Eisenhower- Foreign policy
Background:
Election 1952:
● Republican
● Very popular candidate ‘i like ike’. Wanted by democrats and republicans. Landslide victory
● K1C2, tackling korea, communism and corruption
● Dynamic conservative. Conservative with money, liberal with people
● General in ww2
● Nixon as ‘goodwill ambassador’ for fpol. Eisenhower could not travel as much due to his age.
● Sec of State. John Foster Dulles. Strict containment policy. Aggressive anti communism. Designed seato.
Focused on international mutual security agreements- contained communism and allowed reduction of troops in
us military
● Eisenhower prioritised foreign and defence policy- aims included
- Preventing Western Europe from Communism by strengthening it
- Prevent Soviet control in middle east- middle east contains half the world’s oil
- Southeast Asia was critical- support French in vietnam
- Avoid overspending on defence
Eisenhower considered a sound economy essential for national security, saying ‘a bankrupt America is a
defenseless America’. Sought to balance the budget.
● Defence expenditure had rocketed to 300% in Truman’s final 30 months
● Defence cuts generated great antagonism
● Republicans, Democrats and the press were critical when the Soviets took the lead in the space race
● Continuous pressure on Eisenhower from the ‘military industrial complex’ caused him to spend far more on
defence than he considered necessary. Still far less than many Americans wanted.
- Influential figures in armed forces and defence industry with vested interest in war
Cold War Thaw:
● Stalin died march 1953
● Malenkov took over temporarily and talked of ‘mutual understanding’ with the US
● Replaced with khrushchev who advocated peaceful coexistence with the west but his words and actions triggered
the Hungarian revolt of 1956 and the berlin crisis 1958-59
● Secret speech 1956, obtained by the cia. Khrushchev calls stalin a bad leader and advocates de stalinization.
NATO:
● North Atlantic treaty organisation
● Key members UK, US and France
● Formed in 1949
● Military alliance to counterweigh soviet armies stationed in europe after ww2
SEATO 1955:
● Southeast asia treaty organisation
● Preventing communism from spreading around the region
● International defence treaty made by dulles
● Generally a failure
● Dissolved 1977
● Us, france, britain, new zealand, australia, thailand, pakistan
CENTO
● Formed 1955
● Dissolved 1979
● Created by Dulles as NATO parallel, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, UK
● Made to counter threat of soviet expansion into vital middle east oil producing regions
● US did not join due to ‘pro israeli lobby’ at home who would have disapproved of an alliance with Arab nations
● Never very effective
Pactomania-
● NY times article 1955
● America made a significant amount of pacts in short period of time
The new look
● In attempt to reconcile conflicting demands of military (wanted to spend more money) and treasury (wanted to
spend less) initiated the ‘New Look’ defence policy
● Fewer conventional forces and ‘massive retaliation’
, ● ‘More bang for the buck’- cost effective. Reliance on nuclear weapons rather than excessive expenditure on
conventional forces.
● Covert warfare, spying and cia (allen dulles)
● Brinkmanship- taking opponent to brink of war, forcing them to back down.
● Aimed to prevent crises by stopping Communist aggression and expansionism
● Criticised by new York Times as risky and dangerous.
● Army Chief of Staff Matt Ridgway- inflexible and left US only one option in crisis
● Eisenhower never used nuclear weaponry + maintained peace through threat of American nuclear arsenal and
his military reputation
Europe:
When Eisenhower became president, Western Europe was securely in the American camp and Eastern Europe
was part of the Soviet empire.
Germany
● Background.
- End of ww2, 1945. Feb yalta conference it was agreed that germany would be divided into 4 sectors.
Berlin lay in soviet sector but would be split.
- 1948 berlin blockade. Stalin blockaded west berlin and us airlifted supplies in
● 1954- west germany rearmament. Eisenhower persuaded the french to agree to this. Strengthened NATO.
● However he failed to persuade Western European governments to spend more on defence and rely less on the
united states.
