviet Split
"Arise, all people of the world, to topple Imperialist
America! To topple Soviet revisionism! To topple the
reactionary parties of all nations!"
Chinese Propaganda, 1969
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By the 1960s, China and the U.S.S.R. felt
mutual distaste for the others'
interpretations of communist doctrine.
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The Soviets accused the Chinese of
desiring a split, which would weaken
communism.
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China was dissatisfied with what it
considered to be concessions made by the
Soviets to Western imperialists, namely
the U.S.

China was unhappy with the Soviet
treatment of the Berlin crisis and the
Cuban Missile crisis, believing the U.S.S.R
to be to compliant with the U.S.

In 1964, China severed its relationship
with the U.S.S.R.
The Sino-Soviet Split: Border Clashes
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Border clashes between the U.S.S.R. and
China ensued.
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The clashes were seen as a major threat to the
stability of communism.
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The conflict raised the specter of a majorpower war.
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Diplomacy was resumed between the Soviets
and the Chinese, and an end to the border
clashes was suggested by the Chinese Premier
to Chairman of the Soviet Council of
Ministers in 1969.
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The Sino-Soviet split served to usher in the
era of détente.

The Soviets began to recognize the
advantages to good relations with the West,
particularly in the realm of armaments.
Beginning Detente
Outer Space Treaty: green= signed and ratified,
yellow= signed only
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Detente, or a relaxing of Cold War tensions, began to be realized in the late 1960s under Richard
Nixon.
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Early detente began with the signing of two monumental treaties between the West and the
Soviet Union.
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The first treaty in 1967 barred the use of outer space for military purposes, admonishing the
placement of weapons in space and declaring celestial bodies for peaceful use.
Beginning Detente
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The second treaty was the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons signed on July
1, 1968 and put into effect on March 5, 1970.
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This treaty served not only as an arms control between the West and the Soviets, it also
admonished the free trade of nuclear secrets.
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The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was viewed as both hopeful and advantageous to both
the United States and the Soviet Union.
Beginning Detente
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The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (S.A.L.T. I) lasted from November of 1969 to May of
1972.
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The talks, which involved diplomats from the U.S. and the U.S.S.R were groundbreaking in
the level of cooperation between the two powers.
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This photo shows Henry Kissinger, the National Security Advisor under Nixon and Anatoly
Dobrynin, the Soviet Ambassador to the U.S.
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Relations between Dobrynin and past administrations were strained, but the relationship
between Kissinger and Dobrynin was amicable.
Reexamining the Clarifying question
Now that you have analyzed and evaluated the information in this presentation using
the clarifying questions as a guideline how should you answer each question using
specific examples from what you have learned? [I will not collect your answers but they
should help you think about the information. If you have any questions please share
them with me and your classmates before, during and after classes.]
How did the U.S. federal
government react to threats to
the U.S. from Asia and Europe?
Citations
http://images.usatoday.com/life/_photos/2006/01/20/inside-eisenhower-fight.jpg
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/speeches/eisenhower001.htm
http://www.redruth.cornwall.sch.uk/content/departments/history/coldwar-rev/coldwar.htm
http://www.coldwarfiles.org/images/events/k_k_vienna_main.jpg
http://www.cs.utah.edu/~hatch/berlin_wall.html
http://www.britannica.com/eb/art/print?id=61022&articleTypeId=0
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http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/oralhistory.hom/images/mcnamarar_oh.jpg
Slide 9: http://www.presidentialtimeline.org/html/educators/LBJ/tonkin_wq/task.php
Slide 10: http://faculty.smu.edu/dsimon/Change-Viet2.html
Slide 11: http://faculty.smu.edu/dsimon/Change-Viet2.html
Slide 12: http://faculty.smu.edu/dsimon/Change-Viet2.html
Slide 13: http://faculty.smu.edu/dsimon/Change%20--Cronkite.html
Slide 14: http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/1/1b/325px-Ac.maoposter.jpg
Slide 15: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/15/spotlight/poster.gif
Slide 16: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_Space_Treaty
Slide 17: http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itps/0305/ijpe/signing.jpg
Slide 18: http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/20th/RN/Page001.htm.