The Cold War Era: Tensions Rise as Conflicts Emerge

The American Nation
Chapter 28
The Cold War Era, 1945–
1991
Copyright © 2003 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

The American Nation
Copyright © 2003 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
ction 1: The Cold War Begins
ction 2: The Korean War Period
ction 3: Regional Conflicts
ction 4: The War in Vietnam
Chapter 28: The Cold War Era, 1945–1991
ction 5: The Cold War Ends

Chapter 28, Section 1
The Cold War Begins
• How did the Cold War begin?
• How did the United States respond to Soviet
expansion?
• How did the crisis over Berlin lead to new Cold
War alliances?
• What happened in 1949 to increase Cold War
tensions?

Growing distrust • The United States and Britain distrusted the Soviet
Union. They disliked communist rejection of religion
and private property and Soviet boasts that
communism would soon destroy free enterprise
systems around the world.
• The Soviets distrusted the Western powers. They
feared that the United States would attack the Soviet
Union and would rebuild Germany to challenge the
Soviet Union, too.
How The Cold War Began
Even before World War II ended, tensions surfaced among the Allies. The
United States and the Soviet Union plunged into a new kind of war. They did
not clash directly in battle. Instead, they competed for power around the
world. This intense rivalry became known as the Cold War. It lasted nearly 50
years.

How The Cold War Began
Broken promises • Stalin promised to hold free elections in Eastern
European countries occupied by Soviet troops during
the war, but he broke his promise.
• By 1948, the Soviets had established communist
governments in every Eastern European nation.
• Except for Yugoslavia, these countries became
satellite nations—nations that are dominated politically
and economically by a more powerful nation—of the
Soviet Union.
The “Iron Curtain” • As early as 1946, Winston Churchill had warned
against Soviet expansion into Eastern Europe. He said,
“An iron curtain has descended across the Continent.”
The “iron curtain” cut off Eastern Europe from the
democratic governments of the West.
• When communist parties achieved some success in
other parts of Europe, Western fears of communism
increased.

The United States Responds to Soviet Expansion
President Harry S Truman was determined to keep Soviet influence contained
within existing boundaries. Thus, his Cold War policy was known as
containment.
The Truman Doctrine
• Truman asked for large amounts of military and economic aid for Greece
and Turkey. With American aid, both countries held off communism.
• His program to encourage nations to resist communist expansion became
known as the Truman Doctrine.
The Marshall Plan
• When Secretary of State George Marshall saw the devastation of Europe,
he feared that such terrible conditions might encourage communist
revolutions. He proposed a plan to help Europe rebuild.
• The Marshall Plan provided more than $12 billion in aid to Western
European countries. It reduced the threat of communist revolutions.

The Crisis Over Berlin
• After the war, the Allies divided Germany into four zones.
American, British, French, and Soviet troops each occupied a
zone. Berlin, deep in the Soviet zone, was also divided among the
four Allies.
• By 1948, the United States, Britain, and France wanted to reunite
their zones. Stalin opposed that plan. He saw it as a threat to the
Soviet Union. To show his determination to keep Western
Germany from reuniting, he closed all roads, railroads, and river
routes between Berlin and West Germany.
• Rather than send troops and risk war, Truman approved a huge
airlift. During the Berlin Airlift, hundreds of American and British
planes carried tons of supplies to West Berliners every day. The
airlift lasted for almost a year. Finally, Stalin lifted the blockade.
The United States, Great Britain, and France merged their zones.

The Crisis Over Berlin
• Germany and Berlin remained divided throughout the
1950s. With American aid, West Germany became a
prosperous nation. The Soviet zone became the German
Democratic Republic, or East Germany, a much poorer
country.
• When many people fled communism by crossing over into
West Berlin, the embarrassed East German government
built a huge concrete wall topped with barbed wire. It
sealed off East Berlin from West Berlin. The Berlin Wall cut
off contact between families and friends and became a
symbol of the Cold War that divided the world.

