Transcript John F. Kennedy played a key role in the Cold War. He started

U.S. President
from 1945-1953
Truman was elected as the 33rd
president of the United States.
Truman had a very strong belief in
containing Communism. Keep
communism from spreading.
Demonstrated by the U.S. involvement
in the Berlin Airlift, becoming a
member of NATO, establishing the
Marshall Plan, and the Truman
Doctrine.
• Dwight D. Eisenhower obtained a
truce in Korea and while trying to
ease the tensions of the Cold War, he
definitely upped the ante by issuing
his Eisenhower Doctrine.
• "America is today the strongest,
most influential, and most
productive nation in the world."
U.S. President from
1953 -1961
John F. Kennedy played a key role in the
Cold War. He started aggressive American
involvement in Vietnam, as well as being
involved with the Cuban Missile Crisis,
and the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, and
President during the creation of the Berlin
U.S. President from Wall.
1961-1963
President from
1963 - 1969
Lyndon B. Johnson became President
hours after the assassination of John F.
Kennedy. The 36thpresident of the
United States. During his campaign for
re-election, Johnson promised to
withdraw troops from Vietnam.
However, Johnson violated his
campaign promises and steadily
increased U.S. involvement in Vietnam,
for fear he would be the first President
to lose a war. His popularity plummeted
and he did not run for re-election.
President from 1969 - 1974
Richard Nixon carried out
Vietnamization ending the
war and removed
American troops from
Vietnam. Nixon also
negotiated and signed the
SALT treaty limiting the
amount of missiles the US
and USSR have.
1974-1977
In foreign affairs Ford acted vigorously to
maintain U. S. power and prestige after the
collapse of Cambodia and South Viet Nam.
Preventing a new war in the Middle East
remained a major objective; by providing aid
to both Israel and Egypt, the Ford
Administration helped persuade the two
countries to accept a truce agreement.
Detente with the Soviet Union continued.
President Ford and Soviet leader Leonid I.
Brezhnev set new limitations upon nuclear
weapons.
1977-1981
In foreign affairs, Carter set his own style. His
championing of human rights was coldly
received by the Soviet Union and some other
nations. He established full diplomatic relations
with the People's Republic of China and
completed negotiation of the SALT II nuclear
limitation treaty with the Soviet Union.
There were serious setbacks, however. The
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan caused the
suspension of plans for ratification of the SALT
II pact, and the boycott of the 1980 Olympic
Games.
• Ronald Reagan is synonymous with
America in the 1980s. Reagan attacked the
Soviet Union head on, referring to them as
the “Evil Empire.” He increased defense
spending, focusing on new missiles, new
bombers, and subs that could carry nuclear
weapons. In 1983 Reagan announced the
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) = “Star
Wars.”
SDI
proposed
the
creation
of
a
President from
satellite shield in space to destroy and
1981 - 1989
intercept incoming missiles. He also
challenged the Soviets to elevate the Arms
Race knowing they could not compete with
American productivity, paving the way for
Cold War victory.
Joseph Stalin was
leader of the Soviet
Union from 1929
until 1953.
A ruthless dictator, he was the
first Cold War Soviet Premier.
Stalin played a key role in the
beginning of the Cold War by his
actions at the Yalta Conference.
He promoted a sense of distrust
and competition between East
and West. His aggressive
attempts to spread the Soviet
Empire elevated tensions
between East and West escalating
the Cold War.
leader of the Soviet Union
from 1953 till 1964
Khrushchev elevated Cold War
tensions by ordering the building
of the Berlin Wall as well as
providing funds and materials
to communist North Vietnam
during the war. He presided
over the Cuban Missile Crisis in
part as a response to the Bay of
Pigs. He was Kennedy’s main
adversary throughout his
presidency.
1964-1982
Created "Brezhnev Doctrine," asserting
Moscow's right to intervene in the affairs of
other socialist states. Supported U.S.
antagonists throughout the world; Vietnam,
the Middle East and the Third World. Time of
peace was declared in 1972, when he and
President Nixon signed the SALT treaty, but
it was short-lived. By 1979, Brezhnev and
his comrades approved the Soviet invasion
of Afghanistan. Years of heavy spending on
the defense and aerospace industries, at the
expense of agriculture and economy, took a
toll on economic productivity and the
standard of living fell into a slow but steady
decline.
1982 15 months
Was the Communist Party's
general secretary. In the 15
months he ruled before his
death, Andropov tried to improve
the efficiency of the Soviet
economy. During his time, the
U.S.S.R. remained in the war in
Afghanistan. He tried to
persuade Europe not to allow
U.S. President Reagan to station
missiles in Germany.
Leader of Soviet Union
February 1984 till his death
a year later. In many ways
prepared the ground for his
protegé Mikhail Gorbachev.
Promoted
turn
to
production of consumer
goods and loosening of
Andropov's strict political
control.
Soviet Leader from
1985 - 1990
Gorbachev leader in March 1985.
From the start, strives for reforms.
Two key phrases of the Gorbachev
era: "glasnost" (openness) and
"perestroika" (reform). Realized the
Soviet Union could not compete,
argue in favor of an end to the arms
race with the West. The agreements
for the people but caused tension in
the Soviet Union. For his efforts he
was named the 1990 Nobel Peace
Prize winner for helping to end the
Cold War.
• On July 16, 1945 the United States tested the world’s first
atomic bomb and then used it in August on Japan.
• The bomb increased the consequences between the U.S. and
the Soviet Union.
• It forced the two sides to consider the use of their nuclear
weapons carefully.
