cicero © 2008 1. 2 origins of the cold war the first serious conflict between the practices of...

History Beyond The Textbook

CICEROHistory Beyond The Textbook

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ORIGINS OF THE COLD WARThe first serious conflict between the practices of capitalism and communism occurred in 1917 after the Russian Revolution. At this point, the Soviet Union had become the world’s first major communist power. With the Russians now supporting communism, their relations with the United States became more difficult. Other events that put a strain on the relationship were when America supported the White Army, which opposed the communists during the Soviet Civil War, the communists contesting the values of capitalism, democracy and religion and ultimately, the Russians withdrawing from World War I thanks to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.

The Bolshevik soldiers march to Red Square in the Soviet Union



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COUNTRIES INVOLVEDIN THE COLD WAR

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

and its allies

THE SOVIET UNION

and its allies



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THE YALTA CONFERENCEAlso known as the Crimea or Argonaut Conference, it was a meeting that was held February 4– 11, 1945. It was between the leaders of the United Kingdom (Winston Churchill), United States (Franklin Roosevelt), and the Soviet Union (Joseph Stalin). Many different ideas were discussed and finalized during this meeting.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (left), United States President

Franklin D. Roosevelt (center), and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin at the Yalta

Conference



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THE YALTA CONFERENCEAn agreement between the three countries that would make Nazi Germany unconditionally surrender. In addition, the United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and France would occupy Berlin before East and West Germany were re-unified with one another.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (left), United States President

Franklin D. Roosevelt (center), and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin at the Yalta

Conference



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THE YALTA CONFERENCE A strict period of demilitarization would occur in Germany, in addition to the Nazi

regime being removed from power. Reparations for Germany could not come in the form of forced labor. An allied reparation council would be created, taking place in Moscow, Russia. The communist Polish government would be reorganized. The Polish Provisional

Government of National Unity would be established and would have democratic elections. This did not include the Polish government that was in exile since 1939.

The eastern border of Poland would follow the Curzon Line, as well as getting territorial compensation from Germany in the West. However, the exact location of where the Western border would be located would be discussed in a future peace treaty between the two countries.



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THE YALTA CONFERENCE Soviet and Yugoslavian citizens would be returned to their own countries, no matter if

they had consent or not. Stalin promised Roosevelt that he would participate in the United Nations. This

agreement came after it was decided that the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council would have veto power. At the same time, Churchill was trying to get France on the Security Council.

Stalin also wanted all 16 Soviet states to be granted entry into the United Nations. The only two that were granted this request were Ukrainian SSR and Byelarussian SSR.

Stalin also agreed that he would join the Allies in their fight against the Japanese Empire within ninety days of the Allies’ defeat of Germany. The Soviet Union would also get the Kurile Islands and the southern part of Sakhalin after the Japanese were defeated.

The Committee of Dismemberment of Germany was also going to be established. The main part of the meeting was to see how Germany would be divided into several different nations and what borders these nations would have.



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PARTION PLANS FOR GERMANY

The eventual Partition Planfor Germany

Churchill’s Partition Plan

Roosevelt’s Partition Plan

Henry Morgenthau’s Partition Plan

* Henry Morgenthau was the United States Secretary of the Treasury



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HIROSHIMA ATOMIC BOMBThe United States, thanks to the

completion of the Manhattan Project, had constructed the first atomic bomb. In an effort to end the war in the Pacific, the United States dropped its first atomic

bomb, nicknamed “Little Boy” on Hiroshima, Japan. The bomb was

dropped by the B-29 bomber Enola Gay piloted by Paul Tibbets. The bomb

initially killed approximately 80,000 people. After the costs of injury and

radiation were incurred, the total number of casualties ranged between 90,000 and

140,000. Almost three quarters of the city’s buildings were damaged in the

attack.The atomic bomb is dropped over

Hiroshima, Japan



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THE SOVIET UNION DECLARES WAR ON JAPAN

Before 1945, the Soviet Union was in no position to go to war against Japan. It had been invaded by a

massive German army and suffered enormous losses. Honoring the agreement that was made during the

Yalta Conference, Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union entered the Pacific Front of World War II when the Soviets declared war on the Empire of Japan. They

said they would do this within ninety days of an Allied victory in Europe. By launching Operation August

Storm on August 9, the Soviet Union began an invasion of Manchuria. The invasion happened between the atomic bombings at Hiroshima and

Nagasaki. The Japanese decided to surrender before the Soviets’ attack on Manchuria, Sakhalin, and, the

Kuril Islands got out of hand.Soviet leader Joseph Stalin



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JAPAN SURRENDERSThe United States dropped a second

atomic bomb on the Japanese, this time on the city of Nagasaki. It was dropped out of the B-29 Superfortress Bockscar. Nicknamed “Fat Man,” the bomb killed 40,000 to 75,000 instantly, with the total deaths reaching approximately 80,000 by the end of 1945. The United States had been planning for a third and possibly

more atomic attacks in Japan. After these attacks, Japanese Emperor Hirohito met with many people in his administration.

