1. If you eat a polar bear liver, you will die of vitamin A poisoning.
“We walked to the brink and we looked it in the face.” - John Foster Dulles
If you eat a polar bear liver, you will die of vitamin A poisoning.

2. De-Stalinization, Thaw, Crisis, and Collapse
The Cold War
De-Stalinization, Thaw, Crisis, and Collapse

3. Stalin and the S.U.
In the post-war years, the S.U. and its satellite states’ internal policies were affected by the Cold War.
Convinced that a full scale war w/ the W. was inevitable, in the 1940s and early 50s Stalin:
Increased his control over the S.U. and E. Euro.
Purged the Communist party of officials suspected of disloyalty
Writers and artists were forbidden to use W. ideas in their works
All of these were done to expel W. ideas from the S.U.

4. Anti-Western Propaganda
englishrussia.com/?cat=12&paged=22

8. Stalin and the S.U.
Stalin worked to rebuild the S.U.’s heavy industry and to boost its military strength.
Through Stalin’s efforts, the S.U. was able to:
Surpass prewar rates of production of coal, steel, and oil, etc., etc.
Explode their first atomic bomb
Increase their military prestige.
In spite of the country’s military prestige, life for the average Soviet citizen was difficult:
Towns and cities were rebuilt but consumer goods, food, and clothing remained in short supply due to high military spending.

9. Uncle Joe Has Gotta Go
With the death of Stalin in March 1953, Nikita Khrushchev became the dominate leader of the Communist Party in 1955.
In 1956, Khrushchev gave a controversial speech about Stalin:
He denounced Stalin for the purges and for creating a “cult of personality” at the expense of the Communist Party.

10. Uncle Joe Has Gotta Go
Khrushchev’s anti-Stalin speech was part of a broader program of de-Stalinization, which he undertook from 1956 to 1964 to reverse some of the policies that had existed under Stalin.
Khrushchev knew that:
The Soviet people wanted a relaxation of gov. controls and improved standard of living.
Better wages and consumer goods, more intellectual freedoms, reduced secret police, and freed political prisoners from labor camps.
Khrushchev and Yuri Gagarin

11. A Cold War “Thaw?”
By the mid-1950s, both Am. and the Soviet leaders were interested in reducing cold-war tensions.
However, despite Khrushchev’s call for a policy of peaceful coexistence, the arms race continued between Am. and the S.U. (bombs, intercontinental ballistic missiles, and space).
Although the arms race continued, efforts for peace were made as will between the countries (summits, etc.)
Unfortunately, just before the Paris Summit in May 1960, the Soviets shot sown an Am. U-2 spy plane over their territory; the conference was cancelled and the relations b/w Am. and the S.U. worsened.

12. The Cuban Missile Crisis
The image is a recently declassified map used by the U.S. Navy's Atlantic Fleet shows the position of American and Soviet ships at the height of the crisis.

13. The Cuban Missile Crisis
In Oct. 1962, the cold-war almost became hot.
In 1962 President John F. Kennedy adopted a dynamic foreign policy to impress the Soviets with American strength and boost American prestige abroad.
To test Kennedy’s resolve, Khrushchev used press. to try to remove the Allies from W. Berlin and secretly began to install nuclear missiles on Cuba, 90 miles from FL.
In his gamble, the Soviet leader hoped to offset American missiles based in Turkey that were aimed at the S.U. He also wanted to get from Kennedy a promise not to overthrow Cuba’s Communist gov.

14. The Cuban Missile Crisis

15. The Cuban Missile Crisis
In response to the missiles, Kennedy:
Ordered nearly 200 Am. warships to blockade Cuba and stop military shipments from the S.U.
Nuclear equipped B-52 bombers took to the skies
Am. forces worldwide went on full alert.
After 4 days of tense negotiations, the crisis ended:
Khrushchev agreed to dismantle the bases and w/draw the missiles if the U.S. promised never to attack Cuba again.
Separately the U.S. agreed to remove Am. missiles in Turkey aimed at the S.U.
The crisis had ended, but Cuban Communist dictator Fidel Castro was furious at the S.U. actions and relations b/w Am. and Cuba continued to deteriorate.

19. October 28, 1962

20. Aftermath of the Crisis
After coming so close to nuclear war, the superpowers decided to est. a better relationship:
A “hot line” now linked Washington to Moscow
A treaty was signed banning nuclear weapons tests in the atmosphere.
Despite these peaceful measures, Khrushchev was becoming increasingly unpopular in the S.U. due to his heavy spending on tech., defense, and heavy industry.
In Oct 1964, Khrushchev was removed from office.

