The USA and the Cold War, 1960–75 (AQA A-Level History): Revision Notes

The USA and the Cold War, 1960–75

Overview

Between 1960 and 1975, US involvement in global affairs expanded substantially as Cold War tensions escalated. This period witnessed several defining confrontations between the superpowers, including the Berlin Wall Crisis and the Cuban Missile Crisis, both of which brought the world perilously close to nuclear war. Under Nixon's administration, however, US foreign policy shifted towards improved relations with both China and the Soviet Union, a process that became known as détente. Concurrently, America's direct military engagement in Vietnam profoundly affected both its foreign standing and domestic politics.

The Berlin Wall Crisis, 1961

Background and escalation

US-Soviet tensions had intensified during the late 1950s following the Soviet invasion of Hungary and the ongoing space and arms races. By 1961, Berlin remained a flashpoint for superpower confrontation. Khrushchev, determined to force Western powers out of Berlin, issued an ultimatum to the newly inaugurated President Kennedy in June 1961 during their Vienna summit. The Soviet leader demanded that the Berlin access routes be handed over to East Germany by December 1961, threatening the Western presence in the divided city.

Construction of the wall

This ultimatum substantially increased Cold War tensions. Khrushchev, perceiving Kennedy as inexperienced particularly after the Bay of Pigs debacle, believed he could intimidate the young American president. In August 1961, Khrushchev ordered the construction of a physical barrier to separate East Berlin from West Berlin. The wall sealed off the two sections of the city, preventing East Germans from fleeing to the West.

The tank standoff

Tensions reached their peak on 27-28 October 1961, when US and Soviet tanks confronted each other in a direct standoff. Fully armed tanks from both nations faced each other for eighteen hours in what could have escalated into armed conflict. After this prolonged confrontation, US tanks withdrew. Kennedy had been compelled to stand down, though he remained furious with the Soviet Union.

Significance of the crisis

The Berlin Wall Crisis carried multiple consequences:

• The wall brought a degree of stability to Germany and Berlin by permanently sealing the division between East and West Berlin, effectively resolving the ongoing refugee crisis that had seen thousands flee from East to West.

• Cold War tensions increased as both superpowers resumed nuclear weapons testing, demonstrating their continued mutual hostility.

• Soviet propaganda claimed the wall as a success, arguing that the USA had failed to prevent its construction. Western commentators, conversely, interpreted the wall as evidence that East Germany could only retain its population through physical imprisonment.

• Some historians contend that Khrushchev viewed the crisis as a success, which emboldened him to place missiles in Cuba, directly precipitating the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962

Overview

The Cuban Missile Crisis unfolded over thirteen days in October 1962 and brought the superpowers to the brink of nuclear war. This confrontation demonstrated how the Cold War had extended beyond Europe to encompass the wider world, particularly the Western Hemisphere.

Causes

Castro's revolution and US-Cuba relations

Cuba had troubled US-Cuban relations since 1959, when Fidel Castro seized power through revolution. Castro ejected all US businesses and investment from the island. In retaliation, the USA refused to purchase Cuba's principal export—sugar. The Soviet Union offered to buy Cuban sugar instead. Khrushchev, eager to extend Soviet influence in the Caribbean, sought to exploit the situation and outmanoeuvre the inexperienced Kennedy.

The Bay of Pigs invasion

In April 1961, Kennedy sanctioned an invasion of Cuba by exiles who had fled in 1959. The Bay of Pigs invasion aimed to spark a national uprising and overthrow Castro. The operation proved disastrous due to inadequate planning and lack of support within Cuba, where Castro enjoyed popularity. This humiliation for the USA strengthened Castro's position domestically and drew Cuba closer to the Soviet Union. By the end of 1961, Castro announced his conversion to Communism.

