Tuesday 5-18-10

[4Nathan]

Today we are getting started again on presentations. Erin is presenting on Senator Joe McCarthy. He was in WWII as a Marine. He was known as "Tail-Gunner Joe" He resigned from the Marines in 1945. McCarthy was a Republican and started to campaign in 1944 which meant he was still in active duty. He would attack the other candidates and say that he was a lot better then them. He said "Congress Needs a Tail-Gunner" The first Red Scare began after the Bolshevik Russian Revolution of 1917 and during WWII. It was from 1917-1920. A lot of people were innocent but put in jail because people were scared. It disappeared after 1920. Communists, Socialists, and Anarchists were the people that were targeted. The Second Red Scare was after World War II. It was around 1947-1957. The whole thing started because of the fear of communism. A lot of people were trialed. McCarthyism started at the end of World War II and at the started of the Cold War. It was called the McCarthy era. McCarthyism is known for the ridiculous trials. It destroyed a lot of people's lives. If the people said nothing they were guilty. They pretty much had to name names otherwise their lives would be destroyed. Edward R. Murrow was one of the main men to stand up to the McCarthyism Trials. He died May 2, 1957 from acoholism. However he was extremely unpopular following the Army-McCarthy hearings. He was replaced in the Senate by a democrat named William Proxmire.

---

Now Jenna is going to start presenting on the Berlin Blockade and Airlift. It was the first Berlin Crisis. The Berlin Blockade was from June 24, 1948 to May 12, 1949. It was the first major international Crisis of the Cold War. The Yalta Conference was the things that split Berlin into four parts. The U.S, Soviet Union, Great Britain, and France each had control of one of the areas. Berlin was also split into four parts and the same people control of one four parts of Berlin. Berlin was in the Soviet Union's part so they did not like how Berlin had to be split into four parts because they wanted control of Berlin by themselves. Stalin blockaded Berlin so people could not get into Berlin, Stalin wanted a weak Germnay because he did not want Germany to be a threat to the Soviet Union. Truman and Attlee from Britain thought that a strong Germany would help Europe.