Eisenhower Foreign Policy Flashcards
(41 cards)
What was Eisenhower’s New look foreign policy about?
Eisenhower new foreign policy was about to ensure that the military spending is being controlled( You can state that this was partially due to the idea of dynamic conservatism “Conservative when it comes to money, liberal when it comes to human beings”). His foreign policy was also bout to enhance the usage of covert operations such as CIA and also call for re-orientation of defense around nuclear weapons.
Who was John Foster Dulles and what did he believe in?
John Foster Dulles was appointed by Eisenhower his secretary of state and he was an advocate and an anti communist who advocated massive retaliation who drew a clear distinction between policy, the remit of NSC and day to day operations.
Define Brinkmanship
Pushing an opponent to the edge in the hope that they will concede first. This was used to end the Korean war.
What significance Allen Dulles brought to Eisenhower’s administration
Dulles introduced to the idea of brinkmanship which was vital to bring the Korean war to an end also he was the director of the CIA. Dulles also supported the idea of USA providing support to the French against Vietnam.
What happened in 1953
Joseph Stalin died bringing Nikita Khrushchev in charge of the Soviet Empire. Riots had immediately broke out in East Germany which had to be suppressed while the power vacuum was addressed by the Kremlin.
What did Khrushchev stated in his secret speech in 1956?
He stated that Stalin’s cult is not gonna be continued , Stalin’s way of persuading things is going to change and that he hoped to co exist with the west.
What does Mutually Assured Destruction means?
military policy in case of nuclear attacks where any state that instigates a nuclear conflict will be met with an onslaught of nuclear weapons against their own state in return.
Why Space race was significant in cold war?
Americans had this analogy of USSR making the space ‘red’ which meant that Soviet union could use the space into there advantage to attack America by using satellites etc.
When was the first Sputnik launched?
4th October 154, it was the first man made object in space which was a 58 cm polished metal that orbited around the earth until Jan 1958.
What did the launch of Sputnik do to America’s postion?
It made America’s position as a technological power look shaky due to USSR successfully launching an object in space.
US Vanguard failure what did it do to US’S position in cold war?
Well the failure of the US Vanguard TV3 rocket caused US newspaper to criticize US space program which made USA look weak in term of cold war as people at home were happy regards to the failure. This was significant as USA by 1958 clearly lacked the technological advancement same as USSR making Communism as an ideology look effective compared to capitalism.
Who was Werner von Braun?
He was a brilliant aerospace engineer who was an ambivalent member of the Nazi party who was an ambivalent member of the Nazi party. He surrendered to US forces at the end of the war and was soon employed by the army to develop rocket technology. After the failure of TV3 Eisenhower administration relied heavily on him.
Explain the arms race?
After the bombing on Hiroshima both the superpowers had locked into an arms race to develop a more powerful bomb with greater range and accuracy.
In 1957 what was the production state of nuclear weapons in USA compared to USSR
In 1957 the US had a stockpile of 5543 nuclear weapons compared to USSR who only had 650 which made later Kennedy state that the idea of ‘missile gap’ was ludicrous.(so out place or foolish)
What was the idea of missile gap?
This was a perception that Eisenhower’s administration and citizens in America had which was that the soviets had surpassed the USA in terms of the number,range and power of their missile gap. Eisenhower had approved regards to the usage of U2 spy planes in order to clear this doubt of a missile gap.
What did the Gaither Report stated?
The report warned that the soviet union could have a “significant” ICBM capability by the end of 1959, making the strategic air command’s bomber fleet vulnerable to surprise attack “during a period of lessened world tension.
How did Eisenhower’s new look foreign policy links to dynamic conservatism?
New look proposed a cost- effective response to communist aggression by balancing cold war military commitments with the nation’s financial resources to ensure that the economy was never overstretched ensuring that the country didn’t go through any recessions unlike in Truman’s administration as the Korean War had caused a rise in inflation. Dynamic conservatism being the idea of “conservative when it comes to money but liberal when it comes to human beings” which as said before clearly links to Eisenhower foreign policy.
What was this idea of Massive Retaliation?
Dulles again stretched that the US allies must be ready to battle against communism specifically the soviet union creating this sense of massive retaliation.
Define Destalinisation?
The process of trying to remove the influence of Stalin after his death by revising his policies and dislodging the cult of personality surrounding him. This process was introduced by Khrushchev which stopped the tensions between the two superpowers from rising for a bit. This idea began when Khrushchev gave the ‘secret speech’ to the audience. However, this idea created this sense of freedom among st the citizens of countries under the Warsaw pact such as Hungary, Poland etc so the CIA surveillance to help the motive of these rebels increased.
Hungary Crises elaborate how it began?
After the idea of desalinization spread across Hungary people started to protest against the communist party( Khrushchev’s idea was backfiring at him). The defacto leader of the communist party in Hungary was Ragasoki who was further replaced by Imre Nagy who imposed the communist views. Nagy had promised the restoration of private land’s (which would be profitable for landowners rather than everything going in the hands of the government) and also promised free elections. Nagy also declared that Hungary was going to leave the Warsaw pact.
Who were the CIA?
Central intelligence Agency formed under Truman’s administration as part of the National Security Act 1947 has a remit involving gathering intelligence about Foreign Government co operation and individuals analyzing the evidence and feeling the analysis to policy makers.
1948 they were given permission to carry out covert operations.
These operations had a main focus to see if the idea of communism is expanding within a country or if a country is trying to leave communism. This was probably to back the idea of Truman Doctrine ( America will willingly provide financial and militaristic support to countries who are resisting armed subjugation from armed minorities).
Why did many believe that Eisenhower will support Hungary’s cause?
Well the reason being was that Eisenhower was given the title of the liberator of Europe due to his involvement in WW2 ( organizing operation overload’D day’) so naturally people believed that Eisenhower will support Hungary.
Why possibly Eisenhower didn’t support Hungary’s cause ?
-Hungary being too far into the Iron Curtain and Eisenhower getting involved would increase tensions between the two superpowers.
- With elections lying near Eisenhower didn’t want to risk being disliked by the people as he had saw previously Truman gaining a lot of hatred for being involved with Korea.
How did Khrushchev responded to Hungarians?
Well first off this policy had backfired at Khrushchev as it made the Soviet empire weak but also his own party members started to question whether he was the right candidate for the job. Hungarians threatening to leave the Warsaw Pact was too much for Khrushchev.
Khrushchev decided to send troops and tanks in Budapest in the year of 1956 where 3000 people were killed and 200,000 people fled to neighboring countries for protection such as Austria.
