# data[].attributes.headline
Never Was Magazine: Global Pattern of the Red Offensive Map

# data[].attributes.subject
Never Was Magazine: Global Pattern of the Red Offensive Map

# data[].attributes.body
This 1962 Cold War map gives a super clear picture of how the world was divided during the Cold War, with communist countries in red and Western allies in blue. It’s a great way for students to quickly see just how far the conflict reached around the globe. The map also opens the door for some good questions—like why some countries stayed neutral or what influenced others to pick a side.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Map of the Cold War, from John K. Jessup, Communism: The Nature of Your Enemy (1962)

# data[].attributes.body
This article from the National Archives gives a powerful breakdown of how and why the Berlin Wall went up almost overnight in August 1961. It explains that the wall wasn’t just about keeping people out—it was built by East Germany to stop its own citizens from escaping to the West. The article dives into how the wall physically evolved from barbed wire to a massive concrete barrier with guard towers, dogs, and floodlights, turning West Berlin into a kind of island of freedom surrounded by heavy defenses.

# data[].attributes.body
This Crash Course video by John Green breaks down how the Cold War turned hot in Asia, focusing on the Korean and Vietnam Wars as major proxy wars between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. It covers U.S. involvement in Korea as a UN "police action" and how the Vietnam conflict escalated from supporting France to full military engagement. The video also explores the domino theory, public backlash, and how Nixon’s Vietnamization plan marked the beginning of America’s exit.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Cold War in Asia: Crash Course US History #38

# data[].attributes.body
This article from Alpha History dives into Cold War espionage, showing how the U.S. and the Soviet Union used spy agencies like the CIA and KGB to gather secret info and counter each other’s moves. It covers dramatic moments like the 1960 U‑2 incident where Francis Gary Powers was shot down over the USSR and high-stakes operations like the CIA/MI6 Berlin cable-tapping tunnel, the Cambridge Five leaking atomic secrets to the Soviets, and early spy satellites that reshaped surveillance. It’s a wild look into how spies shaped the Cold War behind the scenes.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Espionage is an enduring motif of the Cold War. This period is replete with stories of spies, agents and assassins, operating undercover and living double lives to infiltrate enemy governments or societies. While the extent of Cold War espionage is often exaggerated, both the United States and Soviet Union certainly spent heavily on recruiting, training and deploying spies and agents. The main purpose of Cold War espionage was to gather information and intelligence about the enemy, particularly their military and technical capabilities. This information was harvested from a range of sources, including paid informers, double-agents, stolen documents, intercepted communications, 'bugs' (listening devices) or other means of surveillance. Agents also carried out disruptive missions, such as carrying out sabotage operations and kidnapping or assassinating enemy agents or politicians. Cold War spies were rarely flamboyant James Bond types portrayed in literature and film. The success of their missions - and indeed their survival - usually hinged on looking and behaving like ordinary members of society.

All major Cold War powers maintained at least one government agency dedicated to intelligence-gathering and espionage. In the United States, this task fell to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The CIA began as the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), a military branch that conducted espionage and undercover operations during World War II. In 1947 the OSS was reorganised and rebranded as the CIA. The CIA's structure, mission and methods were shaped by the Cold War. One early directive (1948) authorised the CIA to conduct secret operations "against hostile foreign states or groups or in support of friendly foreign states or groups" so that "US government responsibility for them is not evident to unauthorised persons". The CIA was also supported by other US government agencies. Formed in 1952, the National Security Agency (NSA) gathered information by monitoring, intercepting and decoding signals and radio traffic. The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI, formed 1908) was responsible for investigating domestic criminal activity, which included espionage, sedition and other treasonable activities.

The CIA's Cold War activities ranged from general surveillance of suspected foreign agents, to deploying its own agents abroad, to illicit operations like assassinations and human experimentation. The CIA also complemented US foreign policy by supporting, funding and equipping anti-communist leaders and groups abroad. One of the CIA's first major missions, for example, was to assist non-communist political parties in Italy in 1948. Several Cold War coups and attempted coups, such as the 1973 overthrow of Salvador Allende in Chile, were conducted with the backing or active involvement of the CIA. In 1959-61, CIA agents recruited and trained 1,500 Cuban exiles. In April 1961 these Cubans landed the island-state with plans to overthrow Fidel Castro, an incident dubbed the Bay of Pigs Invasion. CIA pilots flew U-2 flights over Soviet and Cuban territory, collecting data about military facilities, armaments and troop movements. The CIA also plotted assassination attempts on foreign leaders, such as Castro. In 1974 the CIA spent more than $US800 million on Project Azorian, a mission to recover codebooks and nuclear technology from a sunken Soviet sub, laying under 16,000 feet of water in the Pacific Ocean.

