A14. Cold War – Containment, Confrontation, Competition, and ….. Collapse

Following the defeat of Germany in 1945, it took a very short time, measured in months, for the United States and the Soviet Union to move from allies to adversaries in a bipolar world. This lecture series traces the 46-year duration of the “Cold War”, from the summit meetings in 1945 to the fall of the “Iron Curtain” and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989-1991. Among the “highlights” are the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, as well as the “proxy wars” in Korea, Viet Nam, and Afghanistan. We will see several events that would bring the US and the USSR to the “brink of War”. In the end, it would be the personal relationship between two men, Reagan, and Gorbachev, that would bring this period to a close by the end of 1991.

Instructor: John Northgraves is currently an adjunct faculty member (History) at Mass Bay Community College, where he has taught since 2013. Before teaching at MBCC, he conducted study groups at Tufts Univ. and Regis College during 2010 to 2013. John is a 1967 graduate of Tufts (Political Science major) and has focused on U.S. History for his Study Groups. After service in the Navy, John’s career was in the technology field. 

Recommended reading: 

• America, Russia and the Cold War, Walter LaFerber, ISBN: 978-0-0728-4903-7
• Reagan and Gorbachev - How the Cold War Ended, Jack F. Matlock,  ISBN: 978-0-8129-7489-8