1. Decline of the Cold War

2. 1. 1948 ▫ The tensions rise during the Berlin Airlift  From 1946-1948 Communist Governments were set up in Poland, Czech, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania. These nations become the “Communist Bloc”  The border between East and West Germany and East and West Berlin closed in 1952

3. 2. March 1, 1953 after an all night dinner, Stalin didn’t emerge from his room the next day. He suffered a stroke that paralyzed the right side of his body ▫ Although his guards thought that it was odd for him not to rise at his usual time, they were under orders not to disturb him. He was not discovered until that evening. ▫ He died 4 days later on March 5, 1953 at the age of 74

4. 3.A Longtime Leader dies…. What often follows? From 1953-1985 (32 years) the Soviets had 6 different leaders ▫ A different leader roughly every 5 years…how can this hurt a country? Especially the USSR

5. 4. The Berlin Wall was constructed in 1961 under the Soviet leader Nikita S. Khrushchev

6. 5. USA President JFK visits West Berlin and says “I am a Berliner” in 1963 to the delight of Western Germans/Berliners ▫ He died later that year

7. 6. In the 1970’s after 25 years of tension, the USSR and USA agreed to a policy of detente… ▫ arms control, peace treaty talks, cultural ▫ A ‘Lessening’ of tension

8. 7. Then, in 1979 the USSR invaded Afghanistan to make it communist. The West see it as aggressive behavior and detente came to an end.

9. 8. In 1985 a young (54) and energetic Mikhail Gorbachev became the younger leader of the USSR since Joseph Stalin Gorbachev introduces a policy knows as GLASNOST or an openness to to discuss peace He also introduces an idea called PERESTROIKA or economic reconstructing. …willing to change the economy of the USSR

10. 10. President Reagan visits Berlin and urges Gorbachev to ‘tear down this wall’ in 1987, sparking world wide attention … with the help of new cable networks like MTV and CNN

11. 11. The workers of Poland, led by union leader Lech Walesa all fought for democracy In 1980 Poland takes steps to become democratic and leave the Warsaw Pact… Officially Democratic in 1989

12. 12. The East German government declared free travel for all East Germans on November 9, 1989. IT IS THE FALL OF THE BELRIN WALL!