Sometimes operating jointly with the Department of Defence, the CIA also carried out research into nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and the effects they had on humans. They also researched effective interrogation techniques and mind control strategies. One of these research programs was Project MK-ULTRA, which ran from 1953 to the late 1960s and soaked up more than $US10 million in funding. MK-ULTRA was chiefly concerned with the effects of hypnosis and mind-altering drugs, with a view to using them for Cold War purposes. Many questions have been raised about MK-ULTRA and the unethical nature of its research. Hundreds of Americans, mostly military personnel, were subjected to drug trials and experimentation without their informed consent. MK-ULTRA experiments are believed to have contributed to several deaths, including Harold Blauer and Frank Olson, who died in 1953 after being injected with hallucinogenic drugs. Other secret programs conducted by the CIA included Operation Mockingbird (aimed at facilitating sympathetic media coverage), Project Resistance (information-gathering about radical student groups) and Operation Chaos (the disruption of American left-wing and anti-war groups). One CIA project, Stargate, even investigated psychic abilities and their possible use in intelligence applications.

United States law prohibited the CIA from carrying out domestic operations (a restriction that was often breached during the Cold War). Within US borders, the investigation and prosecution of suspected spies was the responsibility of the FBI. Between 1935 and 1972 the FBI was headed by J. Edgar Hoover, a fanatical anti-communist and a ruthless political operator. The FBI began investigating Soviet espionage in 1943 after receiving an anonymous letter. Within two years, the FBI had more than doubled in size, numbering around 13,000 agents. In late 1945 the FBI was provided with extensive information about Soviet espionage by Elizabeth Bentley, who herself had been passing information to Moscow. Bentley provided the FBI with a 112-page confession, naming 80 people as paid informers or agents working for Moscow. Bentley's defection, along with accusations against State Department lawyer Alger Hiss, fuelled anti-communist hysteria in America during the late 1940s and early 1950s. In 1956 Hoover authorised COINTELPRO (short for Counter-Intelligence Program), a prolonged campaign targeting domestic political organisations. For 15 years, FBI agents infiltrated a range of organisations including left-wing political parties, unions, civil rights groups, radical student associations, the anti-war movement, regional militias and race-hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. These agents fed information back to the FBI - and occasionally took action to disrupt these groups from within.

The Soviet Union had a much longer history of espionage and intelligence-gathering. Russian secret police organisations dated back to the Okhrana in the late 1800s, the communist CHEKA (1917-22), the OGPU (1922-34) and Stalin's NKVD (1934-54). All used covert methods to gather information about political dissidents and potential 'enemies of the state'. After the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953, the NKVD was replaced by the KGB ( Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti, or 'Committee for National Security'). The KGB assumed responsibility for both domestic security and foreign intelligence. Another department called Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye (GRU) gathered intelligence for the Soviet military. Decades of experience in espionage, along with existing agents and contacts in Western countries, gave the Soviet Union a distinct 'head start' in this area. The Soviets began mobilising agents and recruiting informers in Western countries during the 1930s. During World War II, Moscow prioritised the infiltration of the Manhattan Project, America's nuclear weapons research program. Soviet agents were able to obtain and pass on technical information about this program, including blueprints, with remarkable ease. By the time the US dropped its first atomic bomb on Japan in August 1945, Stalin knew more about this devastating new weapon than most American politicians.

A historian's view:
"The issue of Soviet espionage became a US obsession, and domestic security dominated public discourse. Legislative committees vied with one another to expose communists. The executive branch laboured to root out disloyal government employees. The courts wrestled with the balance between constitutional rights and societal self-protection... There was a widespread consensus that Soviet espionage was a serious problem, that American communists assisted the Soviets, and some high officials had betrayed the United States."
John Earl Haynes, historian

The passing of American nuclear secrets led to probably the best-known spy case of the Cold War. As mentioned above, FBI investigations in the late 1940s uncovered a chain of Soviet spies and paid informers operating inside America's borders. By 1950 the FBI was investigating Julius Rosenberg, a civilian engineer previously employed by the US Army. Rosenberg, who had ties with an American communist group, was arrested in 1950 and accused of passing information to a Russian agent. When he refused to confess or provide investigators with more names, the FBI began targeting his wife Ethel. Both were eventually charged under the Espionage Act. Put on trial, they denied the charges and refused to testify or name associates. In April 1951 the Rosenbergs were found guilty and sentenced to death in the electric chair. This verdict caused outrage and disbelief both in America and internationally. Many thought the Rosenbergs were innocent; others believed they were nothing more than go-betweens and therefore undeserving of the death penalty. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were electrocuted in New York in June 1953. They were the only Americans executed for espionage during the Cold War.

The United States was not the only Cold War nation to suffer infiltration by Soviet agents. Britain was also subject to Soviet espionage, most notably by the Cambridge Five spy ring. In 1963 British journalist Kim Philby disappeared from Lebanon. Until his resignation in 1951, Philby had been a high-ranking member of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service (or MI6). In reality, Philby was a double-agent and had been passing information to Moscow since the mid-1930s. Philby and two of his fellow agents, Donald Maclean and Guy Burgess, defected to the USSR and lived there until their deaths. The British government was further damaged in 1963 when it was revealed that Donald Profumo, a member of the Cabinet, was sharing a mistress with a known Soviet spy. In 1954 Vladimir Petrov, a Soviet diplomat and KGB colonel, defected to Australia. Petrov provided the government there with information about Soviet spies operating in Australia. The Petrov affair led to the USSR and Australia severing diplomatic ties for five years.