New alliances emerged during the Cold War. Many of the world’s nations
established a world peacekeeping organization.
Cold War
alliances
• North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO—In 1949, the United States
and many Western European countries joined together to defend
Western Europe against any Soviet threat.
• The Warsaw Pact—In 1955, the Soviet Union formed its own military
alliance with Eastern European nations.
United
Nations
• In October 1945, 51 nations formed the United Nations, or UN. Over
time, membership has expanded.
• Under the UN charter, member nations agree to bring disputes before
the body for peaceful settlement.
• Every member has a seat in the General Assembly, where problems
can be discussed. A smaller Security Council also discusses conflicts
that threaten peace.
• The UN has done its best work fighting hunger and disease and
improving education. UN relief programs have helped victims of
famine, war, and other disasters.
• Preserving peace has proved more difficult.
New Cold War Alliances

New Cold War Alliances

Cold War Tensions Increased
• In September 1949, the Soviet Union successfully tested
the atomic bomb.
Communist forces, led by Mao Zedong, gained power in
China.
• The United States had long backed the Nationalists, led by
Jiang Jieshi.
• Mao set up the People’s Republic of China.
• Nationalists forces retreated to the island of Taiwan.
• By the end of 1949, China and the Soviet Union controlled
almost a quarter of the globe.

Section 1 Assessment
President Truman’s Cold War policy was to
a) keep Soviet influence contained within existing boundaries.
b) let Soviet influence spread to neighboring countries in Asia but not to
the United States or Western Europe.
c) fight a series of small wars with the countries that surrounded the
Soviet Union.
d) go to war with the Soviet Union.
Probably the greatest successes of the United Nations have been in
a) preserving peace.
b) fighting hunger and disease and improving education.
c) defending Western Europe against Soviet threats.
d) keeping the Soviet Union from dominating the Warsaw Pact nations.
Want to connect to the American History link for this section? Click here.

The Korean War Period
• Why did the United States become involved in the
conflict in Korea?
• How did the fighting in Korea end?
• What were the results of the hunt for Communists
at home?

The United States in the Korean Conflict
• Korea is a peninsula in East Asia. As World War II ended, the United States
and the Soviet Union agreed to a temporary division of Korea at the 38th
parallel. The United States backed a noncommunist government in South
Korea. The Soviet Union supported a communist government in North
Korea.
The North Korean invasion
• In June 1950, North Korean troops crossed the 38th parallel and invaded
South Korea. These forces occupied Seoul, capital of South Korea.
• President Truman asked the United Nations to send a military force.
• The UN agreed. General Douglas MacArthur would command UN forces.
The UN landing at Inchon
• At first, UN forces were outnumbered. Soon the North Koreans occupied
almost all of Korea.
• MacArthur launched a counterattack by sea. He landed at Inchon, behind
North Korean lines. The North Koreans were forced back across the 38th
parallel. Then, MacArthur got UN approval to cross into North Korea.

The United States in the Korean Conflict
China enters the war
• China warned the United States not to invade North
Korea or they would retaliate.
• As UN forces neared the northern border of Korea,
masses of Chinese troops crossed into North Korea.
• Once again, South Korean forces were pushed back.

How the Fighting in Korea Ended
A dispute arose between Truman and MacArthur.
• The Korean War turned into a bloody deadlock. During
the deadlock, a disagreement arose between General
MacArthur and President Truman. MacArthur felt that
UN forces must attack China. Truman thought an
attack on China could lead to a world war.
• When MacArthur complained publicly that politicians
in Washington were holding him back, Truman fired
him. Truman pointed out that the President is
commander in chief.

How the Fighting in Korea Ended
The two sides sought an armistice in Korea.
• Peace talks began in mid–1951. They dragged on with little
progress.
• In 1952, Dwight Eisenhower, the popular World War II general,
became President. He visited Korea.
• Finally, in July 1953, the two sides signed an armistice to end the
fighting. It redrew the border between North Korea and South
Korea near the 38th parallel. Along the border, it set up a
demilitarized zone (DMZ), an area with no military forces. On either
side of the DMZ, heavily armed troops dug in. They remain today.
Costs of the war
• When the Korean War had ended, the borders had changed little.
• The human costs were high—about 54,000 Americans and nearly
2 million Koreans and Chinese were killed.

