27.4 Cold War Chronology, 1954-1985

(Events in parentheses are of Cold War significance, but not happening in Europe.)

1954 (The Geneva Conference on Southeast Asia ended French rule in Indochina. The Geneva Accords established the North-South division of Vietnam.)

(Latin America: In Guatemala a US-sponsored military coup overthrew the democratically-elected reformist government of Jacobo Arbenz and replaced it with a military dictatorship. Arbenz had attempted to tax lands held by the American-owned United Fruit Company. The coup was justified on the grounds that Arbenz was sympathetic to Communism.)

1955 Four-Power Summit Meeting in Geneva: The “Spirit of Geneva,” a general feeling of relaxed tensions as the leaders of the US, Britain, France, and the USSR met for the first time in ten years. At Geneva Eisenhower’s “Open Skies” proposal allowing unrestricted overflights of both US and Soviet territory was rejected by the USSR.

The Allies ended the four-power occupation of Austria in place since 1945. Austria was established as an independent and neutral state.

(Asia: At the Bandung Conference in Indonesia India, China, and other African-Asian states declared neutrality in the Cold War.)

West Germany was admitted to NATO. In response the USSR formed the Warsaw Pact (a mutual defense alliance of the Eastern European Communist states)

1956 Khrushchev’s “Secret Speech” to the Communist Party leadership led to the “De-Stalinization" of the USSR. In Eastern Europe the perceived relaxation of Stalinist controls in the USSR caused reform movements in Poland and Hungary. When Moscow pressured the Polish government, the reforms were abandoned. This would not be the case in Hungary.

Using the new U-2 spy plane, the US began secret high level surveillance overflights of the USSR. These flights would continue, detected but unpreventable, until May 1960.

(In July Egypt’s President Gamal Nasser announced the Egyptian nationalization of the British- and French-owned Suez Canal. Nasser proclaimed that Egypt would use the revenues from the Canal to build the Aswan High Dam. The Suez War: (late October) In response, Britain, France, and Israel successfully invaded and defeated Egypt. The US and USSR in the UN called for disengagement, and the invading forces were withdrawn. Because Nasser’s appeal for Pan-Arab opposition to Western influences in the Middle East was supported by the USSR, Arab nationalism was regarded in the West as “Communism.”)

(Oct – Nov) Hungarian Revolution Responding to Khrushchev’s de-Stalinization speech, the Hungarian Communist Party, in an effort to assert greater autonomy from Moscow, undertook a series of reforms. With massive popular support, the reform movement became a movement for actual independence. As the Revolution gained momentum, Soviet armies in Hungary were ordered withdrawn. It looked as though Hungary might actually be freeing itself from Moscow’s control. On November 1, however, Soviet forces invaded the country, entered Budapest, and brutally suppressed the Revolution. The reform leadership was arrested and its leading figures were executed. A new hard-line government subservient to Soviet interests was installed.

1957 Middle East: (Eisenhower Doctrine: In response to Nasser’s Pan-Arab nationalism – which the US erroneously perceived as Communism – the US announced that it would apply the containment policy to the Middle East In April pro-Nasserist rioting threatened the government of the young moderate King Hussein of Jordan. Eisenhower ordered the US Navy’s 6th Fleet to the Eastern Mediterranean.)

SPUTNIK! (Oct 4) The USSR launched a 184-pound beachball-sized artificial satellite called Sputnik, thus beginning the Soviet-American “Space Race.” Within a month the Soviets put into orbit a 1000-pound Sputnik II containing a live dog. The US was embarrassed that the Soviets had been first into space. Rushed American efforts to launch a three-pound grapefruit sized satellite (called Vanguard) into space failed in December when the rocket exploded on the launch pad (“flopnik!”).

1958 (Jan 31) The US successfully launched its first satellite, the 31-pound Explorer. In May the Soviets put the 3000-pound Sputnik III in orbit. Clearly, the Soviets had the lead in rocket booster power and satellite technology, a disturbing revelation for the American public.

Khrushchev demanded Western withdrawal from West Berlin. The Western Allies remained firm.

