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Showing results 11 – 20 of 33

Essay

The Catcher in the Rye: The Voice of Alienation

One of the most widely taught novels in the United States, J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye (1951) opens with the sixteen-year-old Holden Caulfield’s disillusioned departure from what may be the last in a series of schools that have failed to inspire, nurture, or support him, followed by a painful, sleep-deprived odyssey through the streets of New York City. The readiness of teachers to embrace and assign this novel, despite its implicit indictment of the American educational system, is evidence of its extraordinary capacity...

Essay

The Korean War

The Korean War was three different conflicts from the perspective of the disparate groups who fought in it. For North and South Korea, the...

Glossary Term – Event

George Kennan’s “Long Telegram”

George Kennan, a US diplomat serving in Moscow, sent his “Long Telegram” to Washington. In it, Kennan proposed a policy of containment for handling diplomatic matters with the Soviet Union. Kennan’s ideas about containment and the Soviet Union shaped US foreign policy throughout the Cold War.

Glossary Term – Event

Fidel Castro took power in Cuba

Fidel Castro led a successful rebellion to overthrow the Cuban government. In 1960 Castro signed an economic pact with the Soviet Union, dashing US hopes for a pro-American government in Cuba.

Glossary Term – Event

Fall of the Berlin Wall

Built as a divider between East and West Berlin by the Communist East German government in 1961, the Berlin Wall was torn down. The destruction of the wall signifyed the fall of the “iron curtain” and symbolized the end of the Cold War.

Glossary Term – Event

Malta Summit

President Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev met at a summit in Malta. Though no major agreements were signed, Gorbachev promised to “never start a hot war against the USA” and Bush looked toward “enduring co-operation.”

Glossary Term – Event

Reagan urged removal of Berlin Wall

At a speech at the Brandenburg Gate near the Berlin Wall, Ronald Reagan called on the Soviet Union to open the Eastern Bloc: “Mr. Gobachev, tear down this wall!”

Glossary Term – Person

Leonid Brezhnev

Glossary Term – Person

Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro (1926– ) led the Communist revolution in Cuba that overthrew the government of Fulgencio Batista in 1959. In 1960, Castro made a trade agreement with the Soviet Union, which heightened Cold War tension. Eventually the United States severed economic and diplomatic ties with the island nation. Castro remained Cuba’s leader until 2008, when he turned over power to his brother Raúl Castro.

Glossary Term – Person

Nikita Khrushchev

Nikita Khrushchev (1894–1971) emerged as a leader of the Soviet Union after the death of Joseph Stalin. In 1956, Khrushchev denounced Stalin and began working to improve the Soviet image in the international community. In the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, Khrushchev agreed to President John F. Kennedy’s demand to remove Soviet missiles from Cuba. The agreement was considered a humiliating defeat by Khrushchev’s fellow Soviets. His domestic programs also largely failed, and he was peacefully deposed in 1964.