Essential Question

The Cold War was a long war between the United States and the Soviet Union and
throughout the time period of 1965-1979 the United States appeared to be taking the upper hand
with the Yum Kippur War and the Sino Soviet Split, although they suffered losses in the Vietnam
War and the Invasion of Czechoslovakia. The United States did not have any major victories in
the Cold War until 1969 when the United States President Richard Nixon sought to improve
relations with the Chinese Government in order to gain advantage over the Soviets, in the time of
their split, also known as the Sino-Soviet Split. Another major victory for the United States was
the Yum Kippur War of 1973, in which Egypt and Syria who were supported by the Soviet
Union, launched a surprise attack against Israel, which at the time was being supported by the
United States. In the beginning the Soviet side came out with an early advantage, but the Israeli
forces with the support of the US, fought back all the way to the Syrian capital, forcing the
enemy to concede to a ceasefire; marking the second victory for the Us in this time period.
Although not all the events of this time period were successful for the US. Such as the Soviet
Invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, this went overlooked by the United States and its capitalist
allies. Another example of the Soviets coming out on top in the Cold War during this time period
is the Vietnam War, which was fought between the Communist supported North, and the
capitalist/anti-communist supported South. The North Vietnam Communists achieved their goals
in re-uniting Vietnam, and gaining independence with support from countries such as the Soviet
Union and China; while the South supported by the US, failed to stop the spread of communism.
The Cold War was a series of ups and downs for the United States and it is undecided whether
the United States was winning the Cold War during this time as there is evidence pointing to and
away from this fact.