The Cold War was a period of tension and hostility between the United States and the Soviet Union from 1945 to 1991. This stemmed from their opposing ideologies of democracy and communism. There were several proxy wars and crises that brought the two superpowers close to direct military conflict, such as the Berlin Airlift, Cuban Missile Crisis, and arms race. Each side formed military alliances like NATO and the Warsaw Pact and engaged in a space race demonstrating their technological prowess. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 marked the end of the Cold War.

1. The Cold War
1945-1991

2. What is it?
• Cold = tensions
• Tension b/w USA & Soviet Union
• Democracy v. Communism
• Almost war

3. Berlin Airlift
• Germany divided after WWII
• USSR blocks Allies from Berlin
– Fly in supplies
• Eventually build Berlin Wall

5. Alliances
• NATO: US, France, Great Britain, Canada, & 8 other
European nations
• Warsaw Pact: USSR & Eastern Europe

6. Iron Curtain
• Speech by Winston Churchill
• Means the world is split in two: West & East
Not an actual
curtain—
METAPHOR

7. Arms Race
• We have nukes; they want nukes
• They get nukes
• We get nervous. We build better nukes. (H-Bomb)
• They build better nukes.
• We threaten each other with our nukes: Mutually
Assured Destruction
• We agree not to blow each other up…but keep our
hands hovered over the BIG RED BUTTON…just in
case.

9. Cuban Missile Crisis
• USSR puts nuclear weapons in Cuba
• USA threatens to attack
• 13 days of tension—USSR agrees to back off
• Almost nuclear WW3

10. Space Race
• USA & USSR want beat each other into space
– Maybe send weapons?
– Shows who is powerful
• USSR: first satellite (Sputnik), first animal (dog) &
man into space (Yuri Gagarin)
• USA: first man to land on the moon

12. Cold War Heats Up in Asia
• China becomes communist seen as “lost”
• North Korean tries to become communist 
Korean War  UN & US involvement  Korea
divides into North and South
• N. Vietnam tries to become communist  US gets
involved Vietnam war lasts 10+ years  US
withdraws in 1970s all of Vietnam falls to
communism

13. Collapse of USSR
• Gorbachev comes to power in USSR, allows
freedoms
• Reagan: anti-communist, calls for fall of Berlin
Wall—symbol of freedom
Torn down in 1989

14. Collapse of USSR
• USSR loses territory, people rebel
• Soviet Union dissolved in 1991