KENNEDY-KHRUSHCHEV ERA

(1959-1960S)

Ping Chirathivat & Josh Lim

CONTENTS

1957 – Sputnik and the “Space Race”

1959 – Castro and Communism to Cuba

1959 – Kitchen Debates

1960 – U-2 Incident

1961 – Bay of Pigs Fiasco

1961 – “Failed” Vienna Summit Meeting

1960 – Berlin Wall Built

1961-4 – US Advisors to Vietnam

1962 – JFK Visits Berlin “Ich bin ein Berliner”

1963 – Cuban Missile Crisis

1964 – Tonkin Incident – Vietnam War Escalation

Sputnik and the “Space Race” October 4, 1957 – Sputnik, world’s

first artificial satellite launched by the Soviets. Gave Soviets lead in race. Circles world in 96 minutes.

Increased competition between Americans and Soviets space program.

United States mobilizes and focuses on efforts to improve space exploration and technology.

Jan. 31, 1958 – United States successfully launched its first satellite (Explorer I), after a first humiliating attempt.

Castro and Communism in Cuba

Revolutionary leader, Fidel Castro, takes over in 1959.Promised democracy while leading

guerilla movement (1956-1959) against dictator, Fulgencio Batista.

Castro ruins relations with United StatesThrough seizing oil refineriesBreaking up commercial farmsExiling 10% of population.

○ Contributing to Bahia de Cochinos. Constant dependence on Soviet Union

○ Leading to Missile Crisis.

“Kitchen debates” July 24, 1959, American

National Exhibition in Moscow.

Series of exchanges between

the U.S Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev.

Debated about the future of capitalism and communism. Both men argued their country’s

industrial accomplishments (e.g. US: color videotape, dishwashers, TV dinners, etc.

The confrontation occurred in the middle of a model US kitchen set up for the exhibition.

U-2 Incident

CIA makes secret high-altitude flights over Soviet Territory.

○ Planes used were the U2.○ Soviets had known of flights even though it

was a secret.

Soviet Pilot shot down a U-2 plane on May 1, 1960.

○ US pilot, Francis Gary Powers, forced to parachute into Soviet Union territory.Set off huge argument which increased tensions

between the two powers

Bay of Pigs Fiasco – April 17,1961

CIA was issued a special mission from Eisenhower

○ Training of Cuban exiles for an invasion of Cuba, in hopes of an uprising to overthrow Castro.

Nothing went as planned. Failed air strike.No distraction group.

Kennedy left embarassed.

“Failed” Vienna Summit Meeting June 4, 1961 – Vienna, Austria First time Kennedy and Khrushchev met. Khrushchev determined to establish superiority over

Kennedy (Failed Bay of Pigs invasion) Discussions include position of Laos, Indochina

conflict, nuclear disarmament, but more importantly, Berlin. Khrushchev threatened to sign a peace agreement with

East Germany that would interfere on Western access to Berlin by turning over control of the access roads and air routes

Kennedy refused. Led to the building of the Berlin Wall

Berlin Wall Built The concrete wall topped with

barbed wire splitting the city of Berlin in two.

Constructed on Aug. 13, 1961○ People fled East Germany due to

pressures of communism government

○ Berlin wall was erected,

after Vienna summit meeting.

Remained until 1989.

US Advisors to Vietnam US supports South Vietnam in their conflict

against Communist North Vietnam. Kennedy sends military advisers to help train

South Vietnamese troops to fight against Vietcong and help Diem.○ Would later support a coup against Diem.

The number of military advisors sent by Kennedy would eventually surpass 16,000 before his assassination on Nov. 22, 1963.

JFK visits Berlin

1963 speech made by JFK in West Berlin and considered to be one of the most notable moment for Kennedy during the Cold War.

Marked the first instance where the U.S. acknowledged that East Berlin was part of the Soviet bloc along with the rest of East Germany.

Division in country; East Germany under Soviet control and West Germany becoming a democratic nation

Focus of growing political tensions between the two new superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union.

“Ich bin ein Berliner”

“Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is 'Ich bin ein Berliner'... All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words 'Ich bin ein Berliner!‘

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaZ3onbUrew&feature=related

Cuban Missile Crisis

• In October 1962, United States and Soviet Union were in the midst of the Cold War.

• United States discovered launching sites of ballistic missiles in Cuba.

• This escalated diplomatic tensions between the America and Soviet Union.

• Closest the World has ever gotten to a nuclear war.

Cuban Missile Crisis Castro had a powerful ally in Moscow:

Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. Promise to defend Cuba with Soviet arms. 1962- flow to Cuba of Soviet Weapons

increased. Trade due to presence of US missiles in

Turkey. Kennedy response- warning that America

would not tolerate offensive nuclear weapons in Cuba.

Photographs later revealed Soviet missile bases in Cuba- containing missiles ready to launch.

“For a moment, the world had stood still…” Robert Kennedy

Any missile attack from Cuba would trigger an all out attack on the Soviet Union.

World faced possibility of nuclear war (Oct 22- Oct 28 1962).

US Navy prepared to quarantine Cuba and prevent the Soviet ships carrying missiles from reaching Cuba.Also prepared with a large invasion force.

Khrushchev offered to remove the missiles in return for an American pledge not to invade Cuba. America also agreed to remove missiles in Turkey.

Criticism over Missile Crisis Ruined Khrushchev’s reputation in the

Soviet Union. Americans criticized Kennedy on how he

went about dealing with the crisis. Some people believed Kennedy passed

up a good chance to invade Cuba.

Tonkin Incident

August 2, 1964, a North Vietnamese patrol boat fired a torpedo at the American destroyer, the USS Maddox, while on patrol in the Gulf of Tonkin. Torpedo missed target, and Maddox returned fire and

inflicted damage on the patrol boat. Two days later, Maddox and another US

destroyer, engaged in firing at ghosts, but led President Johnson to adopt the Tonkin Gulf Resolution.Granted Johnson military powers in Vietnam.

Works Cited "1960 U-2 Incident". Wikipedia. 5/14/10

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_U-2_incident. "1963: Kennedy: 'Ich bin ein Berliner'". BBC. May 10th 2010

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/26/newsid_337900061.stm. Danzer, Gerald A., et al. The Americans. United States of America: McDougal Littell,

2005. Print. ""Ich bin ein Berliner."". The History Place. May 10th 2010

http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/berliner.html. "Kitchen Debate". Wikipedia. 5/14/10 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitchen_Debate. "The Bay of Pigs Invasion". The Crisis Center. May 11th 2010

http://library.thinkquest.org/11046/days/bay_of_pigs.html. "The Cold War in Berlin". JFK library. May 10th 2010

http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/JFK+in+History/The+Cold.htm. "The Vietnam War". The History Place. 5/14/10

http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/index-1961.html. "Thirteen days and History". Cuban Missile Crisis. May 10th 2010

http://www.cubanmissilecrisis. "Why the Berlin Wall was built up ". Berlin Wall History. May 10th 2010

http://www.dailysoft.com/berlinwall/index.html.