They decided that if the Japanese were to continue to fight, it would result in their

obliteration by another atomic bomb. They decided the only way to save their

people was to surrender.

Japanese representatives meet aboard the USS Missouri in September 1945 for the

official surrender ceremonies



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THE IRON CURTAINThe term “Iron Curtain” was used to describe the influence

of communism that was slowly falling over Europe. German politician and Nazi Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels was the first to discuss an Iron Curtain that was

coming down on the countries of Europe. Winston Churchill popularized the term on March 5, 1946, when he gave his Sinews of Peace speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. In the speech he stated, “From Stettin in

the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe.

Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia, all these famous cities and the

populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and, in many cases,

increasing measure of control from Moscow.”

Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the

United KingdomChurchill was not prime minister at the time

of the speech. FDR was in the audience.



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THE GREEK CIVIL WAR CONTINUES

Conflicts reignited during the Greek Civil War in March 1946, as it was between

communists and the conservative Greek government. The Greek government had been supported by the British, but they

could no longer afford to help them after spending 85 million pounds on its war

effort. The United States then stepped in, with President Harry Truman stating that it would help the Greek government in its

battles against the communists. While this might have seemed beneficial at the moment, this began a very troublesome relationship between the two countries. The map depicts the country

of Greece



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THE MARSHALL PLANThe Marshall Plan was a plan that was

devised by United States Secretary of State George Marshall. The plan called for a comprehensive program of economic

assistance for the war-ravaged countries of Western-Europe. The Marshall Plan also

offered the same amount of aid to Japan, but only if it made specific reforms to its

government and allowed parts of its country be controlled from the outside. The United States also offered to aid the Soviet Union.

However, the Soviets later rejected this plan, saying it was too similar to dollar

imperialism. This term meant that the United States was trying to create its own

“economic empire” in Europe after World War II had concluded.

The Soviets were also not willing to undergo a comprehensive American audit of the proposed aid funds. They did not want the Americans to see

the issues with their communist economy.

The map shows the countries in Europe that received aid from the Marshall Plan.

The red bars show how much aid was received.



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COMMUNIST TAKEOVEROF CZECHOSLOVAKIA

In Czechoslovakia, Stalin launched a communist coup to topple the

government of President Edvard Benes. During this time, communist Klement

Gottwald became the prime minister of the republic. The communists were now

able to have control of all the key ministries in Czechoslovakia. One effect that communism had on Czechoslovakia

was that the country was originally supposed to participate in the Marshall Plan. However, Moscow forced them to

bypass participation in the plan.

Flag of Czechoslovakia

Coat of Arms of Czechoslovakia (left)



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THE BERLIN BLOCKADEThe United States, United Kingdom and France

wanted to unite their German zones of occupation. This frightened the Soviets because they did not want Western Germany to have a

unified government. The Berlin Blockade occurred when Soviet leader Joseph Stalin

ordered a blockade of all land routes from West Germany to the western sectors of Berlin. This was an attempt to starve out the French, British,

and American forces from the city. The three countries would not let this move by the Soviets impede their progress, The three Western Powers launched the Berlin Airlift, which would help to provide relief to the citizens of Berlin from the

air. This also showed the dedication of the Western Powers to helping out the people in

Berlin. In particular, the Western Powers were able to increase the morale of both the citizens of

Berlin and their pilots by dropping a large amount of goods in Berlin in April 1949.

Western Powers soldiers loading milk on to a plane to fly over West

Berlin



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NATONATO (the North Atlantic Treaty

Organization) was founded on April 4, 1949, by the countries of Belgium,

Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the

United States. NATO’s main goal was an alliance of these countries to help each

other resist communism. Another one of the main points of NATO was that all of

the countries involved considered an attack on one to be an attack on all. If a

country were to attack one of the countries, it would be met with an armed

response from all of the countries that were a part of NATO. This method was

done to keep security in the North Atlantic countries.

