The Cold War in the Skies
by Kuleen and Albert
After Stalin’s death, a vacuum of power was left in Soviet politics. Nikita Khrushchev eventually filled this void. Khrushchev favored a policy involving friendly economic and scientific competition between the two powers. The presence of such a leader among the Soviets sparked the Space Race, as the United States and Soviet Union competed to be the first country to get into space. On 10/4/1957 Russia won the race by launching Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite. The U.S. responded frantically, by pouring money into research and successfully launched its first rocket on 1/31/1958.
Though the Soviets won the Space Race, the U.S. had achieved air superiority through their spy planes the U-2’s. After President Eisenhower’s “open skies” proposal was rejected at the 1955 Geneva summit conference, the CIA started high-altitude flights over Soviet territory. They used the U-2, because it could fly at high altitudes to avoid detection, and use infrared cameras to take detailed pictures of Soviet military movement. However, by 1960, U.S. officials were nervous about the program for 2 reasons: 1. Some members of the U.S. press were aware of the spy program and 2. The Soviets had been aware of the flights since 1958. Eisenhower wanted the program terminated, because on 5/15/1960 he and Khrushchev were meeting for a summit to discuss the arms race. He could not afford to ruin his image before the conference. Unfortunately, he was persuaded to allow one last flight on May 1st. On this final mission, the U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers was shot down over Soviet territory, and imprisoned for 10 years. This encounter enraged Khrushchev, who demanded an end to the spying and an apology. Initially, Eisenhower denied the spying activity, however he was forced to admit the espionage when faced with Soviet evidence. Eisenhower agreed to end the clandestine activity, but refused to apologize. Khrushchev canceled the summit, retracted his invitation for Eisenhower to enter the Soviet Union and tension rose. This U-2 incident rekindled much of the tension in the Cold War, and perpetuated the conflict.
