Political
People in
Power
Museum Entrance
Cultural
Economical
Social
Welcome to the Museum of
The Cold War (1955-1965)
Curator’s
Offices
Brandon Benbow
Curator’s
Office
I categorized main events that happened
during 1955-1965 in the cold war. I divided
the room into Social, Political, Ecinomical and
Cultural, with the fifth room is strictly for
leaders during this time. The 3 articles in the
hall are 3 main wars or confrontations that
accrued around these decades.
Contact me at 100028119@students.gmail.com
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Social
Room 1
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Political
Room 2
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Economical
Room 3
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Cultural
Room 4
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People in Power
Room 5
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Polish October, 1956
The Polish government's handling of the
workers' riots in Poland in October 1956
defined the boundaries of national
communism acceptable to the Soviet
Union. The Polish United Workers' Party
found that the grievances that inspired the
riots could be ameliorated without
presenting a challenge to its monopoly on
political power or its strict adherence to
Soviet foreign policy and security interests
"APPENDIX C: THE WARSAW PACT -Soviet Union." Library of Congress /
Federal Research Division / Country
Studies / Area Handbook Series / Soviet
Union / Appendix C. N.p., n.d. Web. 21
Apr. 2014.
"APPENDIX C: THE WARSAW PACT -- Soviet
Union." Library of Congress / Federal Research Division /
Country Studies / Area Handbook Series / Soviet Union /
Appendix C. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
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Exhibit
Anit-Stalin Speech
In a long speech, which lasted eight hours
(with a bathroom - meal
break), Khrushchev painted Stalin as a
bloodthirsty psychopath. He admitted that
the purge trials of the 1930's were rigged
and thousands of innocent Communists
were unjustly condemned. He also
admitted that Stalin had deported and
resettled several Soviet peoples.(The
Volga Germans in 1941; the Crimean
Tatars, the Chechens, and the Ingush after
the war for allegedly cooperating with the
Germans). Finally, he attacked the
"personality cult" (Stalin) and called for
"co-existence" with the West.
Cienciala, Anna M. "The Cold War and Stalinization; the Balkans; Poland
and Hungary in 1956." Anna M. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
"Façades Confidential." : 09/01/2010. N.p., n.d.
Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
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Exhibit
The Red Scare
The Red Scare was fueled by right-wing
charges concerning American communists,
communist sympathizers (called "fellow
travelers") and citizens (called
"Communist dupes") who were thought to
be unwittingly assisting the communist
cause in their naive attempts to achieve
social justice. According to many on the
right, these three groups were subverting
the country.
"Infobase Learning - Login." Infobase
Learning - Login. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr.
2014.
"Red Scare Simulation Project." Mr. Palmieri's
Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
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Exhibit
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Boycott that took place in Montgomery,
Alabama, in 1955 after Rosa Parks was
arrested there for refusing to give up her
seat on a bus to a white man. Following
the arrest, Edgar Daniel (E. D.) Nixon,
former president of the local National
Association For The Advancement of
Colored People, called a meeting, and the
black community leaders decided to hold a
one-day bus boycott on Monday,
December 5, in protest. African Americans
made up 75 percent of the bus company's
passengers, and almost all of them
supported the boycott.
"Infobase Learning - Login." Infobase
Learning - Login. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr.
2014.
"Montgomery Bus Boycott | Publish with
Glogster!" Glogster. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
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Exhibit
The Warsaw Pact
The political and military alliance of the
Soviet Union and East European socialist
states, known as the Warsaw Pact, was
formed in 1955 as a counterweight to the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO), created in 1949. During much of
its early existence, the Warsaw Pact
essentially functioned as part of the Soviet
Ministry of Defense.
"APPENDIX C: THE WARSAW PACT -Soviet Union." Library of Congress /
Federal Research Division / Country
Studies / Area Handbook Series / Soviet
Union / Appendix C. N.p., n.d. Web. 21
Apr. 2014.
"File:Warsaw Pact Logo.svg." - Wikimedia
Commons. N.p., 20 Oct. 2012. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
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Exhibit
Hungarian Revolution
After 1956 the Soviet Union practically
disbanded the Hungarian People's Army
and reinstituted a program of political
indoctrination in the units that remained.
In May 1957, unable to rely on Hungarian
forces to maintain order, the Soviet Union
increased its troop level in Hungary from
two to four divisions and forced Hungary
to sign a status-of-forces agreement,
placing the Soviet military presence on a
solid and permanent legal basis. The
Soviet forces stationed in Hungary
officially became the Southern Group of
Forces.
"APPENDIX C: THE WARSAW PACT -- Soviet
Union." Library of Congress / Federal Research Division /
Country Studies / Area Handbook Series / Soviet Union /
Appendix C. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
"Hungary 1956 - Reading Guide." Hungary 1956 Reading Guide. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
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Exhibit
Suez Crisis
The United States, for its part, was
primarily concerned with preventing
communist influence in the region as a
result of the cold war and maintaining
access to crucial oil reserves. After Nasser
negotiated an arms deal in 1955 with
Czechoslovakia, a satellite of theSoviet
Union, the United States abruptly canceled
American funding for the Aswan Dam,
and Nasser, in retaliation, unilaterally
nationalized the Suez Canal that same
year.
"Infobase Learning - Login." Infobase
Learning - Login. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr.
2014.
"Fanack.com." The Suez Crisis
(1956). N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
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Exhibit
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Soviets had deployed nuclear missiles
in Cuba that were capable of reaching
targets in the United States. For two tense
weeks, the world hovered on the brink of
nuclear war. Disaster was averted when
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev agreed to
remove the missiles in exchange for an
American pledge not to invade Cuba.
"Infobase Learning - Login." Infobase
Learning - Login. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr.
2014.
"The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962: The Photographs." The
Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962: The Photographs. N.p., n.d.
Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
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Exhibit
Cuba’s economic turn to Russia
Castro’s Cuba also had a highly
antagonistic relationship with the United
States–most notably resulting in the Bay of
Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile
Crisis. The two nations have no formal
diplomatic relations, and the United States
has enforced a trade embargo with Cuba
since 1960, when U.S.-owned businesses
in Cuba were nationalized without
compensation.
"Fidel Castro." History.com. A&E
Television Networks, n.d. Web. 19 Apr.
2014.
"2011." FrontPage Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 21
Apr. 2014.
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Exhibit
Bracero Program
Between 1948 and 1951, the original
bracero agreement devolved into the
Mexican Labor Program. With
government interference declining, the
primary contractor was no longer the U.S.
government, but rather the individual
American farmer who now had more
responsibility than before. In a
compromise document signed in 1954, the
program was extended to December 31,
1955, under specific conditions that
declared that the American secretary of
labor determined wages, although the
Mexican government retained the right to
request a review.
"Infobase Learning - Login." Infobase Learning
- Login. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
"Recalling Good, Bad of Bracero Program." - Tucson Citizen
Morgue, Part 1 (2006-2009). N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
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Exhibit
The Space Race
History changed on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet
Union successfully launched Sputnik I. The world's
first artificial satellite was about the size of a beach
ball (58 cm.or 22.8 inches in diameter), weighed only
83.6 kg. or 183.9 pounds, and took about 98 minutes
to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path. That launch
ushered in new political, military, technological, and
scientific developments. While the Sputnik launch
was a single event, it marked the start of the space
age and the U.S.-U.S.S.R space race. As
telescope technology advanced with the development
of wider reflective mirrors, it allowed for the collection
of more light from space and glimpses into regions of
the sky never probed before. In 1948, the Hale
Telescope was completed at the Palomar
Observatory near San Diego, California.
Garber, Steve. "Sputnik." Sputnik. N.p., 10 Oct.
2007. Web. 25 Apr. 2014.
"America Gives up on Space Race." TechEye. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
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Exhibit
“Great Society”
Presenting his Economic Opportunity Act
of 1964 to Congress, Johnson articulated
the goals of the War on Poverty he
launched to achieve his dream of a Great
Society. In a speech he gave at a 1964
Democratic fund-raising dinner, Johnson
told the audience: "We have been called
upon—are you listening?—to build a
Great Society of the highest order, a
society not just for today or tomorrow, but
for three or four generations to come.".
