Download End of the Cold War

John F Kennedy’s Containment
Flexible Response
•Policy of containment does not
change, just the means
•ICBM buildup, Green Berets,
Peace Corps, Alliance for Progress
•“Race to the Moon”
Cold War under Kennedy
•Bay of Pigs (April 1961)—Plan to
take out Castro fails, US—weak
•Berlin Wall (August 1961)—Khrushchev asks Kennedy to
remove U.S. troops from Berlin, Kennedy refuses
--Khrushchev has the East Germans build a wall around West
Berlin
--lack of strong response is a further sign of JFK’s weakness
--the wall will be a symbol of the Cold War until 1989
Cuban Missile Crisis (October 1962)
--Soviets start to build missile sites in Cuba
--Kennedy issues ultimatum to Khrushchev to remove
the missiles and sets up a naval blockade of Cuba
--VERY TENSE, U.S. forces set on highest alert,
prepare for invasion
--Closest the two sides came
to war
--Khrushchev agrees to
withdraw missiles if US
withdraws missiles from
Turkey
--cooling of direct
confrontation between the
two sides, still have rivalry
over Third World Countries
Vietnam (1950-1975)
“Containment’s Crisis”
--French tried to re-colonize
Indochina and needed help,
Truman sent aid (1950)
--by 1954 we are financing
78% of the war
--1954 Geneva Accords split
country along 17th Parallel,
allow for free elections in 3
years, US stops elections
--Eisenhower and Kennedy
continue involvement
(Domino Theory)
North Vietnam
--Ho Chi Minh “we hold
these truths”
--Communist
--Father of the country
South Vietnam
--Ngo Dinh Diem
--Democracy
--unpopular
--Diem assassinated in a
military coup d’etat 1963
--Kennedy will take care of
this once he returns
from Dallas
Lyndon Johnson’s
Containment
•Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
(1964)
--not a Declaration of War,
does not feel he needs one
--as war progresses,
casualties increase,
protests start
--North Vietnamese
see this and they
use it to their
advantage
--N Vietnam uses
the “will” of the U.S.
citizens to help their
cause
Tet Offensive
•Jan 1968 was
the turning point
--military
defeat, strategic
victory for North
Vietnam
--LBJ announces
that he will not
seek office in
1968
July 20, 1969 Moon Landing
US puts the first man on the Moon
“One small step for man, One Giant leap for
Mankind”—Neil Armstrong
Richard Nixon Détente
•Saw Vietnam as a mistake
•We focused on stopping Communism rather than focusing on the
people of the country and what they wanted
•Why would it be better to support a government that is popular
with the people as opposed to focusing on Communism?
•Détente—permanent thawing of cold war tensions through
negotiations and bringing other nations in to help deter USSR
•Nixon goes to China (February 1972)
--example of supporting popular governments
AND gaining allies to balance the Soviet
strength
--Nixon goes to China and meets with Mao,
HUGE STEP
--wake-up for USSR, China had been a
traditional ally
East meets West
Mao Zedong shakes hands with Richard Nixon
SALT I (May 1972)
--Summit meeting as both sides discuss limiting the
amount of nuclear missiles, warheads and submarines
--Leonid Brezhnev agreed to push North Vietnam to the
negotiating table
--Short-term agreement
Nixon and Vietnam
•Vietnamization—fighting to be done by the Vietnamese,
reduction in number of US troops
--Public finds out that Nixon was secretly bombing Cambodia,
leads to further chain of events that lead to his resignation
--April 1975 Vietnam falls
•War Powers Act (1973)
--During the Cold War, Presidents sent troops without
congressional authorization. Cite examples
--Resolution stated President must tell Congress he is sending
troops into action and then must remove them within 60-90
days unless congress grants their approval
--emphasizes that Presidents MUST discuss troops commitment
with congress
Jimmy Carter Détente
Détente continued
--Emphasis on Moral foreign policy,
especially on human rights
--negotiation rather than confrontation
Events under Carter
•Camp David Accords (1977)
--Israel and Egypt
Yom Kippur War 1973
--Henry Kissinger attempted Shuttle
Diplomacy
--US supported Israel, USSR
supported Egypt
--Carter gets Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin
to negotiate face-to-face
--Ends disputes between these nations, Carter’s
high point as President
•SALT II (June 1979)
--replaces SALT I with a long-term
agreement
--never ratified, both sides agreed to the
outline limits
•Afghanistan (December 1979)
--Soviets invade to support the Marxist
dictatorship in Afghanistan
--ends era of Détente
--U.S. sent millions of dollars worth of guns
and food to Afghanistan to aid the
mujahidin/freedom fighters and refugees
Iranian Hostage Crisis (November 1979)
--Started when the people revolted against the Shah, who was
supported by the U.S.
