Development Of The Cold War

Communist revolution in China

The Korean War

Vietnam

NATO and the Warsaw Pact

The arms race

Space Race

In 1957, the Soviets created the world’s first ICBM which started the Space Race. Later that year, the USSR launched Sputnik, the first satellite, into space. In 1961 they also sent the first human into space, Yuri Gagarin. The USA then caught up and sent Alan Shepard into space. Then in 1969, the USA’s Apollo 11 mission sent Neil Armstrong to the moon.

The Hungarian uprising

In October 1956, people were violently protesting for the removal of their leader, Rakosi. Nagy was announced as the new Hungarian leader and he promised reforms and a new, non communist government. Initially, Khrushchev accepted the reforms and took his troops away from Hungary. In November 1956, Nagy announced that Hungary was withdrawing from the Warsaw Pact. On November 4th, the Soviets attacked the Hungarians. 4,000 Hungarians died and 200,000 fled. Nagy was arrested, put on trial for treason and was executed. Though the Hungarians thought that the USA would get involved, Eisenhower wasn’t willing to do this.

The U2 crisis

On May 1st 1960, the USA sent Gary Powers on a secret mission to collect military intelligence for the CIA by taking photographs of Soviet bases. He was shot down over the Ural Mountains and he ejected from the plane and was captured by the Russians. They put him on trail as a spy where the Americans said that he was gathering weather data and had accidentally strayed into Soviet territory. The Soviets produced cameras, and a cyanide pill which proved that they were lying. Eisenhower accepted that it was a spy plane but refused to apologise. Khrushchev was angry that he didn’t get an apology so he refused to go on with the Paris Peace Summit, dramatically storming out.