(Latin America: Violent anti-American demonstrations against Vice President Nixon while on a state visit to several Latin American countries. In the popular mind among Latin Americans the US was associated with preserving dictatorial governments abusive of human rights. US policy in Latin America was to preserve “free” governments that were opposed to Communism. That these governments were dictatorships was troubling but did not stop American efforts to preserve the stability such governments provided.)

(Middle East: Syria placed itself under Egyptian sovereignty creating the United Arab Republic (UAR), seen in the West as the first step by Nasser to unify the Arab Middle East in an Egyptian-dominated universal state. That seemed even more likely when, in July, pro-Nasserist army officers assassinated King Faisal of Iraq and made Iraq a republic. In 1959 Iraq announced that it would join the UAR. The UAR broke up in 1961 when Syria reasserted its independence.)

(Middle East: Pro-Nasserist rioting threatened the government of Lebanon. Seeing the Nasserist coup in Iraq as signaling a radical take-over in Lebanon, Eisenhower ordered some 14,000 US Marines from the 6th Fleet into Beirut. Eisenhower justified the occupation as necessary to protect the lives of Americans living in Lebanon (Beirut was a major cosmopolitan center of international commerce with a sizable international community) and preserve Lebanon’s sovereignty and independence. The Soviet response was a predictable - and effective - blast of propaganda condemning the “invasion” as a direct assault against Arab peoples justly seeking their freedom from Western imperialism. Over the next several months Lebanon’s political crisis faded and was proclaimed in the West as a “victory” for the forces of freedom. The US troops were withdrawn in October.)

1959 (Latin America: Castro came to power in Cuba and began reforms to end foreign, meaning American, economic domination of Cuba. In time, Castro’s government became increasingly oppressive, causing thousands of Cubans to flee to the US.)

“The Spirit of Camp David” (Sept) Soviet Premier Khrushchev made a 13-day visit to the US. He was politely if not warmly welcomed in several major cities, visited Hollywood, and had meaningful discussions with Eisenhower at the presidential retreat at Camp David. He was disappointed when he was not allowed to visit Disneyland. Still, Eisenhower was invited to come to Moscow.

1960 The U-2 Affair (May 1) An American U-2 spy plane was shot down deep inside the USSR, and its pilot, Francis Gary Powers, was captured alive. The Soviets kept the event secret for several days. The US at first denied that a plane had been lost inside the USSR, saying that if a plane were lost, it was a weather research plane that had strayed off course. When the Soviets made public that they had the pilot and the wreckage of the plane (which was put on public display in Moscow), the US was caught in the lie. Eisenhower admitted responsibility on the grounds of national security. When Khrushchev demanded an apology, Eisenhower refused, justifying the spy flights as necessary for the security of the Free World. Powers was tried for espionage and imprisoned. He would be released in 1962 in exchange for Rudolf Abel, a Soviet spy being held by the Americans.

Paris Four-Power Summit Meeting Eisenhower, Khrushchev, MacMillan (Britain), and De Gaulle (France) met to resolve the Berlin issue. The summit broke up on background of the U-2 Affair. Khrushchev angrily denounced the US for the U-2 flights and walked out of the conference. Eisenhower’s invitation to Moscow was revoked. It looked as though the Cold War was heating up.

1961 John F. Kennedy, US President (to 1963) - US foreign policy: be tough on Communism.

(April) Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was first human to orbit the earth.

(Latin America: In April a US-sponsored and supported attempt by Cuban exiles to overthrow Castro was defeated by Cuban forces at the Bay of Pigs. Kennedy admitted responsibility. Castro later proclaimed himself to be a Communist and sought to export Marxist revolution throughout Latin America.)

(June) Khrushchev-Kennedy Summit Meeting in Vienna: Soviet ultimatum on Berlin: The Western powers must get out or the USSR will recognize East Germany as a sovereign state. Kennedy impressed Khrushchev with his resolve not to abandon West Berlin.

Berlin Crisis: A mass exodus of East Germans caused the Soviets to erect the Berlin Wall. US-Soviet military preparations for a possible conflict included resumption of atmospheric nuclear testing. Neither side wanted war over Berlin, and Khrushchev backed down from his ultimatum. The Wall was victory enough. The walled division of the city remained the status quo until late 1989.

(Indochina: US began sending military advisors to support South Vietnam’s war against Communist insurgents called the Viet Cong. The Viet Cong received military assistance from North Vietnam.)

