Vietnam WarDates: November 1, 1955 - April 30, 1975

The Vietnam War was fought between communist North Vietnam and the government of Southern Vietnam. The North was supported by communist countries such as the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union. The South was supported by anti-communist countries, primarily the United States.

The United States lost the Vietnam War. It lasted for twenty years, something the US never expected when it joined in the fight. Not only did the US lose the war and the country of Vietnam to the communists, the US lost prestige in the eyes of the world.

Before the War

Prior to World War II Vietnam had been a colony of the French. During World War II the Japanese took control of the area. When the war ended there was a power vacuum. Vietnamese revolutionary and communist Ho Chi Minh wanted freedom for the country of Vietnam. However, the Allies all agreed that Vietnam belonged to the French.

Containment

Eventually Ho Chi Minh and his rebels began to fight the French. Ho's soldiers in the north were called the Viet Minh. Ho tried to get US help, but they didn't want Ho to succeed as they were worried about communism spreading throughout Southeast Asia. When Ho began to have success against the French, the US became more concerned. In 1950 they began sending aid to the French in Vietnam.

The US Enters the War

In 1954 the French lost a major battle to the Vietnamese. They decided to pull out of Vietnam. The country was divided up into a communist Northern Vietnam and a Southern Vietnam. It was supposed to be reunited under a single election in 1956. However, the United States did not want the country to become communist. They helped Ngo Dinh Diem get elected in the South.

Major Events During the War

● March 1959 - Ho Chi Minh declared all out war in order to unite Vietnam under one rule.

● December 1961 - US military advisors begin to take a direct role in the war.

● August 1964 - The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution is passed by the US Congress after two US Destroyers were attacked by the North Vietnamese. This allowed US troops to use armed force in the area.

● March 8, 1965 - The first official US combat troops arrive in Vietnam. The US begins a bombing campaign of Northern Vietnam called Operation Rolling Thunder.

● January 30, 1968 - North Vietnam launches the Tet Offensive attacking around 100 cities in Southern Vietnam.

● July 1969 - President Nixon begins the withdrawal of US troops.

● March 1972 - The North Vietnamese attack across the border in the Easter Offensive.

President Johnson's War Plan

President Lyndon Johnson had the plan to help the Southern Vietnamese get strong enough to fight the North rather than having the US win the war for them. By putting limits on the troops and not allowing them to attack Northern Vietnam from 1965 to 1969, the US had no chance to win.

A Difficult War

Not only were the US troops limited in what they could do strategically by President Johnson, the jungles of Vietnam proved a difficult place to fight a war. It was very difficult to find the enemy in the jungles and also difficult to determine who was the enemy. The troops had to deal with booby traps and constant ambushes from people they thought they were fighting for.

The US Exits the War

When Richard Nixon became president he decided to end US involvement in the war. He first began removing troops from Vietnam in July of 1969. On January 27, 1973 a ceasefire was negotiated. A few months later in March the final US troops were removed from Vietnam. In April of 1975 South Vietnam surrendered to North Vietnam. Soon the country became officially unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Vietnam was now a communist country. The US had lost the Vietnam War and also taken a major blow in the Cold War.

Vietnam Veteran's Memorialin Washington, D.C.

The names of those killed ormissing-in-action are listed on the wall.

Source: U.S. Federal Government

A Proxy War

The Vietnam War can be considered a "proxy" war in the Cold War. Although the Soviet Union and the United States did not directly go to war, they each supported a different side in the war.

Facts About the Vietnam War

● The Viet Cong were Vietnamese rebels in the South who fought against the Southern Vietnam government and the United States.

● North and South Vietnam were divided at the 17th parallel.

● Ho Chi Minh died during the war in 1969. The city of Saigon was later renamed to Ho Chi Minh City in his honor.

● The US chosen president of the South Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem, was not a good leader. He was hated by many Vietnamese and was executed in November of 1963. This was not a good sign for the US hopes in the area.

