May 2-6

Monday: notes

  • The Second Red Scare
    • causes:
      • Julius and Ethel Rosenberg Trial
        • Found guilty of spying for the Soviets-executed in 1953
      • Iron Curtain
      • USSR detonating their atomic bomb
      • China becoming communist
      • Korean War - Domino Effect
      • Stalin's actions in Germany - Berlin Blockade
  • 1949-1990
    • East and West Germany (East belonged to USSR)
  • China
    • Kai Shek
    • Mao Zedong (communist)
    • invaded by Japan
  • Alien Registration Act of 1940
    • Made it illegal to advocate the overthrow of the US government
    • Required all non-citizen adult residents to register with the government
    • Approx. 214 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 
  • Senator Joe McCarthy
    • accused people of communism
    • gave a speech where he claimed to have a list of 205 communist in the State Department
    • no one actually saw the names 
    • became one of the most powerful people of the US
    • accused people in the military - final straw for Eisenhower & his rights were stripped
    • died of alcoholism three years later
  • House UN-American Activies Committee - HUAC (1945-1975)
    • went after directors in Hollywood
    • the committee believed that films were spreading communist propaganda
    • set up hearings
    • people found guilty were sentenced to a year in prison and pay $1,000 fine
  • Us Test Hydrogen Bomb
    • 1,000 times stronger than the atomic bomb
    • USSR Launches sputnik in 1957 (Space Race)
    • Francis Gary Powers (American Pilot) Shot Down in USSR - the pilot was alive and well (was an embarrassment for Eisenhower b/c we lied, it was a spy plane)

Tuesday: notes

  • Berlin Wall 
    • to keep people from escaping east Berlin
    • Brandenberg gate and Checkpoint Charlie
  • Cuba
    • Fidel Castro (communist) Overthrows Batista
    • Bay of Pigs
      • What was it?
        • bay of Cuba
        • we trained Cubans in Mexico to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro/Communism
      • What were the results?
        • we failed miserably
        • we hoped the Cubans still there would join in the army we sent
        • traded to get our people back
      • How did it hurt JFK?
        • huge embarrassment
        • US military thought he was weak against communism
    • Cuban Missile Crisis (Oct, 1962)
      • U2 spy plane took photos of missile launchers
      • Soviet union was worried about another invasion
      • IRBM, MRBM
      • The compromise
        • The Soviets would remove their missiles from Cuba
        • The US would promise never to invade Cuba
        • The US would secretly remove our nuclear missiles from Turkey within six months

Wednesday: notes

  • Ronald Reagan Becomes President (1981)
    • Ran on a very strong anti-communist platform
    • Soviets had just invaded Afghanistan
  • Mikhail Gorbachev comes to power in USSR (1985)
    • give people more freedom
    • Perestroika and Glasnost
  • Berlin Wall comes down (Nov. 9, 1989)
  • Boris Yeltsin - President of Russia (1991-1999)
  • Why the US won
    • we had closer allies
    • China started sliding with us after 1972
    • the Soviet economy was in shambles, the US was flourishing
      • huge deficit
      • high inflation
      • corruption
      • social problems
      • shortage of basic needs (food, housing..)
    • 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
    • seemed to be a much more peaceful place
    • we didn't have any major threat to worry about
    • President Clinton closed down many military bases around the country & reduced the size of the US military
    • 9-11 caught US off guard

Thursday: test

Friday: work day

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