1962 (Feb) Astronaut John Glenn was first American to orbit the earth.

The US resumed atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons.

Cuban Missile Crisis: (October) The secret Soviet placement of strategic nuclear missiles in Cuba was discovered by a U-2 overflight. Kennedy kept knowledge of the missiles secret for nearly a week as his advisors worked feverishly to determine a response. On Oct 22 in a dramatic television speech to the country, Kennedy announced that the US would impose a naval blockade to interdict all further shipments from the USSR to Cuba and called on the USSR to remove the missiles. All US military forces were put on alert. It was made clear to the Soviets that if they refused, the US would take military action in Cuba to remove the threat. After a week of high, nervous tension, the USSR announced it would remove the weapons. In Cold War history, the Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest the US and USSR had ever come to nuclear war.

1963 Arms Control: Nuclear Test Ban Treaty: The US, USSR, and Britain agreed to end the atmospheric and underseas testing of nuclear weapons in what was the first international agreement on nuclear weapons.

Kennedy was assassinated; Lyndon Johnson, US President (to 1969)

1964 (Indochina: In what became known as the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, the US took direct military action against Communist North Vietnam.)

(Oct) USSR: Khrushchev was deposed and replaced by Leonid Brezhnev (rule, 1964 – 1982).

(Asia: China tested a nuclear weapon.)

1965 (Indochina: US began direct military intervention in South Vietnam. By 1968 the US would have 500,000 troops engaged in fighting the Communists.)

(Latin America: In response to an attempt by followers loyal to ousted leftist president Juan Bosch to seize power in the Dominican Republic, President Johnson unilaterally ordered some 23,000 US troops into the island nation (April-May). Fearing the Dominican Republic might become another Cuba, the Johnson administration justified the action as necessary to protect American lives and properties. A right-wing government satisfactory to the US was established. Once again, the Soviets and Cubans blasted the US action as reflective of the US exercising its imperialist hold over the Latin American nations.)

1966 De Gaulle announced the end of France’s military commitment to NATO.

1967 (Middle East: The Six Day War: Israel launched a preemptive war against Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. Israeli forces conquered and occupied Sinai, the Golan Heights, Gaza, and the West Bank. The Middle East became a region of active US-Soviet Cold War competition and influence.)

(Indochina: US forces committed to the war in Vietnam now number 500,000 troops. Military commanders in Vietnam reported that American forces were winning the struggle and that one could see the “light at the end of the tunnel,” an ultimate military victory.)

1968 (Indochina: On January 30, the war in Vietnam took a new turn. The Viet Cong, supported by North Vietnamese regular troops, launched their massive Tet Offensive. Catching both the US and South Vietnamese forces off guard, the Communists attacked government and US installations in the major cities. Enemy soldiers were even able to break into the heavily guarded US Embassy in the center of Saigon, the South Vietnamese capital. Although the Communists were eventually driven from the cities, the Tet Offensive demonstrated that the enemy had the upper hand and could take the war wherever they wished, including the heart of the South Vietnamese and US strongholds. Tet would undermine and further polarize American public opinion regarding the war.)

Arms Control: The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty – Sponsored by the UN, most of the world’s states agreed not to spread the development of nuclear weapons.

In Eastern Europe the Soviets implemented the Brezhnev Doctrine in the summer of 1968. In Czechoslovakia a new moderate Communist leadership led by Alexander Dubček had come to power promising to make significant political and economic reforms. Seeing the Czech reforms as a threat to socialist solidarity in Eastern Europe, the USSR and other Warsaw Pact countries ordered units of their armies to occupy Czechoslovakia (August). Unlike Hungary in 1956, the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia was relatively peaceful. The Czechs, bowing to the reality of Soviet interests in Eastern Europe, undid the reforms and returned to Communist orthodoxy. Through the Brezhnev Doctrine the Soviets demonstrated that they would intervene in the affairs of any Eastern European Communist state if it saw Communism's (i.e., the USSR's) interests threatened by that country's policies.

1969 Richard M. Nixon, US President (to 1974) - US foreign policy (directed by Secretary of State Henry Kissinger) would be based on Détente and arms control with the USSR and rapprochement with China. Nixon spoke of a “secret plan” for victory in Vietnam and began a policy of “Vietnamization” whereby the US would assist South Vietnam in assuming responsibility for the war.

