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Red Scare
The Red Scare, or widespread fear of communism, swpet the nation.The government took the threat seriously. It held that the 14th Amendment prohibited states from depriving citizens of the right to free speach. -
USSR Leader: Stalin
Communism and fascism represent opposite political extremes. Yet there were similarities between the Soviet system under Stalin and the Fascist systems. He used military force against other nations. And his primary motication was to gain total power. -
HUAC
HUAC is also known as House Un - American Activities Committee. This committee's original purpose was to investigate the full range of radical groups in the US including Fascists and Communists. The most famous HUAC investigation was in 1947. Its goal was to explore possible Communist influence in the American Film industry. -
US Leader: Truman
leader of the US Truman was president of the US during the Cold War. Truman was one the first world leaders who realized that Stalin, would try to seize territory after World War II. -
Yalta Conference
The key goal for the Yalta Conference was to reach an agreement on what to do with soon to be conquered Germany. The 3 leaders agreeed to divide the country into 4 sectors. The Americans, Soviets, British and French would each occupy one of these sectors. -
Potsdam Conference
There was growing American concern that communism and Soviet Influence might spread in the postwar world. Truman had hopedd that if he met with Stalin, he could get the Soviet leader to live up to him promises from Yalta. The Potsdam Conference was not successful. -
CIA
CIA is also known as Central Intelligenc Agency. It was formed to collect information about - and spy on - foregin governments. The CIA was increasingly active in the 1950s. CIA agents took part in sevret actions against hostile goverments. They also helped overthrow governments in Guatemala and Iran. -
Truman Doctrine
President Truman argued that providing aid would help both the Greek and Turkish governments resist Soviet expantion. After Truman's speech, a bipartisan Congress voted in favor of the US providing hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Greece and Turkey. -
Berlin Blockade / Berlin Airlift
A group of Berliners gaze up at a U.S. military cargo plane bringing them supplies during the Soviet blockade of their city. It lasted untill 1949 -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was an enormous undertaking. Between 1948 and 1951, the US government spent over $13 billion in 17 different countries. With the help of the Marshall Plan, Western Europe was soon feeding its hungry and providing jobs. -
Communist Takeovers in China
Communist Takeovers in China Info.
When Mao and the Communists took over China in 1949, the country was in really bad shape. Roads, Railways, farms and factories were all falling apart. The treasury went bankrupt after all its gold reserves were taken away by the Nationalists. -
NATO
The U.S, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Italy, Norway and Portugal all joined the original five to create a new military alliance. According to the North Atlantic Treaty, an armed attack against one of the member nations would be considered an attack against all. -
Joseph McMarthy
McCarthy visited Wheeling, West Virginia to deliver a speech before a Republican wouman's group. His charges created a sensation. For many Americans, his claim was all to easy to believe. He never produced the list of names he claimed to be holding in his speech. -
Korean War
Korean War Info.
Within a few days, North Korea's invasion of South Korea had a lot of police involved. It immediately began military and naval involvement by the US. Nobody thought that this task would be easy and no one thought it would lase for more than 3 years. In mid-September 1950 a risky invasion at Inchon fractured the North Korean war machine. -
Nuclear Arms Race
The Cold War had believed that the more nuclear weapons you had, the more powerful you were. The world changed a lot when the US exploded the H-bomb. This one bomb was smaller in size than the Hiroshima atomic bomb but 2500 times more powerful. -
Vietnam War
more Vietnam War Info. Vietnam War Info.
The Vietnam War was the struggle between nationalist forces trying to unify Vietnam. A communist government and the US attempted to prevent the spread of communism. U.S. leaders stopped supporting the American public.In total, it's estimated that over 2,5 million people on both sides were killed. -
U2 Crisis
The U-2 was designed by Kelly Johnson, who had previously been responsible for fighter planes. U2 was so light it could fly at 70,000 feet and travel over 4,000 miles. It took two years and $19 million to develop. -
Warsaw Pact
This was a militart alliance with the soviet - dominated countries of Eastern Europe. It was similar in purpose to NATO. The Warsaw Pact was entirely under the control of the Soviet Union. -
Sputnik
Soviets launched the first ever artificial satellite named Sputnik. Stutnik was pretty small. It was only about the size of a basketball and weighed about 200 pounds. And theylaunched the 2nd Sputnik a month later. -
Space Race
The Soviet Union launched the first satellite — named Sputnik — to be sent into an orbit around the Earth. Sputnik was no larger than a beach ball and sent unless signals back to earth, but it had an important effect on the thinking of citizens and governments around the world. -
NASA
NASA is also known as National Aeronautics and Space Administration. It took charge of the nation's programs for exploring outer space. Throughout the mid-1960s, the people of America followed NASA. Every few months there was a launch and another step tward the goal of a lunar landing. -
Cuba Leader : Castro
Castro came to power after a 2 year guerrilla war against Fulgencio Batistam the US backed dictaror of Cuba. As Castro's followers increased in number, his tactics frew bolder. -
Bay Of Pigs
This was a hope of overthroughing Cuba's dictarot Castro. The U.s supported the Bay Of Pigs because they wanted Castro killed, and they didnt want to be communist. But, it failed because Castro knew the U.S was comming. -
Hollywood Ten
They were found guilty of contempt of Congress and were sentenced to a year in jail. Many now agreed to provide names of possible Communists to HUAC. Pthers refused to provide names, and for this they were placed on a blacklist. -
Man on the Moon
John F. Kennedy was the president of the US during this time. Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collin set of tward the moon. Four days later they landed on the moon. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first human to step on the moon. -
Berlin Wall
This was Khrushchev's response when Communist forces closed the crossing points betweet East and Went Berlin. It started off as barbed wire and it was soon replaced with a high concrete wall. This was used to block further escapes to freedom. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The cause of this was for several days the U.S and Soviet Union teetered on the brink of nuculear was as Kennedy thought of a solution to the CMC. The U.S pushed Khrushachev to be more aggressive which alarmed the Soviet Union. This was a very important event because it was the first major battle of the Cold War. -
Vietnam War - Tet Offensive
This was a series of coordinated attacks throughout South Vietnam. It caused 1968 to become a critical year in the Vietnam War. The main Communist offensive was the start of Tet. N. Vietnamese leaders hoped it would inspire S. Vietnamese people to raise up against their government. -
Vietnam War - Vietnamization
Vietnamization Info.
Richard Nixon created it. It was to encourage the South Vietnamese to take more responsibility for fighting in the war. The hope that this policy would enable the US to withdraw all their soldiers from Vietnam. And on In June, 1969, they did. 540,000 of US troops was reduced by 25,000. Another 60,000 were leaving that following December. -
UN Created
After WWII the UN was created to replace the League of Nations and hopefully settle the problems with it's predecessor. It was created to stop another massive war by providing a forum for mediation.
