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T H E ENCYCLOPEDIA
OF MILITARY HISTORY
f r o m 3500 B.C. to the present
R. E R N E S T D U P U Y and T R E V O R N . D U P U Y
1817
Harper & Row, Publishers New York and Evanston
To the memory of
THEODORE A Y R A U L T DODGE and J O H N FREDERICK C H A R L E S F U L L E R ,
who pointed the way
T H E E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F M I L I T A R Y H I S T O R Y . Copyright © 1970 by R. Ernest Dupuy and Trevor N. Dupuy. Printed in the United States of America. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address Harper & Row, Publishers, Incorporated, 49 East 33rd Street, New York, N.Y. 10016.
L I B R A R Y O F C O N G R E S S C A T A L O G C A R D N U M B E R ' . 74-81871
1272 N O R T H A M E R I C A , 1945-1965
Concept. Secretary of State Dulles announced that the President and the N a tional Security Council had taken a basic decision "to depend primarily upon a great capacity to retaliate instantly [against aggression anywhere] by means and at places of our choosing."
1956, October 28. Eisenhower Warns Israel. He warned against taking any "forceful initiative in the Middle East." When Israel attacked Egypt the following day (see p. 1239) and Britain and France subsequently became involved at Suez (see p. 1240), Eisenhower forcefully opposed their "aggressions" directly and in the U . N .
1957, March 9. "Eisenhower Doctrine." The President signed bills authorizing him to use armed forces in Middle East if necessary.
1959, March 3. Warning of Submarine M e n ace. Admiral Arleigh A . Burke, Chief of Naval Operations, warned of the ever-present danger to U.S. warships and commercial shipping posed by Soviet submarines in international waters.
1960, January 19. No Missile Gap. Defense Secretary Thomas S. Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee that previously announced Pentagon estimates of a "missile gap," or "deterrent gap," were based on evaluation of Soviet production potentiality, rather than actual Soviet production. He later (March 16) told the Senate Preparedness Subcommittee that the U.S. had, and would maintain, a nuclear destructive power "several times" greater than that of the U.S.S.R.
1960, May 7. U-2 Reconnaissance Plane Shot Down over Russia. Khrushchev made the announcement to the Supreme Soviet that the plane had been shot down from an altitude of 65,000 feet near Sverdlovsk.
1960, May 17. Summit Conference Collapses in Paris. Khrushchev, angrily denouncing American spying by the U-2 plane over Russia, broke up the meeting. President Eisenhower later reported on T V to the people on the U-2 incident and the failure of the summit conference (May 25).
1960, June 13. Soviet Spy Net. Senator J . William Fulbright made public a U.S . State Department report that the Soviet bloc maintained a network of 300,000 spies throughout the world.
1960, July 14. U.S. Reaffirms Monroe Doc
trine. This was in response to Khrushchev's threats to retaliate with missiles if the U.S . should intervene militarily in Cuba.
1961, January. Kennedy Reappraises U.S. Defense Posture. In his first State of the Union Message, he said that he had ordered an appraisal of U .S . strategy, and had directed action to increase U.S . airlift capacity, to step up the Polaris submarine program, and to accelerate the missile program. Shortly thereafter, in a revised budget (March 28), President Kennedy requested $1,954 billion more in defense appropriations than the $41.84-billion budget submitted by Eisenhower.
1961, Apri l 15-20. Bay of Pigs Incident in Cuba. (See p. 1274.)
1961, June 3-4. Kennedy-Khrushchev Meeting at Vienna. No agreement was reached, and Kennedy left the meeting apparently with grave doubts as to a peaceful future.
1961, July 10. Berlin Crisis. (See p. 1228.) The United States rejected a Soviet proposal that the U.S. , Britain, and France withdraw their forces from West Berlin, to be replaced by a smaller U.N.-supervised force.
C U B A N M I S S I L E C R I S I S , S E P T E M B E R - N O V E M B E R , 1962
1962, September 4. Soviet Military A i d to Cuba. President Kennedy announced that Cuba's military strength had been increased by deliveries of Soviet equipment, but that there was no evidence of significant offensive capability in Cuba. A few days later, despite prodding from members of Congress (particularly Senator Kenneth Keating), President Kennedy said that he opposed any invasion of Cuba (September 12). Next day he warned the U.S.S.R. and Cuba against any build-up of offensive strength.
