The Cold War: “Super” Collision

1960s, 1970s & 1980s

U.S. versus U.S.S.R.

The Cold War: 1960s

• Leadership of the 1960s

• John F. Kennedy (U.S.: 1960 –1963)

• Nikita Khrushchev (Soviet Union: 1953 –1964)

The Cold War: 1960s

• Flexible Response• the U.S. can respond to

aggression across a broad spectrum of warfare; not only to nuclear arms

• Called for building up stock of conventional weapons

• Began with the construction of ICBMs (Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles)

The Cold War: 1960s

• Bay of Pigs Invasion (April, 1961)• U.S. backed invasion by anti-Castro

Cuban exiles• FAILURE! No air support• Americans embarrassed since JFK &

CIA planned the invasion

The Cold War: 1960s

• Cuban Missile Crisis (October, 1962)• Major confrontation between the US &

USSR– Nuclear missiles site discovered in Cuba– Kennedy placed blockade on the island– Khrushchev agreed to remove missiles– A “Hot Line” was established between the

White House and the Kremlin– US agreed to remove nuclear weapons

from Turkey

The Cold War: 1960s

• Berlin Wall• The Berlin

Wall began construction in 1961

• Separated East and West Berlin

• What does this mean for Germany?

Berlin Wall: construction begins in 1961

The Cold War: 1970s

• Leadership of the 1970s• Richard Nixon (US: 1969-1974)• Leonid Brezhnev (USSR:1964-1982)• Policy of Détente• A policy of “relaxation” in

the relations between the US and Soviet Union

• This DOES NOT mean that the US stopped fighting communism…just relaxed…

• Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I)

• The US & the USSR signed a 5 year agreement to limit the number of “intercontinental ballistic and submarine launched missiles”

The Cold War: 1970s

Warsaw Pact Countries became nationalistic• they got tired of Soviet domination

Awful Soviet economy• communism couldn’t keep up with capitalism

Ronald Reagan won the arms race

Mikhail Gorbachev let USSR see the West• Soviet people want what west has

Expansion of NATO• NATO got more powerful

USSR collapses• countries demand independence

Toward the end of the Cold War it got WARMER…

The Cold War: 1980s

• Leadership of the 1980s• Ronald Reagan (1981 –1989)• Mikhail Gorbachev

(1985 –1991)

The Cold War: 1980s

• Gorbachev’s Policies• Glasnost (openness)– Free flow of ideas

• Perestroika (economic restructuring)– Small businesses allowed to open

The Cold War: 1980s

• Fall of the Berlin Wall• By the late 1980s, the East Germans

were furious that their government had completely closed its borders; no one could leave

• Horrible conditions – PROTESTS!• On November 9, 1989 the Berlin Wall

was finally opened • Completely destroyed by 1990

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=zxKf5kD5f5VumM&tbnid=jNy2zJSOWs_1UM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://tvm.com.mt/news/2013/03/the-berlin-wall-falls-for-a-second-time/&ei=0wSJUcvJJ4e29QSMyICgCw&psig=AFQjCNFeEvJ56xYFkuUAJ_vjf_UEomr0lg&ust=1368020541550726

The Cold War: 1990s

• By December 1991, all satellite nations had declared independence from the Soviet Union

• Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)

• Loose federation of the former USSR• Marks the death of the Soviet Union