The Development of Soviet Foreign Policy

Part II

1958-89. The Age of Gromyko

Why 1958?

• Sino-Soviet dispute comes out into open because of Great Leap Forward [catch up and overtake Britain by date?, leap directly into Communism by 1981]

• Khrushchev becomes P.M. as well as First Secretary of the Party. Gives him protocol position to meet overseas leaders. Starts to make his own foreign policy

Who was Gromyko?

• Graduate of Institute of economics, USSR Academy of sciences

• Joined CPSU 1931• Ambassador to USA 1943• Involved in founding of UN. USSR rep from 1946• Foreign Minister 1957-85• Politburo 1973• President 1985-88

Who made foreign policy in this period?

• Gen./First Secretaries when they added wither Presidency or P.M. job to Party job: Stalin and Khrushchev P.M.s, Brezhnev and successors Presidents

• KGB head [Andropov after 1967]• Military head• Party Secretary for Defence• Party secs for ruling and non-ruling parties• Foreign Minister [but often an impementer]• Ambassador to USA

Foreign policy regions

• Ruling parties [Eastern Europe, then China, North Korea, North Vietnam

• Conflict areas: South East Asia• Non-ruling parties: especially France, Italy,

Spain• Progressive regimes: Egypt, India, Ghana

in 1950s, then Cuba 1961, Somalia, then Ethiopia, Angola 1976, Afghanistan after 1978

Goals

• Escape containment: break NATO, CENTO and SEATO

• Up to Cuba create missile technology

• After Cuba create blue water navy

• Buy grain

• Buy technology

• Peaceful coexistence, but competition between capitalism and socialism

World Rev or National Interest

• Survival of State remains paramount in both approaches

• USSR deserves leadership of World Communist Bloc because of superior experience in building socialism

• Therefore USSR must survive• Therefore Eastern Europe vital as cordon

sanitaire, because threat comes from West

World Rev or Nat interest ii

• After 1958, security challenge from China, but this also challenge to leadership of World Communist Movement

• Cuba then a new rev. challenge: a new Yugoslavia

• Czechoslovakia 1968: another challenge to Soviet model

• The Iranian revolution threatens whole of Central Asia, which is Moslem

Timeline 1

• Cuba 1958/9• Congo civil war 1960-68• Cuba crisis 1961• Guevara in Congo 1965• 1966-9 Chinese Cultural Revolution• Six day war 1967• Year of revolutions 1968• Ping-pong diplomacy 1971-2• Vodka-cola

Detente

• Vietnamization 1969• Kissinger playing China and the USSR off

against each other• Brandt and Ostpolitik• 1972 Nixon visits Moscow• SALT 1• Brezhnev to Washington• But nixon falls due to Watergate

Why did the Soviets want détente?

• Demographic crisis meant had to replace people with technology

• Planned obsolescence and the consumer demand crisis

• Cost of weapons spiralling out of control• If US could be prevented from using force, might

be more successful revolutions• Had to respond to Kissinger’s overtures to China• Actually a major plank of Sov FP from

Khrushchev to Gorbachov

Timeline 2 World Revolution?

• 1973 CIA-backed overthrow of elected [1970] Chilean government

• Portuguese Revolution 1974: independence for Guinea-Bissau, Cabo verde, Angola, Mozambique, east Timor. All elect Marxist-Leninist governments

• 1975 collapse of Cambodia and Laos• 1976 collapse of South Vietnam• 1976 Cubans arrive in Angola

Timeline: collapse of “cuius regio eius religio”

• Dec 1978 Vietnam invades Kampuchea

• July 1979 Nicaraguan revolution

• Sept 1979 French depose Bokassa

• Dec 1979 Invasion of Afghanistan

• 1980 US failed attack on Iran to rescue hostages

• 1983 US invades Grenada

Eastern European and other dissent

• 1948 Yugoslavia cast into outer darkness• Togliatti in Italy and revisionism• 1953 east German riots• 1956 Secret speech• 1956 Hungary and Poland. End of Stalinism.

Where now?• 1958 Great Leap Forward: Rumanian dissidence

starts: allies with China in Sino-Soviet split• 1961 Cuba “Marxist-Leninist”. New model of

revolution and socialism available

More on dissent

• 1968 Tet offensive; Paris and Prague Springs, Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. Brezhnev doctrine

• 1970 Allende wins presidential election in Chile• 1970 more riots in Poland. Trouble now right

through to 1989. Solidarnosc• 1976 South Vietnam, Laos, Kampuchea, Angola,

Mozambique and smaller states offer further new models

• 1978 Ethiopian Derg joins Sov bloc. Strategy of support for progressive forces vindicated

Morgenthau’s original points

• Geography• Natural Resources• Industrial capacity• Military preparedness• Population

• National character• National morale• Quality of Diplomacy• Quality of

Government