1 / 15

Class Notes:

Class Notes:. The Cold War Thaws. The Evolution of Soviet Cold War Policy. Nikita Krushchchev. Stalin died in 1953 and Nikita Khrushchev became Soviet Premier in “ Destalinization ” started – purging society of Stalin’s memory

lisle
Download Presentation

Class Notes:

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Class Notes: The Cold War Thaws

  2. The Evolution of Soviet Cold War Policy

  3. Nikita Krushchchev • Stalin died in 1953 and Nikita Khrushchev became Soviet Premier in • “Destalinization” started – purging society of Stalin’s memory • Khrushchev was more moderate and believed the USSR could beat the US economically

  4. Leonid Brezhnev • Leonid Brezhnev became Soviet Premier in 1964 • He was more like Stalin and limited rights for the Soviet people • Brezhnev Doctrine – USSR could use force to keep satellite nations from turning away from Communism

  5. MikhailGorbachev • Gorbachev took over soon after Brezhnev’s death in 1982 • He was younger and more reform minded • glasnost a policy of openness to ideas and information • perestroika  restructuring the Soviet economy with less decisions being made by the Soviet state and more locally • democratization  policy to open up the political system

  6. The Evolution of American Cold War Policy

  7. HarryTruman & Dwight Eisenhower • Followed policy of containmentand “domino theory” • Started build up of nuclear weapons under Eisenhower (“new look military”) • Emphasized American economic superiority – US was prosperous and free in society

  8. John F. Kennedy & Lyndon B. Johnson • Brinkmanship replaced containment (taking nation to the brink of war without backing down) • U-2 incident heightened tensions • Cuban Missile Crisis  example of brinkmanship and made use of nuclear weapons a real possibility • Vietnam War took center stage and was major campaign of Cold War

  9. Richard Nixon • Followed policy of détente (lessening of tensions) • Also realpolitik (dealing with each other realistically) • Nixon visited China and the USSR • SALT I limited numbers of ICBMs and submarine missiles

  10. Ronald Reagan • Détente had fallen apart with the two previous presidents • Reagan was a “cold warrior” – fiercely anti-communist • Increased military spending  SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative) • NUTS  Nuclear Utilization Theory (you could survive a nuclear attack with “acceptable” casualties)

  11. The End of the Cold War

  12. Collapse of the Soviet Union • Dissent was getting stronger in Soviet satellite nations (even as early as 1956 in Hungary and 1968 in Czechoslovakia) • Gorbachev had loosened the grip of the Communist Party on all parts of Soviet life • The USSR could not keep up with the military spending of the US • December of 1991, the USSR ceased to exist (broke apart)

More Related