1970 (Indochina: In late April the US began bombing raids against Viet Cong and North Vietnamese refuges in Cambodia, seemingly widening the war. In the US, college campuses erupted in anti-war demonstrations. At Kent State University in Ohio, four students were killed when National Guard forces opened fire on a student demonstration.)

1971 (Asia: The UN recognized the Communist regime in China as the legitimate government and expelled Taiwan from China’s seat in the UN Security Council. US Secretary of State Kissinger made a secret visit to China and, on returning to the US, announced that Nixon would visit China in 1972.)

1972 (Asia: Nixon’s visit to China led to the opening of US diplomatic relations with China. Full diplomatic recognition of China was established in 1979.)

Arms Control: SALT I In May Nixon flew to Moscow for a summit meeting with Brezhnev. There the two leaders signed the arms control agreements known as SALT I. SALT (Strategic Arms Limitations Talks) negotiations had been going on since 1969, and represented the first major breakthrough on arms control between the US and USSR.

SALT I was two agreements. Both sides agreed 1) to an ABM Treaty restricting the building of anti-ballistic missile defense systems and 2) an Interim Agreement (commonly called SALT I) to stop construction of new missile launchers and freeze the existing number of missile systems. SALT I enabled the USSR to achieve strategic parity with the US, a long-time Soviet goal.

SALT I also marked the beginning of détente between the US and USSR. Through détente both the US and USSR implicitly agreed to accept the existence of their respective economic, social, and political systems as well as their respective regional spheres of influence, and agreed to seek means of reducing tensions between them. Although at times the relationship would be strained, the Nixon-Brezhnev détente marked a period of considerable improvement in US-Soviet relations.

Détente: The US began grain sales to USSR.

1973 (Indochina: In January the US ended its military involvement in Vietnam. Negotiations among the warring parties had been going on in Paris since 1968, as had the war. In late 1972 the US launched an intensive bombing campaign against North Vietnam in order to compel acceptance of a peace plan proposed by Kissinger. The Paris Peace Accords called for the repatriation of prisoners of war and a full military withdrawal of American forces from Vietnam. Otherwise, the agreement was a return to the status quo set by the 1954 Geneva Accords. Basically, South Vietnam would be left to fend for itself.)

(Chile: A US-sponsored military coup overthrew the government of Chile’s democratically-elected Marxist President Salvador Allende. Allende’s socialist program had called for the nationalization of foreign-owned businesses in Chile, one of the largest being the American-owned Kennecott and Anaconda Copper Company. In the Nixon-Kissinger perception of the world, this was tantamount to Communism. In the coup Allende was killed and a brutal military dictatorship led by Augusto Pinochet was installed in power.)

(The Yom Kippur War: Egypt and Syria launched an attack against Israel. Both the US and USSR mobilized their strategic forces. The OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) cartel imposed an oil embargo against the US and other states supporting Israel. UN mediation compelled a truce.)

1974 West German Chancellor Willi Brandt’s Ostpolitik (eastern policy) led to diplomatic relations between West and East Germany and closer relations between West Germany and the USSR and Eastern Europe.

(Middle East: US Secretary of State Kissinger’s “shuttle diplomacy” between Israel and the Arab states led to gradual Israeli withdrawal from Sinai and an end to the oil embargo.)

(Aug) In the face of the Watergate Scandal, Nixon resigned US presidency. Vice President Gerald Ford succeeded as president (his administration would continue to 1977). Détente would continue to be the basis of US foreign policy.

1975 (Indochina – Communist victory in South Vietnam and Cambodia. North and South Vietnam were reunified as the People’s Democratic Republic of Vietnam under a Communist regime.)

The Helsinki Accords At an international conference in Helsinki, Finland, the US and USSR joined some 33 mostly European nations in signing the Helsinki Accords. Through this agreement all the signatories pledged to recognize each other’s boundaries as permanent, respect each other’s sovereignty and agreed to a comprehensive statement in defense of human rights. US concern for and criticism of Soviet and Eastern European violations of the Helsinki Accords through abuse of human rights occasionally strained the détente relationship.

Détente: US-Soviet cooperative space venture: orbiting space vehicles linked up.

