1. American Military Forces & the Cold War
How did America’s military forces defend freedom during the Cold War?

2. American Military Forces & The Cold War
A strong military was the key to the US victory in the Cold War!

3. Collapse of Communism & The Role of Ronald Reagan
VUS.13d

4. Collapse of Communism ESSENTIAL UNDERSTANDINGS:
Both internal and external pressures caused the collapse of communism and the USSR in the 90s
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS: (DO NOT WRITE)
How did the internal problems affect the collapse of communism and the Soviet Union?
What was President Ronald Reagan’s role in the collapse of the Soviet Union?

5. INTERNAL PROBLEMS of the SOVIET UNION
ECONOMIC INEFFICIENCY
Central planning led to inefficiency and waste
NOT producing enough of the items that people really needed
MILITARY EXPENSES
Competition with the US required the maintenance of large military budgets
“Arms Race” puts a strain on the suffering economy
military conflict in Afghanistan furthers this strain

6. INTERNAL PROBLEMS of the SOVIET UNION
Glasnost
openness in discussing the USSR’s problems
Perestroika
restructuring of the economy from communist towards a free market economy
These reforms sent the USSR into turmoil
– increased prices
--- factories closed
---- unemployment rose
Mikhail Gorbachev

7. Rising Nationalism in Soviet Republics
Glasnost and perestroika encouraged the satellite nations to rebel against Soviet rule.

8. Berlin – Brandenburg Gate

9. The Role of RONALD REAGAN
Became US President in 1981.
challenged Communism not just containing it
Billions of dollars on nuclear
weapons and missiles
military buildup because USSR economy could
not match it
Supported anticommunist rebels
around the world

10. The Role of RONALD REAGAN CONTd.
Challenged the moral legitimacy of the USSR.
Reagan challenged Gorbachev to show that he was serious about reform.
“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
1989 fall of Berlin Wall

11. PRESIDENTIAL RESPONSES to COMMUNIST EXPANSION
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
How did each of the following US presidents carry out foreign policy in regards to the continuing threat of communist expansion?

12. PRESIDENT TRUMAN Truman Doctrine Financial aid to Greece and Turkey
Western Europe through the Marshall Plan

13. PRESIDENT EISENHOWER
“MASSIVE RETALIATION” to deter any nuclear strikes by the USSR.
Sent troops and money to South Vietnam to help train South Vietnam army

14. PRESIDENT KENNEDY
Pledged that the US would “pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”
“Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”
Begins American military buildup in Vietnam.
Increases number of troops to the thousands.
Involved with the failed Bay of Pigs invasion.
Cuban Missile Crisis.

15. PRESIDENT JOHNSON Sends even MORE troops to Vietnam.
Received lots of support from Congress.
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Eventually declines re-election due to too much anti-war protest at home.
Doves vs. Hawks
Active opposition, especially on college campuses.

16. PRESIDENT NIXON bring the war to an honorable end.
Vietnamization – gradual withdrawal of US forces, replacing them with trained South Vietnamese forces.
Failed.
Eased Cold War tensions with China.
Detente
Forced out of office by the Watergate Scandal.

17. PRESIDENT REAGAN
US military and economic pressure on the Soviet Union.
Supports development of “Star Wars” missile technology.
Demands collapse of Soviet Union.
“Tear down this wall!”

18. PRESIDENT G.H.W. BUSH
Oversaw the fall of communism in Eastern Europe and the collapse of the USSR
Reunification of Germany.
New Goals:
Now interested in foreign & humanitarian aid and supporting human rights.
Persian Gulf War.