Flag of NATO



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THE RED SCAREBeginning in 1947, the “Red Scare” in the

United States had reached its peak. Americans had an increased fear of

communists infiltrating the United States government. Due to the Great Depression,

the government feared that Americans could eventually embrace the ideology. This was

apparent when in 1939, there were approximately 50,000 Americans who were a

part of the Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA). Claims of the infiltration of

the government gained credibility when former CPUSA members Elizabeth Bentley

and Whittaker Chambers said that Soviet spies and communists had breached the

American government.Logo of the Communist Party

of the United States



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THE SOVIET’S FIRST ATOMIC BOMB

The Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb on August 29, 1949. The test,

which was known to Americans as the Joe 1, was a success. The bomb was

tested at Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan. This made the Soviet Union the second

nuclear power in the world. The design of the bomb was very similar to that of the “Fat Man” bomb that was dropped on

Nagasaki, Japan. The thing that shocked Americans was that the development of the atomic weapon came years ahead of

when they thought the Soviets were going to construct the bomb.

The first Soviet atomic bomb, Joe 1, explodes in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan, on August 29, 1949.



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MCCARTHYISMDuring the height of the Red Scare of the 1950s, Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin made a speech in which he claimed he had a list of two

hundred five known communists that were working in the United States’ State Department.

He also claimed that Secretary of State Dean Acheson was aware of these claims and did nothing about it. McCarthy would go on to

conduct hearings in Congress in which he would accuse people of being communist sympathizers

who were trying to infiltrate the United States government. McCarthy’s purported “communist

witch hunt” made him politically popular but ruined the lives of many men and women that he accused, based on dubious evidence. McCarthy

later tried to accuse members of the army of being communists. This led to a trial and his

condemnation in the Senate.Senator Joseph McCarthy



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RECOGNITION OF COUNTRIESIn 1949, the forces of Mao Zedung and the communist movement in China were successful

in driving the United States supported Nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek out of China. This came after twenty-two years of civil war, interrupted by eight years of Japanese occupation. The most populous communist nation in the world called itself the People’s Republic of China, joining the Soviet Union in proclaiming totalitarian socialism as an alternative to democratic capitalism. China did not accept Moscow as the center for communist governments displaying that there was no monolithic communist system. The United States “lost” China and refused to recognize the People’s Republic of China until 1977.

By 1950, the self-proclaimed Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the People’s Republic of China recognized one another, as did the Soviet Union. The United States refused to acknowledge the Democratic Republic of Vietnam; it chose to recognize the French-controlled government of Vietnam. The United States Military Assistance and Advisory Group aided France in the training of Vietnamese soldiers. However, the Viet Minh, the pro-communist Vietnamese, received aid from China because of the Border Campaign of 1950.

At this point, the United States was unsure of the success that France and its Vietnamese soldiers could have in the conflict, later known as the French Indochina War. It went on from 1946 until 1954, and the United States provided between 80 percent and 90 percent of the money and equipment to the French to prevent pro-communist Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh from gaining control of the country. In 1954, the French withdrew their troops because of their inability to continue aiding their forces.



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THE KOREAN WARThe Korean War began on June 25, 1950.

It was the culmination of many border clashes between North Korea and South Korea. The communist North Korea was attempted to exert its influence in South

Korea during South Korea’s free elections in May 1950. When communist

leaders were not elected, the North Koreans were angry, demanding that the

South Koreans have another election. When the South Koreans refused, the

army of North Korea launched an attack on South Korea. Over time, both the

United States, the People’s Republic of China, and the Soviet Union became involved in this conflict, as it become

part of the Cold War.

American trucks cross the 38th Parallelin Korea



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THE ROSENBERG TRIALThe trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who

were charged with giving information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union, began on

March 6, 1951. For both the Rosenbergs, there was a sufficient amount of evidence for the jury to find them guilty of conspiracy and espionage. The Rosenbergs were convicted on March 29,

1951 and later sentenced to death by the electric chair. Their convictions had helped Senator

McCarthy’s claims of communists infiltrating the United States government. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were the only two American citizens

killed for spying during the Cold War.Ethel (left) and Julius Rosenberg after their conviction



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U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1952

In the United States Presidential Election of 1952, President Harry Truman decided not to seek re-election for the Democratic Party. The Democrats selected Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson to run for their party. The Republicans chose popular war hero General Dwight

D. Eisenhower as their candidate. Eisenhower won in a landslide, ending twenty consecutive years of Democrats in the White House.

