Week May 2-6

Monday-

Group test Thursday (Slides 1-74)- Minus goals/causes

Skip slides 2, 12-16, 19 and 20

The Red Scare

  • Causes- 
    • Julius and Ethel Rosenberg Trial
    • Found guilt of spying for the Soviets- executed in 1953

Causes of the Second Red Scare-

  • Iron curtain surrounding Eastern Europe- 1945
  • The USSR detonating their atomic bomb- 1949
  • China becoming communist- 1949
  • Korean War starting in 1950-Domino Effect
  • Stalin's actions in Germany Berlin Blockade

Alien Registration Act-

  • Made it illegal to advocate the overthrow of the US government
  • Required all non-citizen adult residents to register with the government
  • Approximately 215 people were indicted under legislation
  • Prosecutions under the Smith Act continued until the Supreme Court decision declared law unconstitutional in 1957

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
  • Senate voted to censure him for his conduct and to strip him of his privileges
  • McCarthy died three years later from alcoholism

House Un-American Activities Committee-

  • 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

US Test Hydrogen Bombs- 1952

  • 1000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima atomic bomb
  • Set off on Bikini Island in the Marshall Islands

Yuri Gagarin-1961

  • Caused US to panic

Berlin Wall-1961

Tuesday-

Bay of Pigs

  • What is it?
    • Invasion of Cuba by anti-Castro Cubans trained by CIA to go in and overthrow Castro and his government
  • What were the results?
    • Cuba was concerned that US would invade them, so they sent missiles for protection
  • How did it hurt President Kennedy?
    • He backed down from giving Cubans air cover
    • Found out that US was behind it

The Compromise-

  • The Soviets would remove their missiles from Cuba
  • The US would promise to never invade Cuba
  • The US would secretly remove our nuclear missiles from Turkey within 6 months

Ronald Reagan Becomes President- 1981

  • Ran on a very strong anti-communist platform
  • Soviets had just invaded Afghanistan

Why did US win the Cold War? and Why did the USSR lose the 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
    • Shambles
    • Huge deficit
    • High inflation
    • Corruption
    • Social Problems
    • Shortage of Basic Needs
  • Strong anti-communist presidency of Reagan
  • Gorbachev's willingness for change and reform
    • Glasnost and perestroika
    • Admitted Soviet mistakes
    • Took blame for the Civil War
    • Communist system had failed
    • Allowed Eastern Europe to do what they wanted
  • Arms Reduction Talks
    • SALTS, INF, Reagan-Gorbachev meetings
  • Soviet Mistakes
    • Invasion of Afghanistan
    • Ignoring social concerns
    • Spent everything on military

Wednesday-

Post Cold War-

  • In 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

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