Cold War 1958 - the Second Taiwan Crisis and a possible Nuclear War

Some of the more common known flash points of the Cold War in the United States are the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 and the Berlin Crisis of 1958, well known because they directly impacted the United States or involved a European nation.  However I was surprised to learn in 1958 there was another major Cold War flash point in Asia, specifically the Second Taiwan Straits Crisis.  Furthermore in some ways this particular crisis point appears to have been one of the closest ones to sparking an actual use of atomic weapons by the United States in a conventional conflict.

In 1958 Mao Zedong, China's leader, remained determined to bring the Republic of China, located on Taiwan island, under the control of the People's Republic of China.  Previously Mao had launched attacks on small islands controlled by Taiwan, usually through naval shelling, and in 1958 he made a second attempt to do so.  However in 1958 the United States was in a unique position to threaten excessive belligerence in response - in 1954 the United States and the Republic of China had signed a defensive agreement, binding the United States to come to the aid of Taiwan if attacked.  Furthermore in 1955 Eisenhower had persuaded Congress to pass the "Formosan Resolution" - an authorizing agreement allowing Eisenhower to use whatever force he deemed necessary to defend Taiwan without further consulting Congress.

Eisenhower initially responded to Mao's actions with traditional forces, deploying naval units to the Taiwan Straits and ordering protection of convoys bringing supplies to Taiwan.  However the Soviet Union, wanting to avoid an actual conflict between the United States and China, sent diplomats to negotiate a settlement to the crisis.  They were horrified to find that Mao, and other top Communist Chinese leaders, were ready for a conflict with the United States and appeared ready to accept possible nuclear weapons attacks against China.  Eisenhower, in turn, had accepted defending Taiwan from Communist China would require the use of nuclear weapons and had accepted a United States military plan to use nuclear weapons if needed.  Eisenhower even authorized deploying additional nuclear weapons to the region to ensure if they were required they were ready for immediate deployment.

Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union, added to the crisis further on 19 September 1958 when he sent a letter to Eisenhower stating that the Soviet Union had "nuclear and hydrogen bombs as well" and strongly implying if China was attacked, the Soviet Union would respond.  The United States at this time though had a massive strategic lead in atomic weapons, in both number and delivery capacity over the Soviet Union, and Eisenhower and the United States military were comfortable with this risk.  Eisenhower kept the nuclear forces in Taiwan and refused to back down.

The crisis was ultimately defused by Mao backing down and simply allowing the situation to deescalate.  Communist and Republic Chinese forces ended up exchanging shells with each other, filled with propaganda, on alternating days for several months.  Communist China kept up its shelling of propaganda shells until 1979 due to this confrontation.

What was surprising to me though was this crisis seemed MUCH more likely to lead to the use of nuclear weapons, Eisenhower and the United States Congress were comfortable with it, China was apparently fine with it, and the Soviet Union would probably have let the exchange take place.  Although the Cuban Missile Crisis was closer to an actual launch, this seems more terrifying because the participants seemed far more comfortable with it breaking loose than other crisis points in the Cold War.

Sources:  Wikipedia articles on the Second Taiwan Straits Crisis and Eisenhower, and The Cold War - A Very Short Introduction by Robert J. McMahon

Cold War 1958 - the Second Taiwan Crisis and a possible Nuclear War

Some of the more common known flash points of the Cold War in the United States are the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 and the Berlin Crisis of 1958, well known because they directly impacted the United States or involved a European nation.  However I was surprised to learn in 1958 there was another major Cold War flash point in Asia, specifically the Second Taiwan Straits Crisis.  Furthermore in some ways this particular crisis point appears to have been one of the closest ones to sparking an actual use of atomic weapons by the United States in a conventional conflict.

In 1958 Mao Zedong, China's leader, remained determined to bring the Republic of China, located on Taiwan island, under the control of the People's Republic of China.  Previously Mao had launched attacks on small islands controlled by Taiwan, usually through naval shelling, and in 1958 he made a second attempt to do so.  However in 1958 the United States was in a unique position to threaten excessive belligerence in response - in 1954 the United States and the Republic of China had signed a defensive agreement, binding the United States to come to the aid of Taiwan if attacked.  Furthermore in 1955 Eisenhower had persuaded Congress to pass the "Formosan Resolution" - an authorizing agreement allowing Eisenhower to use whatever force he deemed necessary to defend Taiwan without further consulting Congress.

Eisenhower initially responded to Mao's actions with traditional forces, deploying naval units to the Taiwan Straits and ordering protection of convoys bringing supplies to Taiwan.  However the Soviet Union, wanting to avoid an actual conflict between the United States and China, sent diplomats to negotiate a settlement to the crisis.  They were horrified to find that Mao, and other top Communist Chinese leaders, were ready for a conflict with the United States and appeared ready to accept possible nuclear weapons attacks against China.  Eisenhower, in turn, had accepted defending Taiwan from Communist China would require the use of nuclear weapons and had accepted a United States military plan to use nuclear weapons if needed.  Eisenhower even authorized deploying additional nuclear weapons to the region to ensure if they were required they were ready for immediate deployment.

Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union, added to the crisis further on 19 September 1958 when he sent a letter to Eisenhower stating that the Soviet Union had "nuclear and hydrogen bombs as well" and strongly implying if China was attacked, the Soviet Union would respond.  The United States at this time though had a massive strategic lead in atomic weapons, in both number and delivery capacity over the Soviet Union, and Eisenhower and the United States military were comfortable with this risk.  Eisenhower kept the nuclear forces in Taiwan and refused to back down.

