Geneva, Paris and Vienna Summits, 1955 - 1961

Geneva, Paris and Vienna Summits, 1955 - 1961

1. Geneva Summit July 1955

   • First meeting between the USSR and the US since Potsdam
   • Attempted to resolve the status of Germany and begin negotiations about arms control
   • Khrushchev
     • Took the initiative, reasserting Stalin's plan to create a united and neutral Germany
       • US refused to accept this
     • West Germany had joined NATO
     • Proposed disbanding NATO and the Warsaw Pact
       • Eisenhower refused - saw NATO as essential to Western Security
   • Eisenhower
     • Suggested an Arms Limitation Treaty backed by an 'OPEN SKIES' policy
     • Proposal involved agreed limits on SUPERPOWER MILITARY POWER
     • Superpowers would also authorize surveillance flights over each other's territory to check that limits were being adhered to
       • Rejected by Khrushchev
         • Did not want the West to 'spy' on Soviet territory
   • No agreement was reached but there was an acceptance of the STATUS QUO and that neither side wanted war
   • Agreement to meet in Paris in 1960

2. Paris Summit 1960

   • Khrushchev demanded an apology for the spying
   • Eisenhower stated that no further missions would take place but refused to apologize
   • Khrushchev walked out of the summit
     • Memoirs showed that the U2 incident was the point at which the Kremlin hardliners lost faith in 'peaceful coexistence

3. U2 Incident

   • 15 days before Paris summit, Khrushchev announced that a U2 spy plane had been shot down over Siberia
   • Assuming the plane had been destroyed, Eisenhower released a cover story, claiming that the plane was a weather plane, not a spy plane
   • Soviet forces had captured the plane and the pilot - able to prove that Eisenhower had lied to the public
   • Propaganda victory for Khrushchev

4. Vienna Summit, 1961

   • Kennedy was determined to assert US strength due to the failure of his Cuban policy during the Bay of Pigs incident
   • The Soviet Position
     • Khrushchev regarded Berin as the top priority
     • Under pressure from Ulbricht to stop the exodus of East Germans to West Germany via Berlin
       • 2.7 Million had left since 1945
     • Keen to assert his authority by exploiting Kennedy's inexperience
   • The US Position
     • Disarmament was main priority
     • Open Skies policy
       • Reduced the annual proposals from 20 to 10 in order to help reach an agreement
   • The Significance of the Vienna Summit
     • Talks failed to reach agreement on the status of Berlin and on arms limitations
     • Khrushchev appeared to threaten Kennedy with military action if the US continued to support West Berlin
     • Kennedy used the opportunity to assert his hard-line position
       • 'If all else fails in Berlin, we will use our nuclear weapons'