The U-2 crisis, 1960

Background

After 1957, tension remained high between Russia and America:

1.  Russia’s Sputnik satellite (1957) and space orbit (1961) gave them a psychological advantage.  Many Americans believed America was in danger.

2.  Oleg Troyanovsky, a Soviet diplomat and former collegue of Khrushchev, rememberd that that a turning point in Khrushchev's foreign policy came in 1958 when, after the West had snubbed his peace overtures for five years, he decided to force the Western powers to listen.   In 1958, he delivered an ultimatum, demanding that the US, Great Britain and France pull their forces out of West Berlin within six months.

3.  In 1959, the Communist Fidel Castro took power in Cuba, right next to America.  In 1960, he made a trade agreement with Russia.

4.  Communist China was very aggressive.  When Khrushchev visited America in 1959, the Chinese accused him of going soft; this made Khrushchev demand that America withdraw from West Berlin.

5. There is evidence, however, that both Khrushchev and Eisenhower genuinely wanted to reduce these tensions.

The Summit Meetings

As part of his policy of 'Peaceful Co-existence', Khrushchev was happy to meet with western leaders at 'summit' meetings to discuss issues of tension.  There were four such summits:

1.  Geneva (July 1955):

   The stated aim was to reduce international tenions.  Isssued discussed included trade, the nuclear arms race and the reunification of Germany.  Eisenhower proposed an 'open skies' policy that Russia and America would let spy planes fly over each other's countries, so that they could be assured the other wasn't preparing for war.  Khrushchev refused to agree to German reunification because the Americans would not agree to withdraw UN troops from Germany, and would not even talk about 'open skies'.

2.  Camp David (September 1959):

   Khrushchev made a successful visit to the United States.  At the end of his visit, he and Eisenhower discussed disarmament.  Although there were no specific agreements, they issued a joint statement that: "these discussions have been useful in clarifying each other’s position on a number of subjects [which] will contribute to a better understanding of the motives and position of each, and thus to the achievement of a just and lasting peace.”  A visit was planned for Eisenhower to go to Russia.

3.  Paris (May 1960):

The summit planned to discuss nuclear weapons and the situation in Berlin (Khrushchev wanted Berlin to be a ‘Free City’ with minimal military presence from other powers, and for the recognition of East Germany).   Read on for what happened (it was a disaster)...

4.  Vienna (1961):

See here for what happened (it was another disaster).

Going Deeper

The U-2 crisis - BBC Bitesize

The U-2 crisis - revision world

The U-2 Affair - Interpretations - secondary sources

Podcast

- Giles Hill on the U-2 Crisis

YouTube

British Movietone News - can you spot all the attempts to deflect blame?

What happened?

On 5 May 1960 – just 9 days before the summit – the Russians announced that on 1 May they had shot down an American plane. 

It was a U-2 spy-plane.  The U-2 planes flew so high that it had hitherto been out of range of Soviet fighter plane or Surface-to-Air missiles.  Also, the U-2 pilot, Gary Powers, had been given saxitoxin to kill himself if taken prisoner.  So at first, when the Soviet Union announced that it had shot down a spy-plane, they admitted that a plane had been lost, but claimed that it was a weather-survey gone off-course because the pilot had experienced oxygen difficulties. 

On 7 May, however, the Russians showed the pilot Gary Powers to the world, put him on trial for spying, and showed photos of the surveillance equipment from the plane AND photographs of Soviet military bases.  Khrushchev announced:

I must tell you a secret.  When I made my first report I deliberately did not say that the pilot was alive and well ...  and now just look how many silly things the Americans have said. 

The Americans were forced to admit in Congress that it was an espionage mission.  The whole House stood and applauded in a gesture of unity ...  but internationally the US had been caught telling lies, and humiliated. 

For many Americans, it was the first time they knew of the CIA failing, the first time they heard that their country was spying, and the first time they realised that their government told lies.

Source A

Wreckage of Powers's U-2 plane on display at the Central Army Museum in Moscow.

The results were:

1. Paris summit collapsed; Cold War tension worsens:

   The summit met at Paris on 14 May 1960.  Khrushchev condemned the “inadmissible, provocative actions” of the US and refused to take part in the talks unless Eisenhower apologised and cancelled all future spy-flights.
   Eisenhower, furious at this public attack, agreed only to 'suspend' the spy-flights, and would not apologise – so Khrushchev went home; the Paris Summit collapsed before it had even started.
   The planned visit by Eisenhower to Russia cancelled.
   Thus the breach of trust and subsequent recriminations constituted a major setback for the thaw, delaying progress toward arms control agreements..

2. USSR more assertive
   Khrushchev and the Russians grew in confidence/ became more assertive, paticularly over Berlin, where US spying was concentrated.  The USSR intensified efforts to develop its own spy satellites and aircraft.  It also used the danger form the USA to tighten its control of the Iron Curtain states, especially East Germany.

3. US shifted startegy
   After the U-2 incident, the USA stopped flights over the USSR, but expanded them elsewhere.  They also developed the Corona network of eight surveillance satellites (1959-72) which took 860,000 images of the earth's surface covering 750 million square miles. 

4. US humiiated, but suffered no international relations consequences. 
   NATO held together.  US politicians doubled down on the anti-Soviet rhetoric, increasing tension.

5. US Domestic Impact
   Americans blamed Eisenhower, whom they said was losing the Cold War.  They elected John F Kennedy, who promised to be tougher on communism. 
   (In 1961, Khrushchev boasted to Kennedy that he had won him the presidential election over Eisenhower's Vice President Richard Nixon – whom Khrushchev had fallen out with in 1959 – by delaying Powers's release until after the election, so Nixon could not pretend that relations with Russia were anything but a disaster.)

6. Americans also blamed Powers for not killing himself & destroying the plane:
   "Why, knowing that neither he nor the U-2 should fall into unfriendly hands, didn't he blow himself up, and the plane? Why didn't Powers use the poison needle he had on hand? Or the pistol he had with him?" asked the Sunday Herald.