The crisis was ultimately defused by Mao backing down and simply allowing the situation to deescalate.  Communist and Republic Chinese forces ended up exchanging shells with each other, filled with propaganda, on alternating days for several months.  Communist China kept up its shelling of propaganda shells until 1979 due to this confrontation.

What was surprising to me though was this crisis seemed MUCH more likely to lead to the use of nuclear weapons, Eisenhower and the United States Congress were comfortable with it, China was apparently fine with it, and the Soviet Union would probably have let the exchange take place.  Although the Cuban Missile Crisis was closer to an actual launch, this seems more terrifying because the participants seemed far more comfortable with it breaking loose than other crisis points in the Cold War.

Sources:  Wikipedia articles on the Second Taiwan Straits Crisis and Eisenhower, and The Cold War - A Very Short Introduction by Robert J. McMahon

Do you think Truman handled well the entrance of the United States into the Cold War? Or do you think Roosevelt would have made different/better decisions?

It is doubted that Roosevelt could have preserved the Grand Alliance any better than Truman. Although Truman was less experienced in foreign policy than Roosevelt, the failure to handle this situation did not come from the American president, but from Stalin’s determination to follow up his plans no matter what. Roosevelt was already very ill at Yalta and could not keep up with Stalin even in theory. The problem of democratic elections in Eastern Europe remained unresolved. Roosevelt hoped to satisfy Stalin’s demands through the UN, but even if Roosevelt had lived, the UN was established too late to do anything. When the Yalta Conference occurred, Poland was already occupied and Stalin was speeding up the “Sovietization” of the Eastern European countries. During the so-called free elections held in Eastern Europe, the observers sent by the Western nations witnessed powerlessly what was happening. The Allies had no resources anymore to start a new war with a Russia that occupied half of Europe and arrived in Berlin before them. Europe was crushed by four years of war, while America was devastated by a war on two fronts and did not have anymore the resources to pursue a new conflict with more than uncertain outcomes. With the Bolsheviks’ clear ideological objective to world widely export the socialist revolution, neither Roosevelt nor anyone else would have been able to stop Stalin, hence the development of the Cold War.

Henretta, James A, and David Brody. “America: A Concise History, Volume II: Since 1877.” 4th ed., Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2010, 769

Why was the United States unable to avoid entering a Cold War with the Soviet Union?

The Cold War was mainly a conflict for world supremacy. After the World War II, only two world superpowers stood up, each with its own political and economical ideology, and strategic interest, and a conflict between them was unavoidable. This competition was the fuel of the Cold War and since none of the parts was willing to give up and take defeat, the conflict lasted as long as the two superpowers existed. As the Soviet Union began to assert its control in Eastern Europe, the expansion of communism became the main concern of the United States. The US Government feared that, as the Soviet power was growing, this could generate revolution in the Western European countries and the movement would eventually reach the American soil. The danger seemed even higher as communist parties already existed in the Western hemisphere. In the same time, to keep total control, the communist states were isolated from the rest of the world (from where the term of Iron Curtain). This isolation increased the worry of the US government.

The Cold War was rooted in the fear of communism. To avoid this possibility, the United States took measures to block the expansion of the communist ideology. This odd sort of war was opened not by a cannon shot, but by a well known discourse. The speech delivered by Winston Churchill in 1946 in the town of Fulton, Missouri, drew attention to the danger that Western democracies were on the verge of being swallowed up by communism, and suggested a close Anglo-American alliance to defend their interests. The blackmail of the atomic bomb could not serve anymore at that time especially since the Soviets already had this weapon. And since the offensive was not recommended, the chosen alternative was the defensive. In 1947 President Truman, concerned about the security of Greece and Turkey, announced the Truman Doctrine. The U.S. agreed to support the free nations’ fight against the attempts of subjugation. This meant that the U.S. would act to restrain the expansion of communism.

Constantiniu, Florin. From the hot to the cold war. Bucharest, Romania: Corint, 1998, 111-120

Henretta, James A, and David Brody. “America: A Concise History, Volume II: Since 1877.” 4th ed., Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2010, 766-775

In what ways can the prosperity of the 1950's be explained by the Cold War?

The 1950s economic growth in the United States was owed primarily to the Bretton Woods system encouraging stable prices, less tariffs, flexible markets, and the defense spending. The Cold War brought a state of permanent mobilization and therefore the necessity of increasing the national security. As a consequence, defense-related industries, science and research in aviation and space experienced a significant development, creating a lot of jobs – one worker in seven owed his job to the military industry. Federal money covered most of the research costs, offering corporations like IBM the possibility on researching the integrated circuits which brought the computer revolution, and later the high definition television, audio-video players and many other electronic gadgets. The United States’ GPD more than doubled during the 1950s, bringing a 25 percent rise in the individual income of the working Americans.

As a Space Studies major student, I would also like to mention that the huge development in the space exploration is also owned mainly to the Cold War. The competition between the United States and the Soviet Union culminated with putting a man on the moon in 1969. The very expensive space flights imposed the development of computer sciences for supplying the necessary equipment. Since the more equipment was added, more fuel was needed, and the research for miniaturization, later resulting in the existence of the mobile phone or computer laptop. We also owe the existence of the GPS system to the same era of the Cold War. Developed for military purposes, the GPS was declassified by President Reagan and became a commonly used tool.

It is fair to say that the achievements determined by the Cold War have affected all fields.

Henretta, James A, and David Brody. “America: A Concise History, Volume II: Since 1877.” 4th ed., Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2010, 797