What’s Cooler than being Cool? Cold War!Name: _____________________________________ Period: _____

The Aftermath of WWII After Hitler’s defeat in Europe, two superpowers emerged. The Soviet Union and the United States were clearly the two most powerful countries in the world. Without Hitler as a common enemy, there was no reason for the U.S. and Soviet Union to remain allies. Adding to an already tense political climate was the new existence of nuclear weapons. Both sides wanted to outmaneuver the other for political and economic control throughout the world, but also desired to avoid actually fighting one another for fear of risking nuclear war and the end of the world.

Required InformationIt is essential to identify the answers to the typical historical questions. (Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?) Every group member will fill in a table identifying this general information for their group’s topic.

In addition to answering these general questions, each group will be required to answer some specific group questions. These can be found on the question sheet that follows.

Note: The individual group questions are only there to make sure that every group explains some of the most important material. Although the specific group questions must be answered, your presentation should not be limited to only answering these questions. Successful dramatizations will go much deeper, and may include: Interesting quotes, a clear timeline of events, numbers that stand out (such as casualties or important dates), how specific countries or groups reacted, and any other significant details

Ideas for your presentation: Puppet show News broadcast Sports highlight show Talk show Skit Musical performance (instruments are extra credit) Sitcom Game show Reality show Make a video (extra credit)

GradingThis assignment is worth 40 points. Points will be earned in four categories

(10) Participation: everyone must be involved in the creative process and presentation (10) Completion of the General Questions Table- 5 W’s + H (10) Script: a detailed script which clearly identifies the role of each team member (10) Visual aid/Performance: performance answers the “specific questions”

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Event: _________________________________________

General Questions Table

Who?

What?

Where?

When?

Why?

How?

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Cold War Military Power1. What was the Arms Race?

2. What was Star Wars?

3. What two major alliances were formed during the Cold War? Why were these alliance formed?

Korean War4. How was the Soviet Union involved in the Korean War?

5. Why did President Truman decide to send U.S. troops to fight in Korea?

6. What was General Douglas MacArthur’s bold plan to defeat the North Koreans?

7. What impact did the arrival of Chinese troops have on the Korean War?

8. How was the Korean War “resolved?”

Red Scare9. What were Americans afraid of during the Red Scare?

10. What consequences did Americans face if they were guilty (or accused) of being communist or associating with communists?

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11. Why were the Rosenbergs tried and executed?

12. What were the actions of Senator Joseph McCarthy to eliminate communism in America?

13. How did Americans prepare for possible communist attacks?

Berlin Wall14. How were people able to simply leave East Germany to live in West Germany before the Berlin Wall

was built?

15. Why did people flee East Germany to live in West Germany?

16. Name three hazards people attempting to cross the wall had to face:

17. How were some people able to escape over the wall?

Bay of Pigs/Cuban Missile Crisis18. What happened to the Cuban exiles who attempted the invasion?

19. What impact did the Bay of Pigs invasion have in the U.S. & Cuba?

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20. What events caused the Cuban Missile Crisis?

21. List some of the agreements between the U.S. & the U.S.S.R that came about as a result of the crisis.

Vietnam War22. What is the “Domino Theory”?

22. What impact did the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution have on the war?

23. What was the Tet Offensive?

24. What was the final outcome of the Vietnam War?

The Space Race & Olympic Rivalry25. What two benefits did space superiority offer the US and Soviet Union?

26. Which country achieved each milestone first?

1st Satellite: 1st Space Walk:

1st Man in Space: 1st man on the Moon:

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27. Why did the Soviet Union choose not to participate in the Olympics before 1952?

28. Why did the US and Soviet Union think success at the Olympics was important?

The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan29. Why did the Soviet’s invade Afghanistan?

