The Cold WarUnit 2 History

Quagm

ire

A quagmire is a situation

that is difficult to get out

of. Following the Cuban

Missile Crisis it was clear

that the Cold War had

reached a quagmire as

neither side could attack

to end the conflict and

so were left in a difficult

position. Something our

mate Glenn knows all

too well.

Dete

nte

Pronounced ‘de-taunt’ is

a French word meaning

‘relaxation’. This is what

was needed by both USA

and Soviet Union leaders

to avoid World War Three. The need for diplomacy and compromise was heightened by the presence of nuclear weapons.

Aft

er

Cuba

Kennedy restored peace

in Cuba but escalated

conflict (and costs) in

Vietnam.

Said US would ‘pay any

price, bear any burden,

meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and

success of liberty’

Vie

tnam

Kennedy backed up this

statement by sending

money to the South Vietnamese army (at

risk of Communist takeover), along with

15,000 ‘military advisors’. The US were

now committed to Vietnam at a great cost.

Ass

ass

inati

on o

f JF

K

John F Kennedy had only

been President for a couple of years when on

22nd November 1963 he

was shot Lee Harvey

Oswald who was then

shot by Jack Ruby. This

led to many conspiracy

theories with the Warren

Commission taking place

to find out what happened.

Prague S

pri

ng

1968

In January 1968 Alexander Dubcek became Secretary of the

Czeck Communist Party

and argued for ‘socialism with a human

face’. The Soviets responded by sending

600,000 troops to re-

instate hardline communists under Gustav Husak in 1969.

US S

phere

of

Influence

The US had been unsuccessful at overthrowing the Communists in Cuba.

However, they were able

to prevent left-wing governments from taking power in South

Africa. For example, in

1965 the US invaded the

Dominican Republic to

avoid a left-wing coup.

Dom

ino T

heory