Transcript 8.3 The Cold War Comes Home

The Cold War Comes
Home
Life After Stalin
 Stalin died on March 5, 1953, apparently
of a massive stroke. However, modern
historians believe in the possibility of
poisoning by his successor, Nikita
Kruschev.
 Kruschev’s administration began a
process of De-Stalinization (the removal
of all remnants of Stalin’s regime).
 Stalin's body was moved from Lenin's
Mausoleum in Red Square to a location
near the Kremlin wall; the "hero city"
Stalingrad was renamed to Volgograd; the
gulag labor-camp system was repealed.
Rising Tensions
 Krushchev sought to prove communism
was superior to capitalism and the USSR
would be the model communist state in
the world; "we will bury you.”
 Krushchev began wooing new nations of
Asia and Africa with promises and aid,
even if they were not communist.
 Geneva Summit, 1955: US meets with
USSR, Britain, & France to begin
discussions on European security and
disarmament; no agreements made
 1958, relations sour with Khrushchev's
ultimatum for Allies to leave Berlin: 6
month deadline passes without incident,
extended indefinitely
The Space Race
 The Space Race: The competition
of space exploration between the
Soviet Union and the United
States as part of the Cold War
competition to achieve
technological superiority.
 The Space Race was used by
government leaders to instill hope
in the future of their country for
their people
Sputnik Launches the Space Race
 1957, USSR launched Sputnik, an orbiting
satellite using long-range rockets
 US fearful Soviets could now launch a nuclear
missile into space and then down to U.S.
 Resulted in development of ICBMs
(Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles)
 It was visible all around the Earth and its radio
pulses detectable.
America Freaks Out
•To counter this, the United States
Government established the National
Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) on
July 29, 1958
•Congress also passed the National Defense
Education Act (NDEA), which authorized
funding for four years to get US schools up
to speed in math and science.
The Soviets Skyrocket Past the US
 Laika – The first living being in
space (1957); proved that living
beings could withstand the
launch and weightlessness of
space.
 Yuri Gagarin – the first man in
space and to orbit the earth
(1961); increased American
fears they were falling behind
the Soviets.
Atomic Design
 Atomic Age redefined all aspects of American life,
including design. Architecture, industrial design,
commercial design (including advertising),
interior design, and fine arts were all influenced
by the themes of atomic science, as well as the
Space Age, which coincided with that period.
Atomic Age design became popular and instantly
recognizable, with a use of atomic motifs and
space age symbols.
The Second Red Scare

During the 1950s, rumors and accusations of
Communists in the United States led to fears that
Communists were attempting to take over the
world. The Red Scare began in September 1945, and
escalated into a general fear of Communist
subversion—an effort to secretly weaken a society
and overthrow its government.
National Security Council
 The National Security Council
was created by Congress with
the passage of the National
Security Act of 1947.
 The National Security Council
was created to advise the
President on integration of
domestic, foreign, and military
policies relating to national
security and to facilitate
interagency cooperation.
The CIA is Born
 The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was
created by Congress with the passage of
the National Security Act of 1947.
 The CIA has the authority to carry out
covert operations “against hostile foreign
states or groups or in support of friendly
foreign states or groups.”
 The CIA was incredibly active during the
Cold War, flushing out Soviet spies and
administering covert operations against
the Soviets ourselves.
U-2 Affair
 A United States U-2 spy plane was shot down over
the airspace of the Soviet Union.
 The United States government at first denied the plane's
purpose and mission, but then was forced to admit its role as a
covert surveillance aircraft when the Soviet government
produced its intact remains and surviving pilot, Francis Gary
Powers, as well as photos of military bases in Russia taken by
Powers.
 Powers pleaded guilty and was convicted of espionage and
sentenced to three years imprisonment and seven years of hard
labor.
 The incident was a great embarrassment to the United
States and prompted a marked deterioration in its relations with
the Soviet Union.
McCarran Act
 AKA: Subversive Activities Control Act – It required
Communist organizations to register with the United States
Attorney General and established the Subversive Activities
Control Board to investigate persons suspected of engaging
in subversive activities or otherwise promoting the
establishment of a "totalitarian dictatorship," either fascist or
communist.
 Members of these groups could not become citizens and in
some cases were prevented from entering or leaving the
country.
 It was enacted over President Harry Truman's veto.
Loyalty Review
Program and HUAC