30. Who were the Mujahedin?

31. Why were the Mujahedin able to fight off the Soviets?

32. Who took control of Afghanistan after the war?

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Cold War Military PowerNuclear Arms Race: In July 16, 1945, the U.S. tested the first atomic bomb at Alamogordo, New Mexico. The atomic bomb had two objectives: a quick end of World War II and possession by the US (and not USSR), would allow control of foreign policy. In 1947 president Truman authorized U.S. aid to anti-Communist forces in Greece and Turkey. The policy was expanded to justify support for any nation that the U.S. government considered to be threatened by Soviet expansionism. This policy, known as the containment doctrine, was aimed at holding back and restricting the spread of Communism worldwide. Containment quickly became the official U.S. policy towards the USSR. In the meantime, the Soviets were building their own atomic bomb. On August 29th, 1949, the Soviet Union detonated its first atomic bomb, in Kazakhstan. This event ended America's monopoly of atomic weaponry and made the Arms Race the focus of the Cold War. Both the U.S. and the USSR competed to build more and better nuclear weapons than each other. America tested the first Hydrogen (or thermo-nuclear) bomb in 1952, the USSR in 1953. Hydrogen bombs were 2500 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb.The political climate of the Cold War changed in January 1954, when U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles announced the policy of "massive retaliation" -any attack would be met with a massive nuclear response. As a result of preparing for "massive retaliation," bombs made way for Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM). ICBMs could destroy targets 5000 miles away. In October 1961, The Soviet Union detonated a nuclear device, estimated at 50 megatons, the equivalent of more than 50 million tons of TNT, or more than all the explosives used during World War II. It is the largest nuclear weapon the world had ever seen at that time. The Tsar Bomba (King of the Bombs) was detonated after US and USSR agreed to limit nuclear testing. It was the largest nuclear device ever exploded. Having no strategic military value, Tsar was viewed as an act of intimidation by the Soviets. The Cuban Missile Crisis taught both sides that risking nuclear war in pursuit of political objectives was simply too dangerous. It was the last time during the Cold War that either side would take this risk. After the Cuban Missile Crisis, the US and USSR still fought over control for other parts of the globe. The early 1980s was a final period of friction between the United States and the USSR, resulting mainly from the Soviets' invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 to establish a Communist regime. In 1983, president Ronald Reagan announced the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). Commonly known as Star Wars, SDI was envisioned as a satellite-based nuclear defense system, which would destroy incoming missiles and warheads in space by shooting them down with lasers. August 1985, the Soviet Union announced a nuclear testing moratorium. December 1987, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President Reagan signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces -- the first arms accord signed by both Moscow and Washington that called for the elimination of an entire class of weapons -- intermediate-range missiles. In July 1991, the United States and the Soviet Union signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Act. Military Alliances: NATO and the Warsaw Pact: The possibility of another world war was very real during the Cold War. This caused both the sides to seek allies. The threat of Soviet expansion led the Western European countries to consider a collective security solution. In response to increasing tensions and security concerns, representatives of Western European countries gathered to create a military alliance. The countries signed the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949. In this agreement, the United States, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United Kingdom (Britain) agreed to consider an attack against one an attack against all, along with consultations about threats and defense matters. This collective defense arrangement only formally applied to attacks against members that occurred in Europe or North America; it did not include conflicts in colonial territories. After the treaty was signed, a few of the members made requests to the United States for military aid, which was given. In 1952, the members agreed to admit Greece and Turkey to NATO and added the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) in 1955. West German entry led the Soviet Union to retaliate with its own regional alliance, which took the form of the Warsaw Treaty Organization and included the Soviet Union, Albania,

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Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, and the German Democratic Republic as members. If there was a war, alliances were firmly established for the superpowers.The collective defense arrangements in NATO served to place Western Europe under the American "nuclear umbrella." In the 1950s, one of the first military doctrines of NATO emerged in the form of "massive retaliation," or the idea that if any member were attacked, the United States would respond with a large-scale nuclear attack. NATO has lasted beyond the end of the Cold War, with membership even expanding to include some former Soviet states. It remains the largest peacetime military alliance in the world.

Nikita Khrushchev and John F. Kennedy in an “arms race.”

