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Period: to
Khrushchev Era (within 1960s)
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Period: to
Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidency (within 1960s)
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American pilot Francis Gary Powers is shot down in his U-2 spy plane.
[- Confrontation between the Soviet Union and the US
[- Pilot parachuted to safety and testified that he was ordered to fly over Soviet territories and collect intelligence en route.
[- Continuous tensions between the US and USSR lead to breakdown of Paris summit conference between the US, the USSR, the UK, and France. -
Period: to
John F. Kennedy Presidency
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Soviets finish building Berlin Wall after breakdown in talks regarding Germany's future.
[- Soviets construct wall in response East Germany outflow
[- US abandons plans to bulldoze after Soviets guard wall with armored forces.
[- In two years time, JFK would fly over to deliver the "Ich en bin Berliner" speech -
Cuban Missile Crisis begins (13-days).
[- US intelligence discovers secret Soviet military bases on Cuba.
[- JFK orders a “quarantine” (naval blockade) of the island. The conflict nears outright nuclear warfare.
[- Fortunately, both sides reach a compromise. -
JFK delivers his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech in Berlin.
[- JFK gives out impassioned speech, praising West Germany and denouncing communism.
[- The jelly-filled doughnut
Archival footage "While the wall is the most obvious and vivid demonstration of the failures of the Communist system--for all the world to see--we take no satisfaction in it; for it is, as your Mayor has said, an offense not only against history but an offense against humanity..." Primary Source Doc 1 -
Period: to
Lyndon B. Johnson Presidency
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Period: to
Brezhnev Era (within 1960s)
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President Lyndon B. Johnson uses Gulf of Tonkin Incident to justify open involvement in Vietnam War.
[- LBJ claims North Vietnamese naval vessels fired on two American destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin.
[- The first attack occurred, but the second was fabricated. American vessels also provoked the bombings by entering North Vietnamese waters first.
[- Several days later, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution passes with only two senators against. -
Ho Chi Minh rejects peace talk on Vietnam War offered by Lyndon B. Johnson.
[- Exchanged in letters between Ho Chi Minh & Johnson
[- North Vietnamese ask that US stops bombing them -
US air raid on Hanoi kills over 100 North Vietnamese civilians shortly shortly after admitting to using chemical weapons in September.
[- Operation Rolling Thunder - American bombing campaign
[- Intended to pressure N Vietnamese communist leaders (Lê Duẩn)
[- Major expansion of US involvement in Vietnam war -
Demonstrations against the Vietnam War takes place near the Pentagon.
[- Rally began peacefully
[- Violence began when radicals became involved with soldiers
[- 683 people arrested over protests
[- Paralleled by protestors in Japan and western Europe -
Prague Spring Reforms occur in Communist Czechoslovakia.
[- Dubcek as Secretary of Communist Part oversaw 4 month freedom period
[- Soviet Red Army crushes Prague Spring Reforms
[- Led to passage of Brezhnev Doctrine "The peoples of the socialist countries and Communist parties certainly do have and should have freedom for determining the ways of advance of their respective countries. However, none of their decisions should damage either socialism in their country or the fundamental interests of other socialist countries..." Primary Source Doc 2. -
Period: to
Richard Nixon Presidency (within 1960s)
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US begins withdrawing troops from Vietnam, leaving burden of combat to South Vietnamese.
[- “Vietnamization” begins with US troop withdrawals from Vietnam and the burden of combat being placed on the South Vietnamese.
Great protests over war
[- People believed the US should not have been involved in a civil war
[- Nixon (new president) began withdrawing troops but intensified bombings
