8 - Alliances and shifts

What happened November 1949?

FRG joins the Council of Europe

What happened November 1952?

Eisenhower is elected US president

What happened October 1953?

NSC 162/2 is presented

What happened January 1954?

Dulles announces the ‘massive retaliation strategy’

What happened July 1954?

the Geneva Conference

What happened September 1954?

SEATO alliance is established

What happened May 1955?

West Germany joins NATO

the Warsaw Pact is set up

What did Eisenhower place a greater importance on than Truman, and what could this been seen as compensating for?

greater importance on developing allies

shift in emphasis could be seen as a means of compensating for the lack of development of conventional US forces

What was Eisenhower’s strategy, linked to the greater importance he placed on developing allies?

strategy was to create a global network of alliances to circle USSR + China with pro-US allies

What was a consequence of Eisenhower’s strategy on developing allies?

in the medium to long term, US forces would be replaced by those of the USA’s allies

would reduced US military presence in Western Europe but retain fundamental US objectives based on containment

What was Eisenhower’s strategy on developing allies based on the USA doing?

the USA providing a NUCLEAR UMBRELLA, for its regional allies, while they provided ground forces for regional defence against Soviet aggression

How was the Sino-Soviet alliance strengthened in 1953?

May 1953 - USSR agreed to provide defence-related technology to China

September-October 1953 - Khrushchev visited China as sign of the reinforcement of Sino-Soviet links

USSR provided significant economic aid + technological expertise to strengthen China’s economy + national security

In response to what seemed to be close Sino-Soviet links, what did Dulles do?

broker defensive alliance based on Southeast Asia in September 1954

SEATO - collective defense treaty

When was SEATO formed?

September 1954

Who were the SEATO members?

Thailand, Pakistan, Great Britain, France, US, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines

Were the members of SEATO only Southeast Asia countries?

NO - many members were not

SEATO members had few common borders, being spread out over a wide area, unlike NATO

Were all important states that might have been deemed to be in need of SEATO protection members?

NO

eg. Burma, South Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia

Who was Konrad Adenauer?

the first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG)

What did Adenauer believe the best way of strengthening the FRG was?

to align West Germany to the Western powers

Why was the regeneration of Germany supported by the USA?

USA saw a strengthened West Germany as a safeguard against communist expansionism,, while reliance on USA would prevent resurgence of German nationalism + militarism

When did the FRG join the Council of Europe?

What rights did they also receive?

November 1949 - FRG joins Council of Europe

right to establish consulates in other countries

right to have direct representation on the Organisation of European Economic Cooperation (OEEC)

What did the May 1952 General Treaty do?

What did Adenauer do to placate the French?

abolished the statute of occupation, recognising the full sovereignty of the FRG

to placate French - agreed to renounce nuclear weapons + keep German Army limited in size and under strict civilian control

When was West Germany admitted to NATO with the support of US pressure on the French?

May 1955

What did the USSR do immediately after West Germany was admitted to NATO?

recognise the full sovereignty of the GDR (East Germany) + created the Warsaw Pact

What did the FRG’s entry into NATO underline regarding the USA’s commitments?

underlines commitment towards the centrality of Germany as a regional force + the concept of regional alliances designed to contain communism effectively + at lowest possible cost to USA → ECONOMIC DRIVE FROM EISENHOWER

When was the Warsaw Pact?

May 1955

Why was the Warsaw Pact created?

• USSR influence in Eastern Europe already significant + managed through cooperation of individual communist parties in each of the Eastern Bloc states - acted as agents of Soviet influence

USSR wanted to further consolidate its relations with the satellite communist states of Eastern Europe

Warsaw Pact was seen by USSR as a means of legitimising its influence in Eastern Europe, just as NATO had legitimised US influence in Western Europe

Who were the Warsaw Pact members?

Czechoslovakia, USSR, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, East Germany, Poland, Hungary

What was the mismatch between the presentation of the Warsaw Pact and the actual terms of the pact?

presented as a collective security strategy - non-threatening alliance

BUT served as a military reinforcement of USSR’s satellite structure + consolidates the political and economic relationship between USSR and its satellites

What formed the basis of Truman’s national security policy, which Eisenhower accepted much of?

• USA retain sufficient West Europe influence + should be collective Western defence strategy

• USA must retain its influence in Asia

• Soviet threat = significant + containment of Soviet territorial expansion is fundamental to US security interests

• USA must retain strong nuclear arsenal + conventional forces to deter + counter Soviet threat

What of Truman’s national security policy did Eisenhower reject?

• commitment to a major expansion, regardless of cost, of USA’s conventional forces

• Eisenhower believed that containment was limited + its effectiveness was insufficient as the basis of US foreign policy

When was the New Look Policy?