Korean WarIn 1949 China became a communist country under the control of dictator Mao Zedong. Mao’s victory was an immense shock to America. Not only was China under the control of sworn enemies of the United States, but communist regimes controlled about one fourth of the world’s landmass and one third of its population.

Korea had been divided into two independent countries by the United States and Soviet Union after World War II. In North Korea, the Soviets installed a communist government and equipped its armed forces. The United States provided smaller amounts of aid to noncommunist South Korea.

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On June 25, 1950, North Korean forces attacked across the South Korean border (38th parallel). The 90,000 North Korean troops were armed with powerful tanks and other Soviet weapons. Within days, the northerners overtook South Korea’s capital, Seoul, and perused the retreating South Korean army.

President Truman remembered how the policy of appeasement had failed to check the German aggression that sparked World War II. Determined that history would not repeat itself, he announced that the United State would aid South Korea. The U.N. Security Council unanimously voted to support Truman’s recommendation (the Soviet Union was not present for the vote).

Truman did not ask Congress for a formal declaration of war, as required by the Constitution. He sent U.S. occupational forces in Japan to Korea. The occupational troops were not properly trained for combat. Soon U.S. troops joined their South Korean allies in retreat to the southern corner of the Korean peninsula.

World War II hero, General Douglas MacArthur, had a bold plan to drive the invaders from South Korea. Figuring North Korean supply lines to be weak, he decided on a surprise attack on the port city of Inchon, well behind enemy lines. Because Inchon was such a poor landing site, with swift currents and treacherous tides, MacArthur knew that the enemy would not expect an attack there.

MacArthur’s bold gamble paid off handsomely. Marines landed at Inchon and launched an attack into the rear guard of the North Koreans. Communist forces began fleeing for the North Korean border. By October 1950, the North Koreans had been driven north of the 38th parallel.

President Truman was concerned about the actions of communist China if the U.S. pushed the war into North Korea. Chinese leaders publicly warned the Americans not to advance near its borders. But MacArthur did not take this warning seriously. He assured Truman that China would not intervene in the war. Based on this advice, the United State pushed a resolution through the U.N., calling for a “unified, independent, and democratic” Korea.

When U.S. troops reached the Chinese border some 300,000 Chinese soldiers attacked South Korean and U.S. positions. Badly outnumbered, the U.N. troops were forced back. With China now in the war, the U.S. confronted a major land war in Asia. It was possible that this war could not be won without huge commitments of troops and even nuclear weapons.

MacArthur wanted to invade China, but President Truman refused. Enraged at the president’s decision, MacArthur wrote a letter to the House Republican leader attacking Truman’s policies. When the letter became public, Truman fired MacArthur for insubordination. After three years of bloody fighting, under the threats of nuclear weapons and increased casualties, the two sides signed a cease-fire. The cease-fire is still in effect today. In the end, North Korea remained communist and an ally to China and the Soviet Union, and South Korea remained a democracy and an ally to the U.S.

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Red Scare

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The Cold War influenced many aspects of American life. Popular culture reflected an us-versus-them attitude—democrats versus totalitarians, capitalists versus communists, the West versus the East. In the end, the Cold War was turning out to be every bit as global and as encompassing as World War II had been.

The fear that communists both outside and inside America were working to destroy American life created a reaction known as the Red Scare. President Truman’s attorney general, J. Howard McGrath declared communists “are everywhere—in factories, offices, butcher stores, on street corners, and private businesses. And each carries in himself the death of our society.”

The spread of communism into Eastern Europe and Asia raised concerns that American communists, some in influential government positions, were working for the enemy. In truth, some American communists were agents of the Soviet Union, and a handful of them held high positions in government. However, overwhelmingly, other government officials were loyal to the United States.

Freedom of speech was no longer a guarantee in America. Americans lost their jobs because they had belonged to or contributed to an organization on the Attorney General’s list. Others were fired for associating with people who were known communists or for making remarks that were considered disloyal. The effort to root out communist influence from American life cut across many levels of society. Communists were exposed and blacklisted.

