Cold War (1953–1962)
History of the
Cold War
Origins
1947–1953
1953–1962
1962–1979
1979–1985
1985–1991
Timeline
1962 World map of alignments
The Cold War (1953-1962) discusses the
period within the Cold War from the death of
Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in 1953 to the
Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Following the
death of Stalin unrest occurred in the
Eastern Bloc, while there was a calming of in-
ternational tensions, the evidence of which
can be seen in the signing of the Austrian
State Treaty reuniting Austria, and the
Geneva Accords ending fighting in Indochina.
However, this "thaw" was only partial with an
expensive arms race continuing during the
period.
Eisenhower and
Khrushchev
When Dwight D. Eisenhower was sworn in as
U.S. President in 1953, the Democrats lost
their two-decades-long control of the U.S.
presidency. Under Eisenhower, however, the
United States’ Cold War policy remained es-
sentially unchanged. Whilst a thorough re-
thinking of foreign policy was launched
(known as
"Operation Solarium"),
the
majority of emerging ideas (such as a "roll-
back of Communism" and the liberation of
Eastern Europe) were quickly regarded as
unworkable. An underlying focus on the con-
tainment of Soviet communism remained to
inform the broad approach of U.S. foreign
policy.
An important strand in American politics
of this period was McCarthyism. Named after
Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy, this was
a period of intense anti-communism which
lasted from 1948 to about 1956. The govern-
ment of the United States prosecuted the
leadership of the Communist Party USA as
well as other individuals suspected of being
communists. McCarthy’s career faltered in
1954 as his hearings were televised for the
first time, allowing the public and press to
view his tactics.
While the transition from the Truman to
the
Eisenhower
presidencies
was
a
conservative-moderate
in
character,
the
change in the Soviet Union was immense.
With the death of Joseph Stalin (who led the
Soviet Union from 1928 and through the
Great Patriotic War) in 1953, h