Transcript Cold War – 1950s

Cold War – 1950s
Ch. 28, Section 1 – pgs 814-820
Dwight D. Eisenhower
34th President of the United States
Eisenhower graduated from
the United States Military
Academy at West Point
before becoming supreme
commander of Allied forces
in Europe during WWII.
Greatest Accomplishments
Federal Highway Act
• In June 1956,
Eisenhower urged
Congress to pass the
Federal Highway Act.
• The law funded the
construction of more than
40,000 miles of highways
that tied the nation
together.
• We have our interstates
thanks to President
Eisenhower.
Domino Theory
• The belief that if one
nation in Asia fell to
Communists, they
would all fall, just like
the others.
• President Eisenhower
used this foreign
policy in how he dealt
with Communism and
other countries.
U-2 Spy Planes
• During the Cold War,
the United States Air
Force flew highaltitude spy planes
over Soviet territory.
• The U-2’s would take
photographs of
nuclear sites and
military bases from as
high as 80,000 ft.
More Cold War drama
U-2 Spy Plane shot down!!
• The Soviet Union shot down one of our
spy planes on May 1, 1960.
• The pilot, Francis Gary Powers, was
captured.
• The Soviet Union was furious with the
United States and accused us of invading
Soviet airspace.
• However, the Soviets had been secretly
flying missions over our space as well.
The Space Race
Sputnik vs. Vanguard
Sputnik
• On Oct. 4, 1957, the
Soviet Union sent into
space the world’s
first artificial satellite.
Vanguard
• In order to keep up with
the Soviets, the
Americans launched its
own space satellite.
• Unfortunately, the rocket
rose a few feet off the
launching pad and then
exploded.
• It became known as
“Flopnick” and
“Stayputnik”.
NASA
• The Soviet launch of
Sputnik and the
failure of the
Vanguard led America
to develop its own
space program.
NASA (National
Aeronautics and
Space Administration)
The Nuclear
Arms Race
In the 1950s, the Eisenhower
administration decided to use
nuclear weapons, instead of the
military, to intimidate (threaten)
the Soviet Union.
Nuclear Arms Race
United States:
Soviet Union:
Eisenhower cut military
The Soviet Union
spending and devoted
decided to spend
all that money to the
money on developing
building of nuclear
nuclear weapons as
weapons.
well.
“more bang for the
All this spending and developing of nuclear weapons led
buck”
to an arms race between the Soviet Union and the United
States. The U.S. and Soviet Union devoted all their
funds to see who could build the largest and strongest
weapons.
Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile
(IRBMs)
• An immensely
destructive hydrogen
bomb – much more
powerful than the
A-bomb used during
WWII.
• The IRBMs could
reach targets up to
1,500 miles away.
Intercontinental Ballistic Missile
(ICBMs)
• Even more
destructive than the
IRBMs because could
reach many
thousands of miles.
• It could travel
continent to continent
within seconds.
Map of the Soviet Union
Information gathered from a U-2 Spy
Plane of ICBM test centers and
bases in the Soviet Union.
Civil Defense Administration
• The American government created the CDA
in order to protect Americans from a nuclear
attack.
• The CDA educated the public with pamphlets
and radio and television messages.
• Some families built air-raid shelters in their
basements and stocked up on supplies.
• Schools held air-raid drills.
Summary Quiz
1) What was the name of the first satellite in
space?
2) Which country launched the first satellite into
space?
3) What was Eisenhower’s belief that if one nation
in Asia fell to communism, that they would all
fall?
4) What agency was created in the 1950s in order
to compete with the Soviet Union in the “space
race”?
5) What was the name of the video by the CDA?
Answers to quiz
1)
2)
3)
4)
Sputnik
Soviet Union
Domino theory
NASA (National Aeronautics Space
Administration)
5) “Duck and Cover” with Bert the Turtle