• On July 16, 1945 the United States successfully tested the world’s first atomic bomb and then used it in August on Japan.

• The use of the bomb dramatically increased the consequences of armed conflict between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. This threat forced the two sides to consider carefully the use of their nuclear weapons around the world.

• The two sides struggled for the years to come, to become more powerful than the other. The two sides soon became so powerful that they could destroy the whole world. This became known as MUTUAL ASSURED DESTRUCTION

Truman was elected as the 33rd

president of the United States. Truman had a very strong belief in containing Communism. The theory of Containment was the hallmark of the Truman administration. Illustrated by the U.S. involvement in the Berlin Airlift, becoming a member of NATO, enacted the Marshall Plan, and the establishment of the Truman Doctrine.

U.S. Presidentfrom 1945-1952

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.

• 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 from1952 -1960

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 Wall. U.S. President from

1960-1963

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 response to the Bay of Pigs. He was Kennedy’s main

adversary throughout his presidency.

leader of the Soviet Union from 1953 till 1964

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 1963 - 1968

Richard Nixon carried out Vietnamization ending the war and removed American troops from Vietnam. Nixon also negotiated and signed the SALT treaty.

President from 1968 - 1974

• 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, and challenged the Soviets to elevate the Arms Race knowing they could not compete with American productivity, paving the way for Cold War victory.

President from1980 - 1988

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 an interim truce agreement. Detente with the Soviet Union continued. President Ford and Soviet leader Leonid I. Brezhnev set new limitations upon nuclear weapons.

In foreign affairs, Carter set his own style. His championing of human rights was coldly received by the Soviet Union and some other nations. Building upon the work of predecessors, 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.

Gorbachev rose to the top party spot in March 1985. Almost from the start, he

strove for significant reforms, Hence the two key phrases of the Gorbachev era:

"glasnost" (openness) and "perestroika" (reform). Gorbachev realizing the Soviet Union could not compete began to argue in favor of an end to the arms race with the West. The agreements while in the

Soviet interest caused tension for him in the Soviet Union. For his efforts he was

named the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize winner for helping to end the Cold War.

Soviet Leader from 1985 - 1990

Served as leader of the Soviet Union from 1953 till 1964. Khrushchev

played a key role in the building of the Berlin Wall and also the Bay of Pigs, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. He was

Kennedy’s main adversary throughout

his presidency.

Under Brezhnev, The Soviet decision in 1968 to invade Czechoslovakia was an early indicator of Brezhnev's world view. In a speech justifying the move, he spelled out what came to be called the "Brezhnev Doctrine," asserting Moscow's right to intervene in the affairs of other socialist states. He supported U.S. antagonists throughout the world; Vietnam, the Middle East and the Third World. A new era of peace was heralded in 1972, when Brezhnev and President Nixon signed the SALT treaty, but the new era was short-lived. By 1979, it was only a memory, as 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 other sectors of the economy, had taken a toll, and economic productivity and the Soviet standard of living fell into a slow but steady decline under Brezhnev.

                                         

 

Andropov became 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. His foreign policy stance reflected the Soviet status quo. During Andropov's tenure, the U.S.S.R. remained in the war in Afghanistan. He also tried to persuade the Europeans not to allow U.S. President Ronald Reagan to station Pershing missiles in Germany. It was also during Andropov's time as Soviet leader that Soviet forces shot down a civilian, South Korean airliner, killing all 269 people on board. Scholars still debate whether Andropov would have proved to be a real reformer had he lived.

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.

• On October 4, 1957 the Soviet Union launched Sputnik a communications satellite, the first man-made object ever sent into space. This would kick off the space race and elevated Cold War tensions

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.

* During the 1950’s a steady outflow of refugees from East Germany( Soviet controlled) moved into West Germany( Allies controlled), primarily working age individuals. 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 free, demilitarized city.

* The sides could not reach an agreement, so in the spring and early summer months of 1961 the East German regime stockpiled building materials for the erection of the Berlin Wall.

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. At the beginning of the war, the South Koreans were pushed all the way back to the tip of Korea creating the Pusan Perimeter. Following a large amphibious assault, MacArthur’s troops pushed out of Pusan all the way to the Yalu River. MacArthur made plans for a Christmas celebration and the Chinese sent 1 million volunteers across the Yalu River. MacArthur’s troops were pushed back into South Korea and even past the capital city of Seoul. The war continued for several years with little progress and ended in a stalemate in June of 1953.

THE KOREAN CONFLICT

The Vietnam War, grew out of a conflict between France and Vietnam. In July 1954, after one hundred years of colonial rule,

France was forced to leave Vietnam. The country was divided along the 17th parallel. When Johnson became President, he followed

Eisenhower’s pledge that we would not allow any nation to fall to Communism, and had a goal of stopping the spread of communism in Southeast Asia. The U.S. supported President Ngo Dinh Diem. Meanwhile the Soviets, and Chinese quietly backed Ho Chi Minh.

The first combat troops arrived in 1965. US troop strength Continued to increase and by years end, was close to 200,000. Also in

February 1965, the US began regular bombing raids of North Vietnam, “Rolling Thunder”. The United States though was fighting

an uphill battle, the South Vietnamese leadership was weak and unstable, and the desires of the native people seemed to favor

communism. The war would continue until Nixon’s “Vietnamization” and the cease-fire that followed in January 1973.

VIETNAM

• The Bay of Pigs was an unsuccessful attempt in 1961 to overthrow Fidel Castro’s regime.

• Several days 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 the Cuban government 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 intended to cross the island to Havana, but 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.

BAY OF PIGS

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

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.