The Cold War Heats Up



The Cold War Heats Up

Thaw & Freeze

In 1953 Nikita Khrushchev became the new dictator of the USSR after Stalin’s death, and shocked the people when he publicly called Stalin a criminal.

Khrushchev’s de-Stalinization program eased censorship and in 1959 US Vice-President Richard Nixon toured the USSR and engaged in the “Kitchen Debates” with Khrushchev. This thaw ended when a US U-2 spy plane was shot down over the USSR in 1960, and with the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961.

Cuban Missile Crisis

In 1959 Fidel Castro overthrew the oppressive Cuban government and made Cuba a communist dictatorship. Castro became allies with the Soviet Union, and friends with Khrushchev.

Seeking to overthrow Castro, President Kennedy funded a secret invasion of Cuban exiles at the Bay of Pigs in 1961. Castro repelled the disorganized invasion, so the US imposed a trade embargo on Cuba.

In retaliation Castro allowed the USSR to build nuclear missile bases in Cuba, just 90 miles from Florida. Kennedy responded with a naval blockade of Cuba and demanded Khrushchev remove the missiles.

On the brink of nuclear war, Khrushchev backed down and removed the missiles, but he won a secret pledge from Kennedy not to invade Cuba, and also to remove US missiles from Turkey.

Soviet Oppression

Hungary

In 1956 Hungarian nationalists revolted against Soviet rule. The Hungarians ended one-party rule, withdrew from the Warsaw Pact, and repelled Soviet troops. In response, Khrushchev sent troops and tanks to crush the revolt, killing thousands.

Czechoslovakia

In the spring of 1968 the Czechoslovakian government called for reforms and less Soviet control. In response the USSR sent thousands of troops to occupy Prague, overturn the government, and restore a communist dictatorship.

US Proxy Wars

Due to the belief in the domino theory the US engaged in proxy wars in Korea, Vietnam, and Afghanistan during the Cold War.

Domino Theory – if one country falls to communism its neighbors will soon follow, eventually reaching the US.

Proxy War – when two powers use a third party as a substitute for fighting each other directly.

The Korean War

After defeating Japan in WWII the US and the USSR divided Korea into a communist North and a capitalist South. In 1950 the North invaded the South seeking to spread communism.

The UN pledged to defend South Korea and sent ground, air, and naval forces. After narrowly avoiding defeat, American forces repelled the North.

To help the North Koreans the Communist Chinese intervened and inflicted heavy losses on UN forces, driving them back out of North Korea. A stalemate led to peace talks, and by 1953 an armistice was signed that divided the Koreas again.

The Vietnam War

The French colony of Vietnam was taken by Japan during WWII. After the war the French hoped to regain the colony but faced stiff resistance from communist leader Ho Chi Minh and his Viet Cong guerilla fighters.

The Viet Cong finally defeated the French in 1954 at the battle of Dien Bein Phu. The peace settlement split Vietnam into a communist North and a capitalist South. Civil war soon broke out, so the US joined forces with South Vietnam to stop the spread of communism.

By 1969 a half million US troops were serving in Vietnam, but even with this help the South Vietnamese could not defeat the tough Vietcong, who received aid and supplies from the USSR and Communist China.

Growing antiwar sentiment in the US forced President Nixon to withdraw American forces. With the US gone, in 1975 Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, fell to the North Vietnamese communists, who soon reunited the country under their total control.

Easing Tensions

A terrible Soviet economy forced Khrushchev to step down in 1964, and Leonid Brezhnev took control. Seeking to improve living conditions within the USSR, Brezhnev cut military spending and began a policy of détente with the US that lasted until 1979.

Détente – period in the 1970s during which there was an easing of tensions between the US and the USSR.

With détente President Nixon and Brezhnev promoted cultural exchange, trade, and signed the SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty) agreement in 1972, which slowed the arms race by limiting the number of nuclear weapons each superpower possessed.

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