The Cold War began after World War 2 and lasted from 1945-1991. It involved geopolitical tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States. Key events included the formation of opposing military alliances like NATO and the Warsaw Pact, the Berlin Blockade, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and a nuclear arms race. Important leaders during this time included Nikita Khrushchev, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and Mikhail Gorbachev, whose reforms helped bring an end to the Cold War.

1. The Cold War
SIPHO MKHONTO
1945-1991

2. 
Overview
The Cold War began to form after World War II. The
disagreements started between 1947-1951. The world split into
two large organizations NATO (North Atlantic Treaty
Organization) and the Warsaw pact. Many people believed at
that time that a nuclear war would start. The main tensions
were between The Soviet Union (“Russia”) and The United
States. Both sides and their allies were building up their
weapons but did not use them. It was a fight between political
systems for power.

3. Important People
ON
COLD WAR

4. 
Nikita Khrushchev (1894-1971)
After Joseph Stalin died Nikita
Khrushchev became chief
director of the Soviet Union. He
was a strong believer in the
communist party, and he
became the First Secretary from
September 7, 1953 to October
14, 1964. Khrushchev was
Premier of the Soviet Union from
March 27, 1958 to October 14,
1964. He was born on April 17,
1894 and died on September 11,
1971 when he was 77 years old.
He was notorious for his rudeness
of interrupting speeches and
removing his shoe to bang it on
the podium during debates at
the United Nations.
Nikita Khrushchev

5. 
JohnKennedy was the 35th
F. Kennedy (1917-1963)
John F.
President of the United States.
He was in office from January
20, 1961 until November 22,
1963. Kennedy was the
president during the Bay of
Pigs, Cuban Missile Crisis, the
building of the Berlin Wall, the
Vietnam war and the
American Civil rights
movement. On November
22,1963 Kennedy was in
Dallas, Texas and was
assassinated.
John F. Kennedy

6. 
Ronald Reagan(1911-2004)
Ronald Reagan became
the 40th president of the
United States on January
20, 1981 and left office on
January 20, 1989. He was
the governor of California
from 1967 to 1975. Regan
served two terms also partly
during the cold war. He
ordered a massive military
buildup while racing
against the Soviet Union. He
later spoke with Mikhail
Gorbachev and they
shrunk the US and Russia's
nuclear weaponry.
Ronald Reagan

7. 
Mikhail Gorbachev(1931- )
Mikhail Gorbachev is the
leader of the Union of
Social-Democrats. He used
to be the General
Secretary of the
Communist Party of the
Soviet Union, he was also
head of the USSR.
Gorbachev was awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize in
1990. He had helped end
the Cold War and the
Communist Party of the
Soviet Union. Mikhail
Gorbachev was born
March 2, 1931 and he is still
alive.
Mikhail Gorbachev

8. The US vs. the Soviet Union
Lots of the conflict
NATO- Blue
happened in Germany
Warsaw
because it had borders with Pactallies of the Warsaw Pact
and NATO.
The United States also was
affected by the Cold War
because of the Bay of Pigs
an the Cuban Missile crisis.
RED
Russia became communist
and also captured many
countries:
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus,
Estonia, Georgia,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan,
Ukraine, Uzbekistan.
Together with the Russian
Federation these fifteen
republics formed the USSR.

9. COMPETING IDEOLOGICAL
SYSTEMS UNION
UNITED STATES VS.
SOVIET
1. Wanted to spread democracy &
capitalism to Eastern Europe.
1. Continued to occupy Eastern Europe &
turned countries into satellites (puppet
states), to protect the Soviet Union from
2. NATO - North Atlantic
invasion from the west.
Treaty Organization. U.S. &
2. Warsaw Pact - Soviet Union &
several Western European
Eastern European satellite countries.
Countries.
Government controls radio, T.V. & Newspapers
Secret police
One party leadership
Freedom of press
Collectivization
Citizens have basic rights
Government controls all production
Freedom of Religion
Freedom of Press
Dictatorship
Citizens elect representatives Use of propaganda
People & corporations can own land
Censorship
People can form own political parties

11. Primary Source
Letters from Khrushchev to Kennedy

Khrushchev wrote to Kennedy twice about the Cuban missile crisis.
The first letter was sent on October 26, 1962 and contained the
statement that if the United States agreed not to attack Cuba then
the Soviet Union would take the weapons out.Below is part of the first
letter.