Soviet missile deployment

Khrushchev recognized an opportunity to further extend Soviet influence in Cuba. He expressed concern about US missile bases in Italy and Turkey, situated close to Soviet borders, and wanted to establish Soviet bases in Cuba to redress this imbalance. In September 1962, Soviet technicians began installing ballistic missiles (missiles that follow a ballistic flightpath moving under the force of gravity with the objective of delivering warheads to a predetermined target). On 14 October 1962, an American U2 spy plane photographed Cuba, revealing that Soviet intermediate-range missiles were under construction. These missiles placed virtually all US cities within range, posing a grave threat to American security.

The deployment included 12 intermediate-range ballistic missiles (range 3,500km), 40 medium-range ballistic missiles (range 1,250km), 140 surface-to-air missiles, 40 jet bombers, 42 Mig-21 fighters, and 20,000 Russian personnel.

The October crisis

Results of the crisis

The crisis produced several major outcomes:

Perceptions of victory and defeat

Kennedy appeared to have won this confrontation. The perception was that Khrushchev had backed down, particularly as the deal regarding Turkey was not disclosed at the time. Americans felt they had secured victory. This perception led to overconfidence, especially regarding Vietnam. The Soviets were determined never to back down again and worked successfully to achieve nuclear parity by the end of the decade.

Near-miss with nuclear war

The superpowers had come dangerously close to war—a conflict that would have devastated much of the world. Relief that the crisis had been resolved led to a substantial reduction in tensions.

Improved communications

To ensure that the two leaders would not have to communicate by letter during a crisis, a hotline telephone link was established between the White House in Washington DC and the Kremlin in Moscow. Further improvements came when the Partial Test Ban Treaty was signed in August 1963, whereby both the USA and the USSR agreed to stop testing nuclear weapons in the atmosphere.

Détente

Détente refers to an easing of strained relations. The term describes the improvement in relations between the USA and the USSR in the years following the Cuban Missile Crisis—a French word denoting a reduction in tension between the superpowers.

Reasons for détente

The relaxation in superpower relations stemmed from several factors:

Nuclear threat

The threat of nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis had a sobering effect on all concerned. The hotline between the White House and the Kremlin improved the speed of communications, and the Partial Test Ban Treaty demonstrated a willingness to address the issue of nuclear weapons development.

Economic and military pressures

Both the USA and the USSR sought arms limitation talks as a means of reducing their escalating defence spending. Nixon and his foreign policy adviser, Henry Kissinger, were apprehensive about the growing military strength of the USSR. They recognized that the American public and economy made it impossible to counter increased Soviet power through a massive arms race. Containment had to be achieved through a different method—détente.

The Vietnam War

The USA's involvement in Vietnam had not succeeded, and by 1968 America was seeking to end the war. After Nixon became president, it was hoped that if the USA improved trade and technology links with the USSR and made an offer of arms reduction, then Brezhnev might persuade his North Vietnamese ally to negotiate an end to the conflict. The concept of offering concessions was termed 'linkage' by Nixon's advisers. Nixon visited Moscow in 1972 and made clear that he did not see Vietnam as an obstacle to détente.

Sino-Soviet split

Nixon had visited China three months earlier, and the Soviet leader, Brezhnev, did not want to see a Chinese-US alliance develop. The Soviet leadership was keen to gain access to US technology and secure further grain sales.

SALT 1

SALT 1 stands for Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty. The first such agreement, SALT 1, was signed in 1972. Early in Nixon's presidency, the decision was made to initiate discussions about nuclear weapons. Talks held in Helsinki and Vienna over almost three years produced SALT 1, the first Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty, which imposed limits on the nuclear capability of the USSR and the USA. SALT 1 was historically important because it marked the first agreement between the superpowers that successfully limited the number of nuclear weapons they held.

The Helsinki Agreements, 1975

In the Helsinki Agreements, the USA and the USSR, along with 33 other nations, made declarations about three distinct international issues (termed 'baskets' by the signatories):

• The West recognised the current national boundaries in Eastern Europe, and the Soviet Union accepted the existence of West Germany. West Germany renounced its claim to be the sole legitimate German state.

