 Following the Cuban Missile Crisis, the U.S. and USSR set up a “hotline” between Washington and Moscow. Why might Kennedy and Khrushchev have wanted to have a direct line of communication?

 Distrust between the two countries during the Cold War led to serious situations that could escalate to nuclear war (Cuban Missile Crisis)  Avoid a serious, dangerous game of “telephone” – misinterpretations that happen when multiple people pass on messages

 Soviet people saw few benefits from WWII victory  Unlike United States, Western Europe  USSR devastated  Stalin continued ruthless policies  Filled labor camps with “enemies of the state”  Died in 1953

 Competition between two economic and political value systems  USSR: Communism, Command economy  USA: Democracy, Market economy

 Communism  Form of socialism (people as a whole, not private individuals, own all property and businesses)  State plans and controls economy, all goods equally shared by people

 Soviet Communism  Government controlled many aspects of life  Obedience, discipline, economic security  Spread communist ideology around the world  Command Economy  Government makes most decisions  Political reasons

 Nikita Khrushchev  Followed Stalin’s death  Publicly denounced Stalin’s abuse of power  De-Stalinization  Peaceful co-existence with West  Leonid Brezhnev  Reversed many of Krushchev’s reforms  Economic problems, corruption ignored  Peak of strategic relations with West

 Andrey Sakharov  Scientist  Against nuclear proliferation  Spoke out for civil liberties Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn *Wrote letter criticizing Stalin, sent to prison camp *Writer and historian, his writings told the world of the gulags

 1953 – East Berlin  1956 – Poland, Hungary  1968 – Alexander Dubcek, “Prague Spring”  Leader of Czechoslovakia, sought to liberalize the country: “socialism with a human face”  Reforms: greater freedom of expression, political parties  Warsaw Pact forces invaded, Dubcek and leaders arrested  Country gave in to Soviet demands

 Democracy  Citizens have freedom to make economic and political choices  Market economy  Producers and consumers make decisions  Prices based on supply and demand  Property is privately owned  Competition

 Basically a market economy, but government has economic role  Mixed economy

 Containment  America’s policy toward communism  Keeping communism from spreading  Meant US would support any government from being invaded or taken over by communists  Nuclear Fears  Fallout shelters  Drills

 Red Scare  Many Americans feared communists would undermine the U.S. government  1950: Sen. Joseph McCarthy led hunt for suspected communists  McCarthyism: fear that developed during this time, from accusations of innocent people  HUAC: House Un-American Activities Committee  Sought to expose communists in Hollywood