• The two sides struggled for the years, to become more
powerful than the other = arms race. The two sides soon
became so powerful that they could destroy the whole
world. This became known as MUTUAL ASSURED
DESTRUCTION
Germany Divided
Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt
meet after WWII at the Yalta in
1945 conference to discuss
what will happen next. They
decide on free elections in
Poland and too divide up
Germany into 4 zones. The U.S,
Britain, and France = West.
Western Germany was
democratic while Eastern
Germany was under Stalin’s
control and communist.
Soviet Union = East
BERLIN AIRLIFT
At the end of World War II. Each of the
Allies controlled a zone in Germany,
and Berlin, which was surrounded by
the Soviet zone. When cooperation
broke down in 1947 and early 1948.
The three Western powers decided to
create a separate West German
government in their zones. The
Soviets tried to dissuade them by
gradually escalating harassment of
Western traffic to and from the city,
which culminated in the Berlin
blockade. This led to the allies flying
in supplies to Berlin, known as the
Berlin Airlift.
THE KOREAN CONFLICT
North Korea and South Korea were divided along
the 38th parallel following WWII. The War began
with North Korea invading South Korea. North
Korea and its leader Kim Il Sung were communist
and supported by the Soviet Union, and China.
South Korea and its leader Syngman Rhee were
supported by the United States. The UN authorized
sending troops into the region under the command
of U.S. general Douglas MacArthur.
THE KOREAN CONFLICT
At the Start of the war, the
South Koreans were pushed all
the way to the tip of Korea
creating the Pusan Perimeter.
MacArthur’s troops pushed out
of Pusan all the way to the
north. MacArthur ready to
celebrate BUT the Chinese sent
1 million volunteers across and
U.S. troops were pushed back
into South Korea The war
continued for several years
teeter taughtering back and
forth and ended in a stalemate
in June of 1953. The U.S still
has military in South Korea.
• On October 4, 1957
the Soviet Union
launched Sputnik a
communications
satellite.
• first man-made
object ever sent
into space.
• kick off the space
race and elevated
Cold War tensions
U-2 Incident
The U-2 spy plane was
designed to fly extremely
high to not be detect. But on
May 1, 1960 the USSR shot
down a U-2 Plane and the
pilot Gary Powers was
captured. The U.S. denied
it was spying. They reported
that Powers was studying
weather and accidentally
went into USSR air space.
The evidence proved that
Powers had been spying.
Khrushchev demanded an
apology and the U.S. stop
future flights. Eisenhower
agreed to stop flights but
did not apologize.
* During the 1950’s a steady outflow of refugees from East
Germany( Soviet controlled) moved into West Germany(
Allies controlled). The rate was around 10,000 to 20,000 per
year from 1950-1961.
* In November 1958, Soviet Premier Khrushchev issued an
ultimatum giving the Western powers six months to agree to
withdraw from Berlin and make it a demilitarized city.
* The sides could not reach an agreement. The East German
regime stockpiled building materials for the building of the
Berlin Wall. So Aug 13, 1961 at mid night the wall went up
BAY OF PIGS
• The Bay of Pigs was an unsuccessful attempt in 1961
to overthrow Fidel Castro’s regime.
• Before the invasion, the CIA destroyed parts of
Cuba’s air force. The plan was to land at the Bay of
Pigs with support from anti-Castro forces and
overthrow Castro without anyone knowing that the
U.S. was involved.
• On April 17, 1961 about 1500 exiles with U.S.
weapons landed at the Bay of Pigs. They were
quickly meet by Fidel’s army. By the time the
fighting ended on April 19, 100 people were dead. It
was a huge embarrassment for the Kennedy
administration.
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation between the
Soviet Union and the United States. It occurred in 1962.
The conflict was over Soviet supplied missile installations
in Cuba. The Cuban Missile Crisis was regarded as the
World’s Closest approach to Nuclear War. It first started
when the United States discovered that Cuba had installed
Soviet missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons. The
United States responded by imposing a naval blockade of
Cuba and demanded that the missiles be removed from
Cuba. After several tension filled days, and negotiations
the situation settled and the missile were removed
VIETNAM WAR
The Vietnam War, grew out of a conflict between
France and Vietnam. In July 1954, France was
forced to leave Vietnam. The country was divided
along the 17th parallel. U.S. pledge that we would
not allow any nation to fall to Communism. The
U.S. supported President Ngo Dinh Diem of
Vietnam. Soviets, and Chinese backed Ho Chi
Minh.
The first U.S. troops arrived VIETNAM
in 1965. US troops increased
almost 200,000 in of year.
Also in February 1965, the US
began regular bombing raids
of North Vietnam, “Rolling
Thunder”. The United States
was fighting an uphill battle,
the South Vietnamese
leadership was weak and
unstable, and the desires of
the people seemed to favor
communism. The war would
continue until Nixon’s
“Vietnamization” and the
cease-fire that followed in
January 1973.
WAR
Afghanistan
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1950’s Soviet Union
influenced government
1979 Soviets invade afraid communist
government will fall
Thought it would be quick but got stuck
US supported the rebels afraid communist
would block oil
Gorbachev withdrew troops in 1989
FALL OF BERLIN WALL
On the 9th of November, 1989, the Border separating Western from
Eastern Germany was effectively opened. In the days that followed large
groups of individuals with their hands and with machinery, started
physically tearing down the wall. The Fall of the Berlin Wall AFTER
STANDING FOR ALMOST 30 YEARS, will always be used as a symbol for the
end of the Cold War.