Eisenhower & The Cold War

1. The Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb in 1949.
President Truman had to decide whether or not to create an even more powerful weapon. Scientists argued over whether or not to create the H-Bomb (hydrogen bomb, and the creation of the bomb presented many moral issues. The US created one a year before the Soviets.

2. In 1951, the Iranian prime minister placed the oil industry in Iran under the Iranian government’s control.
US feared that the British protesting against Iranian government control of oil might force Iran to side with the USSR and go Communist. US gave several million dollars to anti-Mossagedh suuportes, in order to put the old Shah back in power.

3. The Guatemalan head of government gave American-owned land in Guatemala to peasants.
The CIA trained an army to invade Guatemala, the Guatemalans refused to prtect the president, so he resigned. The leader of the army became the new dictator of the country.


4. In 1956, Britain, France, and Israel invaded Egypt and occupied the Suez Canal.
The UN persuaded Britain, France, and Israel to back down from the fight, but allowed Egypt to keep control of the canal

5. Soviet tanks invaded Hungary and fired on protesters in 1956.
US did nothing to help Hungary, despite the Truman Doctrine, which promised to fight against Communism in any country that did not want it.

6. In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik.
Americans were upset at being beaten by the Soviets, and hastely poured money into their own programs.


7. In 1960, the Soviet Union brought down an American U-2 piloted by Francis Gary Powers.
Eisenhower refused to admit that U2 had been spying on the Soviets, would not give an apology to Khrushchev, and so Khrushchev took back his invitation to let the president visit the USSR. Tensions heightened between the two nations.