United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower,

Results of the 1952 Presidential

Election



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DEATH OF JOSEPH STALIN

On March 5, 1953, Joseph Stalin died of a cerebral hemorrhage. There was no potential successor to fill in for Stalin. The highest officials in the Communist Party stated that they

would jointly rule the Soviet Union, although a power struggle eventually took place. Nikita Khrushchev won the struggle and assumed control of the Soviet Union by the mid 1950s.

Joseph Stalin’s body lies in state at the House of Trades in Moscow, Russia Nikita Khrushchev



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END OF THE KOREAN WARWhen Eisenhower was campaigning for president of the United States, he had promised to go to Korea to negotiate an end to the conflict. India had proposed a ceasefire to the United Nations for North and South

Korea. Eisenhower took part in the talks and secretly threatened to use atom bombs against North Korea if a truce could not be reached. It agreed to a truce. It

was put into action on July 27, 1953. A demilitarized zone was established behind the front lines. Peace

talks occurred in Kaesong, the old capital of Korea. While both North Korea and the United States signed the truce agreement, South Korea refused to sign the

document.

Graphic shows how territory changed hands in the early

part of the Korean War



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THE GENEVA CONFERENCEAs predicted, the French lost to the Viet Minh and military leader

Vo Nguyen Giap at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. This battle marked the end of any involvement from the French in Indochina.

The French surrendered on May 7, 1954. During the Geneva Conference, the French were able to come up with a ceasefire

agreement with representatives from the Viet Minh. As part of the deal, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia were granted independence.

Another part of the agreement was that Vietnam would temporarily be split at the 17th parallel. The agreement also stated that the citizens of Vietnam would be free to move back and forth between the two states. In addition, elections would be held in the country, although they never took place. The North, referred to as

the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, was run by Ho Chi Minh and was a communist state. The south part of the country was a

non-communist state ran by the puppet government of Ngo Dinh Diem.

The Geneva Conference in 1954



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THE WARSAW PACTThe Warsaw Pact was an agreement that took

place in Eastern Europe and included East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Albania, Bulgaria, and the Soviet

Union. Its purpose was to establish the Communist alternative to NATO. The

Warsaw Pact, like NATO, had a consultative committee, civilian secretary general, a

military commander in chief, and a full staff of soldiers below them. Like NATO, the

members of the pact considered an attack on one to be an attack on all. The countries

involved in the Warsaw Pact would also not interfere in each other’s internal affairs and

problems, and they would respect their privacy.

The Presidential (formerly Governor’s) Palace, where the Warsaw Pact was

signed



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SPUTNIKThe first Sputnik, which was a satellite launched by the Soviets, was sent into

orbit on October 4, 1957. The impact of the successful launch of the satellite was

felt in the United States. The United States had failed in two launch attempts

for Project Vanguard, which had intended to launch the first artificial satellite into the orbit of earth. Not to be outdone, the United States launched many satellites

into orbit in rapid-fire succession. America did not want the Soviets to have better technology. Some of the satellites

that the United States launched were Project SCORE, Explorer 1, and the Courier 1B. Increased government

spending also went toward scientific research.

A model of the first Sputnik satellite



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CUBAN REVOLUTIONThe Cuban Revolution was the revolt that resulted

in the rise of Fidel Castro to power in the now Marxist Cuba. General Fulgencio Batista, who was

supported by the United States, was overthrown on January 1, 1959 by a

group known as the 26th of July Movement. Castro had been exiled to Mexico after being let out of a fifteen-year sentence early for attacking Batista’s government. While in Mexico, Castro gathered

more Cuban exiles to start planning for a revolution against Batista. The fighting raged for approximately three years, with the exiles slowly

closing in on Batista. Batista fled to the Dominican Republic. This enabled Castro to take control of

the island, with Manuel Urrutia Lleo being the first president under him. Soon, Cuba’s new communist

leaders became allied with the Soviet Union.

Fidel Castro in 1959



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FRANCIS GARY POWERSU.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers was shot down in his U-2 spy plane while flying at a high altitude over the Soviet Union on May 1, 1960. Powers was captured and

tried, eventually being convicted of espionage. He was sentenced to prison

for three years, in addition to being given seven years of hard labor. He only served twenty-one months of his sentence, as he was traded along with Frederic Pryor, an

American student, for Soviet KGB Colonel Vilyam Fisher in Berlin,

Germany. Powers’ capture proved the United States was spying on the Soviet

Union and the situation was embarrassing for President Eisenhower.

