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US President Harry Truman supports development of the hydrogen bomb
Truman publicly announced his support to test the weapon. This weapon was predicted to be hundreds of times more powerful than the atom bombs dropped on Japan during WW2. For both sides, this led to cold war paranoia where either the US of the Soviets could instantly wipe out millions in the push of a button. In fact, the US educational system taught children how to “duck-and-cover” to avoid the effects of such a powerful weapon. Although never used in combat, the H-bomb was a weapon of fear. -
Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy begins his "witch-hunt"
Joseph McCarthy alleged he had a list of over 200 members of the state department that were communist supporters/sympathizers and other “left-wing loyalty risks”. He began his “witch hunt” to catch them all because of suspected communist subversion (undermining) in the US government. Almost 5 years of searching convinced many Americans that their government was filled with traitors and spies, further adding to the height of the Red Scare in the 1950’s -
Discussion of Nuclear Warfare
The leading atomic scientists that worked on “The Manhattan Project”, such as Albert Einstein and Robert Oppenheimer, argued on secrecy and international arms supervision. Einstein warned that idea of national security through nuclear weapons was “a dangerous illusion” and that the technology in the hands of world superpowers could annihilate all life on Earth. This was one of the first meeting to discuss the problems of the arising nuclear age. -
Korean War Begins
With Russia supporting communist North Korea and the US backing pro-Western South Korea, conflict began when the North invaded the South. For the US, this was a war not only against communist North Korea but against international communism itself. This was the first actual war of the Cold War, and showed that the US would send troops to combat Soviet forces in spreading communism. Its legacy still has Korea divided today. -
Russian KGB is formed
The Soviet Union create the intelligence agency which stands for Committee for State Security (Basically, the Russian CIA). The KGB was created to protect the communist party and the Soviet Union as well as attack its enemies. The KGB were known for removing political enemies of the communist party, providing intelligence, and propaganda. They monitored all aspects of life of people in the Soviet Union. -
Warsaw Pact Formed
The pact was a political and military alliance that involved the Soviet Union, Albania, Poland, Romania, Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Bulgaria. It was a defense treaty which called for every member to come to the defense of the member who has been attacked. This pact was created in direct response to the creation of NATO by the US and its allies. The Soviets hoped that it could negotiate with NATO as an equal partner and have an alliance to help if war broke out. -
Sputnik Launched
The first ever artificial Earth satellite, Sputnik, was launched into orbit around Earth by the Soviet Union. It could travel around in 1 hour 36 min, and transmitted radio signals to be picked up by operators. Sputnik brought even more paranoia to the US public. This beginning of the "space race" impelled the US to send a man to the moon to catch up to the Russians. -
Great Leap Forward Launched in China
Launched by the Communist Party of China led by Mao Zedong (CPC), it was an economic and social campaign to change China into a modern, industrialized society- connects to Japan's Meiji Restoration. However, because of bad decision making, the campaign to adopt communist and collectivized policies was a huge failure. Around 45 million people in 4 years died in bad policy and a poor harvest of crops.
Picture- "John rides the ox and I am the horse, what a shame if he wins the game." -
Fidel Castro Elected Cuba's Prime Minister
Fidel Castro is elected Cuba’s Prime Minister making Cuba the first Communist state in the Western Hemisphere. Cuba under the communist dictator would prove to be a threat to the US for decades (He survived an estimated 638 attempts to kill him). Because of Cuba's alliance with the Soviets, the US initiated an economic embargo on Cuba, halting trade and the sale or arms between both nations. -
Kitchen Debate
“Kitchen debate” between Richard Nixon and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. Both nations agreed to have exhibitions to display culture of their respective nations at the fair. During the American exhibition, Khrushchev started to attack the US and capitalism and the debate started in a model kitchen. Both sides argued against each other over capitalism and communism through interpreters because of the language barrier.
