Kennedy newly elected president, Khrushchev wanted
to capitalise on Kennedy's in experience and his recent
humiliation over the Bay of Pigs
Khrushchev adopted an
aggressive stance, demands:
The Soviet Union would continue to support 'wars
of national liberation' because of the dominance
of colonial and capitalist powers
The West should recognise the sovereign
status of East Germany
The Berlin question should be settled on
Soviet terms within 6 months
Only constructive result of the summit was agreement
to ensure a neutral and independent Laos
Kennedy was shaken by Khrushchev but didn't back down
Ultimately, Khrushchev misjudged Kennedy as
weak - a mistake that would be revealed clearly
during the Cuban Missile Crisis
Berlin
3rd Berlin Crisis, Berlin Wall, August 1961
Kennedy rejected Khrushchev demand at Vienna that the
US should withdraw from Berlin by the end of that year -
stating that Berlin was central to US security interests
25 July 1961, Kennedy publicly pledged US would not
be driven out of Berlin and announced increases in
armed forces
Khrushchev didn't want war over Berlin but couldn't
allow exodus of East Germans to continue
August 61, Khrushchev built Berlin Wall - prevent
free movement between East and West
In response, Kennedy considered a limited nuclear
strike against USSR, but dropped this when it
became clear there was no threat to West Berlin
Khrushchev's actions stemmed the flow of Germans moving
to the West and the US accepted the division of Berlin
Berlin Wall became enduring image of the Cold War
4th Berlin Crisis October 1961
After Berlin Wall crisis, Kennedy sent
General Clay to Berlin as his rep
October 1961, US diplomat could not enter East
Berlin as he refused to show his passport
This breached an agreement allowing free travel without
passports for Western and Soviet personnel
Clay responded by providing US military patrol to
escort the diplomat into East Berlin
Armed US soldiers accompanied US citizens
US tanks were stationed at Checkpoint Charlie, the
chief crossing point between East and West Berlin
27 October, 33 Soviet tanks enter East Berlin,
23 placed at Brandenburg gate, 10 placed at
Checkpoint Charlie facing US tanks
Tense stand off ensured that US garrison in Berlin,
Nato and Strategic Air Command were put on alert
Khrushchev authorised Soviet commander to
return fire if attacked
Kennedy contacted Khrushchev directly and
proposed joint staged removal of forces
This solution broke the deadlock - after 16 hours
of nose to nose, tanks on both sides withdrew
Flexible response and counterforce
Kennedy and defense secretary McNamara rejected
massive retaliation as being too rigid
they favoured a 'flexible response' strategy, that
considered the possibility of a limited nuclear war
As part of this, McNamara developed a 'second strike'
capability, based on bombers, ICBMs and submarines, so the
USA could strike back at Russia after suffering nuclear attack
1962, he also introduced the counterforce strategy - to
make the USSR's military bases - not the cities - the targets
of any future US nuclear attack
USSR did not endorse flexible tactics, they focused on all-out nuclear attack
Flexible response was expensive and raised basic questions
about how nuclear war could be 'limited' or 'managed'
A further difficulty with it was the USA's inability to target Soviet nuclear sites accurately
Bay Of Pigs 1961
1961 - Kennedy authorised CIA-backed invasion of Cuba
Aim - to spark popular revolt on the island to overthrow Castro
1400 lightly armed anti-Castro Cuban exiles landed on the Bay of
Pigs but were quickly overwhelmed by the Cuban army and air force
Failed assault was a deep humiliation for Kennedy,
who couldn't hide the USA's involvement
Castro reacted by entering into a defensive
agreement with the USSR - brought Soviet
weapons and military advisers to Cuba
Khrushchev supplied the island with MiG jets and surface-to-air missiles (SAMs)
Operation Mongoose 1962
6 months after Bay of Pigs - the CIA with Kennedy's full
support - launched Operation Mongoose
A secret programmed designed to destabilise the
Cuban regime and remove Castro
Between January and July 1962 - 60000 acts of sabotage
were performed - ranging from murder to arson
USA also held large scale military exercise in the Caribbean to
increase the pressure on Cuba and demonstrate the USAs might
Both Castro and USSR expected US to invade
One of key reasons behind Khrushchev placing the
arms in Cuba that led to the Cuban Missile Crisis
Consequences of Cuban Missile
Crisis for Kennedy
Gave him a much-needed foreign policy success which strengthened
his presidency- To avoid humiliating the Soviets, he sensibly ordered 'no
boasting, no gloating, not even a claim of victory'
He could claim to have removed the Soviet nuclear
threat from the USA's backyard and to have
prevented a superpower nuclear exchange
10 days after the crisis, Kennedy reaped the domestic political rewards
at the US congressional elections - when the Democrats won their
biggest majority in the senate for 20 years
Nevertheless, he still had pledged to not attempt to remove
Castro and so had effectively accepted that the island would
stay under comm control for the forseeable future
Had secretly agreed with Soviets to remove US missiles in Turkey.
This decision was made without the knowledge of the Turkish govt,
and was not revealed to the public until 1968
Events of 1963 - Post CMC
The hot-line agreement June 1963
CMC had shown the necessity for rapid communication
between the superpowers
As a result - the hotline was set up between the Whitehouse and
the Kremlin so that the US and Soviet leaders could contact
eachother immediately in crisis
Aim - to ensure that any superpower misjudgements
could be resolved before serious crisis developed
Nixon and Brezhnev used it once in 1971 during India-Pakistan war
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty - August 1963
By October 1958 - both superpowers - aware of the
positive publicity value - began a voluntary suspension
on nuclear tests, which lasted for 3 years
During this period, a more formal agreement could not be
reached as the USSR rejected US demands for rigorous
on site inspections of underground nuclear tests
August 1961 - USSR resume atmospheric tests and
USA follow suit with new round of underground and
atmospheric tests
Sobering impact of CMC led to the superpowers and
Britain signing the Nuclear Test Ban treaty 1963
Banned them from conducting nuclear tests in the atmosphere,
under water or in space. Underground was still permitted as long
as it only impacted the country who carried it out