Two Nations Live on the Edge
During the 1950s, the United States and the Soviet
Union come to the brink of nuclear war.
Ch. 18, sect 4
Brinkmanship Rules U.S. Policy
Race for the H-Bomb
• H-bomb (hydrogen bomb)
— nuclear weapon more
powerful than atom bomb
The Policy of Brinkmanship
• John Foster Dulles, secretary of state
•
under Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dulles proposes brinkmanship policy:
– willingness to risk
nuclear war to prevent
spread of communism
UPSHOT-KNOTHOLE - DATE:5/25/1953
http://www.archive.org/details/gov.doe.0800015
The Cold War Spreads Around the World
Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA) uses
spies to gather
information and to carry
out covert operations to
weaken or overthrow
governments unfriendly
to the U.S.
Covert Actions in the Middle East and Latin America
–
CIA helps oust Iranian prime minister, reinstate
Shah
–
CIA helps depose Guatemala’s president; army
leader becomes dictator
The Warsaw Pact
• Form Warsaw Pact — military alliance with 7
Eastern European countries
•
Soviet prestige in Middle East rises because of support
for Egypt with the Suez Canal
• Eisenhower Doctrine
— U.S. will defend
Middle East against
communists
The Cold War Takes to the Skies
Summit in Geneva (July 1955)
• Eisenhower meets Soviet leaders in
Geneva, proposes “open skies”
policy
•
Soviets reject proposal; “spirit of Geneva” seen as step
to peace
A New Soviet Leader
• Nikita Khrushchev emerges
as new Soviet leader; favors:
–
peaceful coexistence and economic, scientific
competition
The Space Race
• October 1957, Soviets
launch Sputnik, first
artificial satellite
•
Shocked Americans pour money into own space
program
Soviet Premier Nikolai Bulganin, U.S. President Dwight
Eisenhower, French Premier Edgar Faure, and British Prime
Minister
A U-2 Is Shot Down
• CIA makes secret highaltitude flights with U-2 to
spy on Soviets
•
Eisenhower wants flights discontinued before Khrushchev
summit (May 1960)
• Francis Gary Powers shot
down on last flight over
Soviet territory (May 1, 1960)
Renewed Confrontation
•
•
Eisenhower first denies, then concedes U-2 was spying
Agrees to stop flights, refuses to apologize as Khrushchev
demands
• U-2 incident renews tension
between superpowers;
summit cancelled
Two Nations Live on the Edge
“U-2 Incident”
(Cornell Column)
“U-2 Incident”
1. Reasons?
As you read Eisenhower’s
statement, answer the following
questions in note section of
notes.
1. What reasons does
Eisenhower give for
gathering information
about the Soviet military?
2. Take-A-Stand? 2. Was the U.S. right to spy
on the Soviets during the
Cold War, why?
Left-Side
“Two Nations Live on the Edge”
• Complete and attach “Two Nations Live
on the Edge”
– Ch. 18, sect 4. (pg. 622)
– (do not answer “B”, but use terms for TAS)
• Take-A-Stand: Why were the 50s a
time when both nations “lived on the
edge” and do you think either side would
“go over the edge”? (use a minimum of 3 terms
to support response)