● 58,220 US soldiers died in the Vietnam War. It is estimated that millions of Vietnamese died either in battle or as civilians caught in the crossfire.

1.

The Space Race

After World War II, the rocket foreshadowed a new style of warfare in which nuclear bombs could be delivered quickly across the world. War might begin--and end--suddenly, decisively, without warning.

As the Space Race began, the United States and the Soviet Union were building rockets to use as long-range weapons. The United States initially favored bombers, but the Soviets preferred missiles and thus took an early lead in rocket technology.

A rocket able to carry a bomb across the globe also could be used to loft machines and men into orbit. The United States and the Soviet Union engaged in a long competition to develop rockets for both warfare and the exploration of space.

Racing to the Moon

I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project...will be more exciting, or more impressive to mankind, or more important...and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish...." President John F. Kennedy, 1961

That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Neil Armstrong, on the Moon, 1969

 At the start, there were no set rules for the Space Race. What was the goal? What would

count as winning? For Americans, President Kennedy's declaration focused the Space Race on a clear goal:

landing a man on the Moon before the Soviets. The Space Race became a race to the Moon. For years, the Soviets officially denied being in a race to the Moon. Now there is ample evidence, including items displayed here, that they indeed competed to reach the Moon first.Publicity vs. secrecy

The Space Race became a symbol of the broad ideological and political contest between two rival world powers. The way the two competitors organized to achieve their goals in space highlighted their basic differences.

The United States had separate civilian and military agencies, and only the military space programs were secret. Civilian space activities--especially the race to the Moon--were openly publicized for the world to see.

In the Soviet Union, all space programs were integrated into a secretive military-industrial bureaucracy. Launches were not announced in advance, and only the successes were publicized

Satellite SpyingPhotography from spy satellites is a significant legacy of the Space Race and the Cold War. Reconnaissance was one of the first priorities of spaceflight.

From 1960 to 1972, in a reconnaissance project code-named Corona, the United States routinely photographed the Soviet Union from space. The Corona project rivaled in difficulty the public drama of sending men to the Moon, but its successes are generally unknown. Spying from space is top secret.

Corona was mostly a response to the fear of nuclear attack by an intensely secretive Soviet Union. America's leaders faced an urgent question: what were the Soviets actually doing behind the Iron Curtain? Corona provided vital answers.

Changing Directions

Before the race to the Moon ended, both the Americans and the Soviets were planning their separate futures in space. After the competitive short-term goals of manned spaceflight had been met in the 1960s, many advocates of space exploration envisioned a permanent human presence in space.

But support for manned missions to the Moon and beyond declined, and the focus for human activity in space shifted to near-Earth orbit. During the 1970s and 1980s, the United States and the Soviet Union took different approaches to manned spaceflight around Earth.

Korean WarDates: June 25, 1950 to July 27, 1953

The Korean War was fought between South Korea and communist North Korea. It was the first major conflict of the Cold War as the Soviet Union supported North Korea and the United States supported South Korea. The war ended with little resolution. The countries are still divided today and North Korea is still ruled by a communist regime.

US Battleship during Korean WarSource: U.S. Navy

Leaders:

The leader and Prime Minister of North Korea was Kim Il-sung. North Korea's chief commander was Choi Yong-kun.

The President of South Korea was Syngman Rhee. The South Korean Army was led by Chung II-kwon. The United States Army and United Nations forces were lead by General Douglas MacArthur. The US President at the start of the war was Harry Truman. Dwight D. Eisenhower was president by the end of the war.Countries Involved

Supporting North Korea was the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China. Supporting South Korea was the United States, Great Britain, and the United Nations.

Before the War

Before World War II the Korean Peninsula had been a part of Japan. After the war it needed to be divided up. The Northern half went under the control of the Soviet Union and the Southern half under the control of the United States. The two sides were divided at the 38th parallel.

Eventually two separate states formed with North Korea forming a communist government with Kim Il-sung as leader and South Korea forming a capitalist government under the rule of Syngman Rhee.The two sides did not get along and there were constant skirmishes and battles along the border at the 38th parallel. Attempts were being made to negotiate a unified country, but they were going nowhere.

