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The Final Decades of the Cold War

Explore how the resistance of Soviet satellites, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Gorbachev's reforms led to the fall of the USSR. Witness the tension, conflicts, and ultimate collapse that reshaped global politics.

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The Final Decades of the Cold War

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  1. The Final Decades of the Cold War 1960s-1990s

  2. Soviet Union relied on their satellites (examples: Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania), who are starting to resist the control of the Soviet Union. As a result, the Soviet economy begins to weaken. • Stalin dies in 1953-Khruschevcomes to power in the Soviet Union

  3. Cuban Missile Crisis • Background: • US supported an unpopular Cuban dictator in the 1950s • Communist Revolution led by Fidel Castro, occurred and was successful • America stopped trading with Cuba, so Castro turned to the USSR for aid • Bay of Pigs Invasion—1960—failed invasionof Cuba by the U.S.

  4. 1962—Khruschev has nuclear missile sites built in Cuba • America responds by sending troops to Florida, ready to invade Cuba • Great Britain, led by Margaret Thatcher is on America’s side • British Prime Minister who supported free trade and less government regulation of business • Closely tied to the USA and supported the rise of British military power • The WORLD IS ON EDGE

  5. What the Americans Saw

  6. Result • Khruschev promises to remove missiles from Cuba/Kennedy decides not to invade Cuba • Closest the world EVER comes to nuclear war • Cuba and USSR ended their relationship in 1991 • USA still has trade embargoes on Cuba today

  7. The USSR Starts to Fail • Relationship ended between China and USSR by 1969 • As a result, relations between USSR and India (led byIndira Gandhi) improve and India starts to develop a nuclearprogram • Nationalism grows in the Warsaw Pact countries • Nationalist revolutionsoccur in Soviet satellites • Economic recovery after WWII had been slow: people resented the Soviet Union • The revolts by Czechoslovakia and Hungary were met with resistance by the USSR

  8. 1970s • Cool-down of tension begins • Vietnam war very unpopularin the USA • US and Soviets agree together to reduce tensions • President Nixon aids this by visiting China and the USSR

  9. Who are these guys?

  10. And these?

  11. 1980s • Mikhail Gorbachev comes to power in the Soviet Union • **Last Communist President!** • Committed to glasnost(openness) and perestroika (restructuring) of the Soviet economy • In other words, he opened up economy to capitalism • Democratizationof the Soviet Union • Gorbachev opened up eastern European nations to democracywhich led to the break-up of the USSR • Demonstrations in Berlin cause the Wall to be torn down in October of 1989 • President Ronald Regan emphasized the need for this to occur

  12. 1990s • Germany officially reunited on October 3, 1990 • June 1991: Yeltsin becomes the 1st elected Presidentin the Soviet Union • Communism has lost control • Communists try a coup to retake country and fail • By December, all 15 Soviet satellites have declared independence, and the Soviet Union collapsed • NATO expands as a result: • Adds: Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary in 1991; Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia joined in 2004

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