In early 1947, Truman established the loyalty
review program to screen all federal employees
for their loyalty. The program’s aim was to calm
Americans. Instead, it led to the fear that
Communists were infiltrating the government.
House Un-American Activities Committee
(HUAC): an investigative committee of the
United States House of Representatives. It was
created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty
and subversive activities on the part of private
citizens, public employees, and those
organizations suspected of having Communist
ties.
FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover went to HUAC to urge
them to hold public hearings on Communist
subversion. Under Hoover’s leadership, the FBI
sent agents to investigate suspected groups and to
wiretap thousands of telephones.
Alger Hiss
 Alger Hiss had served in Roosevelt’s administration,
attended the Yalta conference, and helped with the
organization of the UN.
 On August 3, 1948, Whittaker Chambers, a
former Communist Party member, testified under
subpoena before the House Committee on Un-American
Activities (HUAC) that Hiss had secretly been a
Communist while in federal service.
 Called before HUAC, Hiss categorically denied the charge.
When Chambers repeated his claim on nationwide radio,
Hiss filed a defamation lawsuit against him.
 A federal grand jury indicted Hiss on two counts of
perjury; Chambers admitted to the same offense but, as a
cooperating government witness, was never charged.
 In January 1950, he was found guilty on both counts of
perjury and received two concurrent five-year sentences,
of which he eventually served three and a half years. Hiss
maintained his innocence until his death.
The Rosenbergs
 The search for spies intensified when the Soviet Union produced an
atomic bomb. Klaus Fuchs, a British scientist, admitted giving
information to the Soviet Union. This led to the arrest of Julius and
Ethel Rosenberg, a New York couple who were members of the
Communist Party and were charged with heading a Soviet spy ring.
 The Rosenbergs were convicted of conspiracy to
commit espionage during a time of war and executed on June 19,
1953. Their charges were related to the passing of information
about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union.
 This has been the only case in the history of the United States in
which those accused of espionage were executed as a result.
 In 1995, the U.S. government released a series of decoded Soviet
cables, codenamed VENONA, which confirmed that Julius acted as a
courier and recruiter for the Soviets but which were ambiguous
about Ethel's involvement.
McCarthyism
 Senator Joseph R. McCarthy became the
chairman of the Senate subcommittee on
investigations. His investigation turned into a
witch hunt as he searched for disloyalty based
on poor evidence and fear. He ruined
reputations without proper evidence. This
tactic became known as McCarthyism.
 In 1954 Americans watched televised ArmyMcCarthy hearings and saw how McCarthy
attacked witnesses, and his popularity faded.
Finally, an army lawyer named Joseph Welch
stood up to McCarthy. Later that year, the
Senate passed a vote of censure, or formal
disapproval, against McCarthy.
Hollywood Blacklist
 A list of screenwriters, actors, directors,
musicians, and other U.S. entertainment
professionals who were denied employment in
the field because of their political beliefs or
associations, real or suspected.
 A pamphlet called Red Channels appeared,
focusing on the field of broadcasting, and the
impact of Communist infiltration through the
news.
 The list included Humphrey Bogart, James
Cagney, Lauren Bacall, and Danny Kaye, Leonard
Bernstein, Burl Ives, Edward G. Robinson, Arthur
Miller, and Lucille Ball.
 10 members of the Hollywood film industry
publicly denounced the tactics employed by
HUAC. These prominent screenwriters and
directors received jail sentences and were banned
from working for the major Hollywood studios.
The Crucible
 The Crucible is a play written by Arthur
Miller that dramatizes the Salem witch
trials that took place in Massachusetts
Bay during 1692 and 1693.
 Miller wrote the play as an allegory of
McCarthyism, comparing the events in
Salem to the hysteria of the modern day
“witch hunt.”
 Miller himself was questioned by the
HUAC in 1956 and convicted of
"contempt of Congress" for refusing to
identify others present at meetings he
had attended.