1. Espionage is the process of gathering intelligence and information about a rival or enemy, usually through secret operations. It was a significant feature of the Cold War.

2. All major Cold War powers had agencies that engaged in espionage. These agencies collected intel, assisted anti-communists, targeted enemies and researched new weapons and techniques.

3. The CIA, an American agency formed in 1947, was tasked with intelligence-gathering and, later, carrying out covert operations. It was supported by agencies like the NSA and FBI.

4. The Soviets had a much longer history of espionage in Western nations, dating back to before World War II. They recruited and used agents to obtain American nuclear secrets.

5. Espionage and spies became an enduring motif of the Cold War. There were many incidents and accusations involving espionage, including the execution of the Rosenbergs, the capture Gary Powers and his U2 spyplane and the Petrov affair in Australia.

The CIA is authorised to carry out covert operations (June 1948)
The Church Committee condemns domestic intelligence-gathering on US citizens (1976)

Citation information
Title: "Cold War espionage"
Authors: Jennifer Llewellyn, Steve Thompson
Publisher: Alpha History
URL: https://alphahistory.com/coldwar/espionage/
Date published: September 22, 2018
Date accessed: January 29, 2020
Copyright: The content on this page may not be republished without our express permission. For more information on usage, please refer to our Terms of Use.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Espionage is an enduring motif of the Cold War. This period is replete with stories of spies, agents and assassins, operating undercover and living double lives to infiltrate enemy governments or societies. While the extent of Cold War espionage is often exaggerated, both the United States and Soviet Union certainly spent heavily on recruiting, training and deploying spies and agents.

# data[].attributes.headline
UVA Miller Center : McCarthyism & The Red Scare

# data[].attributes.subject
UVA Miller Center : McCarthyism & The Red Scare

# data[].attributes.body
This Miller Center article dives into the heart of America’s “Second Red Scare,” showing how from around 1950 to 1954, Senator Joe McCarthy whipped the country into a frenzy over an alleged internal Communist threat. It’s a solid resource for exploring how fear and political rhetoric can spiral into mass hysteria and undermine democratic norms.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
1. The Presidency

2. Historical Moments

3. The Age of Eisenhower

McCarthyism and the Red Scare

In the end, President Eisenhower had no choice but to fight back against Senator Joseph McCarthy-and he did

Senator Joseph McCarthy

In the early 1950s, American leaders repeatedly told the public that they should be fearful of subversive Communist influence in their lives. Communists could be lurking anywhere, using their positions as school teachers, college professors, labor organizers, artists, or journalists to aid the program of world Communist domination. This paranoia about the internal Communist threat-what we call the Red Scare-reached a fever pitch between 1950 and 1954, when Senator Joe McCarthy of Wisconsin, a right-wing Republican, launched a series of highly publicized probes into alleged Communist penetration of the State Department, the White House, the Treasury, and even the US Army. During Eisenhower's first two years in office, McCarthy's shrieking denunciations and fear-mongering created a climate of fear and suspicion across the country. No one dared tangle with McCarthy for fear of being labeled disloyal.

Any man who has been named by a either a senator or a committee or a congressman as dangerous to the welfare of this nation, his name should be submitted to the various intelligence units, and they should conduct a complete check upon him. It's not too much to ask.
Senator Joseph McCarthy, 1953

It has long been a subject of debate among historians: Why didn't Eisenhower do more to confront McCarthy? Journalists, intellectuals, and even many of Eisenhower's friends and close advisers agonized over what they saw as Ike's timid approach to McCarthyism. Despite his popularity and his enormous political capital, they believed, Ike refused to engage directly with McCarthy. By avoiding the Red-hunting senator, some have argued, Eisenhower allowed McCarthyism to continue unchecked.

In this letter to his brother Milton, Eisenhower explains, "As for McCarthy. Only a short-sighted or completely inexperienced individual would urge the use of the office of the presidency to give an opponent the publicity he so avidly desires."

By contrast, later scholars working from the documentary record perceived a design in Eisenhower's strategy with McCarthy. Ike adopted an "indirect approach." Instead of going right at McCarthy, Eisenhower worked behind the scenes to undercut and stymie the senator and his attacks. The political scientist Fred Greenstein, for example, argued that Eisenhower's handling of McCarthy provides evidence of a "hidden hand" approach to government. In this interpretation, Ike rode above the fray of politics while secretly pulling levers and using White House influence to obstruct McCarthy and his allies.

President read my text with great irritation, slammed it back at me and said he would not refer to McCarthy personally-'I will not get in the gutter with that guy.'
C. D. Jackson, Eisenhower speechwriter, 1953

Late in his first presidential campaign, Eisenhower excised a defense of General George C. Marshall from a speech he gave in McCarthy's home state of Wisconsin. He addressed the issue more abstractly, stating, "The right to question a man's judgment carries with it no automatic right to question his honor."

