possible thaw in Cold War
- end of joint occup. of Ger. May 9, Austria May 15, 1955
- Khru. apologized to Tito May 30
- Sino-Soviet 2-year tech & scientific aid pact
- Malik disarmament proposal at UN - ground survel. OK
- Ike's Atoms for Peace speech Dec. 8, 1953
- UN will create Internatl Atomic Energy Agency 1957
"balance of terror"
- H-bomb Castle-Bravo test March 1, 1954
- A-bombs by Britain 1952, France 1960, China 1964
- USS Nautilus sub 1954, USS Enterprise carrier 1960
- USAF began Atlas ICBM program 1953
"vulnerability"
- The RAND report on the "Vulnerability of U. S. Strategic Air Power" April 15, 1953, warned of danger of Russian bomber attack because the U.S. had no warning system. In July, Russian demonstrated its new swept-wing bomber, the Bison, and in August tested its first H-bomb and launched its first rocket, developed by 5000 German technicians taken from Peenemunde. Britain sent a Canberra bomber on spy flight in late August, 1953, over missile test site at Kapustin Yar in Ukraine, but hit by Soviet fighter gunfire and pictures too blurred. A crisis in intelligence developed due to the lack of means to acquire information.
- DEW Line, CONAD, NORAD, Texas Towers, radome planes
- James Killian appointed to science panel 1954; secret report to NSC Feb. 14, 1955, advised Ike to build more bombs, new weapons, and strengthen defenses
- U-2 spy plane built at Lockheed's Skunk Works by Kelly Johnson with camera from Edwin Land, tested by CIA at Groom Lake abandoned WWII air base (Area 51) starting July 29, 1955
- Project Genetrix put cameras in spy balloons Dec. 1955
- Army built missile test site at Point Arguello, became Vandenberg AFB, tested electronics by Caltech scientists who founded TRW, used in Corona 1960
- Civil Defense, "Duck and Cover," bomb shelters, Mount Weather
Geneva Conference July 18-23, 1955
- Eden, Premier Edgar Faure, Ike, Premier Bulganin
- but Adams, Dulles opposed: not to be "another Yalta"
- Ike proposed Nelson Rockefeller's Open Skies plan
Khru. secret speech at 20th Congress Feb. 1956
- de-Stalinization, "peaceful co-existence," "many roads to socialism"
Party Secretary Gomulka seeks independent Poland Oct. 20, 1956 - Nagy recognized as Prime Minister Oct. 29 but sought to leave the Warsaw Pact and Russian troops sent Nov. 3
- U.S. rhetoric of "liberation" & "rollback"
- balloon Project Focus caused air crash in Czeck 3/56
Vostok rocket launched 1st ICBM Aug. 26, 1957
- liquid fuel, multi-stage developed by Sergei Korilev
Lockheed's solid fuel Polaris, Raytheon's Hawk (Patriot)
- but AF's Atlas not ready - "missle gap" by critics
Sputnik I launched Oct. 4, 1957 - 184 lbs - 1st satellite
Sputnik II launched Nov. 3 - 1120 lbs - Laika, not Checkers
- Laika died in space - no landing of capsule
Ike's 3rd stroke Nov. 26, 1957
LBJ's Preparedness subcommittee investigation Nov. 28
Vanguard explodes at Cape Canaveral in live TV Dec. 6
Explorer I launched Jan. 31, 1958 - 31 lbs
NASA created July 16, began Mercury project using Atlas
Rockefeller and Gaither Reports 11/57 - like NSC-68
Life mag. story "Crisis in Education"
1958 - Year of Great Tests - Hardtack series until Aug. 22
midterm elections won by Democrats
next - Kitchen Debate
Sources:
- Beschloss, Michael R. MAYDAY: Eisenhower, Khrushchev and the U-2 Affair. New York: Harper, 1986.
- Crankshaw, Edward. Khrushchev: A Career. New York: Viking, 1966.
revised 4/5/02 by Schoenherr | Cold War Policies
