Importance of U.S Foreign Policy on Berlin, Korea + Cuba

Berlin, Korea and Cuba all had major importance for U.S Foreign Policy. Foreign Policy refers to how countries’ governments interact with other foreign countries. America joined WW2 after the bombing of Pearl Harbour in 1941. They worked together with the Soviets to defeat the Axis Powers. After WW2, America and Russia were two of the largest superpowers in the world, and had extreme differences in ideology. America was staunchly Capitalist, whereas Russia, or the ”USSR”, was Communist. It came to be that many countries which Russia helped during WW2 were also converting to Communism. This was seen as a big problem for America, as if enough countries were to convert, it would mean America was heavily outnumbered. This led to a period in history called the “Cold War”. There was a great amount of tension between America and the Soviets. The rivalry with Russia was the crux to America’s foreign policy, and influenced many of their political decisions. In the words of American president Harry Truman: “I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.” America took many precautions to stop the spread of Communism, such as the policy of containment, the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Aid. The aim of these features was to support any country actively fighting communism, and to demonstrate the appeal of capitalism through allyship. The largest demonstration of these features can be seen during the Berlin Blockade (1948-49), the Korean War (1950-53) and the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962). 

America’s involvement in Berlin was the first instance of containment, and held great importance in regards to U.S foreign policy. The policy of containment’s purpose was to halt the expansion of communism and prevent it from advancing around the world. After WW2, the Allies; America, France, Britain and Russia, split Germany into 4 sectors. Berlin, which resided in the Russian zone, was also divided. These zones of occupation had a fatal flaw however. Despite the fact that the Allies worked together during the war, Russia posed a problem. They were communist, and the three other sectors were capitalist. In March of 1948, Britain, France and the U.S decided to merge their sectors. This new sector was called the “Federal Republic of Germany”, and the Russian sector was called the “German Democratic Republic”. To build up their area, the U.S provided them with Marshall Aid, meaning money and resources. This was under the Truman Doctrine- a document made by Harry Truman in which America pledged to give financial and military aid to any country fighting communism. This was necessary to make sure Germany had a strong barrier to communism, which was the main goal of American Foreign Policy at the time. This related to U.S President Harry Truman’s policy of “containment”, wherein the U.S were committed to financially and militarily supporting countries threatened by communism. In Truman’s words, the purpose of containment was to: “assist free peoples to work out their own destinies in their own way.” The Soviets saw this however as an attempt to buy control of Europe and stop communism. When Joseph Stalin, the leader of the USSR, saw that it was unlikely that he would be able to successfully spread communism, he cut off all road, rail and water lines between West Berlin and Western Germany. This was known as the “Berlin Blockade”. 

2 million people in West Berlin only had enough food for 1 month. Stalin hoped that by starving the Allies’ part of Berlin, this would encourage West Berlin to become part of the Soviet Union. America was determined to stand strong however, the American General Clay stating: “When West Berlin falls, Western Germany will be next. If we mean to hold Europe against communism, we must not budge.” The U.s and the Western Allies did not want to risk another war, so they decided to airlift food supplies into West Berlin, this was called “Operation Vittles”. By June of 1948, planes began landing at Templehot Airport with supplies every 3 minutes. By September 1948, 600 tonnes of tinned food were being delivered a day, as well as hot water bottles for heat, and a guide dog for a blind man. Many businesses were closed due to lack of supplies and 125,000 people lost their jobs. As well as that, food was rationed and electricity was limited to 4 hours per day. The consistent airlifting lasted for 320 days. In the end however, Stalin conceded, and on the 12th May 1949, he lifted the blockade. This was seen as a moral victory for the U.S, and proved that the policy of containment in their foreign policy worked in theory and in practice. As a result of the Berlin Blockade, America’s reputation improved, as they were seen as the defenders of a hopeless city, whereas the Soviets were seen as an aggressor trying to starve 2 million people. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was formed to protect its members from potential Soviet attacks. Germany remained split into two and divided by the Berlin Wall built in 1961 until 1990. The success in Berlin and the formation of NATO were both of major importance in U.S Foreign Policy. 

Another issue of importance for U.S Foreign Policy was the Korean War. Similarly to Berlin after WW2, Korea was also split, only this time in two, with America supporting South Korea and the USSR supporting the North. South Korea created the Independent Republic of Korea, with Syngman Rhee as President. In the north, the Soviets set up the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, led by Kim Il Sung under a communist dictatorship. To the north of Korea was China, which became communist in 1949 under Mao Zedong. In 1949, both the U.S and Soviets left Korea. Soon after however, the north invaded the south armed with Soviet weapons and quickly the North took over the majority of the South. U.S President Truman responded by committing the U.S in the name of the UN to come to the rescue of South Korea. This became the start of a “proxy war” between America and Russia, meaning that the countries of America and Russia were not in active war against each other, but instead were using the North and South of Korea to compete against one another. Once again, America getting involved revolved around their Foreign Policy of stopping the spread of communism, with Truman stating: “If we let Korea down, the Soviet[s] will keep right on going and swallow up one [place] after another.” This idea he was referring to was the “Domino Theory”, in which if one country falls to communism, it’s bound that more are to fall soon after. Truman bypassed Congress by committing troops to South Korea, and the UN forces were led by General Douglas MacArthur. They invaded Inchon behind North Korean lines, and pushed them back to the Yalu River. Fearing an invasion, the Chinese lended aid to the North, and attacked with 260,000 troops who in turn pushed the U.S troops into the south. While America did provide South Korea with troops, they were determined not to use the atomic bomb against China in fear of nuclear war- another influence on U.S foreign policy. 

