Sputnik and the U2 Incident

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Sputnik and the U2 Incident
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Launching of Sputnik

• US thought it was ahead of USSR in military
  technology
• Had nuke warheads that could be accurate at 1,500
  to 3,000 miles
• USSR launched first satellite October 4, 1957
• Increased US fears of nuclear attack ? felt US
  falling behind in science/tech
• Change in US school systems ? improvement in
  Math, Science, Languages

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US Attempts at a Satellite

• First attempt was HUGE failure ? named Flopnik
  or Stayputnik
• January 31, 1958 ? US launched first satellite
  successfully
• Now race to build better weapons-delivery systems
  and satellites were on

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How is this an example of Brinkmanship?
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The U-2 Program

• At Geneva Summit in 1955, Eisenhower put forth an
  open skies policy policy ? USSR rejected it
• US still flew U-2 planes over USSR to take
  pictures
• By 1960, Eisenhower wanted to discontinue
  program b/c wasnt really a secret anymore

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The U-2 Incident

• Eisenhower feared it may jeopardize effectiveness
  with new USSR leader, Khruschev
• Was talked into one more U2 flight by Dulles
• US thought at first Plane was taken down by a
  Soviet SAM-2 Missile.

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Gary Francis Powers U2 Pilot
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Effects of the U-2 Incident

• US lied about U2 mission
• USSR lied about what actually happened to make
  missile defenses look better
• Khrushchev felt incident made him look bad,
  denounced US at next summit
• Eisenhower no longer effective as a peacemaker
• Hope for nuclear test ban treaty was gone
• 1960s opened with tensions as high as ever

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How was this an example of Brinkmanship?