Looking at all the evidence, the clearest conclusion is that Eisenhower did not want to confront Joe McCarthy at all. And during 1953, he tried to avoid the whole issue, hoping the Senate would silence the explosive senator. McCarthy was a Republican, after all, and many fellow senators supported him. Ike needed to keep his party unified to pass bills in other areas; battling McCarthy would only stir up a civil war inside the GOP.

Furthermore, Eisenhower did not want to appear "soft" on the problem of internal subversion. There had, after all, been real spies who penetrated into the State Department, notably Alger Hiss.

Alger Hiss

And Communist agents had stolen classified secrets from the wartime Manhattan Project that built the atomic bomb. When Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were condemned to die in the electric chair as punishment for their theft of atomic secrets, Eisenhower did not for a moment consider granting them clemency. On June 19, 1953, they were both put to death.

Eisenhower in 1953 improvised in dealing with McCarthy, at first trying to ignore him, then trying to outdo him in the Red-hunting business. Then he tried to seduce him with promises of new legislation to destroy Communism in America. None of these tactics worked.
'The Age of Eisenhower,' chapter 6

The first two paragraphs of the March 13, 1954 New York Times story on McCarthy, Cohn, and David Schine

But at the start of 1954, the picture changed. Joe McCarthy turned his investigatory resources on the US Army and on members of the administration itself. Eisenhower had no choice but to fight back. The first move the White House made was to try to discredit the men around McCarthy, notably the lawyer Roy Cohn, who was leading the investigation, and Cohn's assistant David Schine, who had recently been drafted into the Army.

The Army compiled a damaging dossier of dirt on Cohn, showing that he used threats and intimidation to demand that Schine be given plum assignments and easy duty. The White House leaked this dossier to the press and Congress. McCarthy and Cohn now stood accused of abuse of power.

A 2003 report from NBC News reviewed newly released documents related to the McCarthy hearings

Ike went one step further. In order to close down McCarthy's reckless use of subpoenas to compel witnesses to testify before his committee, Eisenhower invoked executive privilege.

In this May 17, 1954 memo to the Secretary of Defense, Eisenhower ordered, "You will instruct employees of your Department that in all of their appearances before the Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Operations regarding the inquiry now before it, they are not to testify to any such conversations or communications or to produce any such documents or reproductions. This principle must be maintained regardless of who would be benefitted by such disclosures."

In May 1954, Ike simply said that administration officials and all executive branch employees would ignore any call from McCarthy to testify. Eisenhower explained his action, declaring that "it is essential to efficient and effective administration that employees of the executive branch be in a position to be completely candid in advising with each other on official matters," without those conversations being subject to Congressional scrutiny.

It was a bold and daring move, and it worked. McCarthy, his credibility in tatters and now starved of witnesses, hit a brick wall-and his fellow senators turned against him. In early December 1954, the Senate passed a motion of condemnation, in a vote of 67 to 22. McCarthy was ruined-and within three years he was dead from alcohol abuse. The era of McCarthyism was over. Ike had helped bring it to a bitter end.

Senate Resolution 301 censured McCarthy for conduct that "tends to bring the Senate into disrepute"

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
McCarthyism and the Red Scare | Miller Center

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The paranoia about the internal Communist threat-what we call the Red Scare-reached a fever pitch between 1950 and 1954, when Senator Joe McCarthy of Wisconsin, a right-wing Republican, launched a series of highly publicized probes. Journalists, intellectuals, and even many of Eisenhower's friends and close advisers agonized over what they saw as Ike's timid approach to McCarthyism.

# data[].attributes.headline
PBS: History in a Nutshell - The Space Race

# data[].attributes.subject
PBS: History in a Nutshell - The Space Race

# data[].attributes.body
This PBS “History in a Nutshell” video gives a friendly, fast-paced tour of the Space Race; America and the USSR’s Cold War showdown beyond Earth. The video also touches on how this tech race was about more than science—it was a strategic contest tied to missiles, spy tech, treaties, and national pride.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
History In A Nutshell The 1950's was simultaneously a prosperous and strenuous time for America.

The United States was in the midst of a Cold War with the Soviet Union.

While the Cold War was not an actual physical war, where Americans and Soviets met each other in open combat...

It was more of a battle for supremacy competing for superior political, economic, and military influence in the world.

Both sides were trying to outdo one another in almost every way, including scientific advancements, technological breakthroughs, and setting records.

This is illustrated with scientists and test pilots on both sides working together to build craft which can go higher, farther, and faster than ever before.

One of the greatest forefathers of test-flying is former United States Air Force pilot Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager.

Yeager is most widely known for breaking the sound barrier in the rocket-powered plane the X-1 in October, 1947.

With pilots like Yeager, the United States arguably dominated the skies in the 1950's.

But that would all change one October evening in 1957.

On October 4th, 1957, the Soviet Union completely caught the United States off guard by broaching the new frontier: Outer space.

A 184 pound aluminum satellite named "Sputnik" was launched into a low Earth orbit where it remained in operation for around three weeks.

It could be seen with the naked eye, and its signal could be picked up on any ordinary radio.

The U.S. was on high alert as a result.

