Tuesday, April 27, 2021

The Cold War in Five Minutes

As time went on, the Cold War became less about Europe and its perceived security and more about a battle of ideas -- a choice between individual freedom and free market capitalism vs. state control and socialism... How did we get from a disagreement about Europe to this ideological battle?



You are to prepare a brief oral presentation based on a number of the following topics as assigned in class. Initials are beside your topic:


Theaters of the Cold War

  • Korean War JB

  • Khrushchev and De-Stalinization 

  • 1956 Hungarian Revolution CP

  • 1953 Iranian coup d'etat  VB

  • Congo Crisis CR

  • Cuban Revolution, Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis  RR

  • 1968 Czechoslovakian Invasion and the Brezhnev Doctrine AT

  • Vietnam War MK

  • Nixon goes to China 

  • 1973 Chilean coup d'etat and Operation Condor 

  • Detente, SALT, Helsinki Accords 

  • SALT II, Iranian Revolution and US Hostages, Nicaraguan Revolution IBM

  • Soviet invasion of Afghanistan AH
  • Berlin - the Rise and Fall of the Wall SJ



Other Topics Which Shaped the Nation During the Cold War:

  • Army - McCarthy hearings 

  • JFK, RFK, Martin Luther King Jr. assassinations AR

  • Hippie/counterculture movement 

  • Watergate Scandal  JP

  • Three Mile Island nuclear accident BJ
  • The Space Race FT
  • Strategic Defense Initiative - Star Wars LK



Your goal is to give a brief five minute overview of your topic(s) with an eye towards the following:




  • Summary of what happened

  • Relationship to the Cold War (i.e where do US and USSR fit in?)

  • Ultimate Impact

  • A one page report that will be distributed to the class with all of your topics included
APA format - submit it in a separate document



Presentations will begin May 5 and likely go through to May 11