Nothing created more concerns about internal security than the charge that some Americans had helped the Soviets build an atomic bomb. The case began when a scientist was charged with sending atomic secrets to the Soviet Union. The investigation ultimately led to the arrest of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg in 1950. The Rosenbergs were charged with conspiring to pass secret information about nuclear science to Soviet agents. The Rosenberg trial created controversy around the world. After spending 26 months on death row, the Rosenbergs were electrocuted in 1953.

Joseph McCarthy, a senator from Wisconsin, became America’s most famous anticommunist. Between 1950 and 1954, McCarthy was perhaps the most powerful politician in America, piling baseless accusations on top of charges that could not be proven. Merely being accused by McCarthy caused people to lose their jobs and destroy their reputations.

McCarthy attacked former Secretary of State George Marshall, a national hero and author of the Marshall Plan. Even other senators came to fear McCarthy. They worried that he would brand them communist sympathizers.

The Senate decided to hold televised hearings to sort out the allegations. For weeks, Americans were riveted to their televisions sets. Most were horrified by McCarthy’s bullying tactics. For the first time, the public saw McCarthy badger witnesses, twist the truth, and snicker at the suffering of others. By the time the hearings ended, McCarthy had lost most of his strong supporters.

Constantly being warned of communist spies and attacks created hysteria in America. Fathers built bomb shelters in backyards, mothers stocked survival kits in basements, and children practiced ducking under their school desks. Across the nation, Americans prepared for the possibility that the Soviet Union might launch nuclear weapons against American cities.

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Senator Joseph McCarthy

Berlin WallAt the end of World War II, the Allied powers divided conquered Germany into four zones, each occupied by either the United States, Great Britain, France, or the Soviet Union. The same was done with Germany's capital

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city, Berlin. In 1949, democratic West Germany and communist East Germany were formed. Since the city of Berlin had been situated entirely within the Soviet zone of occupation, West Berlin became an island of democracy within communist East Germany.

Within a short period of time after the war, living conditions in West Germany and East Germany became distinctly different. With the help and support of its occupying powers, West Germany set up a capitalist society and experienced such a rapid growth of their economy that it became known as the "economic miracle." With hard work, individuals living in West Germany were able to live well, buy gadgets and appliances, and to travel as they wished. Nearly the opposite was true in East Germany. Since the Soviet Union had viewed their zone as a spoil of war, the Soviets pilfered factory equipment and other valuable assets from their zone and shipped them back to the Soviet Union. When East Germany became its own country, it was under the direct influence of the Soviet Union and thus a Communist society was established. In East Germany, the economy dragged and individual freedoms were severely restricted.

By the late 1950s, many people living in East Germany wanted out. No longer able to stand the repressive living conditions of East Germany, they would pack up their bags and head to West Berlin. By the early 1960s, East Germany was rapidly losing both its labor force and its population. Having already lost 2.5 million people by 1961, East Germany desperately needed to stop this mass exodus. Desperate to keep its citizens, East Germany decided to build a wall to prevent them from crossing the border.

Just past midnight on the night of August 12-13, 1961, trucks with soldiers and construction workers rumbled through East Berlin. While most Berliners were sleeping, these crews began tearing up streets that entered into West Berlin, dug holes to put up concrete posts, and strung barbed wire all across the border between East and West Berlin. Berliners were shocked when they woke up that morning. What had once been a very fluid border was now rigid. No longer could East Berliners cross the border for operas, plays, soccer games, etc. No longer could the approximately 60,000 commuters head to West Berlin for well-paying jobs. No longer could families, friends, and lovers cross the border to meet their loved ones. Whichever side of the border one went to sleep on during the night of August 12, they were stuck on that side for decades.

The Berlin Wall stretched over a hundred miles. It ran not only through the center of Berlin, but also wrapped around West Berlin, entirely cutting West Berlin off from the rest of East Germany. The wall itself went through four major transformations during its 28-year history. It began as a simple fence but evolved over time into a complex deterrent system. By the time the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, there was a 300-foot No-Man's-Land, an additional inner wall, soldiers patrolling with dogs, a raked ground that showed footprints, anti-vehicle trenches, electric fences, massive light systems, watchtowers, bunkers, and minefields. The first two versions of the wall (barbed wire and concrete blocks) were replaced by the third version of the Berlin Wall in 1965. This version consisted of a concrete wall, supported by steel girders.

