Attitudes of Khrushchev & Kennedy post Cuban Missile Crisi

After the crisis both Khrushchev and Kennedy had pressure to…

respond to the other in a certain way

Khrushchev’s focus before the crisis was on?

sorting out USSR economy & improve standards of living

Khrushchev before the crisis was being pressured by Mao to be…

more revolutionary abroad

Khrushchev was keen on…

peaceful co-existence but had to balance this policy with maintaining a strong anti-Western rhetoric to keep the USSRs position as head of the international communist community

JFK faced similar problems as Khrushchev before the crisis…

he wished to improve relations between the two countries but was limited by a need to be seen as tough on communism to appease republican opposition

The crisis provided the two leaders with a reason to …

promote better links between the two countries & ensured that public opinion & international opinion did not condemn them for working closer together

Kennedy had a realist…

understanding of international relations - not ideological, he wanted peace & cooperation with the USSR

Kennedy wanted to avoid…

the severe damage & high casualties of a nuclear war (estimated 93 million casualties from the combined US & USSR armoury)

Kennedy’s objective was rather than…

winning a nuclear war to avoid one

what was a problem with MAD

based on assumption that all nuclear powers were rational actors - Kennedy wanted to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons to potentially volatile countries (e.g. China & North Korea)

Kennedy wanted to avoid environmental…

devastation of that of Hiroshima & Nagasaki

Khrushchev was amendable to…

a US-Soviet relationship based on mutual restraint rather than brinkmanship after missile crisis

Khrushchev wanted to limit…

the number of countries with nuclear weapons to maintain status quo

what was established in June 1963

a direct communication line between the leaders of the USA & the USSR

when was the Washington-Moscow hot line established

June 1963

what happened prior to the hot line

gov leaders had to wait for phone calls to go through a series of exchanges before the two could converse

what did the hot line mean

Kennedy & Khrushchev could reach each other 24 hours a day seven days a week through a system only to be used in emergency situations

what was the aim of the hot line

to avoid any kind of delays that had occurred in communication between Kennedy & Khrushchev during the Cuban Missile Crisis

what did the hot line symbolise

a new spirit of communication

when was the hot line first used

Neither Kennedy or Khrushchev used the hot line & it wasn’t used until 1967