A Different Kind of Cold WarI. IntroductionA. Cold War modified over time by events and policies that shaped it and influenced its outcomeB. After 1953, Cold War became combative and brutal

2. Stalin’s Death and Khrushchev’s Career

1. Stalin held supreme power during his dictatorship

i. Didn’t train anybody around him to manage that immense power

2. 1953 Stalin dies and leaves power vacuum in Soviet Union.

1. Filled only years later

3. 1956, Khrushchev emerged as leader of Soviet Union, but didn’t reestablish complete Soviet Union’s stability and supremacy
4. Beginning of his career as Soviet prime minister, Khrushchev condemns Stalin for his brutalities and his ruthlessness
5. Mao struggled to take leadership of Communist World, was furious for Khrushchev’s action.

1. First symptoms of the Sino-Soviet split starting to emerge
2. Sino-Soviet split completed in 60s and 70s highly weakened the Communist world
3. Influenced the result of the Cold War

 

3. Election of Eisenhower

1. General in the military – represented stability and security for the country

1. Elected president

2. From beginning, declared to have a new policy – the “New Look”

1. Would replace containment
2. New Look consisted in elimination of a large standing army, making taxes lower, and the incrimination of the nuclear arsenal.
3. Was a “new’ policy, but in reality a continuation of containment

3. Eisenhower primary goal was to end the War in Korea

1. He succeeded
2. Ordered North Korea army to return to 38th parallel and reestablish it as official border
3. Other choice was the Us would drop atomic bomb in North Koreas

4. Thanks to Eisenhower’s firmness and seriousness, he was successful

1. Inflicted a heavy defeat to the communist world

4. Rollback in Korea, pseudo-rollback in Guatemala and Iran

1. After 1953, US recognizes roll-back in Korea

1. Realized was not in their power

2. Pseudo-rollback (new policy) turned out to be very successful.

1. US enacted it in Guatemala (1954)

1. When CIA agents overthrew democratically elected gov’t of Arbenz, and replace him with a ruthless dictator.
2. Was an important change in the Cold War and influenced many other actions of the US.

5. Hungarian Revolt

1. 1956 – during Hungarian revolt – US proves its powerlessness.
2. John Foster Dulles, main figure in White House

1. On a east European radio, gave speeches instigating people to revolt
2. Ensured that US will support them

3. 1956 – riots broke out in Hungary

1. US did not intervene
2. Thousands of people were killed in the capital, Budapest

4. Eastern Europeans felt cheated by US and learned their lesson.
5. The Hungarian Revolt shaped and modified the Cold War, bc US realized that its power was not as large as its influence and this is very much showed in 1956.

1. Could not force people to do what it wanted

6. Conclusion

1. After 1953, Cold War was affected by a serious of changes that modified it and its outcome.
2. Political branch, it was highly affected by the shifts of power in both the superpower, US and USSR, which brought new tactics and new policies to fight it
3. Military branch, war changed because US experimented new policies and strengthened itself.
4. Significant to know that this period of time saw only slight changes in its tone, and not radical changes in its policies, like after the Cuban Missile Crisis.