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Korea is divided at the 38th Parallel
The Russians occupied the industrial North, installing a communist government, while in the agrarian South, a conservative nationalists government emerged under US sponsorship. The US and USSR pulled out most of their military by 1949. The Russians, however, helped train a well-equipped army in the North, while the US gave much more limited military assistance to the South. -
House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) Becomes a Permanent Committee
Congressman Martin Dies, a Texas Democrat, formed a special committee on Un-American Activities in 1938 to ferret out pro-Fascists. This committee evolved into the House Committee on Un-American Activities to investigate "un-American propaganda" that attacked the constitutional government. -
Truman Doctrine Announced
The British could no longer afford to back the Greek government that was fighting a civil war against Communists. The US feared that a Communist takeover in Greece would threaten the stability of Italy, France and the Middle East. Truman also appealed for aid to neighboring Turkey, which was in close proximity to the USSR. Truman request, and Congress agreed, to $400 million to fight Communism in Greece and Turkey in order to secure the free world. -
Marshall Plan
Secretary of State George C. Marshall's European Recovery Plan was meant to help rebuild Europe. The US invited the Soviet Union and eastern European participation, but Stalin refused fearing loss of control over these economies. Aid to western Europe totaled $13.5 billion over 4 years. -
Hearings Before HUAC Begin
Studio execs like Jack Warner of Warner Brothers and Louis Mayer of MGM reassured HUAC of their anti-Communism, as did actors like Gary Cooper and Ronald Reagan. However, 8 screenwriters and 2 directors refused to discuss their past political associations, citing the free-speech protections of the first amendment. HUAC countered with citations for contempt of Congress. The Hollywood Ten went to jail in 1950. Other actors, writers and directors found themselves on the Hollywood blacklisted. -
Dixiecrat or States' Rights Party Founded
Emerged in the 1948 election. Democrats' new stand on civil rights, as well as a perceived dilution of state power and continued growth of the federal government, resulted in the rise of the Dixiecrat Party. Dixiecrats were led by Gov. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who had previously been a Democrat. Despite receiving less than 3 percent of the popular vote, Thurmond was able to win 39 electoral votes (Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, and one electoral vote from Tennessee) -
Truman Calls for Fair Deal in State of the Union
Truman recommended to Congress a comprehensive program of social legislation that he regarded as an extension of FDR's New Deal. Congress passed: Housing Act (provided about $2.8 billion for slum clearance and low-rent housing projects); Minimum Wage Act (increased the minimum wage from 40 to 75 cents); Social Security Amendments (extended coverage to new groups of wage earners, to provide pension for some who were employed and to increase benefits to retired workers) -
Alger Hiss Found Guilty of Perjury, Gets 5 Years in Prison
Whittaker Chambers, a confessed former Communist spy, accused Hiss, a former high official in the U.S. Department of State, of having given him secret government documents in the 1930's. Whittaker Chambers named Hiss as a Communist with whom he had associated in the 1930s. As proof, Chambers revealed microfilms that he had hidden inside a pumpkin on his MD farm. Tests seemed to show that the "pumpkin papers" were State Dept. documents that had been copied on a typewriter once owned by Hiss. -
Joe McCarthy's Speech
Sen. McCarthy of WI delivered a routine speech in Wheeling, WV until he suddenly declared, "I have here in my hand a list of 205 -- a list of names that were made known to the secretary of state as being members of the Communist party and who nevertheless are working and shaping policy in the State Dept." -
North Korean Army Crossed the 38th Parallel
Kim Il-Sung asked Stalin if he could assault South Korea, and Stalin gave his OK. But Stalin warned that the North Koreans could not count on the Soviets for help. If they need anything, they should go ask China, which was now Communist and under the rule of Mao Zedong. Stalin and Mao had a few months earlier decided that they would ignore the Yalta agreement in the Far East. Pres. Truman asked the UN to intervene. -
UN Stated that North Korea Should Be "Liberated" from Communism
Sixteen UN countries sent troops to help the South Koreans, and 41 countries sent military equipment or food and other supplies. The United States provided about 90 percent of the troops, military equipment, and supplies that were sent to South Korea. China fought on the side of North Korea, and the Soviet Union gave military equipment to the North Koreans. -
Rosenberg Trial Begins March 6, 1951
Julius and Ethel were implicated in the "Fuchs spy ring" (Klaus Fuchs who had worked on the Manhattan Project confessed to passing atomic secrets to the Soviets). They were convicted on the vague charge of conspiring to commit espionage and they were sent to the electric chair in 1953 after refusing to buy a reprieve by naming other spies. -
Election of 1952
Dwight Eisenhower is elected President. He ran against Democrat Adlai Stevenson -
Korean War Ends
The UN and North Korea signed an armistice agreement. Ultimately, North Korea remained Communists, but the 38th parallel became permanent. A peace treaty between South Korea and North Korea has never been signed. However, United States military forces remain in South Korea to discourage a resumption of hostilities between the two parts of Korea. -
Eisenhower Promotes New Look Policy
Eisenhower tried to balance his desire for a reduced federal budget with the challenges posed by the cold war. Toward that end, he wanted to build a "new look" military that would get more bang for the buck by substituting nuclear weapons for mass conventional forces. Ike never specifically committed the United states to a nuclear assault on Moscow should the Soviets attack anywhere in the world, but he implied it. -
Eisenhower Doctrine
Because of the Suez Canal crisis, Soviet influence in the Middle East was enhanced. Aware that the region's political and economic instability made it vulnerable to the spread of communism, Eisenhower asked Congress to appropriate funds for economic and military assistance to Middle East nations to help them preserve their independence and to permit the use of American armed forces if necessary to resist open communist aggression. -
Soviets Launch Sputnik I
Sputnik I was the world's first satellite sent into orbit. It set off a wave of fear in the US. If the USSR could send up a satellite, they could be ahead in nuclear weapons and economic growth. The Soviets launched Sputnik II on November 3, 1957, weighed more than a thousand pounds, and actually carried a dog named Laika to test how living beings would react to the challenge of weightlessness. Americans felt vulnerable. -
National Defense Education Act
Sputnik intensified concerns about the quality of American education, especially in science and technology. Previously reluctant to provide aid to schools, Congress now passed this act. The legislation provided funds for buying modern equipment for science, mathematics, and foreign languages. It supported the construction of new schools and offered loans and fellowships to students.