Eisenhower & The Cold War

Read Chapter 26, section 4, Two Nations Live on Edge, (pages 828-833). This section discusses the Hydrogen Bomb, Brinkmanship, the CIA in the Middle East and Latin America, the Warsaw Pact, the Eisenhower Doctrine, the Space Race, and the U-2 Incident.


How did the United States react to the following 7 events, and why?

1. The Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb in 1949.
Truman had to think about making a better weapon to counter act the Soviet Union's advancement. The U.S. wanted to stay ahead (with respect to weapons) because they would be more prepared for a nuclear war. In November, 1952, the U.S. exploded the first Hydrogen bomb. However, in August 1953 the Soviet Union exploded their own.

2. In 1951, the Iranian prime minister placed the oil industry in Iran under the Iranian government’s control.
The U.S. feared that the Iranian prime minister would turn to the Soviets for help when their government faltered. In 1953, the CIA gave money to the opposers of the prime minister. The CIA wanted the pro american Shah of Iran to return to power. The Shah did return to power and turned over control of Iranian oil fields to western companies.
The U.S. cared so much about Iran asking the Soviets for help because then they probably would become communist, and the policy of containment was trying to prevent this.

3. The Guatemalan head of government gave American-owned land in Guatemala to peasants.
The CIA trained an army that invaded Guatemala. The Guatemalan army refused to defend the president, and he resigned. The army's leader became dictator.

4. In 1956, Britain, France, and Israel invaded Egypt and occupied the Suez Canal.
Egypt tried to get the Soviets and the Americans to compete by improving relations with each on in order to get more aid. The U.S. then withdrew the loan offer. In response to this, the head of Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal. The canal was supposed to be open to all nations, but they didn't let ships pass, so Israel, Great Britain and France sent troops. They seized the canal. The UN stepped in to stop the fighting. They withdrew, but Egypt was allowed to keep control of the canal.
President Eisenhower issued a warning in January 1957 called the Eisenhower Doctrine. This said that the U.S. would defend the Middle East against an attack by any communist country.

5. Soviet tanks invaded Hungary and fired on protesters in 1956.
The Hungarian people, who were under the control of the Soviets, revolted because they wanted a democratic government. A liberal Hungarian communist leader set up a new government in Hungary and demanded that the Soviets leave. The Soviets fired on protesters, they overthrew the new government and replaced it with pro-Soviet leaders. The U.S. did nothing to help Hungary. The american policy of containment didn't extend to driving the Soviets out of the satellite nations.

6. In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik.
Sputnik, the world's first artificial satellite, circled around the earth every 96 minutes. Americans were shocked at being beaten and started to collect money for their own space program. The U.S. wanted to catch up. The first attempt was a failure, but the second, on January 31, 1958, the U.S. successfully launched its first satellite.

7. In 1960, the Soviet Union brought down an American U-2 piloted by Francis Gary Powers.
At first, President Eisenhower denied that the U-2 had been spying. He eventually had to admit it because the Soviets had evidence. Eisenhower agreed to stop the U-2 flights. This caused more tension between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.