Kennedy foreign policy

Kennedy foreign policy

1. cold war strategy

   • peace Corps
     • young people volunteered to work in the poor areas of the wold teaching English, improving facilities and providing basic medical care
   • Food for peace
     • surplus agricultural products were given to third world countries
   • Alliance for progress
     • programme for Latin America which gave money for food, medicine and education
   • Counter insurgency
     • Green Berets were formed
     • role was to fight against guerrillas and in small-scale attacks
   • CIA
     • continued to act against countries that opposed US interests
   • Space Programme
     • NASA budget was increasd

2. Berlin

   • Khrushchev met with Kennedy in Vienna in June 1961 - attempted to force the issue by issuing an ultimatum that he had given to Eisenhower
     • Kennedy stood firm and insisted there would be no change to the status of Berlin
   • the East Germans threatened to cut off the city
     • Kennedy sent 40,000 troops to Europe
     • $3.25 billion increase in military spending
   • 13th August 1961
     • the East Germans sealed off West Berlin from the East with wire fences
       • was replaced by a 30-mile wall with just 4 crossing points
   • the wall allowed the East to rebuild its economy
   • Kennedy visited Berlin in 1963 but there was little that the US could do

3. Cuba

   • background
     • 90 miles of the coast of Florida
     • US pressure by cutting of economic assistance
       • turned to the USSR for economic aid
   • Bay of Pigs invasion April 1961
     • Kennedy was persuaded by Cuban exiles that Castro was unpopular
     • approved a plan that would involve an army of Cuban exiles backed by the CIA
     • was a failure and was easily defeated by Castro's forces
     • had to allow the Soviets to supply the Cubans with defensive military equipment to 'protect' them from any future aggression from the USA
   • reasons for nuclear missiles on Cuba
     • gave the Soviets first strike capability
       • Soviets were behind in the arms race
         • the USA had Jupiter missiles stationed in Turkey
   • events
     • August 1962 - US spy plays observed weapons in Cuba
       • September 1962 - Khrushchev secretly sent nuclear weapons to Cuba
     • 14th October U2 spy planes took a series of photos of Cuba
     • 22nd October 1962
       • Kennedy chose to blockade Soviet ships
         • Khrushchev responded by insisting that they were helping Cuba defend itself
           • 24th October 1962 - Soviet ships heading for the blockade zone stopped and turned back
     • Khrushchev sent a letter to JFK stating that he would remove the missiles if the US promise not to invade Cuba
       • 2nd message - remove missiles from Turkey
         • after US U2 spy plane was shot down Kennedy accepted the first message terms
           • 28th October - Soviets removed missiles from Cuba
   • Consequences
     • June 1963 - a direct hotline was set up between Washington and Moscow to improve communications
     • August 1963 - the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed by the USA, USSR & the UK - nuclear tests would be carried underground

4. South - East Asia

   • the issue of Laos
     • the North Vietnamese had never fully withdrawn from the country
     • Negotiations began in Geneva is 1961
     • temporary agreement in 1962 was that Laos would be a neutral country
     • North Vietnamese forces were also forced to withdraw but this did not happen
   • Vietnam
     • the level of aid increased and US troops were used to train the ARVN
       • did not improve the situation
     • the Taylor - Rostow Report November 1961 - called for better training of the ARVN, strategic bombing & increased use of US troops
     • February 1962 - MAAG was renamed Military Assistance Command (MACV)
     • 1962 - US encouraged Diem to adopt a policy of 'fortified hamlets' where peasants would be isolated from the VC
     • number of advisors increased to over 9000 by the end of 1962
     • importance of the Battle of Ap Bac
       • shattered JFK's beliefs that the US were gaining the upper hand against the VC
     • the assassination of Diem 1963
       • 1962 - expelled a number of US journalists after they had reported on his defeats
       • May 1963 - banned the use of the Buddhist religious flag
         • protest from monks & demonstators
       • began plotting a coup but the US didn't warn Diem despite knowing about the plan
         • murdered in November 1963