October 1953, formalised when Eisenhower approved NSC 162/2

What was part of Dulles’s strategy to overcome the statement that containment had created?

What was Eisenhower’s view on this?

to rollback communism and Moscow’s power - wanted to reduce the dominance of Soviet communism globally

ended static position imposed on US by Truman’s restrictive model of containment

EISENHOWER ACCEPTED BUT INSISTED THIS COULD ONLY BE DONE THROUGH PEACEFUL MEANS - Eisenhower never attempted to undermine the USSR’s sphere of influence or ‘liberate’ any pro-Soviet communist states

What was ‘massive retaliation’?

• policy that emphasised the need to be prepared for a potential global reaction to any communist expansion that might occur

• nuclear weapons gained greater significance under Eisenhower as basis for US national security strategy → presented as most cost-effective method of guaranteeing US security + most effective method of actually winning Cold War

What did the NSC 162/2 report of October 1953 emphasise?

emphasised the view that most effective way to deter aggression against Western Europe was for USA to forcefully display its determination to use nuclear weapons + its nuclear superiority against any aggressor

What was brinkmanship?

• nuclear diplomacy

• USA could use its nuclear strength to attempt to force agreements from communist opponents, up to the very point when a nuclear war might break out

• reaching the verge of war, without actually engaging in one → Dulles convinced it was essential in effective foreign policy + diplomacy against potential aggressor

What was Eisenhower’s domino theory?

• foreign policy concept

• argued if one country in a region fell to communism, the surrounding countries would quickly fall next

• used to justify why the US needed to get involved in Southeast Asia

What was French Indochina?

Indochina - refers to Cambodia, Laos, North Vietnam, South Vietnam

all had been French colonies prior to 1954 Geneva Agreement

By 1952 how many casualties had France suffered in its bid to hold on to Vietnam, despite the communist and nationalist forces of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam placing pressure on them?

90,000 casualties by 1952

Who was Eisenhower committed to supporting in Vietnam?

Why?

the French

Southeast Asia seen as particularly vulnerable to spread of communism - USA’s commitment to Vietnam = part of wiser Southeast Asia strategy based on containing communism by defending Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, rather than simply determination to defend stability in Vietnam in its own right

Why was Vietnam important?

• geostrategically important within context of Southeast Asia

• useful market for Japanese goods → strengthening of Japan’s economy

How did Eisenhower support the French in Vietnam?

• opposed to using conventional forces

• by 1954 - US paying 75% of war costs

• favoured diplomatic solution as didn’t want to commit US troops to an unwinnable war, but solution must protect Vietnam from communist control

What was the USSR’s view on how the struggle in Vietnam should be dealt with?

supported diplomatic rather than military resolution to growing nationalist struggle in Vietnam

What was the People’s Republic of China’s view on how the struggle in Vietnam should be dealt with?

wanted to appear moderate, put some pressure on Ho Chi Minh to negotiate an end to the war with France

When were negotiations agreed in Geneva?

July 1954

What was the Viet Minh?

nationalist and communist military force in Vietnam

from 1949 was supported by China in struggle against French colonialism + French military

was instrumental in the creation of an independent North Vietnam

Who was Ho Chi Minh?

• central in the foundation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945

• communist + nationalist

What did the agreement at the Geneva Conference do in terms of short and long-term solutions?

short-term: paved way for a ceasefire

wasn’t a long-term solution to the question of Vietnam’s independence as a unified state

What did the Geneva Conference agree?

• two zones created - 17th parallel as dividing line

• French forces to move out of northern zone

• nationalist forces to withdraw from southern zone

• division not intended to be permanent, national elections were to take place in two years

Who refused to sign the agreements of the Geneva Conference?

• USA

• regime that was set up in the souther zone

new president of South Vietnam = Ngo Dinh Diem - USA rapidly pledged support to his regime

How did Eisenhower sum up the USA’s position towards the newly appointed US ambassador to South Vietnam following the Geneva Conference?

supporting the existence of a pro-American, independent, non-communist government in Vietnam

+ aiding such a government to eliminate pro-communist subversion + influence

What did Eisenhower and Dulles see Truman’s pre-1952 containment strategy as?

• expensive as focused on developing conventional forces rather than nuclear weapons

• committing the USA to a global interventionist strategy

• prolonging the Cold War without making significant moves towards a resolution/partial resolution

What was the thinking of the New Look policy that was taken towards US Cold War strategic thinking from 1952?

• greater focus on nuclear development + reductions in conventional forces

• nuclear weapons become more cost effective + stronger diplomatic tool for Cold War relations

• development of new strategies designed to reinforce containment - massive retaliation + brinkmanship

• greater commitment to alliance systems - reinforce US global influence + share responsibility for management of containment

• continued commitment to containment