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Spying on your enemies was a major feature of the Cold War. Sometimes, however, spies got caught making the tense situation even more strained. This is what happened in May 1960, just as the USA and the USSR were preparing to sit down for their important summit meeting in Paris.

What was on the agenda for the Paris Summit?

• Nuclear weapons and the need for a Test Ban Treaty: both sides knew the potential destructive power of nuclear weapons and were keen to avoid turning bits of the planet into radioactive no-go areas.
• Berlin: the Soviets were exasperated that East Germans were continuing to escape to the West.
• Cuba: the Americans were concerned that the recent revolution in Cuba had created a communist government on their doorstep.

However, on 1 May 1960, just thirteen days before the summit was due to begin, an American U2 spy plane piloted by Gary Powers, was shot down over the USSR. The USA claimed the U2 was a weather monitoring plane that had lost its way. However, film retrieved by the Soviets from the plane clearly indicated that Powers had been on a spying mission.

When the US President, Eisenhower, arrived in Paris for the summit meeting the Soviet leader, Khrushchev, demanded he apologise for the mission, and when Eisenhower refused, Khrushchev walked out of the Summit.

Consequences

The Paris Summit ended in failure:

• There was no agreement on a Test Ban Treaty.
• America was embarrassed as it was shown to have lied about the U2 plane’s mission, and to be using methods of espionage which were morally suspect. They no longer held the ‘moral high ground’ in the Cold War. This would lead the young John F Kennedy to campaign as a tough anti-communist warrior in the 1960 presidential election campaign.
• Nothing was resolved on the issues of Berlin and Cuba. Both would remain major sources of tension in the Cold War.
• The relationship between the USA and the USSR deteriorated even further, heightening Cold War tensions.