Page 68 - 100 Events That Made History

When the world came
close to TOTAL WIPEOUT

Cuban After World War II, the allies USA
and USSR became rival superpowers,

weapons. A stand-off on Cuba, a tiny
Missile and by the 1960s, both had nuclear
island in the Pacific, brought the world

Crisis close to nuclear destruction.

Cracks appear
The splits between the USSR, led
by Josef Stalin, and the UK (led by
Winston Churchill) and USA (led by
Franklin D. Roosevelt) appeared
before the end of World War II.
The countries disagreed on how to
deal with postwar Europe. The
USSR wanted more territory, but
the Americans feared more countries
in Europe turning COMMUNIST
under Soviet influence.
President John F.
Churchill (left) and Kennedy appeared on
Roosevelt (middle) didn’t television on October 22,
trust Stalin (right). 1962, to explain that
nuclear missiles had
been spotted in Cuba.
Arms race

Instead of going to war,
the USA and USSR put their
energies into developing more
and more NUCLEAR MISSILES.
The weapons’ awesome power
meant neither side could afford to
launch an attack—a war would destroy
themselves as well as the enemy. The weapons
sat aimed at each other on permanent standby.

What came before…

When civil war broke out in The USA and its allies
KOREA IN 1950, the USA formed the military
supported South Korea, organization NATO.
while the USSR backed the In response, the USSR
communists in the North. and its allies created
the Warsaw Pact.
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