Not only did the Russians beat the U.S. by making it to space first, but there were growing fears that the Soviets could put something much more deadly than a metal sphere into orbit.

The Eisenhower administration had to act, and consulted with engineers and scientists one of whom was Doctor Wernher von Braun, who would later go on to design the Saturn series of rockets, which carried astronauts to the moon.

After a failed attempt with Vanguard 1, the United States succeeded with Explorer 1, in January, 1958.

These are the beginnings of what would become known as the "Space Race."

America's space agency at the time was the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics, or NACA.

President Dwight Eisenhower decided that the agency should be civilian controlled instead of military.

The NACA became the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, on October 1st, 1958.

The next big leap in this race would be to put a man into space, and the United States considered several methods for doing just that.

The United States Air Force had its own program called "Man In Space Soonest," which relied more on rocket-powered aircraft... such as the X-15.

However with the formation of NASA's Project Mercury, the "Man In Space Soonest" program was deemed redundant, and ultimately scrapped.

Same goal in mind but different approaches.

NASA's Project Mercury would put a man into space by using booster rockets.

These rockets, originally designed to carry nuclear warheads... were modified to carry spacecraft instead.

This then begs the question: Who was the United States going to get to ride these rockets?

Some considered the concept of strapping a man on top of a rocket to be not only dangerous but crazy.

So crazy that even stuntmen and circus performers were once considered for the job of "astronaut."

But President Eisenhower remained firm on who he believed should take on this task: test pilots.

Over 100 men tried out for Project Mercury, but few were selected.

The people selected would be introduced as the "Mercury 7" in April of 1959.

These seven individuals were considered the greatest pilots in America.

Though They would have their work cut out for them since the next few years were devoted to training, testing, and getting ready for their trips to space.

The first few missions would be suborbital flights, then followed by orbital ones.

But the first being to ride in Mercury would not be one of the seven.

Instead, it was decided that a final test was needed before sending a human into space.

A chimpanzee named "Ham" would be the first to go up in January of 1961.

The Mercury Seven were thrilled about that... especially Alan Shepard who was selected to be the first man to go up.

All the monkey jokes aside... the test flight was a success, but ended up delaying the flight schedule.

This would cost the United States as the Soviets struck again by sending cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into space in April of 1961.

The Soviets killed two birds with one stone.

Not only were they the first into space, but orbited the earth as well.

This would lead to a series of the Russians getting ahead, and America's playing catch-up.

America would get its next step in the space race in May of 1961 with Alan Shepard on board "Freedom 7."

"Roger, liftoff and the clock has started!"

While Gagarin's mission lasted about an hour and a half, Shepard's flight was merely a 15-minute suborbital flight.

Moved by the success of its first manned space mission, then President John F. Kennedy declared to Congress that America would beat the Russians to the moon, and get there by the end of the decade.

"I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal... before this decade is out of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.

No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind or more important for the long-range exploration of space."

After a second suborbital flight with Gus Grissom in "Liberty Bell 7," it was decided to replace the old redstone booster with a more powerful Atlas rocket because the Redstone simply was not powerful enough to push a spacecraft into orbit.

America would finally put a man into orbit the following year.

"We're under way!"

"Loud and clear."

"Roger, we're programming and roll okay."

"God speed, John Glenn."

In February, 1962, John Glenn successfully orbited the earth in "Friendship 7."

"Roger, zero gee and I feel fine.

Capsule is turning around... oh that view is tremendous!"

Even though his mission was cut short due to a faulty sensor switch, John Glenn became an instant American icon.

The three following flights were all successful, and Mercury ended with Leroy "Gordo" Cooper in 1963, paving the way for phase two of America's race to the moon: Project Gemini.

A fresh batch of astronauts called "The New Nine" were chosen to help America get to the moon.

Some of these names may sound familiar: Neil Armstrong John Young Jim Lovell Pete Conrad And Ed White.

With a brand new spacecraft, Project Gemini would be the bridge between Mercury and Apollo.

Mercury proved man can survive in space... but Gemini would test if a man can work in space.

If tasks like rendezvous, docking, extra-vehicular activity, or staying in space for long periods of time couldn't be done, the United States could forget landing on the moon.

After the first manned Gemini flight with Gemini 3, the next big task would be EVA.

The Russians, again, achieved that first, with cosmonaut Alexey Leonov, 101 00:07:57,343 --> 00:08:00,313 but America got its first successful space walk with Ed White on Gemini 4, in 1965.

"Separating from the spacecraft."

"Okay, separating from the spacecraft."

106 00:08:10,923 --> 00:08:15,094 "Okay, I think I've exhausted my air now."

Geminis 6 and 7 tackled rendezvous, and long duration space flight.

Astronauts Frank Borman and Jim Lovell orbited the earth for two weeks inside a Gemini spacecraft!

Imagine being cramped inside a phone booth for two weeks with one other person.

It was about like that.

Gemini faced some problems with a few of its later missions.

After connecting with an AGENA docking target, a stuck thruster caused Gemini 8 to spin out of control, and the mission was cut short.

"Yes, sir."

"Undock."

Neil Armstrong and Dave Scott made it out okay, though!

