Transcript The Cold War - Reading Community Schools

THE COLD WAR
Q.O.D. #1 3/23/10

Following the Cuban Missile Crisis, the U.S. and
USSR set up a “hotline” between Washington
and Moscow. Why might Kennedy and
Khrushchev have wanted to have a direct line
of communication?
Q.O.D. #1 3/23/10

Following the Cuban Missile Crisis, the U.S. and
USSR set up a “hotline” between Washington
and Moscow. Why might Kennedy and
Khrushchev have wanted to have a direct line
of communication?
 Distrust
between the two countries during the Cold
War led to serious situations that could escalate to
nuclear war (Cuban Missile Crisis)
 Avoid a serious, dangerous game of “telephone” –
misinterpretations that happen when multiple
people pass on messages
SOVIET UNION

Soviet people saw few benefits from WWII
victory
 Unlike
United States, Western Europe
 USSR devastated

Stalin continued ruthless policies
 Filled
labor camps with “enemies of the state”
 Died in 1953
COLD WAR

Competition between two economic and
political value systems
 USSR:
Communism, Command economy
 USA: Democracy, Market economy
SOVIET UNION

Communism
 Form
of socialism (people as a whole, not private
individuals, own all property and businesses)
 State plans and controls economy, all goods equally
shared by people
SOVIET UNION

Soviet Communism
 Government
controlled many aspects of life
 Obedience, discipline, economic security
 Spread communist ideology around the world

Command Economy
 Government
makes most decisions
 Political reasons
STALIN’S SUCCESSORS


Nikita Khrushchev
 Followed Stalin’s death
 Publicly denounced Stalin’s abuse
of power
 De-Stalinization
 Peaceful co-existence with West
Leonid Brezhnev
 Reversed many of Krushchev’s
reforms
 Economic problems, corruption
ignored
 Peak of strategic relations with West
RESISTANCE

Andrey Sakharov
 Scientist
 Against
nuclear proliferation
 Spoke out for civil liberties
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
*Wrote letter criticizing Stalin,
sent to prison camp
*Writer and historian, his writings
told the world of the gulags
RESISTANCE
1953 – East Berlin
 1956 – Poland, Hungary
 1968 – Alexander Dubcek, “Prague Spring”

 Leader
of Czechoslovakia, sought to liberalize the
country: “socialism with a human face”
 Reforms: greater freedom of expression, political
parties
 Warsaw Pact forces invaded, Dubcek and leaders
arrested
 Country gave in to Soviet demands
UNITED STATES
Democracy
 Citizens have freedom to make economic and
political choices
 Market economy

 Producers
and consumers make decisions
 Prices based on supply and demand
 Property is privately owned
 Competition
UNITED STATES

Basically a market economy, but government
has economic role
 Mixed
economy
UNITED STATES

Containment
 America’s
policy toward communism
 Keeping communism from spreading
 Meant
US would support any government from being
invaded or taken over by communists

Nuclear Fears
 Fallout
 Drills
shelters
UNITED STATES

Red Scare




Many Americans feared
communists would undermine the
U.S. government
1950: Sen. Joseph McCarthy led
hunt for suspected communists
McCarthyism: fear that developed
during this time, from accusations
of innocent people
HUAC: House Un-American
Activities Committee
 Sought to expose communists
in Hollywood