● Krushchev disliked how
- The West refused to give East Germany diplomatic recognition
- West Berlin was a centre of Western espionage and a magnet for skilled East German workers
● Berlin crisis 1958-61
- Nov 1958- Khrushchev demanded west berlin become a ‘free city’ and western troops leave
- Eisenhower ignored Khrushchev , did not want to give in to soviet demands.
- Thought ongoing presence of troops needed to protect wb freedom.
- Led to mass criticism from democrats, press, defence department and arms industry. Accused of not
taking crisis seriously.
- Accused of ‘putting a balanced budget ahead of national security’
- Made it clear US would always support WB but denied that their was a berlin crisis
- Gave Khrushchev room to retreat and crises passed
- July 1961- east german government backed by ussr built a barrier between east and west.
- Paris summit 1960- met to discuss the situation.
- Damaged eisenhower reputation and raised political tensions
● Eisenhower asked for too much. Wanted a free united Germany and freedom of eastern european nations. Met
with khrushchev in 1955 at geneva summit but no agreements were made
Hungarian Revolt 1956
● Causes- Hungarians hated russian communism. Poor country but most of their goods were sent to russia.
Religious but communism banned religion.
● When Hungarian gov talked of leaving the warsaw pact, the soviets sent in tanks and 250,000 soldiers
● Expected American aid following their promises on rollback.
● Timeline
- 23 Oct- students and workers smashed up stalin statue
- 24 ocr- imre nagy took over as pm. Asked khrushchev to take our russian troops and khrushchev agreed.
- New hungarian gov introduced democracy and freedom of speech. Nagy announced hungary would
leave warsaw pact.
- Nov- 1000 russian tanks rolled in, 60,000 troops, 250,000 soldiers- 4000 hungarians killed
- Eisenhower did not intervene, prioritised suez
- Showed eisenhower's alleged ‘commitment’ to rollback to be a sham
- 1957- eisenhower doctrine created to avoid repetition of events in hungary
Impact of Sputnik
● US detonated atomic bomb in 1945, Soviets in 1949
● US exploded first hydrogen bomb in 1952, soviets in 1953
● In 1953, US had 1500 nuclear weapons
● By 1961, it was around 6000
Background:
Election 1952:
● Republican
● Very popular candidate ‘i like ike’. Wanted by democrats and republicans. Landslide victory
● K1C2, tackling korea, communism and corruption
● Dynamic conservative. Conservative with money, liberal with people
● General in ww2
● Nixon as ‘goodwill ambassador’ for fpol. Eisenhower could not travel as much due to his age.
● Sec of State. John Foster Dulles. Strict containment policy. Aggressive anti communism. Designed seato.
Focused on international mutual security agreements- contained communism and allowed reduction of troops in
us military
● Eisenhower prioritised foreign and defence policy- aims included
- Preventing Western Europe from Communism by strengthening it
- Prevent Soviet control in middle east- middle east contains half the world’s oil
- Southeast Asia was critical- support French in vietnam
- Avoid overspending on defence
Eisenhower considered a sound economy essential for national security, saying ‘a bankrupt America is a
defenseless America’. Sought to balance the budget.
● Defence expenditure had rocketed to 300% in Truman’s final 30 months
● Defence cuts generated great antagonism
● Republicans, Democrats and the press were critical when the Soviets took the lead in the space race
● Continuous pressure on Eisenhower from the ‘military industrial complex’ caused him to spend far more on
defence than he considered necessary. Still far less than many Americans wanted.
- Influential figures in armed forces and defence industry with vested interest in war
Cold War Thaw:
● Stalin died march 1953
● Malenkov took over temporarily and talked of ‘mutual understanding’ with the US
● Replaced with khrushchev who advocated peaceful coexistence with the west but his words and actions triggered
the Hungarian revolt of 1956 and the berlin crisis 1958-59
● Secret speech 1956, obtained by the cia. Khrushchev calls stalin a bad leader and advocates de stalinization.
