The 1940s saw the beginning of the Cold War. The 1950s saw the possibility of peace. The 1960s saw the Cold war began to heat up again. Both the United States and the Soviet Union began to secretly test nuclear weapons again, which soon became public knowledge. Both countries began to flex their muscles abroad as well. Most European colonies in Africa would gain their independence in the 60s, and they would all be courted by both the US and USSR. Latin America, East Asia, and the Middle East would also be contested between the two rivals. While the US competed with the USSR, China grew in power, and was increasingly active in global affairs. And at the same time, the influence of the European powers continued to shrink.
As the decade began, a presidential campaign in America was underway. Both parties saw contested primaries. As William Knowland was ineligible to run for reelection, the Republican Party was divided between Vice President Everett Dirksen, Senator Richard Nixon, and Governor Nelson Rockefeller. Everett Dirksen won, aided by Barry Goldwater who rallied conservatives behind his campaign. Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. was his running mate. Senator John F. Kennedy defeated Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson and Senator Hubert Humphrey in the Democratic primaries. Lyndon Johnson was nominated for Vice President. After an intense campaign, the Kennedy/Johnson ticket emerged victorious with 280 electoral votes and 49% of the popular vote. The Kennedy administration would pursue more progressive domestic policy and a pragmatic foreign policy.
The Kennedy administration’s foreign policy differed from that of his predecessor in several areas. He increased foreign aid, seeing aid as a means to combat Communism. America would pour aid into newly-independent African countries. While it was mostly humanitarian aid, military aid was sent as well. America would take an interest in Asia, with many seeing China as not doing enough to combat the spread of Communism in the continent. Military aid was already being sent to Vietnam under the Knowland administration, but this was expanded to include Laos, Burma, and the newly independent Malaysia. Often this was in coordination with China, but relations between the ROC and USA would not be as strong as they were during the 1950s. The two nations would find themselves at odds on certain foreign policy issues during the 1960s.
The Soviet Union saw decolonization as an opportunity. Now was the perfect time for Communism to prevail in the third world. The Soviet Union had a great interest in the Middle East, as its ability to project power in Europe and Asia were limited by the United States and China respectively. Soviet style Communism would always be a tough sell in the Islamic world, but there were regimes and movements willing to align themselves with the Soviets in order to oppose the west. The Soviet Union maintained close relations with Egypt under Gamel Abdul Nasser. It was around this time that the Soviet Union abandoned Israel and aligned itself with pro-Arab causes. This was in contrast with the United States, which continued to support Israel. Elsewhere in the Islamic world, the Soviet Union increased its influence in Indonesia and Afghanistan.
The continent that saw the most geopolitical change in the 1960s was Africa. British, French, and Belgian colonies were gaining independence. Sometimes the process was peaceful, and sometimes it was not. France tried to hold on to Algeria while it let most of its other colonies go, but Algeria too broke free. After independence, the Belgian Congo descended into Civil War. The United States and the Soviet Union backed different sides in the conflict. Both sides poured humanitarian as well as military aid into the newly independent nations of Africa in order to gain favor with the leaders and the people of these nations. Time would tell which side would end up victorious in the battle for the hearts and minds of Africans.
In the late 1950s, the Cold War gained a new front: space. The Soviets were the first to send an object into space. This made Americans afraid that one day the USSR might attack their country from space. The Soviets then put the first animal into space. The first human to go into space was from the Soviet Union as well. America couldn’t let the Soviet Union go unchallenged in this new frontier. An American space program was founded and funding for science was increased. John F. Kennedy was particularly keen on the competition with the Soviet Union. He pledged to put an American on the moon by the end of the decade. The Space Race was in full swing.
(The first object the Soviets sent into space)