The Korean War

The Hunt for Communists at Home
• The Korean War increased worries about Communists at home.
During the Great Depression, some people had turned to
communism as the only solution to the nation’s economic
troubles. In time, however, many recognized Joseph Stalin as a
brutal dictator and left the party, but some stayed on.
• Between 1946 and 1950, several people in the United States,
Canada, and Britain were arrested as Soviet spies. In the United
States, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were sentenced to death for
passing atomic secrets to the Soviets. They were executed in
1953.
• Americans worried that there might be Communists in high
government positions. In 1950, Alger Hiss, a State Department
official, was imprisoned for perjury, or lying under oath. Hiss
denied he was part of a Soviet spy ring. Later evidence would
suggest that, indeed, he had been a spy.

The Hunt for Communists at Home
• In 1947, Truman ordered investigations of government
workers. Thousands of government employees were
questioned.
• In 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin announced
that he had a list of 205 State Department employees who
were Communist party members. He never proved his
claims, but he won attention. For four years, McCarthy
spread suspicion.
• In 1954, the Senate held televised hearings to investigate a
new McCarthy charge—that there were Communists in the
United States Army. This time, McCarthy looked like a bully,
not a hero. In 1954, the Senate passed a resolution to
censure, or officially condemn, McCarthy for “conduct
unbecoming a member.”

The Korean War began when
a) South Korean troops invaded North Korea.
b) Chinese troops poured into North Korea.
c) North Korean troops invaded South Korea.
d) Russian troops landed at Inchon, near the 38th parallel.
In the early 1950s, Senator Joseph McCarthy held Senate hearings to
investigate
a) whether or not government workers were working hard enough for
their pay.
b) whether President Truman should have fired General MacArthur.
c) the actual total costs of the Korean War.
d) claims that members of the Communist party held government jobs.

Regional Conflicts
• Why did the Cold War spread to Africa and Asia?
• Why did Cuba become a crisis spot during the
Cold War?
• Why did the United States intervene in Latin
America during the Cold War?
• How did the Cold War lead to an arms race?

The Philippines • The United States withdrew from the Philippines in
1946.
• Since then, the Philippines has struggled to preserve a
democratic government. It has suffered from poverty,
local uprisings, and dictatorships, including the rule of
Ferdinand Marcos.
The Cold War Spread to Africa and Asia
After World War II, colonies of European and other powers demanded
independence. Some achieved independence peacefully. Others had to fight
for it. Sometimes, Communists joined people in their struggle.
To keep the Soviets from expanding their influence to former colonies,
American leaders faced choices.
• Should the United States provide aid to a colonial power?
• Should the United States use secret aid to counter the Soviets?
• Should the United States send troops to influence the affairs of another
nation?

Africa • During the 1950s and 1960s, more than 30 African nations
became independent.
• Both the United States and the Soviet Union sought allies
among these newly independent nations.
• Some nations have had civil wars. Others have had border
wars with their neighbors. Often the United States and the
Soviet Union backed opposing sides.
India and
Pakistan
• In 1947, India won independence from Britain.
• India was divided into two nations: India and Pakistan.
• Pakistan became an ally of the United States. India accepted
both American and Soviet aid but remained neutral in the
Cold War.
Indochina • French-ruled Indochina included present-day Laos,
Cambodia, and Vietnam.
• In each country, separate nationalist groups fought for
independence. The wars lasted for almost 30 years.
The Cold War Spread to Africa and Asia

