May 2 - 6 - Blogs - History 360

Monday - We took notes on Mr. Bruns' Cold War powerpoint.

Cold War

Second Red Scare: 1947-1957
- Causes
  - Julius and Ethel Rosenberg Trial
    - found guilty of spying for the Soviets - executed in 1953
  - The Iron curtain surrounding Eastern Europe - 1945
  - The USSR detonation their atomic bomb - 1949
  - China becoming communist - 1949
  - The Korean War starting - 1950
    - Domino Effect
  - Stalin's actions in Germany - Berlin Blockade
Alien Registration Act
- made it illegal to advocate the overthrow of the U.S. government
- required all non-citizen adult residents to register with the government
- approximately 215 people were indicted under the legislation, including alleged Communists, Anarchists, and Fascists
- prosecutions under the Smith Act continued until the Supreme Court decision declared law unconstitutional in 1957
McCarthy and McCarthyism
- McCarthyism - the practice of making accusations of subersion or treason without proper regard for evidence
- Joseph McCarthy (1908-1957) was a Republican Senator from Wisconsin
- 1950, he gave a speech where he claimed to have a list of 205 Communists in the state Department
- No one in the press actually saw the names
- He held trials
Downfall
- McCarthy's downfall finally began in October 1953, when he started to investigate "communist infiltration into the military"
- this was the final straw for President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who realized that McCarthy's movement needed to be stopped
- late 1954, the Senate voted to censure him or his conduct and to strip him of his privileges
- McCarthy died three years later from alcoholism
House Un-American Activities Committee - HUAC - 1945-1975
- This organization went after directors and actors in Hollywood
- The committee believed that films were spreading communist propaganda
- They set up hearings to investigate the movie industry
- Hollywood Ten
  - Each man was found guilty and sentenced to spend a year in prison and pay a $1,000 fine
Berlin Wall
- between East and West Berlin
- was to keep people inside
- 5,000 people escaped across the wall
- checkpoints
Cuba
- Fidel Castro over through Batista
  - aligned himself with USSR
- Bay of Pigs
  - invasion
  - trained Cubans to overthrow Castro
  - Soviet gave Cuba missiles
Ronald Reagan
- President 1981
- Ran on a very strong anti-communist platform
- Soviets had just invaded Afghanistan
Mikhail Gorbachev
- USSR in 1985
Why did the US win the Cold War? Why did the USSR lose the Cold War?
- we had close ties with our Allies and the USSR didn't
- China started siding with us after 1972
- The Soviet economy was in shambles whereas the US's was flourishing
  - Huge deficit
  - High inflation
  - Corruption
  - Social problems
  - Shortage of basic needs (food,housing, etc.)
- The strong anti-communist presidency of Reagan
- Gorbachev's willingness for change and reform
  - glasnost and perestroika
  - admitted Soviet mistakes
  - took blame for the Cold War
  - communist system had failed
  - allowed Eastern Europe to do what they wanted
- Arms Reduction Talks
  - SALT
  - INF
  - Reagan-Gorbachev meetings
- Soviet Mistakes
  - invasion of Afghanistan
  - ignoring social concerns
  - spent everything on military
Post Cold War
- In the 1990's the world seemed to be a much more peaceful place
- We didn't have any major threat to worry about
- President Clinton closed down numerous military bases around the country reducing the size of the US military
- 9-11 caught the US off guard

Tuesday - We took notes on Mr. Bruns' Cold War powerpoint. We watched a video on the Berlin Wall. Notes above.

Wednesday - We took notes on Mr. Bruns' Cold War powerpoint. Notes above.

Thursday - We tested over the Cold War.

Friday - We had a work day on the Decades project.

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