The
Cold War
Writing Prompt
• Try to write down a definition of the
Cold War in your own words
• Definition:
When did the Cold War
begin and end?
•
•
•
•
Historians don’t agree
For our purposes…
Began: End of WWII (1945)
Ended: Soviet Union (USSR)
collapsed (1991)
Recap of the build up to
the Cold War (1945-1991)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Ideological struggle since 1917
Tension during WWII (1939-45)
Atomic bomb (1945)
Iron Curtain (1946)
Truman Doctrine (1947)
Marshall Plan (1948)
Berlin Airlift (1948-1949)
NATO (1949) v. Warsaw Pact (1955)
Iron Curtain
Satellite (puppet) nations &
“spheres of influence”
• Stalin installs pro-Soviet
governments in East Germany,
Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia,
Hungary, Bulgaria, Albania
• Western European nations side with
the U.S. under NATO
The Arms Race
} The Soviet Union
exploded its first
A-bomb in 1949.
} Now there were
two nuclear
superpowers!
} What will this
lead to?
Containment >>Domino Theory
• George Kennan & his policy of
containment…
…Leads to the domino theory
Containment leads to…
•
•
•
•
•
China becomes communist (1949)
Korean War (1950-53)
Vietnam War (~1960-1975)
Afghan Conflict (1980)
And many other events around the
world…
U.S. Presidents
during the Cold War…
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Truman (1945-53)
Eisenhower (1953-61)
Kennedy: JFK (1961-63)
Johnson: LBJ (1963-69)
Nixon (1969-74)
Ford (1974-77)
Carter (1977-81)
Reagan (1981-89)
Nikita Khrushchev takes over
after Stalin dies in 1953
Premier Nikita Khrushchev
About the capitalist
states, it doesn't
depend on you
whether we
(Soviet Union) exist.
If you don't like us,
don't accept our
invitations, and don't
De-Stalinization
invite us to come
Program
to see you. Whether
you like it our not, history is on our
side. We will bury you. -- 1956
Destalinization
• Millions of political prisoners are
freed
• Some critique of Soviet society was
actually allowed (very mild though)
• Brought more flexibility to the
USSR, but not complete liberation
Sputnik I (1957)
The Russians have beaten America in
space—they have the technological edge!
How would this increase paranoia?
American & Soviet Intelligence
• When do you think the CIA was
created?
• Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
and National Security Agency
(NSA)
• Soviet Union established the KGB
(Soviet intelligence)
U-2 Spy Incident (1960)
Col. Francis Gary
Powers’ plane was
shot down over Soviet
airspace.
Paris, 1961
Khrushchev & JFK meet to discuss Berlin and
nuclear proliferation. Khrushchev thinks that
JFK is young and inexperienced
The Berlin Wall Goes Up (1961)
Checkpoint
Charlie
Hungarian Revolt 1956
• Hungary – AVO (State Protection Group, or
secret police) terrorized citizens and
suppressed all criticism of the govt. or the
USSR
• Soviet troops occupy Hungary to keep these
patriotic people from rising up
These were some of their demands :
- Formation of multi-party system
- free elections
- dissolution of the AVO Secret Police
- Soviet troops to leave Hungary,
- Hungary's withdrawal from
Warsaw Pact
Revolution in Budapest
• PM Nagy tries a “new
course” to lessen
communist restrictions
• Lasted 12 days and then
was crushed by Soviets
• Revolt leaders are
executed, (300), and
Soviet Communism
remains intact in Hungary
Crisis in the Suez
• Suez Canal – symbol of western
dominance
• Nasser nationalized the
canal to raise $ for a dam
and to take back control of
his country
• Britain and France felt this
threatened their influence
in the Middle East (and
access to oil)
Suez Crisis
• The plan: Israel would invade Egypt; Britain and
France would intervene to "save" the canal.
• The US and UN
refuse to back this
decision
– Worry about relations
with Arab nations
– Don’t want to look
imperialist
– Britain and France
pull out
Khruschev Embraces Castro,
1961
• Castro had come to power in 1959 in Cuba
Bay of Pigs Debacle (1961)
Why did the invasion fail?
• Though troops could retreat to the mountains
to lead a guerrilla war if they lost in open
battle
– The mountains were too far to reach on foot; troops
were deployed in swamp land, where they were
easily surrounded
• Administration believed that the involvement
of the US could be denied.
• Believed that Cubans would be grateful to be
liberated and would quickly join the battle.
– Support failed to materialize
– Many hundreds of thousands of others were
arrested, and some executed, prior to the landings
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
We went eyeball-to-eyeball with the
Russians, and the other man blinked!
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)