North Korea Attacks

On June 25, 1950, 75,000 members of the North Korean People’s Army invaded South Korea. The South Korean Army fled and forces from the United Nations came to help out. The United States joined a month later and provided the majority of the United Nations forces . Soon the South Korea government only occupied a small part of Korea on the southern tip.

The War

At first the United Nations was only trying to defend South Korea, however, after the first summer of fighting, President Truman decided to go on the offensive. He said the war was

now about liberating North Korea from communism.

Battle of Inchon

General George MacArthur led the UN forces on an attack at the Battle of Inchon. The Battle was a success and

MacArthur was able to move in and rout much of the North Korean army. He soon had retaken control of the city of Seoul as well as South Korea back up to the 38th parallel.

China Enters the War

MacArthur continued to be aggressive and pushed the North Koreans all the way to the northern border. However, the Chinese were not happy with this and sent their army to enter the war. At this point President

Truman replaced MacArthur with General Matthew Ridgway.

Back to the 38th Parallel

Ridgway fortified the border just north of the 38th Parallel. Here the two sides would battle for the rest of the war. North Korea would attack the south at various points and the UN army would retaliate trying to prevent

more attacks.

End of the War

Negotiations continued for much of the war, but President Truman did not want to appear weak. When Eisenhower became president, he was much more willing to offer concessions to end the war.

On July 17, 1953 a treaty was signed that ended the war. Few things had changed as a result of the war. Both countries would remain independent and the border would remain at the 38th parallel. However, between the

two countries a 2 mile demilitarized zone was placed to act as a buffer in hopes to prevent future wars.

Facts About the Korean War

● Although Korea was not strategic to the US, they entered the war because they did not want to appear soft on communism. They also wanted to protect Japan, which they did consider strategic.

● The TV show M*A*S*H was set during the Korean War.

● The situation today in Korea is similar to what it was 50+ years ago after the war. Little has changed.

● It is estimated that around 2.5 million people were killed or wounded during the war. Around 40,000 US soldiers died in the war. The civilian casualties were especially high with estimates of around 2 million vilians

killed.● It is thought that President Truman

strongly considered using nuclear weapons during the war

The Korean War Veteran's Memorial in

Berlin WallAfter WW2 (1945) the country of Germany was divided by the Allies into four zones, Great Britain, France, USA an Soviet Union each controlled a different zone. The capital of Germany, Berlin, was located in the Soviet Union zone but control of the city itself was also split into four zones between the four countries. Tensions between the communist East (Soviet) and democratic West (GB,Fr, US) began to mount. The West was determined to stop the spread of communism. The West also wanted the country of Gemany to be united under one democratic government. The Soviet Uniion did not want this and both sides were at odds over the future of Germany.

On June 24, 1948 the Soviets blocked all rail and road traffic to Berlin. They cut off the electricity coming from the Soviet part of the city and halted all traffic going in and out of the city. When the blockade first started, the city of Berlin had around 36 days worth of food. They also needed tons of coal for energy and other items such as medical supplies. Without going to war or giving up the city of Berlin, the only option the western countries had was to try and fly in supplies. This was huge task. There were over 2 million people living in the city. The army estimated it would take 1500 tons (2000 lbs.= 1 ton) of food each day to keep them alive. The Soviets did not believe that the airlift would work and thought that Great Britain and the US would give it up. The airlift continued for over ten months and on May 12, 1949 the Soviet Union stopped the blockade, ending the airlifts.

The Wall

The Berlin Wall was built by the communist government of East Berlin in 1961. The wall separated East Berlin and West Berlin. It was built in order to prevent people from fleeing East Berlin. In many ways it was the perfect symbol of the "Iron Curtain" that separated the democratic western countries and the communist countries of Eastern Europe throughout the Cold War.

