Events in US – Soviet relations

1. Events in US – Soviet relations • Pre-WW2 roots – ideology separates; war unites • Cold War historiography – who started it??? • Orthodox / Traditional • Revisionist • Post-Revisionist • Wartime cooperation and suspicion; roots of Cold War in split ends of World War 2 • 1946 – tensions increase: Stalin’s moves in Eastern Europe / Middle East; Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech; beefs in Greece and Turkey • 1947 – Truman Doctrine • 1948-1949: Berlin Crisis; Soviet bomb; China goes communist • 1947-1950 – Marshall Plan

2. Cold War events cont. • 1950 to 1953 – Korean War • 1953 – Stalin dies, Eisenhower becomes president • 1954 to 1955 – US and Soviets develop hydrogen bombs • 1954 – Iran, Guatemala and “covert diplomacy” • 1955 – Nikita Khrushchev controls Soviet government…sort of… • 1956 – Soviet crackdown in Hungary • 1957 – Sputnik • 1959 – Castro’s Cuban revolution • 1960 – U-2 Affair • American foreign policy – anti-communist is good enough; socialist = communist??

3. Kennedy and Khrushchev face off • 1961 – JFK takes office • failed Bay of Pigs invasion • Vienna Summit • “credibility” theory and the “domino” theory = dangerous combination • 1961-1962 – 2nd Berlin Crisis; Berlin Wall • 1962–Cuban Missile Crisis • Post Missile Crisis thaw sees Cold War competition shift from direct confrontation to the global peripheries • Vietnam…

4. Vietnam Roots… • US involvement in Indochina begins in WW2 (Ho – OSS connection) • end of WW2: FDR plans vs. Cold War “realities”… • Truman commits US $$ and military aid to French – “credibility” and the Truman Doctrine • Vietminh successes vs. French • 1954 – French forces fall at Dien Bien Phu / Ike faces decision to intervene or back off – he backs off (temporarily / sort of…) • Geneva Conference (1954) – US does not sign; pledges “not to break” but does (CIA activities and support Diem’s cancellation of elections) • Ngo Dinh Diem – the “miracle man”??? Not so much… • Ike and the “domino theory”; WW2 “appeasement” analogies… • Pentagon Papers quote: “South Vietnam was essentially an American creation”

5. US tries to create “South Vietnam” from separate groups and disjointed peoples; no South Vietnamese “nationality” Cold War context: Kennedy elected as a “Cold Warrior” / Soviet Premier Khrushchev determined to flex Russian muscle JFK feels need to show strength after Bay of Pigs and Vienna Summit – Vietnam seemed the place to do it * builds up $$ and advisor numbers; 16,000 advisors by death of JFK taking more and more active roles, politically and militarily South Vietnamese political scene is chaotic; Diem and Nhu increasingly unpopular and tyrannical Vietcong raids increase, so US forces step up involvement; ARVN often ineffective without US backup * Ho Chi Minh Trail poses problems… * North Vietnamese role limited at 1st / aid and support US two-fold strategy: nation-building and “counter – insurgency” * support Diem / ARVN / “strategic hamlets” strategy * Green Berets / special forces warfare / “advisors” US “credibility” and the “Catch 22” scenario Had he lived, would JFK have disengaged??? (TBD???)