Francis Gary Powers



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In the U.S. Presidential Election of 1960, Richard M. Nixon, Eisenhower’s vice president, was the Republican candidate for the presidency. The Democrats had nominated Senator John F. Kennedy from Massachusetts. Senator Harry Byrd from Chicago ran under the

independent banner, with Strom Thurmond as a running mate. The election was very close in the popular vote, but Kennedy won the election with 303 electoral votes.

United States President John F.

Kennedy,


Election



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BAY OF PIGS INVASIONThe Bay of Pigs Invasion occurred between April 15–19, 1961. It was an unsuccessful attempted invasion in southwest Cuba by

Cuban exiles, headed by the CIA. They were attempting to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro. The invasion occurred shortly

after John F. Kennedy became president. When the invasion failed, it proved to be a

severe blemish for the Kennedy administration. In addition, it made Cuba’s Fidel Castro become very concerned about the tenuous relationship between the United

States and Cuba. Three major Central Intelligence Agency officials were forced to resign as well, with the most notable being

CIA Director Allen Dulles.The poster warns of the pending

invasion of the Bay of Pigs



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APOLLO PROGRAMAt his inauguration, John F. Kennedy

announced his intentions for the United States to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. This would become the start

of the Apollo Program. America did not want to be left behind in the space race, as they saw Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin become the first man to fly in space on

April 12, 1961. The next day, Congressmen were talking about catching up with the

Russians. Kennedy was determined to have the United States put a man on the moon before the Russians. Kennedy’s challenge

for an American to go to the moon was answered on July 20, 1969, when Neil

Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon.

President Kennedy announcing his intentions to go the moon on May 25, 1961



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JFK AND KHRUSHCHEVDuring a meeting in Vienna, Austria, in June 1961, United States President Kennedy and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev discussed issues that were pertinent to both countries.

Many people believed that the Soviet Union would test the American policy of Containment in Southeast Asia. However, after the failure at the Bay of Pigs and the building of the Berlin Wall, Kennedy was more determined than ever to not allow a communist threat

overtake Vietnam. Kennedy felt that if this occurred, it would damage the credibility of the United States in the eyes of its allies abroad. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson also

promised that South Vietnam President Ngo Dinh Diem would receive additional aid from the United States.

Both Kennedy and Johnson felt that the Diem’s forces would be able to defeat the Viet Minh on their own. Kennedy was against sending American soldiers to the region would be bad

for the foreign policy of the United States in the long run. However, the army of South Vietnam was very poor and could not put up much of a fight against the Republic of

Vietnam’s army. Some in the government suggested that United States soldiers be sent to the region in disguise, but Kennedy rejected this idea. However, Kennedy would increase the amount of assistance that was sent to the South Vietnamese army by sending in American

advisors and Green Baretes.



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THE BERLIN WALLConstruction of the Berlin Wall began on

August 13, 1961. Its purpose was to divide East Berlin and West Berlin. The wall was

being built by the Soviets in order to stop the flood of people who had been attempting to

make their way out of East Germany. During the construction of the wall, some of the

streets that were alongside the barrier were torn up so that cars and other vehicles would not be able to make their way through to the

other side. Soldiers were stationed at the wall, with orders to shoot anyone who tried

to escape from either side. In addition to this, minefields and chain fences were set up to

further prevent people from escaping. Construction of the Berlin Wall begins



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U.S. ROOTS IN VIETNAM When the French withdrew from Vietnam, the United States organized a conference to prevent Ho Chi Minh and the communists from controlling all of Vietnam. Vietnam was divided into two sections, North and South. Like Korea, the North was governed by Ho Chi Minh and his party. The South would be independent and have its own elections in 1956. A temporary government, backed by the United States, was set up in Saigon. The United States provided financial and military support to the South.

South Vietnamese who supported Ho Chi Minh made up a resistance group known as the National Liberation Front. Its military arm was known as the Viet Cong. The 1956 election never occurred. The United States became more involved in the conflict by 1962. The Republic of Vietnam, located in South Vietnam, was aided by the United States in its war against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, in the North, and Viet Cong forces operating in South Vietnam.

The map depicts the military regions of South Vietnam



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CUBAN MISSILE CRISISThe Soviets had been secretly installing

military bases on the island of Cuba, which was only 90 miles off the coast of the United States. In 1962, photographs from a U-2 spy plane revealed these bases appeared to have nuclear weapons. President John F. Kennedy ordered a “quarantine” of the island, which sparked a thirteen-day conflict that brought

the United States and the Soviet Union close to nuclear war. In the end, the Soviets

backed down and agreed to withdraw their nuclear missiles from Cuba, in exchange for a secret agreement by Kennedy guaranteeing

that the United States would not move against the Castro regime and would remove

their nuclear weapons from Turkey.