Despite the various security measures enforced, escape attempts were common, especially in the early years when there was still a fighting chance of making it across alive. Climbing was the obvious way to go and some 5,000 were said to have reached the other side. However in its thirty year history 100 people were shot dead, most famously the eighteen year old Peter Fetcher, who, after he was hit in the hip, was left to bleed to death in no-man’s land as the world’s media watched on. As security tightened, more ‘creative’ escape plans became the order of the day. Tunnels and jumping from bordering buildings, and even a hot air balloon were successfully used to escape to the west.

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The Bay of Pigs/Cuban Missile CrisisThe Bay of Pigs Invasion was an unsuccessful attempt by United States-backed Cuban exiles to overthrow the government of the Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. Increasing friction between the U.S. government and Castro's leftist regime led President Dwight D. Eisenhower to break off diplomatic relations with Cuba in January 1961. Even before that, however, the Central Intelligence Agency had been training anti-revolutionary Cuban exiles for a possible invasion of the island. The invasion plan was approved by Eisenhower's successor, John F. Kennedy. On April 17, 1961 about 1300 exiles, armed with U.S. weapons, landed at the Bahía de Cochinos (Bay of Pigs) on the southern coast of Cuba. Hoping to find support from the local population, they intended to cross the island to Havana. It was evident from the first hours of fighting, however, that the exiles were likely to lose. President Kennedy had the option of using the U.S. Air Force against the Cubans but decided against it. Consequently, the invasion was stopped by Castro's army. By the time the fighting ended on April 19, 90 exiles had been killed and the rest had been taken as prisoners. The failure of the invasion seriously embarrassed the young Kennedy administration. Some critics blamed Kennedy for not giving it adequate support and others for allowing it to take place at all. The captured exiles were later ransomed by private groups in the U.S. The attempted invasion solidified Castro’s leadership in Cuba. Additionally, the invasion made Castro wary of the U.S. He was convinced that the Americans would try to take over the island again. From the Bay of Pigs on, Castro had an increased fear of a U.S. incursion on Cuban soil. The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest the world ever came to nuclear war. The United States armed forces were at their highest state of readiness ever and Soviet field commanders in Cuba were prepared to use battlefield nuclear weapons to defend the island if it was invaded. Luckily, thanks to the bravery of two men, President John F. Kennedy and Premier Nikita Khrushchev, war was averted. In 1962, the Soviet Union was desperately behind the United States in the arms race. Soviet missiles were only powerful enough to be launched against Europe but U.S. missiles were capable of striking the entire Soviet Union. In late April 1962, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev conceived the idea of placing intermediate-range missiles in Cuba. A deployment in Cuba would double the Soviet strategic arsenal and provide a real deterrent to a potential U.S. attack against the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, Fidel Castro was looking for a way to defend his island nation from an attack by the U.S. Ever since the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, Castro felt a second attack was inevitable. Consequently, he approved of Khrushchev's plan to place missiles on the island. In the summer of 1962 the Soviet Union worked quickly and secretly to build its missile installations in Cuba.

