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COUNTRIES INVOLVEDIN THE COLD WAR

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

and its allies

THE SOVIET UNION

and its allies

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DEATH OF JOSEPH STALIN

On March 5, 1953, Joseph Stalin died of a cerebral hemorrhage. There was no potential successor to fill in for Stalin. The highest officials in the Communist Party stated that they

would jointly rule the Soviet Union, although a power struggle eventually took place. Nikita Khrushchev won the struggle and assumed control of the Soviet Union by the mid 1950s.

Joseph Stalin’s body lies in state at the House of Trades in Moscow, Russia Nikita Khrushchev

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SPUTNIKThe first Sputnik, which was a satellite launched by the Soviets, was sent into

orbit on October 4, 1957. The impact of the successful launch of the satellite was

felt in the United States. The United States had failed in two launch attempts

for Project Vanguard, which had intended to launch the first artificial satellite into the orbit of earth. Not to be outdone, the United States launched many satellites

into orbit in rapid-fire succession. America did not want the Soviets to have better technology. Some of the satellites

that the United States launched were Project SCORE, Explorer 1, and the Courier 1B. Increased government

spending also went toward scientific research.

A model of the first Sputnik satellite

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CUBAN REVOLUTIONThe Cuban Revolution was the revolt that resulted

in the rise of Fidel Castro to power in the now Marxist Cuba. General Fulgencio Batista, who was

supported by the United States, was overthrown on January 1, 1959 by a

group known as the 26th of July Movement. Castro had been exiled to Mexico after being let out of a fifteen-year sentence early for attacking Batista’s government. While in Mexico, Castro gathered

more Cuban exiles to start planning for a revolution against Batista. The fighting raged for approximately three years, with the exiles slowly

closing in on Batista. Batista fled to the Dominican Republic. This enabled Castro to take control of

the island, with Manuel Urrutia Lleo being the first president under him. Soon, Cuba’s new communist

leaders became allied with the Soviet Union.

Fidel Castro in 1959

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U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1960

In the U.S. Presidential Election of 1960, Richard M. Nixon, Eisenhower’s vice president, was the Republican candidate for the presidency. The Democrats had nominated Senator John F. Kennedy from Massachusetts. Senator Harry Byrd from Chicago ran under the

independent banner, with Strom Thurmond as a running mate. The election was very close in the popular vote, but Kennedy won the election with 303 electoral votes.

United States President John F.

Kennedy,

Results of the 1960 Presidential

Election

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BAY OF PIGS INVASIONThe Bay of Pigs Invasion occurred between April 15–19, 1961. It was an unsuccessful attempted invasion in southwest Cuba by

Cuban exiles, backed by the U.S. government. They were attempting to

overthrow the government of Fidel Castro. The invasion occurred shortly after John F.

Kennedy became president. When the invasion failed, it proved to be a severe

blemish for the Kennedy administration. In addition, it made Cuba’s Fidel Castro

become very concerned about the tenuous relationship between the United States and

Cuba. Three major Central Intelligence Agency officials were forced to resign as

well, with the most notable being CIA Director Allen Dulles.The poster warns of the pending

invasion of the Bay of Pigs

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APOLLO PROGRAMAt his inauguration, John F. Kennedy

announced his intentions for the United States to put a man on the moon. This would become the start of the Apollo

Program. America did not want to be left behind in the space race, as they saw

Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin become the first man to fly in space on April 12, 1961. The next day, Congressmen were

talking about catching up with the Russians. Kennedy was determined to have

the United States put a man on the moon before the Russians. Kennedy’s challenge

for an American to go to the moon was answered on July 20, 1969, when Neil

Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon.

President Kennedy announcing his intentions to go the moon on May 25, 1961

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JFK AND KHRUSHCHEVDuring a meeting in Vienna, Austria, in June 1961, United States President Kennedy and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev discussed issues that were pertinent to both countries.

Many people believed that the Soviet Union would test the American policy of Containment in Southeast Asia. However, after the failure at the Bay of Pigs and the building of the Berlin Wall, Kennedy was more determined than ever to not allow a communist threat

overtake Vietnam. Kennedy felt that if this occurred, it would damage the credibility of the United States in the eyes of its allies abroad. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson also

promised that South Vietnam President Ngo Dinh Diem would receive additional aid from the United States.

Both Kennedy and Johnson felt that the Diem’s forces would be able to defeat the Viet Minh on their own. Kennedy was against sending American soldiers to the region would be bad for the foreign policy of the United States in the long run. However, the army of South

Vietnam was very poor and could not put up much of a fight against the Republic of Vietnam’s army. Some in the government suggested that United States soldiers be sent to the region in disguise, but Kennedy rejected this idea. However, Kennedy would increase

the amount of assistance that was sent to the South Vietnamese army.

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THE BERLIN WALLConstruction of the Berlin Wall began on

August 13, 1961. Its purpose was to divide East Berlin and West Berlin. The wall was

being built by the Soviets in order to stop the flood of people who had been attempting to

make their way out of East Germany. During the construction of the wall, some of the

streets that were alongside the barrier were torn up so that cars and other vehicles would not be able to make their way through to the

other side. Soldiers were stationed at the wall, with orders to shoot anyone who tried

to escape from either side. In addition to this, minefields and chain fences were set up to

further prevent people from escaping. Construction of the Berlin Wall begins

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CUBAN MISSILE CRISISThe Soviets had been secretly installing

military bases on the island of Cuba, which was only 90 miles off the coast of the United

States. In 1962, these bases had nuclear weapons on them. President John F.

Kennedy ordered a “quarantine” of the island, which sparked a thirteen-day conflict that brought the United States and the Soviet Union close to nuclear war. In the end, the

Soviets backed down and agreed to withdraw their nuclear missiles from Cuba, in

exchange for a secret agreement by Kennedy guaranteeing that the United States would

not move against the Castro regime. President Kennedy talks with his Cabinet in a meeting during the Cuban Missile

Crisis.

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KENNEDY ASSASSINATIONOn November 22, 1963, President John F.

Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Kennedy had been struck by gunshots while riding in his presidential motorcade through

Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas. The official explanation was that he was assassinated by

Lee Harvey Oswald, who fired shots from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book

Depository. This conclusion was made after a ten-month investigation by the Warren

Commission, which looked into the death of President Kennedy. After Kennedy was

declared dead at 1 p.m. at Parkland Hospital, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn

in as president while on Air Force One. Speculation persists that there may have been a larger conspiracy behind the shooting rathern

than Oswald working as the lone gunman.

A photograph taken just seconds after the fatal shot to President Kennedy