Following a series of H-Bomb tests in February 1958, Khrushchev
announced a unilateral suspension of nuclear testing on March 31, just days after Eisenhower was scheduled to announce his own test ban proposal. 78 The
USSR subsequently achieved an impressive propaganda victory over the
Eisenhower administration as a result. Despite this propaganda victory,
however, it proved that both the US and the USSR both sought to seek co-
operation on issues regarding nuclear testing in the aftermath of the launch of
the Sputnik programme.
In May, Khrushchev accepted the American proposal of an inspection
system, and delegations of Soviet and American scientists met for a six-week summit in Geneva in the summer of the same year. 79 By mid-August, both
parties reached an agreement on a worldwide network of 180 control posts
which would be capable - they thought – of detecting all forces of nuclear
explosions, greater than 5 kilotons, whether conducted in the atmosphere or underground. 80 This not only was a major step in limiting nuclear testing, but it
was also a major step in protecting the world from the continuous
environmental damage of radiation. With the success of the Geneva Summit,
Eisenhower announced that the US would enter a test ban moratorium on October 31, 1958, alongside Britain, with the USSR following shortly after. 81
This was a significant diplomatic victory for Eisenhower, and thus contributed
to further negotiations of an official test ban treaty.
78 Robert, p.128 79 Wang, p.129. 80 Robert, p.129. 81 Martha Smith- Norris, ‘The Eisenhower Administration and the Nuclear Test Ban Talks, 1958-1960: Another Challenge to Revisionism’ , Diplomatic History , 27.4 (2003), 503-541(p.529) < https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-7709.00366 > [accessed 22/02/2024].
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