President Kennedy talks with his Cabinet in a meeting during the Cuban Missile

Crisis.



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KENNEDY ASSASSINATIONOn November 22, 1963, President John F.

Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Kennedy had been struck by gunshots while riding in his presidential motorcade through

Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas. The official explanation was that he was assassinated by

Lee Harvey Oswald, who fired shots from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book

Depository. This conclusion was made after a ten-month investigation by the Warren

Commission, which looked into the death of President Kennedy. After Kennedy was

declared dead at 1 p.m. at Parkland Hospital, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn

in as President while on Air Force One. Speculation persists that there may have been a

larger conspiracy behind the shooting rather than Oswald working as the lone gunman.

A photograph taken just seconds after the fatal shot to President Kennedy



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GULF OF TONKIN INCIDENTDuring the Gulf of Tonkin Incident in 1964,

President Johnson claimed that North Vietnamese naval vessels had fired upon two

American destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin. The destroyers that were attacked were the USS

Maddox and the USS Turner Joy. Information released years later revealed that the ships were

in North Vietnamese waters and intended to provoke an attack. The attack gave the United

States justification to become more involved in the Vietnam War. Shortly after, the Gulf of

Tonkin Resolution was passed by Congress. It allowed the president to use force to help any country in Southeast Asia that felt threatened

by “communist aggression” because of the fear of the “domino theory.”

The chart shows the United States Navy’s interpretation of what happened during the first Gulf of Tonkin incident.



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INCREASED U.S. INVOLVEMENT IN VIETNAM

On March 8, 1965, approximately 3,500 United States Marines were deployed to Vietnam. This was the first step in the increasing involvement of the United

States in the Vietnam War. Ho Chi Minh, leader of North Vietnam, stated he would

fight the Americans for as long as it would take. Over the next year, more

American soldiers would be deployed to Vietnam. By the end of the year, nearly

200,000 American troops had been deployed to the country. By 1968, there

would be 580,000. A Viet Cong soldier (lower right) is held by Americans



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In the United States Presidential Election of 1968, President Johnson declared that he would not be seeking re-election, mostly due to the ongoing controversy over the Vietnam War and the loss of control he had over the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party nominated Hubert Humphrey.

Richard Nixon was once again nominated for the Republican Party, while George Wallace proved to be a strong candidate for the independent third party candidate. After another close race in the popular

vote between the Democrats and Republicans, Nixon won the election with 301 electoral votes .

United States President Richard

M. Nixon


Election



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APOLLO 11The Apollo 11 mission was the first manned

space mission to land on the Moon. In addition, it was the fifth manned flight in the history of

the Apollo program. The mission was launched on July 16, 1969. The astronauts were

Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar

Module Pilot Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin. Four days later, Armstrong and Aldrin became the first men to land and walk on the moon. As stated

before, this fulfilled the late President Kennedy’s goal of reaching the moon by the end of the 1960s. Upon landing on the moon, Neil Armstrong stated “That’s one small step

for man, one giant leap for mankind.”Buzz Aldrin walks on the moon. Neil Armstrong took this photo.



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PARIS PEACE ACCORDSThe Paris Peace Accords ended all

American involvement in the Vietnam War. It was signed on January 27, 1973 by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam

(North Vietnam), the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), the United

States, and the Provisional Revolutionary Government that consisted of all

revolutionary groups in South Vietnam. The main goal of the accords was to end

the conflict in Vietnam and establish peace in the region. In addition, Congress

cut off the funding for the continued bombing of Indochina. The accords were

set up by Dr. Henry Kissinger of the United States and Le Duc Tho of

Vietnam.

