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Did
International Relations improve or deteriorate
during this period? That is the question you must
try to answer in this talk.
Below are a couple of first looks at the two
sides ( not
exhaustive) A case can be made out
for both .....
Many see the climax of worsening relations to be
1961/2 with Berlin and Cuba....others see the
progression from 1954 as positive. They would
even argue that the Berlin Wall, for instance,
made relations clearer and therefore easier...... |
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Getting
better:
For many, the death of Stalin (1953) had heralded
a new era and in 1954, the Geneva talks witnessed
the end of hostilities in both Korea and
Indochina. In 1954, Eisenhower announced that the
main fight against communism in the future would
be economic and not military. In what Foster
Dulles called the "New Look" policy, the US
defence policy would be based on a "great
capacity to retaliate.." In other words, he was
making an adjustment to the policy of
Containment. In 1955, Khrushchev was talking of
"Coexistence" and, following the initiative of
GB, he met with Eisenhower in Geneva in what was
to be the first of many "summits". There,
Eisenhower offered the "Open Skies"
policy........ |
Getting worse:
1954 Pactomania
1950s Arms Race, Space Race U2s
1956 Hungarian uprising and Soviet invasion
Continuing disagreement over Berlin
1960 Gary Powers & Breakdown of Paris summit
1961 Bay of Pigs
1961 Berlin Wall
1962 Cuban Missile Crisis
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