The Summits About Berlin, 1959-1961 (Edexcel GCSE History)

How did the Berlin Summits Impact Cold War Tensions? - Timeline & Summary

Khrushchev's Ultimatum forced the West to pay attention to the threat of the Soviet Union. If Khrushchev acted upon his ultimatum, the Soviet Union would fight for the domination of Berlin. This could escalate into a nuclear war. The nuclear arms race between the USA and the Soviet Union made this a more likely outcome. The only way that the USA could respond was to initiate peace talks with the Soviet Union to compromise on the issue of Berlin.

From 1959 to 1961, on four separate occasions, the USA met with the Soviet Union to discuss how to govern Berlin. The early summits established a closer relationship between the USA and the Soviet Union. This supported the desire of both Eisenhower and Khrushchev for peaceful co-existence between the two superpowers. The U-2 spy plane incident in 1960 doomed the summits to failure. The trust and goodwill between the USA and the Soviet Union disappeared. As a result, the summits failed in their aims to resolve the issue of Berlin.

Geneva Summit, 1959

• The Geneva Summit was the first official meeting to discuss the issue of Berlin

  • Khrushchev met the foreign representatives of France, Britain and the USA

  • The officials chose Geneva as Switzerland was a neutral country

The aims and outcomes of the Geneva Summit, May 1959

Camp David Summit, 1959

• Khrushchev arrived in the USA on 15th September 1959

  • Khrushchev announced to the American crowds that he had come to the USA:

• Khrushchev visited Hollywood and ate hot dogs during his visit

  • This shows his openness to experiencing capitalism

• During his 12-day visit, Khrushchev and Eisenhower discussed Khrushchev's ultimatum

  • Eisenhower held the meeting at the president's residence at Camp David, Maryland

The aims and outcomes of the Camp David Summit, September 1959

Paris Summit, 1960 and the U-2 Spy-Plane Incident

• The leaders of France, Britain, the USA and the Soviet Union met in Paris on 17th May 1960

• The Paris Summit intended to discuss the issues with Berlin alongside:

  • An agreement to a Nuclear Test Ban

  • How to react to the newly-established communist government in Cuba

• Events before the Paris Summit prevented the success of the talks

  • On 1st May, the Soviet Union shot down a U-2 spy-plane

    • The US Air Force and the CIA used U-2 planes to take photos of enemy countries and perform espionage operations

  • Eisenhower initially denied that the plane that the Soviet Union shot down was a spy plane

    • He made a statement claiming that it was a weather plane that had drifted off course

  • The Soviet Union questioned the plane's pilot, Gary Powers

    • Powers admitted that he worked for the CIA and that he used the plane to gain intelligence on the Soviet Union

  • On 16th May, Khrushchev demanded that the USA apologise for the U-2 spy-plane incident

    • He declared that the Soviet Union could not take part in the Paris Summit without an official apology, the end of US spying missions and the punishment of Powers and the CIA

    • Eisenhower refused to apologise. On 11th May, Eisenhower acknowledged that the Soviets had shot down a spy-plane. He stated the importance of US espionage missions for the country's safety 

The aims and outcomes of the Paris Summit, May 1960

Vienna, June 1961

• By 1961, there was a significant change in the USA

  • In January 1961, John F. Kennedy replaced Eisenhower as the President of the USA

  • Kennedy was an anti-communist

    • In 1952, in a speech to campaign for his election to the Senate, Kennedy stated that communism was:

• He took office at the age of 43

  • He is one of the youngest US presidents in history

  • Khrushchev took Kennedy's age as a sign of his inexperience in politics. He believed that he could manipulate Kennedy to remove US influence from Berlin

• Kennedy had made a fundamental mistake in world politics

  • Kennedy attempted to remove the communist government in Cuba through the 'Bay of Pigs' incident in April 1961. This resulted in an embarrassing failure for the US government

  • Khrushchev wanted to benefit from the 'Bay of Pigs' incident. Khrushchev believed that Kennedy's damaged reputation would make him more likely to agree with his ultimatum

• The leaders of both countries met in Vienna on 4th June 1961

The Aims & Outcomes of the Vienna Summit, June 1961

What impact did the summit meetings of 1959 to 1961 have on Cold War tensions?

• By 1961, US-Soviet relations were very bad

  • Numerous peace talks had not succeeded in resolving the issue of governing Berlin

• Both countries stopped pursuing cooperation

  • Kennedy and Khrushchev did not want 'peaceful co-existence' with each other

• The situation in Berlin forced both leaders to take more extreme measures

  • Kennedy increased the US armed forces budget to $2 billion. This indicates that Kennedy considered using the US army to fight the Soviet Union for Berlin 

  • In August, Khrushchev made the decision to resolve the Berlin refugee crisis himself. He constructed a wall between East and West Berlin

The impacts of the peace summits of 1959 to 1961

A flow diagram showing the causes and consequences of the Berlin summits to US-Soviet relations, 1959-61