21. “With the end of the cold war, all the 'isms' of the 20th century - Fascism, Nazism, Communism and the evil of apartheid-ism - have failed. Except one. Only democracy has shown itself true the help of all mankind.”
Jack Kemp
Number of nuclear weapons currently in the U.S. stockpile (2002): 10,600 (7,982 deployed, 2,700 hedge/contingency stockpile)

22. The Beginning of the End
W/ the resignation of Khrushchev, Leonid Brezhnev became the leader of the Communist party and was in power from
During his time in power, Brezhnev reversed many of the de-Stalinization policies (conservatism) and cont. to build up the military; econ. conditions worsened.
By 1972, Brezhnev was ready to reduce tensions w/ the W.: détente “relaxation”
This détente lasted for 7 years and although the arms race did not end, it slowed it significantly; competition b/w Am. and the S.U. would still continue.

23. Leonid Brezhnev

24. Gorbachev’s U.S.S.R
In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev, a reform-minded leader, came to power in the S.U.
To transform the inefficient , state-run economy and halt the decay of Soviet society, Gorbachev was willing to make drastic changes:
glasnost “openness”: Gorbachev allowed freedom of expression for Soviet citizens and eased harsh measures against critics of the Soviet system.
perestroika: Gorbachev pushed for rebuilding of the Soviet econ. by allowing limited moves toward free enterpise.

25. Mikhail Gorbachev

26. Gorbachev’s U.S.S.R Gorbachev’s Foreign Policy:
Negotiated new arms-reductions agreements w/ the U.S. that included nuclear testing and the w/drawal of missiles.
Encouraged E. Euro. Communist leaders to carry out reforms which inspired discontented majorities to fight for democratic reforms.
Despite these reforms, Gorbachev’s power was crumbling, econ. problems cont. and reforms stalled.
He also had opposition from both the military (cutbacks) and the conservative members of the gov.

27. The Fall of the Soviet Union
While Gorbachev faced mounting opposition from political rivals, nationalist and ethnic unrest began to sweep the S.U.
The U.S.S.R (the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) (a.k.a the S.U.) was a union of 15 separate republics.
The largest republic, Russ., was able to control the other nations through their strong Soviet secret police and military.
However, as the Soviet policy relaxed under Gorbachev (glasnost), old hatreds resurfaced and protest movements formed demanding right for self-rule and secession from the U.S.S.R.

28. The Fall of the Soviet Union
By the late 1980s, reduced production, decreases in labor productivity, high inflation, and trade deficits had virtually paralyzed the econs. of E. Euro.
These failings alongside the relaxed political atmosphere resulted in dissent against communism to reach an all time high in 1989.
As democratic movements gathered force across E. Euro. during the late 1980s, many people wondered: would Gorbachev exercise the terms of the Brezhnev Doctrine and put down rebellions?
No – less troops in E. Euro. and non-interference with the democratic reforms.

29. The Fall of the Soviet Union
Why did Gorbachev do this? He decided that the E.-bloc govs. that lacked popular support would create more opposition and it would cost a lot to intervene militarily.
Gorbachev felt that Soviet interests would be better served it these govs. fell and then est. friendly relationships w/ the new govs.
In 1989, the satellite countries of the S.U. began their moves for independence starting with the fall of the Berlin Wall (E. Germ); Czech., Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria would soon follow.

36. The Fall of the Berlin Wall
On Nov. 9, 1989, The Berlin Wall that stood for 28 years separating E. and W. Berlin fell, the GDR would soon fall as well.
americanfuture.net/?cat=2

37. November 9, 1989

38. The Troubled Fall
In 1990, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia became the first republics to declare their independence from the S.U.
To appease the conservatives who feared a breakup of the S.U., Gorbachev began a rollback of glasnost in the early 1990s and adopted new hard-line positions; political turmoil would soon follow.
In Aug. 1991, an unsuccessful coup attempt was staged by the secret police and the military - they wanted to restore the old order and remove Gorbachev. Their efforts were thwarted by Boris Yeltsin.

39. Boris Yeltsin

40. The Fall
The coup was the turning point for the S.U.: Gorbachev was seen as unable to solve the country’s problems, Boris Yeltsin became the leader, and the communist party collapsed.
By late Sept. 1991, all the Soviet republics had announced their independence from the S.U.
Yeltsin organized the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) (Russ, Ukraine, and Belarus) which was soon joined by others: secure nuclear arsenals.

41. The Fall
Yeltsin also introduced reforms in Russ.: free enterprise and democracy.
1997: Am. and the S.U. no longer targeted warheads at each other.
Despite Yeltsin’s efforts, the country of Russ. is still experiencing econ. and political troubles to this day.
Vladimir Putin, the current President of Russia.

42. Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev