Transcript Slide 1

THE COLD WAR
IN THE 1960s, THE 1970s,
AND THE 1980s
Essential Questions:
What were the important Cold War
events of the 1960s and 1970s?
How did the Cold War end in the 1980s?
Joseph Stalin led the Soviet
Union from 1927 to 1953
When the Cold War began, Stalin
spread communism into the satellites
nations in Eastern Europe
Communist
East Berlin
Democratic
West Berlin
Stalin escalated the Cold War by
blockading West Berlin in 1948
Under Stalin, the USSR tested the atomic bomb
in 1949 and hydrogen bomb in 1953
Stalin signed a
“treaty of
friendship” with
Chinese leader Mao
Zedong after the
Chinese Revolution
Stalin sent
weapons to
the
communists
in North
Korea
during the
Korean War
Joseph Stalin’s death in 1953 changed the
Soviet Union and how it approached the Cold
War against the United States
Joseph Stalin’s death in 1953 changed the
Soviet Union and how it approached the Cold
War against the United States
New USSR leader
Nikita Khrushchev
began a series of
reforms known as
“de-Stalinization”,
which included
releasing political
prisoners and
relaxing
censorship
Khrushchev
seemed willing
to work with the
USA to ease Cold
War tensions…
However, tensions between the
USA and USSR would escalate
throughout the 1950s and 1960s
Under Khrushchev, the Soviet Union
launched Sputnik and the space race began
The creation of ICBMs
led to the stockpiling of
nuclear weapons
during the arms race
In 1961, John F. Kennedy became U.S. President
Kennedy and
Khrushchev
faced two
important
crises that
heightened
Cold War
tensions:
building of the
Berlin Wall and
the Cuban
Missile Crisis
Khrushchev was upset with the increasing
number of communist East Germans who
moved to democratic West Berlin
Khrushchev was upset with the increasing
number of communist East Germans who
moved to democratic West Berlin
In 1961,
Khrushchev
threatened
to cut off
access to
West Berlin
(like Stalin’s
blockade in
1948)
President Kennedy promised to
protect West Berlin
Rather than use the Soviet military to blockade
the city, Communist leaders built the Berlin Wall
to keep East Germans out of West Berlin
Walls and other barriers 10–15 feet
high surrounded West Berlin. The
length of the barriers around the
city totaled about 110 miles
The Berlin Wall
became the iconic
image and the hated
symbol of the Cold War
The “death strip” stretched like a barren
moat around West Berlin, with patrols,
floodlights, electric fences, and vehicle
traps between the inner and outer walls
When Fidel
Castro seized
power in Cuba
in 1959, the
USA feared
the spread of
communism
so close to
America
After a failed attempt by the US to
overthrow Castro, Khrushchev secretly
sent nuclear missiles to Cuba
After a failed attempt by the US to
overthrow Castro, Khrushchev secretly
sent nuclear missiles to Cuba
The U.S. successfully blockaded Cuba; Khrushchev
removed the ICBMs from Cuba in exchange for the
removal of American ICBMs in Europe
The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest
the USA and USSR came to nuclear war
From 1965 to
1973, the
USA became
involved in
the Vietnam
War, which
was at first a
fight
between
France and
Vietnam
France made
Vietnam a
colony for
many years,
exploiting the
people and
resources; the
Vietnamese
fought to be
free of France
When communist
leader Ho Chi Minh
gained independence
for Vietnam, the USA
feared communism
spreading in
Southeast Asia
Vietnam had
become
divided: North
Vietnam was
communist,
while South
Vietnam was
democratic
In South
Vietnam,
communists
known as the
Vietcong
worked to unify
North and South
Vietnam
To contain
communism,
the United
States sent
troops to
Vietnam to
support the
South,
starting in
1965
The American
military used
bombing
raids,
herbicides,
and searchand-destroy
missions to
fight the
Vietcong
Herbicides were
used by the U.S.
to kill off the
jungle plants, so
the V-C could
not hide there
The chemicals
would have
horrible side
effects on the
soldiers’
health as well
as Vietnamese
civilians
Despite
these
efforts, the
U.S. was
unable to
defeat the
communist
enemy
The Vietcong were Hit-and-run guerilla fighting,
fierce fighters and deadly traps, and ambushes
did not play by the made the Vietcong extremely
rules of war
difficult to fight against
Another factor
that made it
difficult for the
U.S. troops
was that the
North
Vietnamese
(the enemy)
looked the
same as the
South
Vietnamese
The stress of not
knowing who the
enemy truly was, the
vicious tactics of the
V-C, and the
unpleasant jungle
terrain led to mental
breakdowns and
serious drug abuse
among the young
U.S. troops (average
age was 19)
Breakdowns led to murders and war crimes by
American troops, such as the My Lai Massacre,
where U.S. soldiers butchered an entire village
of women, children, and the elderly
Pictures like this, showing Vietnamese children screaming
as American-delivered napalm burns their skin, caused
outrage and disgust among the American public
The Vietnam War
was expensive,
hurt the American
economy, and
became unpopular
with anti-war
protestors in the
United States
The Vietnam War
was expensive,
hurt the American
economy, and
became unpopular
with anti-war
protestors in the
United States
The Vietnam War
was expensive,
hurt the American
economy, and
became unpopular
with anti-war
protestors in the
United States
In 1973, the USA withdrew from Vietnam;
two years later the Northern communists
took over the South and unified Vietnam
America’s failure in Vietnam led to
a change in Cold War policies
The USA abandoned its containment
policy and began looking for ways to
improve relations with Cold War enemies
In the 1970s, President Nixon’s policy
of détente (easing Cold War
tensions) replaced brinkmanship
In 1972,
Nixon
became the
first U.S.
president to
visit China
and to
recognize
communists
as the
legitimate
government
of China
Nixon’s visit to China put pressure on the
Soviet Union to negotiate with the USA
In 1972, Nixon met with Soviet leader Leonid
Brezhnev to discuss nuclear arms reduction
The USA and USSR signed the Strategic Arms
Limitation Talks (SALT) which limited the
number of ICBMs each nation could have
By the 1970s, the USA and USSR seemed
willing to peacefully coexist
But, détente ended in 1979 when
the USSR invaded Afghanistan to put
down an anti-communist uprising
But, détente ended in 1979 when
the USSR invaded Afghanistan to put
down an anti-communist uprising
But, détente ended in 1979 when
the USSR invaded Afghanistan to put
down an anti-communist uprising
The U.S. viewed the attack as an
attempt to spread communism into
South Asia and the Middle East
The United States cut off all trade
with the USSR and sent military
and economic aid to Afghan rebels
The USSR fought in Afghanistan
from 1979 to 1989, but was unable
to defeat the Afghan resistance
The war
exhausted the
Soviet
economy and
proved as
unwinnable
as Vietnam
was for the
United States
The war renewed
tensions between the
USA and USSR

Revamped and redone by
Christopher Jaskowiak
Thanks to Brooks Baggett for
several of the slides