Stalin continued being an oppressive dictator until his death in 1953

Nikita Khrushchev then took over and began a policy of de-Stalinization

Khrushchev sought peaceful coexistence with the West, avoiding war but finding other ways to compete

Both superpowers engaged in a massive military build-up, with the Soviet Union testing ICBMs … Any war would lead to mutually assured destruction

Tensions in the 1950s and 60s were extremely high, especially due to incidents like the Cuban Missile Crisis

Khrushchev’s policies were not successful, and eventually Leonid Brezhnev took over, reversing the de-Stalinization (re-Stalinization?) and becoming more oppressive

Cold War hot spot: berlin, Germany The Soviet Union tried to block the U.S., UK, & French plan to unite their zones of occupation in western Germany Soviets blocked land routes into the western side of Berlin The Western allies launched a massive airlift of supplies into Berlin w/ planes bringing in supplies every few minutes for nearly a year Soviets gave up and Germany split into two separate countries – West Germany and East Germany

The BERLIN WALL Physical barrier that separated West Berlin from East Berlin (and the rest of East Germany) It was built on the night of Aug. 12-13, 1961, because of the large amount of people from the east who were fleeing to West Berlin 97 miles long (surrounding West Berlin) Physical symbol of the “Iron Curtain”

East and West Germany East Germany West Germany Under Communist control People were dissatisfied with Soviet rule Many of the best trained workers fled to the West Belonged to Warsaw Pact West Germany Capitalist Democratic Prosperous economy Modern and industrialized Belonged to NATO Most Germans wanted to reunify…