Attempts for peace began in 1951, however fighting dragged on for another 2 years. During this time, Dwight D. Eisenhower became U.S President and Stalin died, and the new leadership in both countries wanted to end the war. In July of 1953, North Korea and South Korea were divided along the 38th parallel. No permanent peace treaty has been signed between the two. The war had devastating effects, with the U.S losing 54,246 soldiers and another 160,000 injured. The war cost the U.S 20 billion dollars, and Korea lost 4 million soldiers and civilians. These results definitely impacted U.S Foreign Policy, as the U.S technically achieved their goal of containment, but it came at a painful price. It showed that constantly getting involved with other countries due to communism was taking vital resources, and lives, from America. In Eisenhower’s speech; “I Shall Go To Korea”, he says: “No demonic destiny decreed that America had to be bled this way in order to keep South Korea free…” And later goes on to say that even though the war was completely avoidable for America, he felt that they had to be the ones to volunteer to stop communism spreading. They had to adjust their Foreign Policy to examine America’s role in the world, and if they were to be bystanders or not. So it’s clear that the Korean War had a significant importance on U.S Foreign Policy. In the end, both Truman and Eisenhower were happy to have contained communism and claimed success in the Korean War. From this point forward, Eisenhower focused on building a powerful nuclear force to deter the Soviets from expanding communism. 

Cuba, and specifically the Cuban Missile Crisis, was of great importance on U.S Foreign Policy. A large part of U.S Foreign Policy thanks to the Cuban missile crisis was about preventing nuclear war and the testing and creation of nuclear weapons. In the words of JFK; “We will not prematurely or unnecessarily risk the costs of a worldwide nuclear war in which even the fruits of victory would be ashes in our mouth.” The Cold War tensions continued to rise in the early 60s, and the U.S and USSR engaged in a new competition with each other- the Nuclear Arms Race. By this time, Russia had overtaken the U.S in missile production, and were looking for an ally close to the U.S.A in where they could store and test nuclear devices. Luckily for them in 1959, Cuba which was just south of America, had a change in power. The previous leader of Cuba was overthrown by Fidel Castro, who installed a communist regime in the country. In 1961, the U.S stopped trading with Cuba, and cut off all diplomatic relations with them. The Soviets saw their opportunity, and began trading and buying sugar from Cuba, successfully building a good relationship with them. Tensions increased between America and Cuba when the U.S launched an invasion of Cuba dubbed “The Bay of Pigs” in 1961, however the plan was a disaster as the Americans were heavily outnumbered. In 1962, the USSR began building missile bases in Cuba and from these bases the Soviet missiles could reach all major U.S cities. Russia’s leader at the time, Nikita Khrushchev, claimed that the missiles were there to protect Cuba, and that there was no difference between them placing missiles in Cuba and the U.S placing missiles in Turkey. In 1962, American President John F. Kennedy told the world about the Soviet missile sites in Cuba, and for 13 days, the world was on the brink of a nuclear war.

J.F.K decided to establish an Executive Committee to deal with the nuclear war crisis. The committee proposed various solutions, some of which included a second attempt of invading Cuba, and carrying out airstrikes on the missile bases. President Kennedy instead ordered a naval blockade of Cuba, meaning all ships headed for Cuba must be stopped and searched. The purpose of this blockade was to prevent the Soviets from bringing in more military supplies to Cuba. This demonstrated to the USSR that the USA was determined to withstand Soviet pressure- once again demonstrating their goal for worldwide freedom from communist oppressors, with JFK stating: “Our goal is not the victory of might, but the vindication of right- not peace at the expense of freedom but both peace and freedom, here in this Hemisphere, and, we hope, around the world.” On the 28th October 1962, a deal was finally reached. Khrushchev promised to remove all the missiles from Cuba and Kennedy promised not to invade Cuba. The USA dismantled their missiles located in Turkey. Both the US and Russia signed a Test Ban Treaty- forbidding the testing of nuclear bombs. The Cuban Missile Crisis frightened the USA and USSR, and both sides agreed they would not risk nuclear war again. Relations improved between America and Russia, and a special telephone line was set up between the White House and Kremlin. From the mid 1960s onwards, a detente (or relaxation of tensions) followed. The Cuban Missile Crisis was of great importance to U.S Foreign Policy as it demonstrated where the US’ priorities lied. It showed a great deal of change for America- who for the first time since WW2, worked together with the Soviets and came to an agreement. As much as they disliked the communist regime, America understood that there was something bigger at stake here than egos and ideologies. 

From these examples, it’s clear that all three countries have had a massive impact on U.S Foreign Policy. The USA was often depicted as the “hero” to these countries fighting oppression. The American people were fed propaganda on the Soviets and communism in general- and while some might have been accurate information, a lot of it wasn’t. For the majority of the time, America used its Foreign Policy and invading other countries under the guise of protecting and creating a better world, but many would beg to disagree. America built up a bad reputation for sticking their nose where it didn’t belong, and oftentimes making situations worse in foreign countries. Some might say that American leaders were using their mission to stop communism as a distraction, to take away focus from their country’s actual needs. In the words of US Senator J. William Fulbright: “The Soviet Union has indeed been our greatest menace- not so much because of what it has done, but because of the excuses it has provided us for our own failures.” This would be later proven during the Vietnam War, and the protests led by the citizens of America who disagreed with the war and the government's ethics. But it cannot be denied that America achieved a lot of praise during this period as well, especially during the Berlin Blockade where they were extremely successful in their mission to protect innocent civilians. Berlin, Korea and Cuba were all cornerstones of the American Foreign Policy in the late 40s to early 60s, and greatly influenced the actions of America at the time. This was seen in The Berlin Blockade  (1948-49), the Korean War (1950-53) and the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962).