The next three flights all experienced another challenge: working in space.

Even though Ed White on Gemini 4 successfully "walked" in space, he did not do much outside of float around.

Astronauts on Geminis 9, 10, and 11 were exhausting themselves trying to work in space, due to Isaac Newton's third law of motion: "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."

Astronaut Gene Cernan recalled on his Gemini 9 flight that instead of turning, say, a valve, unless he was held in place by something, he would turn instead and start floating away.

This problem stalled progress, until astronaut Buzz Aldrin found a solution by taking a completely new approach to space walks.

He figured out that one can simulate the conditions of working in space using a swimming pool!

After modifying the Gemini spacecraft with special handles, footholds, and strapping, Buzz Aldrin made working in space look easy.

And he knew it, too!

All of Gemini's objectives had been accomplished, and the stage was set for Apollo.

In 1967, America was feeling "Go Fever," which means there was an overall mindset to rush and get things done while overlooking potential problems or errors.

America would feel the consequences of "Go Fever" with the tragic loss of the Apollo 1 crew: Mercury veteran Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee.

A fire broke out during a routine "plugs out" test on the launch pad claiming the lives of the astronauts.

It was concluded that the cause of the fire was due to frayed wiring serving as an ignition source, combined with the 100% pure oxygen environment.

The astronauts died not by burns, but by asphyxiation from toxic smoke.

On the other side, the Soviets had stumbled around the same time as well, with the loss of cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov, when the parachute on his Soyuz spacecraft failed to properly deploy and he crashed.

Apollo's rocky start serves as a reminder that the space business is a hazardous one, leaving no room for error.

Apollo had to put on the brakes, and after a complete overhaul of the command module's design, and several unmanned test flights, Apollo 7 got America back into the race in October 1968.

1968 was a rough year for the U.S., for not only were both Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. assassinated that year, but 1968 also saw the height of the Vietnam War, with the Tet Offensive.

To add insult to injury, there were rumors that the Soviets had planned to send a spacecraft around the moon by the end of that year.

With the brand new launch vehicle called the Saturn V, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built to date, it was time for a morale boost, and America got one with Apollo 8, in December.

Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders circumnavigated the moon and came back safely.

The mission resulted in one of the most iconic photographs ever taken, called "Earthrise."

It was one of those cultural phenomenons which made the entire world stop what it was doing, and look with awe.

The end of the decade was fast approaching, and it was time to fulfill Pres.

Kennedy's vision.

A new vehicle had been specially designed for landing on the moon called the "Lunar Module."

After several successful lunar module tests with Apollos 9 and 10, the United States would get its shot at the moon in July of 1969.

Four days after launch, on July 20th, the "Eagle" had landed.

"Contact light."

"Tranquility base, here, the Eagle has landed."

Neil Armstrong stepped off the lunar module, and upon planting his foot in the lunar soil, this signified America's victory in the space race!

The United States had won.

"That's one small step for man... one giant leap for mankind."

Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin then planted "Old Glory" on the moon, where that very flag remains to this day.

Unfortunately after Apollo 11, public sentiment quickly faded.

Even though the missions after Apollo 11 became more science heavy, and focused on unlocking the mysteries of the moon, a public disinterest towards moon missions, and spaceflight in general set in.

Budget cuts started creeping in, and the moon missions ended after Apollo 17, despite their major scientific breakthroughs.

It is worth noting that a temporary spike in interest came when Apollo 13 suffered an accident on the way to the moon, and when the lives of the astronauts were in jeopardy, everyone came together once more to help the Apollo 13 crew make it back home.

The space program needed a new purpose and there was a shift towards much less ambitious goals, like space stations.

But there was a silver lining in this shift: The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975 was significant because it represented a "warming" of sorts during the Cold War.

For the first time ever, this would be an international flight, where Americans and Soviets met in space, and shook hands.

This ease in tension between the Americans and Soviets would mark the beginning of international efforts in space, where countries would work together to achieve goals.

One can only wonder: Where to next?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
History in a Nutshell | The Space Race | Season 1 | Episode 4 | PBS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Watch a brief expose on the history of the Space Race to the moon!

# data[].attributes.headline
National Air and Space Museum: Speed and the Cold War

# data[].attributes.subject
National Air and Space Museum: Speed and the Cold War

# data[].attributes.body
This Smithsonian Air & Space article shows how speed—whether in planes, rockets, or satellites—became a Cold War weapon all its own. Both the U.S. and USSR poured resources into breaking records—from Chuck Yeager’s supersonic Bell X‑1 to ultra-fast spy planes and rockets—because being fastest meant gaining military advantage, intelligence superiority, and global reputation.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learn about the integral role speed played during the Cold War.

