Co-existence?

• Dwight Eisenhower


  New leader of the USA after Truman, taking office in January 1953.

  • Strongly anti-communist
  • Determined to block communist expansion
  • Open to talks improving relationship
• Nikita Khrushchev


  Stalin died in 1953, and after a long power struggle, Khrushchev took over as leader of the Soviet Union in 1956.

  • Openly critical of Stalin's policies
  • Wanted peaceful co-existence with the West
• Peaceful co-existence was based on a growing belief in the soviet union that its communist philosophy was so superior to the West that capitalism would eventually collapse on its own, and so in the meantime there was little point in having open confrontation that might lead to a destructive war with the west.
• Several factors contributed to the hope that the two superpowers could move toward peaceful co-existence, these were:

  1. The borders between capitalist west and the soviet union were clearly defined - the iron curtain was an agreed boundary in the new map of Europe
  2. 1950: War in Korea where the soviet union and USA had supported different sides, but by 1953 this war had come to an end.
  3. Both sides were spending large sums on armed forces and reduced spending would be good for their economies.