• Each signatory agreed to respect human rights and basic freedoms such as thought, speech, religion, and freedom from unfair arrest.

• There was a call for closer economic, scientific, and cultural links, which would lead to even closer political agreement.

The USA and China

Background

One of Nixon's greatest achievements in foreign policy was improving US relations with China, which had deteriorated since the Chinese Civil War of 1945-49 when the USA had provided aid to Mao's opponent, Chiang. Relations worsened further during the Korean War, which the US interpreted as evidence that Chinese-sponsored Communism was expansionist (following a policy of territorial expansion). After the Korean War, the US imposed a trade embargo on China and excluded it from the UN. The US then established military bases on Taiwan, which infuriated Mao.

Reasons for improved relations

In April 1971, the USA lifted its 21-year-old trade embargo with China. Several factors prompted improved relations between the USA and China:

The Sino-Soviet split

Relations between China and the USSR had worsened in the later 1960s, particularly after the Chinese denounced the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. Nixon saw an opportunity to exploit this division between the two leading Communist nations. Nixon and Kissinger wanted to use China to counter Soviet power and force the USSR into détente.

Vietnam

Nixon also hoped that closer relations with China might help end the war in Vietnam, as the Chinese were close allies of the North Vietnamese. This was another example of his policy of linkage.

Chinese economic needs

Mao believed that China needed détente, especially the potential stimulus to Chinese trade and industry. He was also convinced that Nixon would withdraw US troops from Asia, especially Vietnam, which made America less of a threat than the Soviet Union.

'Ping-pong' diplomacy

The new period of diplomacy began at the World Table Tennis Championship held in Japan on 6 April 1971, when the Chinese ping pong team formally invited the US team to play in their country on an all-expenses-paid trip. When American player Glenn Cowan missed his team's bus after practice, he was offered a ride by Chinese player Zhuang Zedong. This friendly display of goodwill was well publicised and, later that day, the American team was formally invited to China. They were among the first group of US citizens permitted to visit China since 1949.

On 14 April 1971, the US Government lifted a trade embargo with China that had lasted over 20 years. Talks began to facilitate a meeting between top government officials and, eventually, a meeting between Mao Zedong and President Richard Nixon.

Restoration of Sino-US relations

The 'ping-pong diplomacy' was historically important because it led to the restoration of Sino-US relations (relations between America and China), which had been cut for more than two decades. This triggered other developments, including the restoration of China's legitimate rights in the United Nations by an overwhelming majority vote in October 1971, and the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and other countries.

The conflict in Vietnam

Reasons for US involvement

During the 1950s, the USA became far more involved in Vietnam as part of its policy of containment to stop the spread of Communism. The underlying reason was the domino theory: the USA feared that if Vietnam fell to Communism, it would be followed by its neighbouring states, especially Laos and Cambodia. American involvement increased substantially in the years 1954-64.

Vietnam during and after the Second World War

In 1939, Vietnam was part of an area known as French Indo-China, which included contemporary Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Japan invaded and occupied Indo-China in 1940.

In 1941, two leading Vietnamese Communists, Ho Chi Minh and Nguyen Vo Giap, a history teacher, established the League for the Independence of Vietnam (or Vietminh) in southern Vietnam with the aim of creating an independent Vietnam free from French and Japanese rule. The Vietminh conducted guerrilla activities (irregular armed force tactics involving sabotage and harassment against a stronger force) against the Japanese.

In August 1945, the Japanese were defeated in the Second World War, and Ho Chi Minh quickly announced that Vietnam was an independent and democratic republic. However, within weeks the French quickly restored control over Vietnam. The Vietminh, led by Ho Chi Minh, continued their guerrilla campaign against the French.

The decisive battle for control of Vietnam took place at the French garrison of Dien Bien Phu in 1954. The Geneva Agreement of 1954 that followed divided Vietnam temporarily along the 17th parallel into North and South Vietnam. North Vietnam would be led by Ho Chi Minh, and the South would be led by Ngo Dinh Diem.

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