How it All Started

After World War II the country of Germany ended up dividing into two separate countries. East Germany became a communist country under the control of the Soviet Union. At the same time West Germany was a democratic country and allied with Britain, France, and the United States. The initial plan was that the country would eventually be reunited, but this didn't happen for a long time.

The City of Berlin

Berlin was the capital of Germany. Even though it was located in the eastern half of the country, the city was controlled by all four major powers; the Soviet Union, the United States, Britain, and France.

The Korean War Veteran's Memorial in

Defections

As people in East Germany began to realize that they did not want to live under the rule of the Soviet Union and communism, they started to leave the eastern part of the country and move to the west. These people were called defectors.

Over time more and more people left. The Soviet and East German leaders began to worry that they were losing too many people. Over the course of the years 1949 to 1959, over 2 million people left the country. In 1960 alone, around 230,000 people defected.

Although the East Germans tried to keep people from leaving, it was fairly easy for people to leave the city of Berlin because the inside of the city was controlled by all four major powers.

Reagan at the Berlin WallSource: White House Photographic Office

Building the Wall

Finally, the Soviets and the East German leaders had had enough. On August 12th and 13th of 1961 they built a wall around Berlin to prevent people from leaving. At first the wall was just a barbed wire fence. Later it would be rebuilt with concrete blocks 12 feet high and four feet wide.

The Wall is Torn Down

Around that time the Soviet Union was beginning to collapse. They were losing their hold on East Germany. A few years later on November 9, 1989 the announcement was made. The borders were open and people could freely move between Eastern and Western Germany. Much of the wall was torn down by people chipping away as they celebrated the end to a divided Germany. On October 3, 1990 Germany was officially reunified into a single country.

Interesting Facts About the Berlin Wall

● The Eastern Germany government called the wall the Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart. The Western Germans often referred to it as the Wall of Shame.

● Around 20% of the East German population left the country in the years leading up to the building of the wall.

● The country of East Germany was officially called the German Democratic Republic or GDR.

● There were also many guard towers along the wall. Guards were ordered to shoot anyone attempting to escape.

● It is estimated that around 5000 people escaped over or through the wall during the 28 years it stood. Around 200 were killed trying to escape.

L eaders of the Cold War TRUMAN

What is Harry S. Truman most known for?

Harry S. Truman became president when Franklin D. Roosevelt died. He is most known for putting an end to World War II in the Pacific by dropping the atomic bomb on Japan. He is also known for the Marshall Plan, the Truman Doctrine, and the Korean War.

Harry S. Truman's Presidency

President Roosevelt died shortly after being elected for his fourth term and Truman became president. World War II was still raging at the time, but things were looking up for the Allies. Just a few months later the Germans surrendered, but President Truman still had to deal with the Japanese.

The Atomic Bomb

The Japanese had all but been defeated in World War II, except they were refusing to surrender. An invasion of Japan would likely cost hundreds of thousands of American lives. At the same time the United States had just developed a horrible new weapon, the atomic bomb. Truman had to decide whether to invade or use the bomb. In an effort to save the lives of U.S. soldiers he decided to use the bomb.

The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945. A few days later they dropped another on Nagasaki. The devastation of these cities was unlike anything ever seen. The Japanese surrendered shortly after.

International Issues

After World War II there were still many issues that Truman had to deal with. First was the reconstruction of Europe, which was ravaged by the war. He used the Marshall Plan to help European nations rebuild.

Another major post-war issue was the Soviet Union and communism. The Soviet Union had become a major power and wanted to spread communism throughout the world. Truman helped to form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) with Canada and Western Europe. These countries would help to protect each other from the Soviet Union. This also started the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

With the spread of communism, wars began to break out in other areas of the world. Truman sent U.S. troops to Korea to fight in the Korean War. He also sent aid to Vietnam.

L eaders of the Cold War Eisenhower

What is Dwight D. Eisenhower most known for?

Dwight D. Eisenhower is best known for being the supreme commander of the Allied forces during World War II. During his two terms as president, the country experienced economic prosperity and peace.