For the United States, the crisis began on October 15, 1962 when reconnaissance photographs revealed Soviet missiles under construction in Cuba. Early the next day, President John Kennedy was informed of the missile installations. Kennedy immediately organized the Executive Committee of the National Security Council (EX-COMM), a group of his twelve most important advisors to handle the crisis. After seven days of guarded and intense debate within the upper echelons of government, Kennedy decided to impose a naval quarantine around Cuba. He wanted to prevent the arrival of more Soviet offensive weapons on the island. On October 22, Kennedy, in a televised address, announced the discovery of the missile installations to the public and his decision to quarantine the island. He also proclaimed that any nuclear missile launched from Cuba would be regarded as an attack on the United States by the Soviet Union and demanded that the Soviets remove all of their offensive weapons from Cuba. During the public phase of the Crisis, tensions began to build on both sides. Kennedy eventually ordered low-level reconnaissance missions once every two hours. On the 25th Kennedy pulled the quarantine line back and raised military readiness to DEFCON 2. Then on the 26th EX-COMM heard from Khrushchev in an impassioned letter. He proposed removing Soviet missiles and personnel if the U.S. would guarantee not to invade Cuba. October 27 was the worst day of the crisis. A U-2 was shot down over Cuba and EX-COMM

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received a second letter from Khrushchev demanding the removal of U.S. missiles in Turkey in exchange for Soviet missiles in Cuba. Tensions finally began to ease on October 28 when Khrushchev announced that he would dismantle the installations and return the missiles to the Soviet Union, expressing his trust that the United States would not invade Cuba. Further negotiations were held to implement the October 28 agreement, including a United States demand that Soviet light bombers be removed from Cuba, and specifying the exact form and conditions of United States assurances not to invade Cuba. As a result of the Cuban Missile Crisis a teletype "Hotline" between the Kremlin and the White House was established. In the spring of 1963 the U.S. quietly removed the missiles from Turkey, that equally threatened the Soviet Union, and the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed on July 25, 1963. Negotiated by the US, USSR, and UK, it prohibited tests of nuclear devices in the atmosphere, in outer space, and underwater.

The Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War occurred in present-day Vietnam, Southeast Asia. It represented a successful attempt on the part of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam, DRV) and the National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam (Viet Cong) to unite and impose a communist system over the entire nation. Opposing the DRV was the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam, RVN), backed by the United States in an attempt to stop the spread of communism (U.S. policy called the Domino Theory). The Domino Theory was the speculation that if one state in a region came under the influence of communism, then the surrounding countries would follow in a domino effect. The war in Vietnam occurred during the Cold War, and is generally viewed as an indirect conflict

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between the United States and Soviet Union. The Soviets and their allies supported the communists, while the U.S. and its allies supported the non-communist South Vietnam. Causes of Conflict: The United States had given the French economic assistance in the region until their defeat by Ho Chi Minh’s (Viet Minh) forces at Dien Bien Phu in 1954. The Vietnam War first began in 1959, five years after the division of the country by the Geneva Accords. Vietnam had been split into two, with a communist government in the north under Ho Chi Minh and a democratic government in the south under Ngo Dinh Diem. Ho launched a guerilla campaign in South Vietnam, led by Viet Cong units, with the goal of uniting the country under communist rule. The United States, seeking to stop the spread of communism, trained the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and provided military advisors to help combat the guerillas.Americanization: In August 1964, a US warship was attacked by North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin. Following this attack, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which allowed President Lyndon Johnson to conduct military operations in the region without a declaration of war. On March 2, 1965, US aircraft began bombing targets in Vietnam and the first troops arrived. Commanded by General William Westmoreland, US troops won victories over Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces around Chu Lai and in the Ia Drang Valley that year.Following these defeats, the North Vietnamese avoided fighting conventional battles and focused on engaging US troops in guerilla warfare in the jungles of South Vietnam. In January 1968, the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong launched the massive Tet Offensive. Beginning with an assault on US Marines at Khe Sanh, the offensive included attacks by the Viet Cong on every major city throughout South Vietnam. Though the North Vietnamese were beaten back with heavy casualties, Tet shook the confidence of the American people and media who had thought the war was going well.

Vietnamization: As a result of Tet, President Lyndon Johnson opted not to run for reelection and was succeeded by Richard Nixon. Nixon's plan for ending US involvement was to build up the ARVN so that they could fight the war themselves. As this process of “Vietnamization” began, US troops started to return home. The mistrust of the government that had begun after Tet worsened with the release of news about US soldiers massacring civilians at My Lai (1969), the invasion of Cambodia (1970), and the leaking of the Pentagon Papers (1971).

