1.1. In October 1956, Hungarians mounted a revolt against their government and its Soviet backers.
1.2. By the 1970s, Cold War tensions began to ease up.
1.3. The Soviet Union sent in troops to occupy the country and prop up the regime. In response.
1.4. The state-run Soviet economy could not compete with the private enterprise system of the capitalist West.
1.5. Mikhail Gorbachev was a dynamic reformer who was determined to change the Soviet system.
1.6. Gorbachev also sought improved relations with the West, including new arms-control agreements.
1.7. The Soviet Union itself collapsed in 1991, dissolving into 15 separate states. The Cold War was over.
2. China’s Communist Path 26.3
2.1. China in the Cold War- Communism in China took both the United States and the Soviet Union by surprise. They had assumed that the Nationalists would defeat Mao’s forces. At first, American officials held out hope that China would reject Soviet influence and remain neutral in the Cold War.
2.2. Mao’s Revolutionary Policies-Meanwhile, Mao strengthened the rule in China. He placed power in the hands of the Communist Party and began to recreate the economy. But the Chinese communism was different from Soviet communism. Mao and his followers believed that peasants were the revolutionary class.
2.3. Relations with the USSR became better after Joseph Stalin died in 1953. The USSR rejected the murderous violence and repression that had characterized the Stalin era. The Chinese also continued to call Stalin a hero. The Soviet Union chose to distance itself further from China and ending their alliance.
3. Americans believed that their system of democratic capitalism—with its ideology of individual liberty and personal freedom—would prevail over socialism
4. 26.2 The Cold war Begins
4.1. At first there were hopeful signs that the United States and the USSR might cooperate in the postwar era
4.2. Soviet leaders envisioned a communist utopia of social justice and economic equality.
4.3. The first obvious signs of trouble appeared in Eastern Europe
4.4. The Marshall Plan eventually provided $13 billion in aid to Western Europe, helping to promote economic growth and political stability.
4.5. The Marshall Plan eventually provided $13 billion in aid to Western Europe, helping to promote economic growth and political stability.
4.6. The Cold War continued for more than 40 years.
5. 26.4 Cold War Conflicts
5.1. The first major battle of the Cold War took place in Korea. The Korean War lasted from 1950 to 1953 and nearly caused a wider war.
5.2. In June 1950, North Korea invaded the south with Soviet and Chinese backing. The United States responded immediately by sending troops to defend South Korea.
5.3. To prevent a UN victory, China got involved.
5.4. Vietnam was divided into a communist north—backed by China and the USSR—and an anti-communist south, backed by the United States.
5.5. Cold War conflict also erupted in the Middle East. Egypt was the site of the first crisis.
5.6. The superpowers also got involved in wars in various parts of Africa, including Angola and Ethiopia.