Dwight D. Eisenhower's Presidency

Eisenhower was very popular and easily won the 1952 presidential election. Eisenhower's two presidential terms were a time of economic prosperity and relative peace. Some of his accomplishments include:

● Eisenhower Doctrine - Eisenhower wanted to stop the spread of communism. He stated that any country could request aid or

military help from the U.S. if it was being threatened by another. This was designed to stop the Soviet Union.

● Interstate Highway System - He established the highway system we use today for travel around the country. He saw this as something that was needed to help the economy, but also as important militarily in the case of an invasion by enemies.

● Civil Rights Acts - He proposed the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960. He also supported the integration of schools and created a permanent civil rights office in the Department of Justice.

● Korean War - He helped to negotiate an end to the Korean War in 1953. He also put American troops at the border between South Korea and North Korea to keep peace. There are still American troops there today.

L eaders of the Cold War

What is John F. Kennedy most known for?

John F. Kennedy is most famous for being assassinated early in his presidency. He is also famous for the Bay John F. Kennedy's Presidency

When Kennedy was elected he gave one of the most stirring inaugural speeches in history. In this speech he said the famous words "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country." His presidency was marked by major events in the Cold War. These events included the building of the Berlin Wall in Germany by the communists, the Bay of Pigs, and the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Bay of Pigs

Just a few months after becoming president, Kennedy decided to try and help Cuban rebels overthrow the communist Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Unfortunately, the invasion failed miserably when the CIA-assisted rebels were soundly defeated. This event is called the Bay of Pigs because of the name of the bay where the invasion took place.

Cuban Missile Crisis

In 1962 the United States discovered that the Soviet Union was building secret missile bases in Cuba. These missiles would be able to strike the U.S. with nuclear bombs. In the coming days the U.S. and the Soviet Union came close to nuclear war. The U.S. quarantined Cuba in order to keep the missiles out. After negotiations, the Soviet Union agreed to dismantle the bases. In return, the U.S. agreed to never attack Cuba and to remove missiles from Turkey.

How did he die?

On November 22, 1963 John F. Kennedy was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald while riding in a convertible car in Dallas, Texas.of Pigs invasion and the Cuban missile crisis.

L eaders of the Cold War What is Richard M. Nixon most known for?

Richard Nixon is most known for being the only president to resign from office as a result of the Watergate Scandal. He is also known for ending

the Vietnam War and improving U.S. relations with the Soviet Union and China.

Richard M. Nixon's Presidency

Although Nixon's presidency will forever be marked by the Watergate scandal, there were many other major events and accomplishments during his presidency. They included:

● Man on the Moon - Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the Moon on July 21, 1969. Nixon spoke to the astronauts during their historic moonwalk.

● Visit to China - Communist China had become a closed country, not meeting with the United States. Nixon managed to visit Chairman Mao and opened up important future relations with China.

● Vietnam War - Nixon ended the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. With the Paris Peace Accords of 1973, U.S. troops were pulled out of Vietnam.

● Treaty with the Soviet Union - Nixon also made a historic visit to the Soviet Union, meeting with their leader Leonid Brezhnev and signing two very important treaties: the SALT I Treaty and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Both were an effort to reduce arms and the chance of World War III.

Watergate

In 1972 five men were caught breaking into the Democratic Party headquarters in the Watergate buildings in Washington D.C. It turned out that these men were working for the Nixon administration. Nixon denied any knowledge of the break-in. He said that his employees had done this without his permission. However, later tapes were discovered that had recorded Nixon discussing the break-ins. He clearly had knowledge of them and had lied.

The congress was getting ready to impeach Nixon and it was believed that the Senate had the votes to kick him out of office. Instead of going through a brutal trial, Nixon resigned and vice president Gerald Ford became president.

L eaders of the Cold War What is Ronald Reagan most known for?

Ronald Reagan is most known for being president during the end of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. He's also famous for his economic policy called "Reaganomics" as well as for being a Hollywood movie star who became president.