Bay of
Pigs
Invasion
• The Soviet Union began supplying Cuba with aid.
• In 1961, President John F. Kennedy approved a plan for Cuban exiles to overthrow Castro.
Exiles are people who have been forced to leave their own country.
• A force of Cuban exiles landed at the Bay of Pigs on Cuba’s south coast. Castro’s forces
quickly rounded up the invaders. The Bay of Pigs invasion strengthened Castro and
embarrassed the United States.
Cuban
Missile
Crisis
• In October 1962, President Kennedy learned that the Soviets were secretly building missile
bases on Cuba.
• Kennedy announced that American warships would stop any Soviet ship carrying missiles to
Cuba.
• Soviet ships steamed toward Cuba. At the last minute, they turned back, narrowly preventing a
war.
• Kennedy’s strong stand led the Soviets to compromise. They agreed to remove Soviet missiles
from Cuba. The United States promised not to invade Cuba.
• The Cuban missile crisis had shaken both Americans and Soviets. It was as close as the
world ever came to a full-scale nuclear war.
By the 1960s, the United States and the Soviet Union were the world’s superpowers—nations
with enough military, political, and economic strength to influence events worldwide. The rivalry
led to a clash in Cuba.
In 1959, Fidel Castro led a communist revolution in Cuba. Castro’s government took over private
companies, including many owned by Americans. Thousands of Cubans fled to the United States.
The Crisis Over Cuba

The United States Intervenes in Latin America
• In the early 1900s, the United States had intervened in the
internal affairs of Latin American nations. The Cold War led
the United States to intervene again.
• Latin America had severe social and economic problems.
• A huge gap existed between the wealthy few and the
majority of people.
• In most countries, rural people lived in desperate
poverty.
• Many poor Latin Americans saw communism as a
solution to their problems.

• Many American leaders agreed with the need for reform. They hoped that
American aid would help make Latin American nations more democratic
and lessen communist influence.
• In 1961, Kennedy created an aid program called the Alliance for
Progress. The United States contributed aid for schools and hospitals
and for improving farming and sanitation services. The Alliance
brought improvements, but it did not end the causes of poverty.
• Kennedy also set up the Peace Corps. Under this program, American
volunteers worked in developing countries. They lived with local
people, teaching or giving technical advice.
• The United States joined with other countries in the Organization of
American States, or OAS. Through the OAS, the United States invested
in transportation and industry in Latin America.
• The United States gave military aid to train and arm Latin American
military forces. The United States spoke up for democracy but
sometimes supported military dictators because they opposed
communism.

• Between 1950 and 1990, the United States returned to a policy of
intervention in Latin American affairs.
• The United States intervened in Guatemala, the Dominican
Republic, Panama, and Grenada.
• When rebels in El Salvador and Guatemala fought to
overthrow harsh governments, the United States backed the
governments because they were anticommunist.
• When a rebel group, the Sandinistas, overthrew a dictator in
Nicaragua, President Reagan sided with the opponents of the
Sandinistas, known as the Contras. Many members of
Congress disagreed with Reagan’s policy. They banned
military aid to the Contras. People on the President’s staff
arranged for secret aid. When the arrangement became
known, many Americans were outraged. Finally, Nicaraguans
voted in new leaders.

The Cold War Leads to an Arms Race
• By the 1950s, both the Soviet Union and the United States
had large stocks of nuclear bombs and missiles.
• In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the world’s
first artificial satellite. Americans were stunned.
• Sputnik sparked a new round of spending on weapons
systems by both the Soviet Union and the United States.
• The United States launched its own satellites.
• The superpowers raced to send larger satellites farther.
• The United States set up the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration, or NASA. Its mission was to
direct an American space program to compete with the
Soviets.

During the Cold War, the situation that brought the United States and the
Soviet Union closest to a full-scale nuclear war was known as the
a) Bay of Pigs invasion.
b) Ethiopia-Somalia conflict.
c) Cuban missile crisis.
d) Contra affair.
People who want to help developing countries by teaching or giving technical
advice can volunteer for
a) the Alliance for Progress.
b) the Peace Corps.
c) the Organization of American States.
d) NASA.

The War in Vietnam
• How did the United States get involved in the
Vietnam War?
• How did the Vietnam War affect Americans at
home?
• How did the Tet Offensive help lead to the war’s
end?
• What impact did the Vietnam War have on the
United States and Southeast Asia?