The signing of the Paris Peace Accords



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NIXON RESIGNATIONUnited States President Richard M. Nixon

resigned from office on August 9, 1974 after evidence continued to come out that he was

involved in the Watergate scandal. That occurred when men on Nixon’s payroll broke

into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate Hotel

Complex in Washington, D.C., about two years earlier. When it was revealed that Nixon taped

conversations in many parts of the White House, tapes were released that directly

implicated Nixon as being involved in the break-in, and in a number of other questionable

activities. Shortly before Nixon was going to be impeached, he chose to resign from office. With his resignation, Vice President Gerald

Ford assumed the role of president.The Nixons leave the White House after Richard Nixon’s resignation



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NORTH VIETNAM WINSOn April 30, 1975, North Vietnam invaded South Vietnam. Shortly before this, the last

of the United States Marines were evacuated from the region. They were transported by

helicopters back to the American bases. The helicopters, however, were not able to take all of the South Vietnamese civilians who had opposed the Communists out. North Vietnamese troops captured many of the

buildings in the area. The South Vietnamese had no choice but to surrender. The North Vietnamese had attained their goal, which was the fall of the Saigon regime in South

Vietnam. The two countries were now united under a communist government.

North Vietnamese leaderHo Chi Minh



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IRANIAN REVOLUTIONThe Iranian Revolution started on January 16, 1979. It was the transformation of Iran from a monarchy to an Islamic Republic.

The pro-Western Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was ousted from power. In his place, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini became

the leader of the Islamic Republic. The interesting part of the revolution was that it

did not contain many of the aspects of a traditional revolution, such as a military rebellion or a war. Many thought that the

regime of Pahlavi would never be overthrown. The revolution was prophetic in

that the Iranian leaders opposed both the United States and the Soviet Union, and set up a government based on the laws of Islam.

Ayatollah Khomeini departs a plane



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SALT IIThe Salt II nuclear weapons treaty was

signed on June 18, 1979 by Leonid Breznev of the Soviet Union and United States President Jimmy Carter. The goal

was to have an eventual halt of the development of strategic nuclear

weapons. The Salt II was designed to discourage the Soviets from arming their

missiles with new nuclear technology. The treaty also banned new missile programs from being created. The

agreement signaled the understanding that nuclear war was not a reasonable or

acceptable option for either side.President Carter (left) and Breznev sign the

Salt II nuclear treaty



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IRANIAN HOSTAGE CRISISThe Iranian Hostage Crisis was a diplomatic crisis

between Iran and the United States. During this incident, fifty-three United States diplomats were taken hostage by members of the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam’s Line. The reason that the Americans were being held hostage was that they perceived Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the former Shah of Iran, to be a war criminal and demanded that the United States return him to Iran for trial.

Pahlavi was in the United States to receive medical treatment. The American diplomats were

held hostage by the Iranians, who would not release them until their demands were met. Iran and the United States eventually worked out a deal, releasing the hostages four hundred forty-

four days after they were captured.

An American hostage being escorted by the Iranian captors



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THE MIRACLE ON ICEThe “Miracle on Ice” was the nickname that was given to the victory of the United States Olympic Hockey team over the Soviet Union

in the final group stage game of the 1980 Winter Olympics. The event occurred on

February 22, 1980. The American team was comprised of athletes for amateur and

college level teams, and was coached by Herb Brooks. The United States was able to defeat the Soviets 4-3. After this, the United

States defeated Finland 4-2 in the championship game for the gold medal. The

Soviet Union ended up winning the silver medal.

United States captain Mike Eruzione celebrates after scoring a key goal

against the Soviets.



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In the U.S. Presidential Election of 1980, the contest pitted incumbent Jimmy Carter against Ronald Reagan, former governor of California and the Republican candidate.

Carter had been disliked by the American public for his handling of the Iranian Hostage Crisis and the terrible state of the economy. This enabled Reagan to win the election by the

wide margin, capturing 489 of the electoral votes compared with Carter’s 49.

United States President Ronald

Reagan


Election



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MIKHAIL GORBACHEVMikhail Gorbachev became the General Secretary of

the Communist Party on March 11, 1985, making him the leader of the Soviet Union. He was able to defeat Grigory Romanov in the election that was held after the death of former leader Konstantin

Chernenko. In winning, Gorbachev became the first leader to be born after the Russian Revolution of

1917. In addition, Gorbachev had a different approach to managing the Soviet Union. He had three main programs that he wanted to initiate,

which included glasnost, perestroika, and demokratizatisya, and uskoreinye, which called for

openness, restructuring, democratization, and improvement of economic development,

respectively.Soviet leaderMikhail Gorbachev



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CHERNOBYL DISASTERThe Chernobyl Disaster in Pripyat, Ukraine,

in the Soviet Union was regarded as the worst nuclear power plant accident in history The

power plant exploded on April 26, 1986 around 1 a.m. There was a tremendous

amount of radioactive fallout in the area, close to thirty to forty times the amount of fallout that resulted from the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan. Over half of the fallout landed in Belarus. Many areas in Russia,

