Notes
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US Foreign Policy 1949-1950
-May 1949, Berlin blockade defeated, NATO formed -NATO ensured that Western Europe was protected from communism -1949, balance of power shifted because China fell to communists -August 1949, the USSR developed its first Atomic bomb, the US no longer had the edge against the USSR -The US were completely taken by surprise by how fast the USSR developed an Atomic bomb -October 1949, Mao Zedong found People's Republic China -In 1949 a white paper was published by US secretary of state Dean Acheson, it stated that the US could not have altered the outcome of the Chinese civil war -The US blamed Chiang Kai-shek -The white paper was received badly, Many people in the US blamed Truman's government The Red Scare -The fall of China and USSR's atomic bomb led to a growing fear about growing Soviet power -Senate Joseph McCarthy began alleging that the Soviet union was conspiring to place sympathizers in key position in the USA -His accusations led to a series of 'purges'. Some people were executed -Dean Acheson had to publicly reconsider his white paper, now claiming that China was under Mao NSC-68 -It was a report by the US national security council in 1950, one of the key documents of the cold war -It warned that all communist activity everywhere could be traced back to Moscow -NSC-68 represented a 'monolithic' view of communism- it was all controlled by Moscow -'Total Commitment' -Revisionist historians argue that the NSC-68 was crucial in increasing the tensions of the Cold war and blamed the USA -Facing congressional elections in 1950, Truman could not be seen as 'Soft' on communism -Truman was in no rush to consider committing the USA to containment -25th June 1950, communist North Korea invaded capitalist South Korea -The north Korean attack was seen as clear Soviet expansionism Why was there communism in Asia: 1. Communism worked in Europe 2. Communism victory in China 3. Communism seen as monolithic |
The Cold War goes global
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Activity 1
The Hollywood Ten -41 people working in Hollywood were interviewed, 19 of these interviewees were accused of being left-wing -On October 1947 Roy M. Brewer was interviewed and he claimed that 13 writers and actors were involved in Communist activities -Out of these 41, 10 people refused to give any answers -These were known as the Hollywood ten, and all of them received prison sentences from 6-12 months HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee) -The HUAC Investigated communist activities within the US -The HUAC was established in 1938 -HUAC had Controversial tactics that created fear and distrust in the population -By the 1960s the influence of HUAC was declining Alger Hiss -Was accused of being a spy for the Soviet Union by Whittaker Chambers -On March 1945 Chambers gave details of Hiss' spying activities to the FBI -On the 25th of January 1950 Alger Hiss was found guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison The Rosenbergs -Julius Rosenberg and Ethel Rosenberg were accused of being Communist spies for Russia in the US -Their trials began on March the 6th, 1951 -They were both found guilty and sentenced to the death penalty -On the 19th of June, 1953 the Rosenberg's were executed The Role of the FBI -The FBI formed a card index for people with left-wing political views which Influenced the Library of Congress The McCarran Act -This act required the American Communist Party to register with the Attorney General -This Act stated that it was unlawful to hide your membership to the party -Truman stated that the act 'would betray our finest traditions' Why was McCarthy finally discredited A lot of people started to criticize McCarthy and his methods. The televised Senate exposed the methods of McCarthy to the public which caused a lot of people to see him as being evil. This made him lose his position as the chairman of the Government Committee on Operations of the Senate. He had no more power and people lost interest in his communist claims. Activity 2 Image-Impact of McCarthyism on the American society: McCarthyism spread very quickly, like an icon. The black cloud in the background shows that his ideology spread across the whole of US like a cloud Activity 3 asdf Activity 4 asdf |