Ronald Reagan's Presidency

Ronald Reagan's goal as president was to "go down in history as the President who made Americans believe in themselves again". In the years prior to his presidency the United States had experienced high inflation, unemployment, and rapidly rising gas prices. In addition, several American citizens were being held hostage in Iran and they had been there for over a year. Reagan wanted people to feel confident in their own abilities and to not rely on the government to take care of everything.

The Cold War

For many years the United States had been in what was called a "Cold War" with the Soviet Union. Both countries had the atomic bomb and were considered the two Super Powers of the world. Each side was scared if the other decided to drop the bomb, what would happen.

When Reagan became president, he was determined to make the U.S. stronger than the Soviet Union. He denounced the Soviet Union and spent lots of money building up the military and nuclear arsenal.

However, in 1985 when Mikhail Gorbachev became leader of the Soviet Union, Reagan saw an opportunity for peace. The two leaders agreed to reduce their stockpile of nuclear missiles. Reagan is famous for his speech at the Berlin Wall where he said to Gorbachev "Mr. Chairman, tear down this wall". Two years later, in 1989, the Berlin Wall, separating communist East Germany from democratic West Germany, was torn down. The Cold War was over.

L eaders of the Cold War Stalin had been General Secretary of the Communist Party since 1922. He had been growing in power and control. After Lenin's death, Stalin took over as sole leader of the Soviet Union.

Purges and Murder

Stalin was one of the most brutal leaders in world history. He had anyone that didn't agree with him killed. He also caused famines in areas of the country so people he wanted dead would starve. Throughout his rule he would order purges where millions of people he thought were against him would be killed or put into slave labor camps. Historians aren't sure how many people he had killed, but they estimate between 20 to 40 million.

CollectivizationStalin tried to collectivize farms. Collectivization meant taking the land from owners of all farms and joining it into large farms run by the government. Communist officials then let farmers work the new farms and told them to turn the harvest over to the government. They did not work well. Because they were not paid much money, and whatever they grew went to the state, the workers did not try their best. The best farming worked on very small bits of land given to the peasants to grow what they liked. On these pieces of land, farmers could keep what they grew. In 1938 these parts of land were 4% of Soviet farmland. However, they grew 20% of its produce.

World War II

At the start of World War II, Stalin formed an alliance with Adolf Hitler and Germany. However, Hitler hated Stalin and the Germans made a surprise attack on the Soviet Union in 1941. In order to fight off the Germans, Stalin joined the Allies of Britain and the United States. After a terrible war, where many on both sides died, the Germans were defeated.

After World War II, Stalin set up puppet governments in the Eastern European countries that the Soviet Union had "freed" from Germany. These governments were ran by the Soviet Union. This started the Cold War between the two world superpowers, the Soviet Union and the United States.

Stalin and the West

Stalin had been suspicious of the West since the inception of the Soviet Union, and once the Soviet Union had entered the war, Stalin had demanded the Allies open up a second front against Germany. 

Both British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt argued that such an action would result in heavy casualties. This only deepened Stalin's suspicion of the West, as millions of Russians died.

Stalin and Foreign Relations

Convinced of the Allies' hostility toward the Soviet Union, Stalin became obsessed with the threat of an invasion from the West. Between 1945 and 1948, he established Communist regimes in many Eastern European countries, creating a vast buffer zone between Western Europe and "Mother Russia." 

Western powers interpreted these actions as proof of Stalin's desire to place Europe under Communist control, thus formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to counter Soviet influence. 

Earlier, he had ordered the Soviet representative to the United Nations to boycott the Security Council because it refused to accept the newly formed Communist People's Republic of China into the United Nations. When the

resolution to support South Korea came to a vote in the Security Council, the Soviet Union was unable to use its veto.