How the United States Got Involved in Vietnam
• Vietnam is a narrow country that stretches along the South China Sea.
Since the late 1800s, it had been a French colony.
• The United States became involved in Vietnam slowly, step by step.
• During the 1940s, Ho Chi Minh, a Vietnamese nationalist and a
Communist, led a fight for independence. His army defeated the
French in 1954.
• An international peace conference divided Vietnam into two countries
—communist North Vietnam and noncommunist South Vietnam, led by
Ngo Dinh Diem.
• Diem lost popular support. People said he favored wealthy landlords
and was corrupt.
• Many peasants began to join the Vietcong—guerrillas who opposed
Diem. Guerrillas are fighters who make hit-and-run attacks on the
enemy. In time the Vietcong were supported by communist North
Vietnam.

• American leaders thought that if South Vietnam fell to
communism, neighboring countries would follow, like
falling dominoes. This idea became known as the Domino
Theory.
• During the 1950s and 1960s, Presidents Eisenhower and
Kennedy sent financial aid and military advisers to South
Vietnam to help train the South Vietnamese army.
• In 1963, Diem was assassinated. A few weeks later,
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Lyndon
Johnson became President. Johnson increased aid to
South Vietnam. Still, the Vietcong continued to make gains.
• In August 1964, President Johnson announced that North
Vietnamese torpedo boats had attacked an American ship
patrolling the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of North Vietnam.

• As a result, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin
Resolution, which allowed the President “to take all
necessary measures to repel any armed attack or to
prevent further aggression.”
• Johnson ordered the bombing of North Vietnam and
Vietcong-held areas. The role of Americans had changed
from advisers to active fighters. The war in Vietnam
escalated, or expanded.
• The Vietnam War differed from other wars Americans had
been in. Rather than trying to gain ground, Americans were
attempting to destroy enemy positions. When Americans
found enemy positions, the guerrillas disappeared into the
jungle. When the Americans left, the enemy returned.
Worse still, American soldiers could not tell which villagers
were Vietcong.

How the War Affected Americans at Home
• As American casualties mounted, public support for the war
faded. For the first time, Americans watched a war on television.
They saw villages burned, children and old people caught in
battle, and soldiers wounded.
• To raise troops, the United States expanded the draft, or system of
mandatory enlistment. The draft affected American youth
unequally. Many middle-class men found ways to avoid the draft,
while poorer men—especially African Americans and Mexican
Americans—went to war.
• By the mid-1960s, the country was splitting between “hawks” and
“doves.” Hawks supported the war as a battle against
communism. Doves opposed the war. They saw it as a civil war
that should involve the Vietnamese only.
• Protests spread. Many people wanted the huge sums being spent
on the Vietnam War to be spent instead on social programs at
home.

The Tet Offensive: A Turning Point
• In January 1968, the Vietcong launched surprise attacks on cities
throughout South Vietnam. The attack became known as the Tet Offensive,
because it took place during Tet, the Vietnamese New Year’s holiday.
• American and South Vietnamese forces pushed back the enemy, but the
Vietcong had won a political victory. Their offensive showed that even with
half a million American troops there, no part of South Vietnam was safe
from the Vietcong.
• When Richard Nixon took office as President, he widened the war, hoping
to weaken the enemy. Nixon ordered the bombing of communist bases in
neighboring Cambodia. Then, American and South Vietnamese forces
invaded Cambodia. These moves plunged Cambodia into its own civil war.
• Finally, Nixon began to turn the war over to South Vietnam and withdraw
American troops. Peace talks were held in Paris. In January 1973, the two
sides reached a cease-fire agreement. In 1974, the last American troops left
Vietnam, though the United States continued to send aid.

The Tet Offensive: A Turning Point
• In April 1975, communist forces captured Saigon, renaming
it Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnam was united under a communist
government.
• That year, the communist Khmer Rouge won the civil war in
Cambodia. They imposed a brutal reign of terror on their
own people. In 1979, Vietnam invaded Cambodia and set up
a less harsh communist government there.