"Infobase Learning - Login." Infobase
Learning - Login. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr.
2014.
"Welcome to the Great Society | The Chicago Blog." The
Chicago Blog. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
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Exhibit
James Bond
The papers in October 1963 devoted rather
more attention to a very different story – a
second cinematic outing for a secret agent
who, as one critic put it, “acts out our less
reputable fantasies without ever going too
far”. The film was From Russia With
Love; the hero, of course, was that
supreme embodiment of British heroism,
James Bond.
Sandbrook, Dominic. "How James Bond
Helped Win The Cold War." Business
Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 12 Nov.
2013. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
Sandbrook, Dominic. "How James Bond Helped Win The
Cold War." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 12 Nov.
2013. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
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Exhibit
Berlin Crisis, 1958
The second Berlin crisis began in
November 1958 when the Soviet Union
announced that in six months it would end
the Four Power occupation of Berlin.
Russia would sign a peace treaty with East
Germany and turn control of East Berlin
over to it. After the West's withdrawal,
Berlin would technically become a free
city, but it would be entirely beholden to
the Communist East German government
for its survival. Through this ultimatum
Moscow once again hoped to curb West
Germany's integration into Western
Europe and sow doubts about America's
reliability as an ally.
"Infobase Learning - Login." Infobase Learning
- Login. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
"Berlin Crisis Remembered after 50 Years." WisGuard LIVE.
N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
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Exhibit
Counterculture
Most members of the counterculture
tended to be young, white, well educated,
and from a comfortable economic
background. Many experimented with
illicit drugs, free sex, sexual patterns, and
different social and marital arrangements.
The powerful post–World War
IIeconomy raised the expectations of
young Americans, giving room for such
radical cultural expressions.
"Infobase Learning - Login." Infobase
Learning - Login. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr.
2014.
"The Be You Be Sure Project." The Be You Be Sure
Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
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Exhibit
Black Power Movement
In 1966, the mainstream Civil Rights
movement lost much of its momentum.
Following the passage of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of
1965, many of the original goals of the
movement had been achieved. Yet racism
and discrimination persisted, and young
African-American radicals continued
pressing for further change. One such
activist was Stokely Carmichael, the head
of theStudent Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee (SNCC).
"Infobase Learning - Login." Infobase
Learning - Login. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr.
2014.
"UH - Digital History." UH - Digital History. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
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Exhibit
Wladyslaw Gomulka
Poland's new communist party leader,
Wladyslaw Gomulka, and the Polish
People's Army's top commanders indicated
to Khrushchev and the other Soviet leaders
that any Soviet intervention in the internal
affairs of Poland would meet united,
massive resistance. While insisting on
Poland's right to exercise greater
autonomy in domestic matters, Gomulka
also pointed out that the Polish United
Workers' Party remained in firm control of
the country and expressed his intention to
continue to accept Soviet direction in
external affairs.
"APPENDIX C: THE WARSAW PACT -- Soviet Union." Library of
Congress / Federal Research Division / Country Studies / Area Handbook
Series / Soviet Union / Appendix C. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
"Wladyslaw Gomulka Collection Opened for Research |
Hoover Institution."Wladyslaw Gomulka Collection Opened
for Research | Hoover Institution. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr.
2014.
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Exhibit
John F. Kennedy
Shortly after his inauguration, Kennedy
permitted a band of Cuban exiles, already
armed and trained, to invade their
homeland. The attempt to overthrow the
regime of Fidel Castro was a failure. Soon
thereafter, the Soviet Union renewed its
campaign against West Berlin. Kennedy
replied by reinforcing the Berlin garrison
and increasing the Nation's military
strength, including new efforts in outer
space. Confronted by this reaction,
Moscow, after the erection of the Berlin
Wall, relaxed its pressure in central
Europe.
"John F. Kennedy." The White House. The
White House, n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
Herrington, Nicole. "Enemies, Abroad and at Home." The
New York Times. The New York Times, 21 Nov. 2013. Web.
