The Final Decades of the Cold War

1960s-1990s

• 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-Khruschev comes to power in the Soviet Union

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

invasion of Cuba by the U.S.

• 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

What the Americans Saw

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

The USSR Starts to Fail• Relationship ended between China

and USSR by 1969– As a result, relations between USSR and

India (led by Indira Gandhi) improve and India starts to develop a nuclear program

• Nationalism grows in the Warsaw Pact countries– Nationalist revolutions occur 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

1970s

• Cool-down of tension begins• Vietnam war very unpopular in the USA• US and Soviets agree together to reduce

tensions– President Nixon aids this by visiting China and the

USSR

Who are these guys?

And these?

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• Democratization of the Soviet Union

– Gorbachev opened up eastern European nations to democracy which 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

1990s

• Germany officially reunited on October 3, 1990• June 1991: Yeltsin becomes the 1st elected President in

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