The Vietnam War

Impact of the Vietnam War
The costs of the war
• More than 58,000 American soldiers lost their lives.
• More than a million Vietnamese soldiers and half a million Vietnamese
civilians died.
• The war shattered the Vietnamese economy.
• Hundreds of thousands of people fled Vietnam and Cambodia.
• Many refugees escaped in small boats. Many of these boat people drowned
or died of hunger and thirst.
• Many others made it to safety and some settled in the United States.
• The Vietnam War was a painful episode in American history.
• The war produced no victory.
• The war divided the nation and left Americans wondering how far the
United States should go to fight communism.

The United States became involved in Vietnam because of the domino theory,
which said
a) the United States had to go to the aid of France because it was a European
ally.
b) if South Vietnam fell to the Communists, the rest of the region would
follow.
c) the peace conference had no right to divide Vietnam into two countries.
d) if American forces were attacked, the President could take steps to keep it
from happening again.
Which statement best describes how the American people reacted to United States
involvement in the Vietnam War?
a) Americans were nearly a hundred percent behind the war.
b) Most Americans knew little about the war and didn’t have an opinion.
c) Americans were nearly a hundred percent against the war.
d) American opinion became sharply divided, with some opposing the war
and some favoring it.

The Cold War Ends
• How did President Richard Nixon change the
course of American foreign policy?
• Why did new Cold War tensions emerge after
1979?
• What conditions led to the fall of communism in
the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe?
• How did the Cold War affect American society?

Nixon Changes the Course of American Foreign Policy
Nixon sought to improve relations with the People’s Republic
of China.
• Since 1949, the United States had refused to recognize the
communist government of China.
• Instead, it recognized the Chinese Nationalists, now
confined to the island of Taiwan. The United States
supported their claim to being the legitimate government of
China.
• Nixon allowed secret talks with Chinese officials to find
ways for the United States and China to have a better
relationship.
• Nixon visited the People’s Republic of China in 1972.
• As tensions eased, the two countries established formal
diplomatic relations in 1979.

Nixon Changes the Course of American Foreign Policy
Nixon sought to improve relations with the Soviet Union.
• In May 1972, Nixon became the first American President to visit
the Soviet Union since the beginning of the Cold War.
• Nixon’s effort to reduce tensions between the superpowers was
known as détente. Trade and other contacts between the two
countries increased.
• The new relationship led the superpowers to sign a treaty to limit
the number of nuclear warheads and missiles each produced. The
treaty was known as the SALT Agreement. SALT stands for
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks.
• The next two Presidents, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter,
continued the policy of détente. Under Ford, the United States and
the Soviet Union conducted a joint space mission. Carter and
Soviet leader Brezhnev worked out a SALT II Treaty.

New Cold War Tensions After 1979
Détente ended suddenly in 1979 when Soviet troops swept into Afghanistan to
help a pro-Soviet government. Soviet troops remained for ten years.
• President Carter withdrew the SALT II Treaty.
• The United States supplied rebel troops.
• The war became so costly for the Soviets that it eventually contributed to
the downfall of the Soviet Union.
• In 1989, the Soviets were forced to pull out.
Ronald Reagan took office in 1981. He firmly believed the Soviet Union was an
evil empire. He also took a tough anticommunist stand on Latin America.
• Reagan persuaded Congress to increase military spending.
• He called for a new weapons system that he hoped could destroy Soviet
missiles from space. The system was nicknamed Star Wars.
• In December 1981, Poland’s communist government cracked down on
Solidarity, an independent labor union. Under Soviet pressure, the Polish
government imposed martial law, or emergency military rule, on the
country. Reagan condemned the move.