# data[].attributes.headline
Open Ended Social Studies: Cuban Missile Crisis Infographic

# data[].attributes.subject
Open Ended Social Studies: Cuban Missile Crisis Infographic

# data[].attributes.body
This colorful infographic lays out the Cuban Missile Crisis timeline in a clear, bite-sized visual—it highlights the key triggers (like the U‑2 spy plane photos that revealed Soviet missiles in Cuba), President Kennedy’s choice of a “quarantine” over an invasion, intense back‑and‑forth between Kennedy and Khrushchev, and the secret bargain that removed Soviet missiles from Cuba in exchange for U.S. missiles being pulled from Turkey.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Open Ended Social Studies Cuban Missile Crisis Infograhic

# data[].attributes.body
This Alpha History article on détente explains how between roughly 1967 and 1979, the U.S. and Soviet Union intentionally dialed down their Cold War showdown—using diplomacy instead of threats. It covers key moves like Nixon’s visit to Moscow, SALT I & II arms-control treaties, the Apollo–Soyuz space handshake, and even grain trade.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
During the 1960s, there was a slight but noticeable easing of tensions between the United States, the Soviet Union and some of their allies. This decade-long thaw in international relations is known by various names. In the West it was called Détente, in Soviet Russia razryadka and in West Germany Ostpolitik. The period of Détente saw better communications and a greater level of respect between the nuclear superpowers.

What was Détente?

While Détente did not end the Cold War, it produced some significant achievements. The willingness of both superpowers to communicate led to arms reduction summits, the signing of anti-nuclear proliferation agreements and a reduction in nuclear arms stockpiles. There was political recognition of communist nations by the West, the most significant being Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to communist China.

Détente also brought about improved diplomacy and even some minor economic and trade agreements between East and West. Détente was a period of understanding and mutual acceptance by both Cold War superpowers. While their ideological and economic systems rendered them incompatible, both acknowledged the need for negotiation, compromise and working together.

There are different opinions about the nature of Cold War Détente. Some attribute Détente to a change of leadership. In the first decade of the Cold War, foreign policy had been defined by assertive ideologues like Joseph Stalin, Harry Truman and John Foster Dulles. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, however, these men were long gone. They had been replaced by political pragmatists like Richard Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev.

To some, Détente simply marked a normalisation in superpower relations. By the late 1960s, it had become impossible for US and Soviet leaders to maintain the hostility and belligerence they had maintained for a quarter-century. Détente-era leaders had to wrestle with domestic issues as well as Cold War struggles. Economic changes and conditions rendered arms spending and direct confrontation costly, dangerous and unpopular. Governments had to find new, more sophisticated and subtle ways of waging the Cold War.

Raymond Garthoff supports this idea, suggesting that Détente represented a change in methodology, not a 'winding down' of the Cold War:

"The agreements [of Détente] cannot be said to have played any substantial role in affecting the course of the Cold War and its final settlement. They did not have any weakening effect on US or Western resolve or behaviour, as some critics had feared, nor can it be demonstrated that they moderated the pursuit of advantage ... as both continued to wage the Cold War. Détente was a more sophisticated and less belligerent way of waging the Cold War, rather than an alternative to it."

Causes of Détente

Some of the factors that contributed to the rise of Détente included:
Fears about nuclear weapons
The Cuban missile crisis of 1962 triggered paranoia and public concern about the dangers of nuclear war. Over time, nuclear powers came under international pressure to reduce stockpiles of nuclear warheads and missile systems. Pressure groups like the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND, formed 1957) and Greenpeace (formed 1971) lobbied against the further production and proliferation of nuclear weapons.

American stockpiles of nuclear weapons peaked at more than 30,000 in the mid-1960s, then slowly declined. In July 1968, the United States, Soviet Union and Great Britain signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty, an international agreement to limit the spread of nuclear weapons while working towards nuclear disarmament.
Economic factors
The Cold War arms race was a costly business for both superpowers. Both the United States and the Soviet Union faced additional, though contrasting economic problems during the 1970s. America spent billions of dollars on its involvement in Vietnam, while the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil embargo of 1973 also led to disruptions in oil supply, higher fuel prices, a stock market slump and other detrimental effects on the US economy.

The Soviet economy, which had grown rapidly through the 1950s and 1960s, began to stall after 1970. Of particular concern was a lack of growth in the agricultural sector, which caused food prices to increase by between 50 and 100 per cent. Having to prop up several failing Soviet bloc states placed additional strains on the Russian economy.
Domestic issues
During Détente, both major powers were distracted by internal problems that drew attention away from foreign policy. In the US, domestic opposition to the Vietnam War and military casualties there limited the possibility of strong military action elsewhere in the world. America in the early 1970s was also distracted by the Watergate scandal, which ended in 1974 with the resignation of Richard Nixon.

The Soviet Union was preoccupied with economic problems, such as falling crop yields, internal opposition and problems within the Soviet bloc. Brezhnev dealt with opposition by winding back some of the liberal reforms implemented by Nikita Khrushchev, expanding the powers of the KGB and tightening press control and censorship.
The Sino-Soviet split
Through the 1960s, ideological differences and domestic political events caused the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China to drift apart. By 1967, Moscow and Beijing were barely on speaking terms. Two years later, border clashes between Russian and Chinese soldiers threatened to plunge the two nuclear powers into a full-scale war. It was later revealed that Soviet Russia had developed more nuclear battle plans against China than against the United States. American planners saw advantages in encouraging and widening the Sino-Soviet split. They did this through covert and diplomatic means, such as Richard Nixon's visit to China in 1972.
Ostpolitik
In West Germany, the 1969 election of Willy Brandt as chancellor heralded a new approach to the Cold War there. Brandt was more left-wing than previous West German leaders, though far from a communist. He favoured rapprochement, or the restoration of friendly relations, with East Germany and other Soviet bloc nations.