--Iranian students seized the American Embassy, captured 60
Americans and held them hostage for 444 days
--Carter received blamed for allowing this to happen, which
coupled with his economic difficulties, hurt his Presidency
--Carter asks USSR to withdraw from Afghanistan, they refuse
--Carter leads a boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympic games
which are held in Moscow, 64 nations in all will boycott
--Soviets and their allies will boycott the 1984 Summer Games in
Los Angeles
1980 Final Medal Standings
Nation
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Total
U.S.S.R.
80
70
47
197
GDR
47
36
43
126
Bulgaria
8
16
16
40
Cuba
8
7
5
20
Italy
8
3
4
15
What are examples of Cold War
détente in the 1970’s?
What are examples of continued
tensions between the US and
USSR?
Reagan’s Dilemma
You are a member of President Reagan’s National Security Team.
Based on the state of affairs between the United States and the
U.S.S.R. in 1981, you must advise him on the following in relation
to his Cold War Policy, and the potential reaction from the U.S.S.R.
1. How do you plan on reversing Soviet Expansion?
2. How do you attempt to convince the Soviets to ease their strict
political and economic controls over their people?
3. Are you going to intensify or thaw the arms race?
Why or Why not?
Ronald Reagan Containment
•Confrontation
--Return to the old idea of
challenging the Soviets
--Renewal of the Arms Race,
Dramatic increase in defense
spending (B1 bomber, Strategic
Defensive Initiative)
--”peaceful coexistence” to
the “evil empire”
Cold War 1959
Cold War 1982
Mikhail Gorbachev
--elected President of the USSR in May 1985
-- Soviet economy was stagnate, falling behind the Western democracies
--Gorbachev sought to change the system so it would work more efficiently and
more democratically.
--Two key phrases: "glasnost" (openness) and "perestroika" (restructuring)
-- Perestroika sent shock waves throughout the USSR and other Soviet Bloc
nations
--Gorbachev wants to shift resources
from the military to the civilian
sector of the economy.
-- He also began to argue in favor of
an end to the arms race with the
West
--meets with Reagan in November
1988 to discuss reduction.
--Gorbachev’s plans and ideals
create problems for him in the Soviet
Union
Who in the USSR, would be against
these changes?
“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”
End of the Cold War
•May 1988-Soviet Troops
start to withdraw from
Afghanistan
•March 1989—Hungary
allows free elections,
Gorbachev will not stop the
elections
•June 1989—Poland allows
free elections
•October —East Germany
celebrates 50th anniversary,
two days later 70,000
protesters demand an end
to the regime
•November—Berlin Wall is
torn down
•November,
December 1989—
Free elections held
in Bulgaria,
Romania and
Czechoslovakia
Changes in the Soviet Union
•August 1991
•Military places Gorbachev under house arrest
•attempts a coup d’etat
•December 1991
•Boris Yeltsin, President of the Russian Republic, occupies
the Parliament building defying the Coup
• Army backs down
•December 1991
•Republics of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine starting the path
to completely dissolving the Soviet Union
Who ended the Cold War?
Who ended the Cold War?