Causes
• Soviet Union
takes control of
Eastern
European
nations
• Communism
gains influence
in Western
Europe, the
Middle East, and
Asia
• Western powers
fear Soviet
expansion
ColdWar
Effects
• Arms race between
United States and
Soviet Union
results in heavy
military spending
• Western powers
and Soviet Union
create separate
military alliances
• Armed conflicts
erupt in Korea and
Vietnam
• United States and
Soviet Union
compete for
influence in
developing nations
EffectsToday
• United States is
world’s greatest
military power
• Eastern Europe
and Russia are
struggling to
create
democratic
governments
• Southeast Asian
countries are
still recovering
from wars
The Cold War

The Fall of Communism
In the mid-1980s, cracks began to appear in the Soviet empire. Economic
problems were growing, in part because the Soviets were spending so much
on their military, there was little money left for producing consumer goods.
People complained that it was time for reform.
In 1985, new Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev undertook major reforms.
• Gorbachev backed glasnost, the Russian term for speaking out openly. He
hoped this new openness would lead citizens to find new solutions to
pressing problems.
• Gorbachev knew he could not solve economic problems without cutting
military spending. To do so, he would have to have better relations with the
United States. President Reagan and Gorbachev met at several summit
meetings. A summit meeting is a conference between the highest-ranking
officials of different nations.
• In 1987, the two leaders signed an arms control pact—the Intermediate
Nuclear Force (INF) Treaty. They agreed to get rid of stockpiles of short
and medium-range missiles.

• In the late 1980s, Eastern European governments could no longer
control their people’s demands for democratic and economic
reforms.
• The Soviet Union was too busy with its own problems to
suppress these protests, as it had before.
• In 1989, Poland held its first free elections in 50 years. Polish
voters rejected communist candidates and voted for Solidarity
candidates. Lech Walesa, once jailed by the Communists,
became head of a new government.
• One by one, communist governments fell in Czechoslovakia,
Hungary, Bulgaria, and Albania. In Romania, a violent revolt
toppled the communist dictator.
• In East Germany, the Communists were forced from power. By
1990, Germany was reunited under a democratic government.

• The Soviet Union was made up of 15 republics held together by a
strong central government in Moscow.
• By 1990, some republics were demanding self-rule.
• For nearly 70 years, the Soviet Union had had only one party.
To quiet the unrest, Gorbachev allowed new political parties.
• Hard-line communist officials tried to oust Gorbachev.
• The revolt weakened Gorbachev. Soon, republic after republic
declared its independence from the Soviet Union.
• In late 1991, Gorbachev resigned, but by then, the Soviet
Union had collapsed.
• Fifteen new nations emerged from the old Soviet Union.
Russia was the largest and most powerful. These countries
have tried to shift from communism to a free-market system,
but the change has not been easy.

The Cold War

How the Cold War Affected Americans
• The Cold War lasted almost 50 years. In that time, hundreds of
thousands of Americans went off to war. About 112,000 did not
return. Americans at home lived under the expectation of an
attack.
• The Cold War was costly. From 1946 to 1990, the United States
spent over $6 trillion on national defense.
• The arms race created dangers for the world. Other nations
besides the superpowers tried to develop their own nuclear
weapons.
• The Cold War divided Americans at times. The search for
Communists in the 1950s and the Vietnam War split the American
public.
• Americans had disagreed strongly about foreign policy. Yet, they
could agree that their freedom was worth fighting for.

In the 1970s, President Nixon moved to ease world tensions. To create better
relations with China,
a) he visited the People’s Republic of China.
b) he promised to stop aiding the Nationalists on Taiwan.
c) he visited the Soviet Union.
d) he played ping pong with the popular Chinese team.
One reason for the collapse of the Soviet Union was that
a) rebel countries of Eastern Europe sent troops into Soviet territory.
b) Soviet troops lost clashes with Eastern Europeans and with their own
people.
c) heavy military spending contributed to growing problems within their
economic system.
d) the United States developed a new weapons system that could destroy
Soviet missiles from space.

The Cold War Era: Tensions Rise as Conflicts Emerge

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to The Cold War Era: Tensions Rise as Conflicts Emerge

Similar to The Cold War Era: Tensions Rise as Conflicts Emerge (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

The Cold War Era: Tensions Rise as Conflicts Emerge