21 Apr. 2014.
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Exhibit
Lyndon B. Johnson
"A Great Society" for the American people
and their fellow men elsewhere was the
vision of Lyndon B. Johnson. In his first
years of office he obtained passage of one
of the most extensive legislative programs
in the Nation's history. Maintaining
collective security, he carried on the
rapidly growing struggle to restrain
Communist encroachment in Viet Nam..
"Lyndon B. Johnson." The White House.
The White House, n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
"Vice President Johnson Was Assigned the Task of Unifying the U.S.
Satellite Programs." Vice President Johnson Was Assigned the Task of
Unifying the U.S. Satellite Programs. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
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Exhibit
Fidel Castro
Cuban leader Fidel Castro (1926-)
established the first communist state in the
Western Hemisphere after leading an
overthrow of the military dictatorship of
Fulgencio Batista in 1959. He ruled over
Cuba for nearly five decades, until
handing off power to his younger brother
Raúl in 2008. During that time, Castro’s
regime was successful in reducing
illiteracy, stamping out racism and
improving public health care, but was
widely criticized for stifling economic and
political freedoms.
"Fidel Castro." History.com. A&E
Television Networks, n.d. Web. 19 Apr.
2014.
"Fidel Castro." The Plaid Avenger. N.p., n.d. Web.
22 Apr. 2014.
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Exhibit
Bay of Pigs
By the late 1950s, North Americans owned most of the mines,
cattle ranches, and sugar plantations in Cuba and the U.S.
government propped up the corrupt and dictatorial regime of
General Fulgencio Batista. After a three-year campaign, a group
of revolutionaries and peasants led by Fidel Castro marched into
Havana and overthrew the Batista government on New Year's
Day, 1959. Castro had received little help from the Cuban
Communist Party during his struggle, although he soon took
control of it. He launched his own brand of reform program that
involved massive land redistribution, seizure of U.S.–owned oil
companies, and confiscation of other privately owned firms. In
response, President Dwight D. Eisenhower halted American
imports of Cuban sugar and cut off all trade to Cuba except for
medicine and some food staples. Castro turned to Premier
Nikita Khrushchev for economic assistance, and the Soviets
bought increasing amounts of Cuban sugar. Convinced that
Castro was a puppet of the Soviets and that this invasion was the
first step toward communist control of the Caribbean, the
Eisenhower administration prepared plans to overthrow the new
Cuban leader..
"Infobase Learning - Login." Infobase
Learning - Login. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr.
2014.
"Events in American Foreign Policy The Bay of
Pigs Invasion, 1961." Events in American Foreign
Policy: The Bay of Pigs Invasion, 1961. N.p., n.d.
Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
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Entrance
Vietnam War
In 1945, war broke out when Vietnam declared
independence from France, which had
colonized the region since the mid-1800s.
Battling nationalist forces, French troops
continued to fight in Vietnam until 1954, when
France's domestic support for the war wavered
after a devastating defeat at Dien Bien Phu.
Plans to allow France a peaceful withdrawal
from the country took shape, and from May 8
through July 21, 1954, representatives from
eight nations, including the United States,
Vietnam, and France, met in Geneva,
Switzerland. The agreement they drafted,
known as the Geneva Accords, temporarily
divided Vietnam at the 17th parallel so that both
France and Vietnam had an opportunity to stand
back and allow Vietnamese soldiers to return to
their native regions..
"Infobase Learning - Login." Infobase Learning - Login. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
Ellsberg, Daniel. "Why the Pentagon Papers Matter
Now." Theguardian.com. Guardian News and
Media, 13 June 2011. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
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Entrance
Korean War (1950-1953)
At its core a civil war, the Korean War
pitted South Korea (Republic of Korea)
against North Korea (Democratic People's
Republic of Korea) in a struggle to reunite
a nation divided in the aftermath of World
War II. Fighting alongside the Republic of
Korea Army were American and other
forces mobilized under the banner of the
United Nations (UN). The (North) Korean
People's Army was joined by Chinese
army forces and supported by the Soviet
Union..
"Infobase Learning - Login." Infobase
Learning - Login. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr.
2014.
"Timelines." African Americans in the
Korean War. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
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Exhibit