The End of the War & the Fall of SaigonThe withdrawal of US troops continued and more responsibility was passed to the ARVN, which continued to prove ineffective in combat, often relying on American support to stave off defeat. On January 27, 1974, a peace accord was signed in Paris ending the conflict. By March of that year, American combat troops had left the country. After a brief period of peace, North Vietnam recommenced hostilities in late 1974. Pushing through ARVN forces with ease, they captured Saigon on April 30, 1975, forcing South Vietnam’s surrender and reuniting the country under communist leadership.

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Capitalism/Democracy vs. Communism:The Space Race & Olympic Rivalry

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The space race was partially a competition for national security advancement, since dominating space could lead to military advantages. It was also seen as a symbolic competition to show which side was truly superior: the side that could dominate space with new technology was obviously the better ideology. The competition led to a race to achieve “firsts” in such areas as artificial satellites, human space flight, space walking, and sending men to the moon. Here is a timeline of important events:

1957 Oct. 4 - USSR launches Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite.

Nov. 3 - USSR launches Sputnik 2 which carried a small dog named Laika into orbit.

1958 Jan. 31 - Explorer 1, the first American satellite to reach orbit, is launched. It carried scientific equipment that lead to the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belt.

1959 Jan. 2 - Luna 1 is launched by the USSR. It is the first man made object to orbit the Sun.

Oct. 4 - Luna 3 orbits the Moon and photographs 70% of its surface.

1960 Apr. 1 - Tiros 1, the first successful weather satellite, is launched.

Aug. 18 - The US launches Discoverer XIV, its first camera equipped spy satellite.

1961 Apr. 12 - Yuri Gagarin orbits the Earth once and becomes the first man in space.

May 5 - Alan B. Shepard becomes the first American in space.

May 25 - President John F. Kennedy addresses Congress and challenges the nation to go to the Moon before the end of the decade.

1963 Jun. 16 - Cosmonaut Valentia Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space.

1965 Mar. 18 - Alexei Leonov spends 12 minutes outside of his Voskhod spacecraft performing the first spacewalk.

Jun. 3 - Ed White performs America's first spacewalk. Jim McDivitt remains in the Gemini capsule.

1966 Feb. 3 - Luna 9 becomes the first spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon.

Apr. 3 - Luna 10 becomes the first satellite to orbit the Moon.

Jun. 2 - Surveyor 1 soft-lands on the Moon.

Aug. 14 - Lunar Orbiter 1 enters orbit around the Moon and takes the first picture of the Earth from that distance.

1969 Jul. 20 - Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin become the first men to walk on the Moon while crewmate Michael Collins orbits around the Moon alone.

OlympicsSince the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 leaders were too concerned with centralizing agriculture and building up a Communist stronghold to worry about international sports. These leaders saw the Olympic Games as bourgeois; the Games were anti-socialist, pro-capitalist and went against all their Communist beliefs. After WWII, Stalin agreed. The Soviets did not attend the 1948 Olympic Games (the first in 8 years). But how could he ignore such a propaganda machine that the whole world would tune into every four years?

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In the arms race it was thought that the one with the biggest, strongest weapons would be viewed as the best country with the best social system. Similarly Stalin believed if his athletes were the strongest, then his country would surely be viewed as the strongest. But before the Soviet Union’s untrained athletes could be released into the Olympic playing field, they had to be trained into prestigious, perfect athletes. If they did not win their games or competitions, then capitalists would see communists as weak. Special trainers were sent out to look for talented children. They even went to kindergartens and combed the streets for future talent. The athletic programs of the Soviet Union were created to serve the state: athletes represented their nations and their nation’s beliefs. They had to perform well to show the world that capitalism was dying.

Soon, capitalist and communist spectators alike were excited about the rivalry between the capitalist/democratic countries and the communists. Everyone’s eyes were on the medal count- the tallies showing which country was winning the most medals. Attention shifted from international peace and brotherhood in athletic competition to bitter rivalries and political boycotts. Because Olympic athletes could not be professional (paid) athletes, the Soviets assigned athletes government jobs they did not have to attend so they could focus on training.