L eaders of the Cold War Mikhail Gorbachev was the last leader of the Soviet Union before it dissolved in 1991. He brought many reforms to the Soviet Union including new freedoms which eventually led to many countries breaking away from the union claiming independence. His relationships with western leaders such as Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher helped bring an end to the Cold War. ecoming the Leader of the Soviet Union

Within a few short years, Gorbachev gained considerable influence on the Politburo. After two aging leaders died in 1984 and 1985, the Communist Party wanted someone young and healthy to take over as leader. On March 11, 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev became the General Secretary of the Soviet Union.

When Gorbachev took over as leader, the Soviet economy was struggling. He wanted to reform the economy as well as the government. In order to do this he needed support, so he began to replace some of the older members of the politburo with younger men who shared his vision.

Glasnost and Perestroika

Gorbachev announced two main areas of reform. He called them Glasnost and Perestroika. Glasnost called for increased openness in government. It also allowed for some freedom of speech and less censorship. Perestroika was a restructuring of the economy and industry. It allowed for some private ownership and economic reforms to try and improve the Soviet economy.

Peace with the West

Gorbachev also made attempts to end the Cold War and improve relations with the west. He met with US President Ronald Reagan and signed the INF treaty regarding nuclear weapons. He also removed Soviet troops from Afghanistan ending the Soviet Afghanistan War.

Gorbachev also indicated that the Soviet Union would no longer interfere with other countries in Eastern Europe. This caused a major change in the world. Without the fear of the Soviet Union, countries such as Eastern Germany, Poland, and Hungary got rid of their communist governments. In 1989 the Berlin Wall in Germany was torn down.

Collapse of the Soviet Union

Although Gorbachev's reforms allowed for more freedom, many states used this freedom to protest and eventually claim independence from the Soviet Union. By the end of 1991, the Soviet Union had

collapsed. On December 25, 1991 Gorbachev resigned as leader of the Soviet Union and the Union was split into 15 separate countries.

L eaders of the Cold War Mao Zedong (also called Mao Tse-tung) founded the People's Republic of China and was the primary leader of the country from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976. Mao also led the communist revolution in China and fought against the Nationalist Party in the Chinese Civil War. His ideas and philosophies regarding communism and Marxism are often referred to as Maoism.

Chinese Civil WarAfter President Sun Yat-sen died in 1925, Chiang Kai-shek took over the government and the Kuomintang. Chiang no longer wanted the communists as part of his government. He broke the alliance with the communists and began killing and imprisoning communist leaders. After years of fighting, the Kuomintang decided to destroy the communists once and for all. In 1934 Chiang took a million soldiers and attacked the main communist camp. Mao convinced the leaders to retreat.

The Long March

The retreat of the communists from the Kuomintang army is called the Long March today. Over the course of a year Mao led the communists over 7,000 miles across southern China and then north to Shaanxi province. Although most of the soldiers died during the march, around 8,000 survived. These 8,000 were loyal to Mao. Mao Zedong was now the leader of the communist party (also called the CPC).

More Civil War

The Civil War subsided for a while when the Japanese invaded China and during World War II, but picked up again quickly after the war. This time Mao and the communists were stronger. They soon routed the Kuomintang. Chiang Kai-shek fled to the island of Taiwan.

Founding the People's Republic of China

In 1949 Mao Zedong founded the People's Republic of China. Mao was the Chairman of the Communist Party and the absolute leader of China. He was a brutal leader, insuring his power by executing anyone who disagreed with him. He also set up labor camps where millions of people were sent and many died.

The Great Leap Forward

In 1958 Mao announced his plan to industrialize China. He called it the Great Leap Forward. Unfortunately the plan backfired. Soon the country experienced a terrible famine. It is estimated that 40 million people starved to death.This horrible failure caused Mao to lose power for a time. He was still part of the government, but no longer had absolute power.

The Cultural Revolution

In 1966 Mao made his comeback in the Cultural Revolution. Many young peasants followed him and formed the Red Guard. These loyal soldiers helped him to take over. Schools were shut down and people who disagreed with Mao were either killed or sent to the farms to be re-educated through hard labor.\

Citationshttps://www.biography.com/dictator/joseph-stalinhttps://www.ducksters.com/history/cold_war/summary.php