Ukraine, and Belarus were severely contaminated, culminating in the evacuation of close to 336,000 people. The area around

Chernobyl is still uninhabitable. The aftermath of the Chernobyl Disaster, which shows the wreckage of the fourth

reactor at the power plant



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REYKJAVIK SUMMITThe Reykjavik Summit was a meeting in October 1986, between U.S. President Ronald Reagan and

Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. It was held in the capital of Iceland. Many topics were discussed,

including human rights and the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviets. Gorbachev wanted to

focus on arms control talks. A proposal was made to eliminate Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces

weapons from Europe. The Soviets also wanted to have a complete ban of ballistic missiles by 1996.

The United States only wanted to reduce the ballistic missiles by half after the Strategic Defense

Initiative had been tested and shared. Gorbachev backed out of the talks, feeling there was a

connection between the SDI program and the ban of INF weaponry.

The city of Reykjavik



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IRAN-CONTRA SCANDALThe Iran-Contra Scandal was announced to the American public on November 3, 1986.

It was a political scandal in which the Reagan administration announced that it had been selling weaponry to Iran to free the hostages that were being held during

the Iranian Hostage Crisis. In addition, the profits that were being made from the sale of weapons to the Iranians were being used

to fund the Sandinista rebels who were revolting against the government of

Nicaragua. Both actions were opposed to stated U.S. policy. President Reagan tried to calm the situation, saying that weapons

were given to Iran, but not for the exchange of human life.

The symbol of the Sandinista National Liberation Front in Nicaragua



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In the U.S. Presidential Election of 1988, Ronald Reagan did not run again for the Republican Party due to exercising his maximum two terms in office. However, Reagan’s vice president, George H.W. Bush, won the Republican nomination. He was pitted against Michael Dukakis, the governor of Massachusetts and the Democratic candidate. Bush was

able to win the election in another Republican landslide, capturing 426 electoral votes.

United States President George

H.W. Bush


Election



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FALL OF THE BERLIN WALLSoviet reforms and its eventual state of

bankruptcy allowed the eastern part of Europe to rise up against the communist governments. On

November 9, 1989, the border that had been dividing East and West Germany was finally

opened. This occurred after weeks of civil unrest within the country. Upon hearing this decree, a

swarm of East Germans rushed the wall, with the guards at the wall caught off guard by the

massive amounts of people who were coming. The East Germans were able to climb onto the wall and cross it, meeting up with friends and

family that had been in West Germany. Over the new few weeks, parts of the wall were taken by those wanting a piece of history. It was later torn down with traditional construction equipment.

A crane removes part of the Berlin Wall toward the end of 1989



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THE MALTA CONFERENCEThe Malta Conference was a meeting

between U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. It

took place on December 2-3, 1989. While no agreements were signed, it allowed the United States and Soviet Union to discuss

the changes that were taking place in Europe and removing the Iron Curtain

from the country. Both leaders declared that this was a new era for the world, one that would be peaceful and consist of no

war and violence. This was a major turning point in the relations between the

East and West. Many view this conference as the beginning of the end of the Cold

War.

Gorbachev (left) and President Bush share dinner and discuss policies during the

Malta Conference.



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BUSH’S CHRISTMAS NIGHT SPEECH/GORBACHEV

RESIGNSAfter the presidents of Russia,

Ukraine, and Belarus formed the Commonwealth of Independent States on December 8, 1991, it

meant the Soviet Union came to an end. Gorbachev did not want to, but he eventually agreed with Russian President Boris Yeltsin to

end the Soviet Union on December 17.

A week later, on Christmas Day, Gorbachev resigned as the leader of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union formally ended the next day. Upon

hearing the news, Yeltsin called United States President George

H.W. Bush to alert him. That night, Bush spoke with the American

public on television, stating that the Cold War had officially ended.

Gorbachev resigns from office



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LEGACY OF THE COLD WARIn the end, the Cold War cost the United States up to $8 trillion in military costs. In addition,

more than 100,000 Americans died in Vietnam and Korea as a result of the United States’

involvement in these conflicts. The Soviets spent even more of their resources to maintain their superpower status. In the end, the cost of the

incessant arms race drove the Soviet Union into bankruptcy and then out of existence.

The end of the Cold War left the United States a major player in the post-Cold War global economic and political systems. By 1989,

America was accountable for alliances with fifty different countries, with United States soldiers stationed in one hundred seventeen countries.

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