The United States and the Soviets celebrated a couple of wins in particular for their “beating you at your own game” quality. In the 1972 Summer Olympics, the Soviet Union beat the US 51-50 in the finals. The officiating of the game was protested, but the Soviets were awarded the gold. This was the first time the US did not win gold since basketball was added to the Olympics in 1936. In the 1980 Winter Olympics, the US hockey team beat the Soviet Union in the semi-finals and went on to win gold. The US team was made up of amateur and collegiate players, while the Soviet team had won almost every world championship and Olympics since 1954. The win became known in the US as the “Miracle on Ice.”

The rivalry between capitalist West Germany and communist East Germany produced one of the worst black eyes in sports: East German officials treated their unknowing athletes with steroids to improve their training. In the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics, the world took notice as East Germany, a relatively small country with few previous Olympic wins, triumphed with an impressive 40 gold medals. The women’s swim team alone won 11 of 13 swim events, an unprecedented feat. The athletes were wildly successful, but later suffered a number of health problems.

The Soviet Invasion of AfghanistanAfter World War II, as both the United States and the Soviet Union competed for global power, Afghanistan increasingly turned to the Soviet Union for support after the United States established military ties with Pakistan in 1954. The Soviets in return used the strategic location of Afghanistan, at the juncture of Asia and the Middle East, to counter the U.S. alliance with Pakistan and the surrounding Persian Gulf states.A revolution in 1978 saw the Afghan communist party (the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan) seize power and kill the country's prime minister. But it also made the country a target for a foreign invasion.

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The Soviets entered Afghanistan in 1979 with the aim of establishing a key position in Asia, one with trade possibilities and access to Gulf oil. At the time, Afghanistan was a vulnerable monarchy. It was led by a king, who, like those before him, was unable to merge the existing tribal society with a central government. This separation of the Afghan elite and the central government from local tribal leaders eventually caused a revolt against the monarchy.Soon after their entry into Afghanistan, the Soviets imposed military and social reforms that began to make enemies within different sectors of the indigenous population. They initiated land reforms that troubled tribal leaders. They implemented economic measures that worsened conditions for the poor, and tried to curb ethnic uprisings by mass arrests, torture, executions of dissidents and aerial bombardments. Some 1 million Afghans died during this period, with more than 8,000 people executed after being put on trial between 1980 and 1988.The crackdown led to resistance by Mujahedin, or Afghan guerilla fighters, who were backed by the United States. In an effort to resist the Soviet occupation and the spread of Marxist ideology to Afghanistan, the United States -- then at the height of a nuclear arms race with the Soviets and fearing they would move toward the oil-rich Persian Gulf -- soon partnered with Pakistani intelligence to recruit and train the Mujahedin, who could put up a resistance against the Soviet army. The resistance was a success. By the early 1980s various Mujahedin groups were fighting against Soviet forces and pro-Soviet Afghan government troops.The United States' donation of anti-aircraft missiles to the Mujahedin fighters caused major losses to Soviet aircraft and troops. The United States also expressed its opposition to the Soviet occupation by boycotting the Olympics in Moscow in 1980. Two years later, the U.N. General Assembly called for withdrawal of Soviet forces. By 1988, Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev, who called the occupation of Afghanistan a "bleeding wound," ordered the withdrawal of his forces from the country.The Geneva Accords, overseen by the United Nations and guaranteed by the United States and the Soviet Union, were signed in April 1988, and effectively ended the war. The treaty, signed by the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan, outlined a policy of non-interference and contained a timeline for the withdrawal of Soviet troops. The Soviets began withdrawing from Afghanistan in May 1988 and were gone by February 1989. Despite the Geneva Accords and the withdrawal of Soviet forces, civil war continued in Afghanistan as the Mujahedin continued to fight the government of Soviet-backed leader. The resistance ousted him in 1992 and installed the Taliban government whose hard-line policies ended the fighting.

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