Curated OER
The Early Cold War: 1947-1970
With a combination of images, maps, and valuable information, this presentation is a strong resource for a history class that is coming out of a WWII unit and into a Cold War unit. Some points are outlined for students, while others are...
PBS
Pbs American Experience: Race for the Superbomb
This site explores the Cold War race to develop the hydrogen bomb, a weapon that would change the world. Content details all the people who were involved in the race for the H-Bomb, as well as notable events during this time period....
Flow of History
Flow of History: Nuclear Arms Race
The events and countries involved in the nuclear arms race are profiled. Text plus a colored graphic flowchart make the topic visually appealing and of interest to both students and educators.
Smithsonian Institution
National Portrait Gallery: The Presidency and the Cold War: Dwight D. Eisenhower
This site from the National Portrait Gallery explores presidential actions during the Cold War. Click on Dwight D. Eisenhower to see how the Cold War was developing and being handled during his presidency. Find out about the Communist...
US Department of State
Office of the Historian: The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962
This site gives a clear, succinct look at the Cuban Missile Crisis, its causes, and the results. See how direct and indirect communication between President Kennedy and Soviet leader, Nikita Khruschev, resolved this potentially horrific...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: The Cuban Missile Crisis
In October 1962, Americans "peered into the abyss of nuclear destruction". Investigate how America got this close to nuclear war by reading the following summary, answering critical thinking questions, using the bibliography for further...
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Woodrow Wilson Center: Digital Archive: Nikita Khrushchev Collection
Documents containing the thoughts and opinions of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. Most are from Russian archives, along with a few Bulgarian and Romanian documents. The collection includes comments on Stalin, the post-Stalin Soviet...
Smithsonian Institution
National Portrait Gallery: The Presidency and the Cold War: John F. Kennedy
The National Portait Gallery explores the actions of presidents during the Cold War. Here find President Kennedy's decisions during the Berlin Crisis, the building of the Berlin War, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Watch a video of...
National Archives (UK)
National Archives Learning Curve: Cold War
Discusses different aspects of the Cold War such as "Did the Cold War really start in 1919-1939?" and "Was the Vietnam War a turning point in the Cold War?"
National Archives (UK)
Learning Curve: Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis
This resource provides information about Cuba's history and Castro's rise to power, the development of the relationship between Cuba and the USSR, a description of the events of the crisis, Kennedy's response to the discovery of Soviet...
Library of Congress
Loc: Cold War Cuban Missile Crisis
This site details the placing of intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Cuba by the Soviet Union. The article discusses why Khrushchev did this, and what the U.S. did about this. Also provided is the text to Krushchev's letter to JFK...
Internet History Sourcebooks Project
Fordham University: Modern History Sourcebook: Khrushchev's Secret Speech
This site provides some excerpts from a translation of Khrushchev's famous Secret Speech denouncing Stalin policies.
AllRefer
All Refer Reference: Vietnam: The Aftermath of Geneva
Examines the military and political developments of Vietnam after the Geneva Agreements. Describes US decision to support South Vietnam, demise of the possibility of elections, and communist operations in South Vietnam.
AllRefer
All Refer Reference: Soviet Union: The Khrushchev Era
This article surveys Soviet Union and its leader Nikita Khrushchev, who eventually wielded virtually supreme power after the death of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin in 1953.
History of American Wars
History of American Wars: Cold War History: Kennedy and Johnson 1961 1969
Describes the events of the Cold War during the presidencies of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.
Other
Trussel: Crimes of the Stalin Era
This site from Trussel.com provides the text of the report to the 20th Congress of the Soviet Communist Party by Nikita Khrushchev February 25, 1956 condemning the "cult of personality" surrounding Stalin and condemning Stalin's policies...
A&E Television
History.com: Joseph Stalin
The History Channel provides a biographical look at the Russian dictator Joseph Stalin, beginning with his early career, rise to power, time as a Soviet leader, and the partial dismantling of his police state in the years after his death.
BBC
Bbc: World Wars in Depth: John F. Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis
An explanation of the events which occurred and attitudes which prevailed during the Cuban Missile Crisis of October, 1962.
Steven Kreis, PhD
The History Guide: Khrushchev's Secret Speech, 1956
Excerpt of Nikita Khrushchev's "Secret Speech," delivered before a closed session of the Twentieth Party Congress in 1956. In this speech, Khrushchev admits the many crimes and atrocities of former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.
CommonLit
Common Lit: Stalin: A Brutal Legacy Uncovered
A learning module that begins with A Brutal Legacy Uncovered" by Mike Kubic, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through free...
Library of Congress
Loc: Deportations
This site, which is provided for by the Library of Congress, gives an account of the forcible resettlement of over 1.5 million people by Stalin during and after WWII. Considered to be one of the most drastic genocidal acts by human...
Siteseen
Siteseen: American Historama: U 2 Incident
Detailed facts and an overview of the 1960 U-2 Incident when an American U2 spy plane piloted by Gary Powers was shot down over Russia.
PBS
Pbs: American Experience: Eisenhower Foreign Affairs
This PBS American Experience site summarizes the foreign policies set in place and carried out by the Eisenhower Administration.
Curated OER
Nikita Khrushchev
Read the latest of Walter Cronkite's oral essays for NPR, in which he comments on events in recent history such as the Vietnam War, the U-2 crisis, and so on.