Kennedy foreign policy

cold war strategy
1. peace Corps
  1. young people volunteered to work in the poor areas of the wold teaching English, improving facilities and providing basic medical care
2. Food for peace
  1. surplus agricultural products were given to third world countries
3. Alliance for progress
  1. programme for Latin America which gave money for food, medicine and education
4. Counter insurgency
  1. Green Berets were formed
  2. role was to fight against guerrillas and in small-scale attacks
5. CIA
  1. continued to act against countries that opposed US interests
6. Space Programme
  1. NASA budget was increasd
Berlin
1. Khrushchev met with Kennedy in Vienna in June 1961 - attempted to force the issue by issuing an ultimatum that he had given to Eisenhower
  1. Kennedy stood firm and insisted there would be no change to the status of Berlin
2. the East Germans threatened to cut off the city
  1. Kennedy sent 40,000 troops to Europe
  2. $3.25 billion increase in military spending
3. 13th August 1961
  1. the East Germans sealed off West Berlin from the East with wire fences
    1. was replaced by a 30-mile wall with just 4 crossing points
4. the wall allowed the East to rebuild its economy
5. Kennedy visited Berlin in 1963 but there was little that the US could do
Cuba
1. background
  1. 90 miles of the coast of Florida
  2. US pressure by cutting of economic assistance
    1. turned to the USSR for economic aid
2. Bay of Pigs invasion April 1961
  1. Kennedy was persuaded by Cuban exiles that Castro was unpopular
  2. approved a plan that would involve an army of Cuban exiles backed by the CIA
  3. was a failure and was easily defeated by Castro's forces
  4. had to allow the Soviets to supply the Cubans with defensive military equipment to 'protect' them from any future aggression from the USA
3. reasons for nuclear missiles on Cuba
  1. gave the Soviets first strike capability
    1. Soviets were behind in the arms race
      1. the USA had Jupiter missiles stationed in Turkey
4. events
  1. August 1962 - US spy plays observed weapons in Cuba
    1. September 1962 - Khrushchev secretly sent nuclear weapons to Cuba
  2. 14th October U2 spy planes took a series of photos of Cuba
  3. 22nd October 1962
    1. Kennedy chose to blockade Soviet ships
      1. 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
  4. Khrushchev sent a letter to JFK stating that he would remove the missiles if the US promise not to invade Cuba
    1. 2nd message - remove missiles from Turkey
      1. after US U2 spy plane was shot down Kennedy accepted the first message terms
        28th October - Soviets removed missiles from Cuba
5. Consequences
  1. June 1963 - a direct hotline was set up between Washington and Moscow to improve communications
  2. August 1963 - the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed by the USA, USSR & the UK - nuclear tests would be carried underground
South - East Asia
1. the issue of Laos
  1. the North Vietnamese had never fully withdrawn from the country
  2. Negotiations began in Geneva is 1961
  3. temporary agreement in 1962 was that Laos would be a neutral country
  4. North Vietnamese forces were also forced to withdraw but this did not happen
2. Vietnam
  1. the level of aid increased and US troops were used to train the ARVN
    1. did not improve the situation
  2. the Taylor - Rostow Report November 1961 - called for better training of the ARVN, strategic bombing & increased use of US troops
  3. February 1962 - MAAG was renamed Military Assistance Command (MACV)
  4. 1962 - US encouraged Diem to adopt a policy of 'fortified hamlets' where peasants would be isolated from the VC
  5. number of advisors increased to over 9000 by the end of 1962
  6. importance of the Battle of Ap Bac
    1. shattered JFK's beliefs that the US were gaining the upper hand against the VC
  7. the assassination of Diem 1963
    1. 1962 - expelled a number of US journalists after they had reported on his defeats
    2. May 1963 - banned the use of the Buddhist religious flag
      1. protest from monks & demonstators
    3. began plotting a coup but the US didn't warn Diem despite knowing about the plan
      1. murdered in November 1963

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Kennedy foreign policy

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	Created by lauren smith about 7 years ago