1. The Cold War Continues: The Arms Race *The U.S. and the Soviet Union were racing for weapon superiority. -Both nations developed the Atomic Bomb -U.S. first to develop Hydrogen Bomb *first tested in 1952 *1,000 times more powerful than A-bomb *vaporized a small island when tested *Soviet Union tests H-bomb 9 months later **Many begin to worry about the radioactive fallout. -Defense officials say no worries -Scientists disagree

2. **Joseph Stalin dies in 1953 and is replaced by Nikita Khrushchev. -denounced Stalin’s violent tactics -later used them himself against Hungary

3. A Brief Thaw in the Cold War *In 1959, the U.S. and Soviet Union attempt a relationship. -V.P. Richard Nixon visits Soviet Union -Khrushchev tours the U.S. *Plans are set for Eisenhower and Khrushchev to meet in Paris in 1960 to discuss arms reduction. -U.S. spy plane shot down in Soviet Union -America denies it but pilot admits it -Khrushchev demands apology and promise to stop spying -Eisenhower promises but doesn’t apologize -Paris meeting called off by Khrushchev

4. The Election of 1960 *John F. Kennedy (Democrat) beats Richard Nixon (Republican) -youngest president elected to office -youngest to die in office -first Catholic president -WWII veteran -increased defense spending -increased space exploration -believed in military might like Eisenhower -Unlike Eisenhower, he didn’t want to rely just on nuclear power. -created the Peace Corps -gave aid to struggling nations who pledged democratic govt’s (failure)

5. The Bay of Pigs **In 1959, Cuba became a Communist nation under the control of Fidel Castro. **When Kennedy took office there was already a plan in place to overthrow Castro by sending in a group of Anti-Castro refugees from Cuba. -trained by the CIA -1,500 invade Cuba at the Bay of Pigs in April 1961 -air and naval support never arrives because Kennedy vetoed direct U.S. involvement at last minute. -it was thought the Cuban people would rebel but they didn’t -Kennedy accepted full responsibility for the disaster. **The failure at the Bay of Pigs led Khrushchev to believe Kennedy was weak, so he issued an ultimatum: recognize East Germany as a sovereign nation and pull troops out of West Berlin. Kennedy refuses.

7. The Berlin Wall *In 1961, Khrushchev builds a concrete wall to separate East and West Berlin. -symbol of cold war -made to keep educated from fleeing to west -stood from 1961-1989

8. The Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) -Castro asks for more weapons to protect against invasion. -Soviet Union has missiles that will not reach U.S. from Soviet Union but could easily reach from Cuba. (90 miles from U.S.) -U.S. spy planes see launch pads and missiles in Cuba aimed at U.S. -Kennedy sets blockade to cut weapons being shipped to Cuba. -Brinkmanship—policy of threatening all-out war to stop Communism. -U.S. and Soviet Union are on the “brink” of war. -Khrushchev backs off finally- -pulls out missiles with promise from Kennedy to not invade Cuba and to pull missiles from Turkey.

9. *Realizing how close we had come to destruction, the U.S., Britain, and the Soviet Union signed a treaty in 1963 to ban the testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere and underwater. *A “hot line” was set up between the U.S. and Soviet Union. This direct phone line made it possible for the two nations to communicate directly during a crisis.