1962, October 22. Crisis Begins. President Kennedy announced to the nation on T V that U .S . surveillance had "established the fact that a series of offensive missile sites is now in preparation" in Cuba that could menace most of the major cities of the Western Hemisphere, and that jet bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons were being uncrated. He said he had ordered a naval and air quarantine of
O R G A N I Z A T I O N O F A M E R I C A N S T A T E S 1273
Cuba that would not be lifted until all offensive weapons were dismantled and removed from Cuba under U . N . supervision. He declared that the launching of any nuclear missile from Cuba against any Western Hemisphere nation would be considered an attack on the U .S . "requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet U n i o n . " U .S . forces were placed on alert, and preparations were begun to invade Cuba if necessary.
1962, October 23. Action in U . N . and O A S . A U .S . demand for dismantling of the bases was lodged in the U . N . Security Council. The Council of the Organization of American States approved a resolution authorizing the use of force to carry out the quarantine.
1962, October 23. Soviet Alert. Alerting its armed forces, the Soviet government challenged the U .S . right to quarantine its shipments to Cuba. U .S . invasion preparations continued.
1962, October 24-29. Secret U.S.-Soviet Negotiations. Prime Minister Khrushchev backed down after an exchange of letters with President Kennedy. He agreed to halt construction of bases in Cuba, to dismantle and remove Soviet missiles there under U . N . supervision. In turn Kennedy agreed to lift the quarantine when the U . N . had taken the necessary measures, and pledged that the U .S . would not invade Cuba.
1962, November 2. Quarantine Lifted. President Kennedy reported to the nation that the Soviet missile bases were being dismantled, and "progress is now being made for the restoration of peace in the Caribbean." The U .S . Defense Department later announced that the U.S .S .R. had begun withdrawal of its jet bombers from Cuba, as pledged by Khrushchev (December 3). In response to congressional criticism, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara proved by photographs that offensive weapons had been fully removed from Cuba (February 6, 1963).
1963, January 7. Crisis Ends. The U.S . and U.S.S.R. reported to U . N . Secretary General Thant that the crisis was ended.
1963, M a y 9. Russians Remain in Cuba. The Defense Department estimated that 17,500 Russians were still in Cuba, including 5,000 combat troops.
1963, August 30. Opening of the " H o t L i n e . "
Direct communications were provided between White House and Kremlin.
1964, February 6. Cuba Cuts off Supply of Water to Guantanamo Base. A U.S . distillation plant made the base self-sufficient.
1965, April . Intervention in the Dominican Republic. (See p. 1275.)
C A N A D A
1953, January 8. Agreement on Radioactive Resources. Agreement between Britain, U.S. , and Canada to share in uranium ore produced in Australia.
1954, May 13. St. Lawrence Seaway Approved by U.S. President Eisenhower signed legislation authorizing the U.S . to join Canada in constructing the Seaway. This was later dedicated by Queen Elizabeth and President Eisenhower (June 26, 1959).
1954, November 19. Joint Hemisphere Defense. The U.S. and Canada announced plans to construct a Distant Early Warning (DEW) radar line across Arctic Canada.
1958, May 19. N O R A D Established. (See p. 1270.)
1963, May 11. U .S . Nuclear Warheads to Canada. Canada accepted U.S . nuclear warheads for missiles installed on Canadian soil and used by Canadian N A T O forces.
1963, August 16. Joint Control of Nuclear Air Defense Weapons. U.S. and Canada signed an agreement under which the U.S. would arm the Canadian Air Defense System.
L A T I N A M E R I C A
O R G A N I Z A T I O N O F A M E R I C A N
S T A T E S
1947, September 2. Treaty of Rio de Janeiro. The Inter-American Defense Treaty, transforming the old Pan American Union into the Organization of American States, was signed by all nations of the Western Hemisphere except Canada. This was ratified by the U.S. Senate (December 8) and became effective when
