Download - The Cold War: America
The Cold War:America1945-1991
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How do clashes of ideologies impact
governments and how people live?
Fear of Communism• Loyalty Review Board – for government employees• The House of Un-American Activities Committee
(HUAC) – investigated communist influences in the movie industry– Hollywood Ten – Blacklists
• McCarran Internal Security Act - unlawful to plan any action that might lead to totalitarian dictatorship
Spy Cases• Alger Hiss – Accused by Whittaker Chambers of
spy for the Soviet Union – jailed for perjury • Rosenberg's –
– Klaus Fuchs admitted to giving info about the bomb to the Soviets
– Rosenberg’s implicated in the case denied the charge and pleaded the Fifth but convicted of espionage and sentenced to death
McCarthy and McCarthyism• Joseph McCarthy – Senator from
Wisconsin• McCarthyism – – Attack on suspected Communists in the
1950’s– Referred to as an unfair tactic of
accusing people of disloyalty without providing evidence
Fear of Nuclear Attack• 1949 – Soviet Union explodes its first atomic bomb
– Schools begin doing bomb drills– People build their own bomb shelters– This fear of nuclear attack lasts for over 30 years
• Both countries race to create the H-bomb (hydrogen bomb)– This would be 67 times more destructive than the atomic bomb– November 1952 – U.S. explodes a H-bomb– August 1953 – Soviets explode a H-bomb
Policy of Brinkmanship• 1952 – Eisenhower is president• John Foster Dulles is Secretary of State– Staunchly anti-communist – Willing to use all U.S. force, including the nuclear
weapons, against any aggressor nation– Willingness of the Eisenhower administration to go
to the edge of all-out war was known as brinkmanship
Cold War Around the World
• Shift to a dependence on nuclear arms
• Eisenhower administration begins to rely heavily on the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) for information abroad to stop communism– Action was taken in Iran– Guatemala
Warsaw Pact• Stalin dies in 1953 tensions begin to thaw– Soviets recognized West Germany– Concluded peace treaties with Austria & Japan
• 1955: West Germany was allowed to rearm and join NATO made the Soviets fearful
• Created their own military alliance: Warsaw Pact– East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary,
Romania, Bulgaria, Soviet Union
The Suez War• 1955: Britain and the U.S. agreed to help Egypt
finance a dam at Aswan on the Nile• Gamal Abdel-Nasser (Egypt’s head of gov’t) tried to
play the Soviets and U.S. against each other in order to get Egypt more aid
• U.S. withdrew their support Nasser responded by nationalizing the Suez Canal (owned by France & G.B.)
• Britain, France, and Israel sent troops UN stopped the fighting and Egypt kept control of the canal
Eisenhower Doctrine• Soviet presence in the Middle East
rose because of its support for Egypt• January 1957 Eisenhower Doctrine– Said that the United States would
defend the Middle East from attack by any communist country
Revolt in Hungary
• 1956, Hungary revolted against the Soviet Union• Soviet Union responded brutally and the
Hungarians were crushed• U.S. did not step in and enforce the Truman
Doctrine this made a statement that the policy did not extend to Soviet satellite countries
Soviets Replace Stalin• Stalin dies in 1953 Nikita Khrushchev
eventually replaces him• Believed communism would take over
the world but it could be done peacefully the two powers would compete economically and scientifically
Space Race• Soviets took a quick lead on the space race• October 4, 1957 launched Sputnik, first
artificial satellite • Americans worked frantically to catch up
January 31, 1958 they launched their first satellite
Cold War Takes to the Skies• July 1955 – Eisenhower met with
Soviet leaders Geneva – Proposed the idea of “open skies” this
would allow flights over each other’s territory to guard against surprise nuclear attacks
• Soviets reject the proposal
U-2 Shot Down• CIA was secretly flying over Soviet territory
U-2 plane took pictures of troop movement and missile sites
• U.S. was nervous some members of the press knew and Soviets knew since 1958– Eisenhower wanted to stop the flights – Dulles persuaded him to authorize one last flight
U-2 Shot Down• May 1st U-2 plane shot down • U.S. tried to deny they had been spying but the
Soviets had evidence• Khrushchev wanted an apology and promise to stop
the flights– Eisenhower agreed to stop the flight but would not
apologize – 1960’s began with renewed tensions between the
countries