Cold War

Inflence the political views of modern capitalism and communism

Subtitle

A presentation made by

START

Benhizia Lina

How did the events of

The cold war

TIMELINE

october 16-28 1962

Cuban missile crisis

1963-1975

Vietnam War

spring of 1968

Prague Spring

1972

SALT1

1989

Destruction of the Berlin wall

Part 1

The historical context

Cuban Missile Crisis

From the 16th to 28th October 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis was one of the fisrt important events of the Cold War. It was the closest point to it being an actual war. After Cuba stepped to the USSR's side, the US were threatened of being bombed at any moment, potentially destroying their capital too. John F. Kennedy then made a speech that if any bomb was dropped on them, they would not hesitate to take it as an official decleration of war between the two countries.

From 1963 to 1975 was the Vietnam War. It is one of the most memorable event in US history. Vietnam was devided in two parts: the communist side in the north and the capitalsit one in the south ` The US lost because their forces couldn't fight anymore Vietnam became entirely communist and the US military lost its prestige after losing

The Vietnam war

(link to some songs by clicking the images)

A lot of protests were made during that period of time. The hippies were rejecting a lot of mainstream societal values and embraced more "eccentric" values, wich made them get rejected by most of society in that era.

Hippie culture became popular a little after the Vietnam War started.It revolves around peace and protestiong against war. The culture became very popular in 1967, after the first "Human Be-In", in San Francisco wich led to the Summer Of Love, with numerous concerts and bands who introduced rock music to the counterculture

Hippie culture

Technological advancements

During the Cold War, a lot of technological advancements were made. For example, the space race is one of the most well known of this era, with many achievements made on exploring outer space. The most notable event was the moon landing, made by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on July 21st 1969.

From January 5th to august 21st 1968, the Czechs slowly start rising against communism but the USSR reacts violently and started sending tanks and military renforcements to prevent the Czech Republic from rebelling against them. During the invasion, 137 people died and 500 were seriously injured.

Prague spring

SALT 1 agreements

On May 26th 1972, the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks 1st (or SALT 1 for short) were signed by the former US president, Richard Nixon and The General Secretary of the Soviet Union, Leonid Brezhnev. This agreement led to a calmer era between the two unions.

Leonid Brezhnev

Richard Nixon

From 1979 to 1985

In 1979, hostilities between the countries came back after the USSR invaded Afghanistan, an allied country with the USA.THis invasion lasted 10 years, and finally came to an end with the Soviets retreating from Afghanistan and the allied countries to the US winning. In the middle of this war, Mikhail Gorbachev was elected as General Secretary of the Soviet Union and decided to abandon most of the northeastern countries of the Union, leaving them with more freedom, such as the liberty to choose their own government, and freedom of speech.

the fall of the Berlin wall and the end of the war

On november 9th 1989, the Berlin wall, which was previously constructed as a way to devide Berlin in two, one half allied with the United States, the other with the USSR, finally came to fall. This action allowed for the city to finally unite and stop the unfair treatment of the West side, allied with the US. Not long after, on December 2nd and 3rd 1989, Mikhail Gorbachev and George Bush declared the end of the Cold War, after 42 years of tension between the countries.

CASUALTIES

180k

Deaths per year

7000K

Deaths total

Part 2

Today's political views

ON the economic side

After the USSR dissolved, they had lost a great amount of money and prestige, making the views on communism rather negative, saying that it is "the poor people's regime". On the contrary, capitalism became associated with wealth and money after the US kept their heads up and even lending some money to other democtratic countries during the war.

propaganda

During these tensions between countries, a lot of propaganda was made so that people would join their respective political parties. All that propaganda was engraved in society's mind, leaving, still today, traces of jugement and tension between the regimes. For example, the Western countries, especially the United States, still view comunism as "the freedom taking, anti democracy" regime. These are obviously stereotypes that could potentially be harmful.

Cultural aspect

In schools and media, these views are still held and repeated, altering the youth's view on the systems. In western media, for instance, a better view of capitalism is highlighted, with a more negative stance of communism is shown. However, with better access to information nowadays than ever, a lot of people can find information on both sides, which may lead to a better understood political view of the future.

Thank you for listening!