NATO:
● North Atlantic treaty organisation
● Key members UK, US and France
● Formed in 1949
● Military alliance to counterweigh soviet armies stationed in europe after ww2
SEATO 1955:
● Southeast asia treaty organisation
● Preventing communism from spreading around the region
● International defence treaty made by dulles
● Generally a failure
● Dissolved 1977
● Us, france, britain, new zealand, australia, thailand, pakistan
CENTO
● Formed 1955
● Dissolved 1979
● Created by Dulles as NATO parallel, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, UK
● Made to counter threat of soviet expansion into vital middle east oil producing regions
● US did not join due to ‘pro israeli lobby’ at home who would have disapproved of an alliance with Arab nations
● Never very effective
Pactomania-
● NY times article 1955
● America made a significant amount of pacts in short period of time
The new look
● In attempt to reconcile conflicting demands of military (wanted to spend more money) and treasury (wanted to
spend less) initiated the ‘New Look’ defence policy
● Fewer conventional forces and ‘massive retaliation’
, ● ‘More bang for the buck’- cost effective. Reliance on nuclear weapons rather than excessive expenditure on
conventional forces.
● Covert warfare, spying and cia (allen dulles)
● Brinkmanship- taking opponent to brink of war, forcing them to back down.
● Aimed to prevent crises by stopping Communist aggression and expansionism
● Criticised by new York Times as risky and dangerous.
● Army Chief of Staff Matt Ridgway- inflexible and left US only one option in crisis
● Eisenhower never used nuclear weaponry + maintained peace through threat of American nuclear arsenal and
his military reputation
Europe:
When Eisenhower became president, Western Europe was securely in the American camp and Eastern Europe
was part of the Soviet empire.
Germany
● Background.
- End of ww2, 1945. Feb yalta conference it was agreed that germany would be divided into 4 sectors.
Berlin lay in soviet sector but would be split.
- 1948 berlin blockade. Stalin blockaded west berlin and us airlifted supplies in
● 1954- west germany rearmament. Eisenhower persuaded the french to agree to this. Strengthened NATO.
● However he failed to persuade Western European governments to spend more on defence and rely less on the
united states.
● Krushchev disliked how
- The West refused to give East Germany diplomatic recognition
- West Berlin was a centre of Western espionage and a magnet for skilled East German workers
● Berlin crisis 1958-61
- Nov 1958- Khrushchev demanded west berlin become a ‘free city’ and western troops leave
- Eisenhower ignored Khrushchev , did not want to give in to soviet demands.
- Thought ongoing presence of troops needed to protect wb freedom.
- Led to mass criticism from democrats, press, defence department and arms industry. Accused of not
taking crisis seriously.
- Accused of ‘putting a balanced budget ahead of national security’
- Made it clear US would always support WB but denied that their was a berlin crisis
- Gave Khrushchev room to retreat and crises passed
- July 1961- east german government backed by ussr built a barrier between east and west.
- Paris summit 1960- met to discuss the situation.
- Damaged eisenhower reputation and raised political tensions
● Eisenhower asked for too much. Wanted a free united Germany and freedom of eastern european nations. Met
with khrushchev in 1955 at geneva summit but no agreements were made
Hungarian Revolt 1956
● Causes- Hungarians hated russian communism. Poor country but most of their goods were sent to russia.
Religious but communism banned religion.
● When Hungarian gov talked of leaving the warsaw pact, the soviets sent in tanks and 250,000 soldiers
● Expected American aid following their promises on rollback.
● Timeline
- 23 Oct- students and workers smashed up stalin statue
- 24 ocr- imre nagy took over as pm. Asked khrushchev to take our russian troops and khrushchev agreed.
- New hungarian gov introduced democracy and freedom of speech. Nagy announced hungary would
leave warsaw pact.
- Nov- 1000 russian tanks rolled in, 60,000 troops, 250,000 soldiers- 4000 hungarians killed
- Eisenhower did not intervene, prioritised suez
- Showed eisenhower's alleged ‘commitment’ to rollback to be a sham
- 1957- eisenhower doctrine created to avoid repetition of events in hungary
Impact of Sputnik
● US detonated atomic bomb in 1945, Soviets in 1949
● US exploded first hydrogen bomb in 1952, soviets in 1953
● In 1953, US had 1500 nuclear weapons
● By 1961, it was around 6000
