Who`s who?

Significant Individuals of the Cold War

Joseph Stalin

• Ruler of the U.S.S.R. from 1929-1953

• Best known for his reign of terror, violently imposing his collectivisation and industrialisation policies on the Soviet people.

Nikita Krushchev• Khrushchev set out to make the Soviet system

more effective by curbing Stalin's worst excesses.

• He encouraged reform thus leading to several independence movements among Soviet satellite nations in Eastern Europe. Though he promoted change, Khrushchev would not tolerate dissent: he supported sending tanks into Budapest in 1956 to brutally suppress a Hungarian rebellion.

• He was the first Soviet leader to advocate "peaceful coexistence" with the West, and to negotiate with the United States on reducing Cold War tensions.

• He was ousted from power in 1964(shortly after the Cuban Missile Crisis) and died in 1971.

Leonid Brejnev• Succeeded Krushchev and was seen as a

strong traditional leader not very interested in reform.

• A return to the old style of Soviet bureaucracy, the KGB regained authority but was not as ruthless as they were during Stalin’s reign.

• "Brezhnev Doctrine," asserted that Moscow had a right to intervene in the affairs of other socialist states.

• In 1972, Brezhnev and U.S. President Richard Nixon signed the SALT treaty, freezing certain U.S. and Soviet weapons systems. This was part of the detente period.

• He approved the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.

• He died in 1982

Yuri Andropov• Andropov tried to improve the

efficiency of the Soviet economy. • 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. This did not help with East-West relations.

• Many believed that he had the potential for reform; however, illness cut his time short and in 1984 he died of kidney failure.

Konstantin Chernenko

• He led the Soviet Union from 1984 until his death just thirteen months later.

• Chernenko represented a return to the policies of the late Brezhnev era.

• However, he supported a greater role for the labour unions, reform in education, and trimming of bureaucracy.

Mikhail Gorbachev

• Gorbachev came to power in 1985.• There were two key phrases of the

Gorbachev era: « glasnost » (openness) « perestroika » (reform)

• Gorbachev hoped to shift resources to the civilian sector of the Soviet economy and argued in favour of an end to the arms race with the West.

• His reforms were not well-received by Soviet hardliners and it did not help that, economically, the Soviet Union was suffering.

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

Harry Truman

• Harry Truman was the 33rd president of the United States.

• He succeeded Roosevelt and came to power in 1945. He remained president until 1953. During his time in office he had to make significant decisions: i.e. the ordering of atomic bombs, the Korean War and the Truman Doctrine.

Dwight Eisenhower

• The 34th president of the U.S. (1953-1961)

• Dwight D. Eisenhower obtained a truce in Korea and worked incessantly during his two terms to ease the tensions of the Cold War.

• Coexistence

John F Kennedy

• "Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country.“

• 35th President from 1961-1963• Cuban Missile Crisis• Bay of Pigs• Construction of the Berlin Wall• He was assassinated shortly

after 1000 days in office.

Richard Nixon

• 37th President from 1969-1974• Brought down as a result of the

Watergate scandal.• Nixon succeeded in ending

American fighting in Viet Nam and improving relations with the U.S.S.R. and China.

• Signed treaties with Brejnev to limit nuclear proliferation.

• Think détente.

Jimmy Carter• 39th president (1977-1981)• Negotiated SALT II with the

Soviets• Established relatively

diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China and the Soviets.

• SALT II suffered when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan.

Ronald Reagan

• 40th president 1981-1989• "peace through strength" • During his time in office, considerable

sums were dedicated to defence spending.

• His goal was to improve relations with the Soviets; however there were many tense moments.

• In meetings with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, he negotiated a treaty that would eliminate intermediate-range nuclear missiles.

Josep Tito

• Tito was the chief architect of the "second Yugoslavia," a socialist federation that lasted from World War II until 1991.

• He was the first Communist leader in power to defy Soviet hegemony; he supported independent streams of socialism and was a promoter of nonalignment between the two hostile blocs in the Cold War.

Fidel Castro

• On January 1, 1959, Castro triumphantly took power from Flugencio Batista

Anwar Sadat

Ho Chi Minh

Mao Tse Tung