The Berlin Wall
- At 2 a.m. on Aug. 13, 1961, a low, barbed-wire
barrier was strung between East and West
Berlin. It effectively divided the city in half.
- East Germans were very poor and many were
moving to West Germany.
- The Soviets built a wall to prevent East
Germans from slipping into the West.
- This project almost launched the world into a
nuclear conflict
Chapter 20 (Sec. 4)
The Soviet Union: Rise and
Fall
-After WWII, the USSR
emerged as a superpower
- Stalin increased the Soviet
sphere of influence across
Europe
Nikita Khrushchev
- emerged as the new Soviet
leader in 1956
- began a policy of deStalinization: free political
prisoners, and reduced
censorship
- wanted the US and USSR to
"peacefully coexistence"
Leonid Brezhnev
- lead the USSR from the
mid 1960's - 1982
- locked up dissidents
(people who spoke out
against the government)
- turned back to Stalin type
policies
Successes in the Soviet Union
- government poured money into weapons
and science
- launched the first satellite into orbit in 1957
(Sputnik)
- also put the first man into space
- low rent, cheap bread free health care, day
care for children, low unemployment
Soviet Foreign Policy
- Stalin asserted control over Easter Europe
- Khrushchev set up the Warsaw Pact in 1955
Developing countries
- the USSR sought to win friends in
developing nations
- they offered these nations economic and
military support (Cuba and other nations in
Latin America)
- this policy eventually led to armed conflict
- Soviets backed North Korea = Korean War
(1950-53)
- Soviets backed North Vietnam =Vietnam War
(1963-73)
1961 - Berlin Wall is constructed
1962 - Cuban Missile Crisis
1979 - Soviets invade Afghanistan
(this war drained the Soviet economy)
Collapse of the Soviet Union
1985 - Mikhail Gorbachev comes to power in
- sought to end cold war tensions with the US
- pulled Soviet troops out of Afghanistan
- signed arms control treaties with the US
Glasnost - policy of openness
Perestroika - restructuring of the government
- these reforms brought economic chaos: prices
soared and the Soviet "Ruble" became
worthless
1991: The Soviet Union Breaks up
- Estonia. Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, East
Germany, Romania, Bulgaria break
away from the USSR
- coup attempts to over throw Gorbachev,
he resigns
- after 74 years, the Soviet Union ceased
to exist
Russia
- had been the largest
of the Soviet nations
- Boris Yeltsin became
President of Russia
- the country was in
disarray
- organized crime
flourished
- economically Russia
collapsed, could not
pay its soldiers
Chechnya
- Russian province that
attempted to break away
in 1994, turned into a
major armed conflict
Russia Today
2000 - Vladimir Putin is elected President
(former head of the Soviet secret police
KGB)
Deterrence
• The policy of making America and its allies
so militarily strong that it would deter
(discourage, prevent) any attack.
The Korean War
• 1950-1953
• South Korea invaded by
North Korean
Communist forces
• The U.N. votes to help
S.K. repel the invasion
The Korean War
United States/ South Korea
VS
North Korea/China
-Armistice signed in 1953
-No Real Victory
The Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis
• Oct. 1962
• Soviets ship nuclear weapons capable of
hitting the US to Cuba
• President Kennedy orders a naval blockade
of Cuba
• Weapons are eventually returned to the
Soviet Union
Vietnam
Vietnam