Brandt's foreign policy, dubbed Ostpolitik (German for 'eastern policy'), was a more practical and realistic attempt to bridge the Iron Curtain. The most important step, Brandt argued, was to permit and encourage trade deals with East Germany. He believed these new trade links would encourage greater communication and cultural exchange, making Soviet bloc nations less defensive and more open to reform. Brandt's Ostpolitik was very unpopular with conservatives, both in West Germany and internationally, however it was generally successful and played an important role in reducing European tensions. Ostpolitik also referred to a similar approach employed by Pope Paul VI and the Vatican, who sought greater communication with the leaders of Soviet bloc nations.

A historian's view:
"In the early 1970s, the Nixon administration claimed that the era 'of confrontation' with the Soviet Union was at an end and that the era 'of negotiation' was beginning. In 1981 the Reagan administration came to office, not with a commitment to negotiate with the Soviet Union but a promise to restore American strength and prestige. The 1970s were characterised by the incoming administration as a 'decade of neglect' in which the United States - seduced and blinded by Détente and hampered by Vietnam and Watergate - had failed to provide for its own security."
Mike Bowker

Nixon acknowledges China

The onset of Détente produced several international visits and bilateral conferences. In 1972, with the Vietnam War still raging, US president Richard Nixon visited communist China, where he met the ailing Chinese dictator Mao Zedong. Nixon's trip surprised the world and led to the restoration of diplomatic relations between Washington and Beijing. Some thought the anti-communist Nixon had betrayed his own political values but most Americans were weary of the Vietnam War and supported improved relations with China.

Nixon's visit also created nervousness in the Kremlin, which was not on good terms with China and feared the possibility of a US-China alliance. In May 1972, Nixon followed his visit to China with a state visit to Moscow. He conducted extensive meetings with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, signing trade agreements and two treaties to reduce arms manufacture. Nixon returned to the Soviet Union in 1974, while Brezhnev himself visited the United States in 1973.

Détente yielded more advances during the 1970s. In August 1975, the US, USSR and 33 other nations signed the Helsinki Accords, a non-binding agreement aimed at enhancing relations between communist nations and the West. There were also several Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) in the 1970s that produced two weapons-reduction agreements: SALT I (1972) and SALT II (1979). Two multilateral treaties signed by the Americans and Soviets in 1972 outlawed biological weapons production and limited numbers of ballistic missiles.

In 1975, the Space Race came to an end with the launching of the Apollo-Soyuz project, the first joint American-Soviet space mission. The Soviet Union also increased its trade with the West, importing large amounts of American grain to offset the slump in its own agricultural production. Soviet imports of Western consumer goods also increased sharply, doubling by 1979.

1. Détente was a period of reduced hostility and improved relations between the superpowers. It began in the mid-1960s and continued into the 1970s.

2. There were several factors and conditions that led to Détente, including nuclear fears, domestic issues, changes to leadership and policy pragmatism.

3. Détente brought about better communication between the two superpowers. This led to several bilateral and multilateral treaties and Nixon's 1972 visit to China.

4. Tensions also eased between Western-aligned and Soviet bloc nations in Europe. Of particular significance was the Ostpolitik policies of West Germany's Willy Brandt.

5. Détente did not end the Cold War, which continued in proxy conflicts such as Vietnam - however, it did reduce the risk of a direct confrontation between the US and USSR.

Treaty of Moscow between the USSR and West Germany (1970)
Richard Nixon announces plans to visit China (1971)
The Four Powers Agreement on Berlin (1971)
Summary of Nixon's meeting with Mao Zedong (1972)
Basic Treaty between East and West Germany (1972)
Richard Nixon writes to Leonid Brezhnev (1973)
Leonid Brezhnev addresses the American people on TV (1973)
US-Soviet Agreement on the Prevention of Nuclear War (1973)
Helsinki Accords on Security and Cooperation (1975)

Citation information
Title: " Détente"
Authors: Jennifer Llewellyn, Steve Thompson
Publisher: Alpha History
URL: https://alphahistory.com/coldwar/detente/
Date published: October 3, 2018
Date accessed: August 16, 2020
Copyright: The content on this page may not be republished without our express permission. For more information on usage, please refer to our Terms of Use.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
During the 1960s, there was a slight but noticeable easing of tensions between the United States, the Soviet Union and some of their allies. This decade-long thaw in international relations is known by various names. In the West it was called Détente, in Soviet Russia razryadka and in West Germany Ostpolitik.

# data[].attributes.body
Quizizz is a student friendly website that offers a quick and easy way to assess student understanding after viewing each of these resources. The quiz hits on the high points of the curation and assesses students high level understandings of the Cold War.