1977 Jimmy Carter, US President (to 1981)

(Middle East: In a bid for peace, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat visited Jerusalem and addressed the Israeli parliament.)

1978 (Camp David Accords: Israel and Egypt accepted a Carter-brokered plan for establishing peaceful relations.)

(Middle East: In Iran radical Islamic insurgents loyal to the Ayatollah Khomeini compelled the abdication of the Shah, a long-time US ally. Iran was proclaimed an Islamic Republic. These events ended Iranian friendship with the US.)

1979 (Middle East: Israeli-Egyptian Peace Treaty: Israel and Egypt ended the state of war and established diplomatic relations between them.)

(Middle East: In Iran Islamic radicals seized the US embassy in Tehran and took American diplomatic personnel hostage. They would be held for 444 days.)

Arms Control: SALT II In June Carter traveled to Vienna for a summit meeting with Brezhnev and the signing of the SALT II Treaty. A much more comprehensive treaty than the 1972 SALT I, SALT II set specific limitations on the numbers of missile systems, warheads, and development of new strategic weapons systems. SALT II confirmed, on paper at least, Soviet strategic parity with the US and represented a triumph for Soviet diplomacy.

(Central Asia: In November Soviet military forces invaded and occupied Afghanistan in order to protect the Afghan Marxist regime. The result was a nine-year war of Afghan resistance, a “Soviet Vietnam,” in which Afghan Mujahedin (holy warriors) aided by the US, Pakistan, and Muslim fundamentalists from Arab states demoralized and weakened the Soviet forces.)

End of Détente: The US condemned Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and ended détente. Carter withdrew the SALT II treaty from ratification and announced that the US would boycott the 1980 summer Olympic Games in Moscow.

1980 (Middle East: Concerned that the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan signaled an aggressive policy aimed at gaining a presence in the oil-rich Persian Gulf, Carter proclaimed that US vital interest extended to the Gulf. The "Carter Doctrine" (January) was intended to warn the Soviets that the US would act with military force if necessary to protect its interests in the Gulf region.

Poland: Emergence of Solidarity, a nation-wide labor movement founded and led by Lech Walesa. Demanding reforms and freedoms, Solidarity would challenge the Communist Party’s control of the state.

1981 (Middle East: Iran released the American embassy hostages held since Nov. 1979.)

Ronald Reagan, US President (to 1989) US foreign policy: to challenge the Soviets on all fronts. The US would openly support anti-Communist “freedom fighters” opposed to the Soviets or Soviet-backed regimes in Afghanistan, Nicaragua, San Salvador, Angola, and Ethiopia. To Reagan the USSR was the “evil empire.” Reagan authorized the expansion of US military forces and strategic capabilities.

Poland: The Communist government declared martial law and outlawed Solidarity, which continued its resistance covertly.

1982 USSR: Death of Brezhnev; succeeded by Yuri Andropov (rule, 1982 - 1984)

(Middle East: Israel invaded Lebanon intending to destroy Palestinian resistance forces in that country. Israeli forces occupied southern Lebanon. US troops were sent to Lebanon as part of a UN peace-keeping mission to separate fighting factions in and around Beirut.)

1983 In March Reagan announced that the US would work to develop a Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). Popularly called "Star Wars," the SDI was envisioned as a space-based defensive system that would enable the US to defend itself against a nuclear missile attack. The Soviets, alarmed, claimed that any future attempts by the US to develop SDI would be a violation of the 1972 SALT I Anti-Ballistic Missile agreement. The US position was that research and development of such a system was not a treaty violation. SDI, consequently, became a major stumbling block hindering US-Soviet relations.

(Sept) The USSR shot down a South Korean airliner, claiming it was a spy plane.

(Caribbean: US military forces successfully invaded Grenada to overthrow the island’s Cuban-supported Marxist government.)

(Middle East: Islamic extremists calling themselves Hezbollah (“Party of God”) killed 241 US Marines in a truck bomb attack on their barracks at Beirut airport. The US withdrew its forces from Lebanon in early 1984)

1984 USSR: Death of Andropov; succeeded by Konstantin Chernenko (rule, 1984 - 1985)

1985 USSR: Death of Chernenko; succeeded by Mikhail Gorbachev (rule, 1985 - 1991)