To What Extent Can the Years of 1950-1962 Be Considered as Years of Stalemate in the Cold War Era? (45)

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Stalemate refers to a deadlock. In diplomatic terms it is a position taken by each side where it is impossible to agree- the USA and USSR. It would be fair to conclude that years of 1950-1962 cannot be considered as years of stalemate as these years saw progression in superpower relations. It saw them go from a confrontational front to that of peaceful co-existence. In addition the year of 1962 saw the most threatening era of cold war- with the Cuban missile crises. Nevertheless it should be taken into consideration that there was somewhat stalemate within the progress of the international relations. The progression in the east west relations was evident with the Austrian state treaty 1955. Austria was considered as ‘Europe’s Korea.’ It had the potential to be as much of a confrontation front as Germany had been in the 1940s. Like Germany it was divided in 4 occupation zones. The Western powers were concerned that Austria would get sweeped under Soviet sphere of influence like Czechoslovakia had in 1949. In 1955 however the Austrian state treaty was signed which made Austria a neutral state, along with Finland and Yugoslavia. This meant that Austria could no longer fall under the influence of Soviet union and therefore removing a potential conflict from international relations and further showing progress towards peaceful coexistence. This further shows that this era cannot be considered as an era of stalemate. Further progress between East-west relations was seen when Khrushchev joined Eisenhower for Camp David talks in the USA, Maryland in September 1959. This again showed great progression in East west relations as Khrushchev was one of the first leaders to go to the united States, after the talks both the leaders ‘ agreed that the discussions have been useful in clarifying each other’s position in a number of subjects’ further contributing to the idea that
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