“Why have we proceeded to assist Cuba with military and
economic aid? The answer is: We have proceeded to do so only
for reasons of humanitarianism. At one time, our people itself
had a revolution, when Russia was still a backwards country. We
were attacked then. We were the target of attack by many
countries. The USA participated in that adventure. This had
been recorded by our participants in the aggression against our
country. A whole book has been written about this by General
Graves, who, at that time, commanded the US Expeditionary
Corps. Graves called it ‘The American Adventure in Siberia.”

Kruschev wrote a second letter to Kennedy which was more
aggressive and asking him about the missiles stationed in Turkey
pointing at Russia.

12. Berlin Blockade

The Soviet Union wanted all of Berlin. At that time
the United States,the Soviet Union, France, and
Great Britain all occupied some part of Berlin. On
June 24, 1948 the Soviet Union blocked off all
roads and rail roads entering and leaving East
Germany. The other countries were not able to
access their part of Berlin. The people in Berlin
were starving so the United States and Britain
started sending airlifts of food. They ultimately
lasted 321 days. A plane took off every three
minutes to bring the food and medicine. The
blockade ended May 11, 1949.

13. 
The Forming of NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization include
twelve nations that have an alliance. These
include The United States and The United
Kingdome. NATO was officially formed on April 4,
1949. They all signed the North Atlantic Treaty.
After the fall of communism NATO has become a
political force rather than a military force.
The NATO flag.

14. 
The Formation of the Warsaw
Pact
Warsaw Treaty of
Friendship, Cooperation,
and mutual assistance was
formed on May 14, 1955 in
Warsaw, Poland. The
Warsaw Pact was formed
the same year that NATO
was announced and is
thought to have been
created due to NATO’s
formation. There were eight
members of this pact. This
pact is ,since 1991, extinct
Warsaw poster

15. Bay of Pigs

On April 15, 1961 aircrafts flew over Cuba
attempting to wipe out Castro’s air force.
It was supposed to look like it was only
Cuban exiles. The attack might have
worked if the second and third air strikes
had not been cancelled. The mission was
overall unsuccessful.

16. Postwar Germany
 Nuremburg
Trials for war crimes
 Divided into 4 zones:
 West
Germany – U.S., Britain, and
France
 East Germany- Soviets
 Capitol city of Berlin divided into 4
zones (in East Germany)
 Berlin
Airlift: In 1948-49, the U.S.
and Europe flew food and
supplies to save West Berlin,
until Soviets reopened roads.

17. Improve your knowledge
 The
Russians took very high casualties
to capture Berlin in May 1945. They
spent the early occupation trying to
take over all zones of the city but were
stopped by German democrats such as
Willy Brandt and Konrad Adenauer.
Reluctantly the Russians had to admit
the Americans, French and British to
their respective zones.

18. 
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was
constructed on August 13,
1961. The wall divided East
and West Berlin, the people
on the East were not
allowed to leave. Over 125
people were killed
attempting to escape East
Berlin.East Berlin was
controlled by the Soviet
Union and was communist.
The wall stayed up for 28
years until June 13, 1990
when the wall was officially
taken down.
The Berlin Wall

19. THE BERLIN WALL
Video.asx

20. 
Space Race
The Space Race was race
between the United States
and the Soviet Union to
see who could explore
outer space first. When the
Soviets launched Sputnik
the whole race slowly
began. The Apollo 11
mission by the United
States was very successful
and was watched by
500million people around
the world.
Landing on the moon

21. ARMS RACE
The United States developed the Atomic Bomb during WWII.
Soviet scientists developed one in 1949.
For 40 years the superpowers spent huge amounts of money to
develop more & more powerful weapons. This raised the tensions
between the two countries. It also raised the fears among many
people that the superpowers might become involved in a conflict that
would destroy the world.

22. How it Ended

Economic reforms were made by
Mikhail Gorbachev when he became
head of the Soviet Union. His new
policies were called perestroika.
Gorbachev and Reagan worked
together to eliminate nuclear
weapons. Demonstration started in
East Germany and the Soviet republics
began rebelling.

23. REFERENCE

Weingard.C. 2011. Communism, fascism, and nazism.
http://www.slideshare.net/cweingard/communismfascism-and-nazism. ACCESSED ON 08/03/2014

Lopez, M. 2011. Cold war ap.
http://www.slideshare.net/e039720/cold-war-ap
ACCESSED ON 08/03/2014
Ekart. M,G. 2011. Cold war conflicts.
http://www.slideshare.net/tekart/cold-war-conflicts .
ACCESSED ON 08/03/2014
Henry. J. 2008. The Cold War- Early Years.
http://www.slideshare.net/henrjt/the-cold-war-earlyyears. ACCESSED ON 08/03/2014
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