Transcript Cold War At Home - Wiggins US History

The Cold War At Home
How did the U.S. government investigate
alleged Communist influence in the U.S.
Cold War

 As the Cold War took hold, the Communist bloc and the
capitalist democracies continued tense relations.
“Un-American”
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House Committee on Un-American
Activities: agency created to look for
Communists inside and outside
government
What activities do you think were
considered “un-American?”
The Hollywood Ten

1. What were they accused of?
2. How were they affected by the
accusations?
3. Do the accusations seem to have been
fair? Explain.
The Hollywood Ten
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1. Accused of disloyalty; being Communist
2. They were imprisoned and blacklisted;
their careers and reputations ruined
3. Do the accusations seem to have been fair?
Explain.
The Hollywood Ten
 Alvah Bessie
 Herbert Biberman
 Lester Cole
 Edward Dmytryk
 Ring Lardner Jr.
 John Howard Lawson
 Albert Maltz
 Samuel Ornitz
 Robert Adrian Scott
 Dalton Trumbo

Walt Disney: Protecting the vision
of American culture

 Disney testified on October
24, 1947 testified before the
House Un-American
Activities Committee that he
believed “a Communist
group was trying to take over
my artists.”
 Disney insisted that
American labor unions
had to be protected from
influences that were trying to
undermine the privileges of
being a United States Citizen
“without interfering” in
the rights of Americans. H
Alger Hiss

1. What were they accused
of?
2. How were they affected
by the accusations?
3. Do the accusations seem
to have been fair? Explain.
Ethel and Julius
Rosenberg

 3 a. What were they accused of?
 3b. How were they affected by the
accusations?
 3c. Do the accusations seem to have
been fair? Explain.
Alger Hiss

1. Accused of spying for
USSR; perjury
2. He was convicted of
perjury and jailed
3. Do the accusations seem
to have been fair? Explain.
Ethel and Julius
Rosenberg

 1. Accused of spying for the USSR;
helping to pass information about the
atomic bomb
 2. They were convicted and executed.
 3. Do the accusations seem to have
been fair? Explain.
McCarthyism

 1. What seems to have motivated it?
 2. Why did it succeed at first?
 3. Why did it fall out of favor?
McCarthyism

 1. desire to be re-elected; growing fears
about Communism
 2. McCarthy fed on public’s fears and gave the
impression of a real and dangerous Communist
menace.
 3. In TV hearings, McCarthy bullied witnesses,
turning the public against him. No proof!
4/13

 If you had lived during this period, and had been
accused of Communism, what would you have
done?
Nuclear weapons

 By 1962, Russia had almost 40
Intercontinental Ballistic
Missiles (ICBMs) and numerous
Intermediate Range Ballistic
Missiles (IRBMs).
 The U.S. had approximately 170
ICBMs, in addition to hundreds
of long range bombers, IRBMs
and submarine based missiles.
The U.S. could deliver some
3,000 nuclear bombs into
Russia.

Nuclear fallout shelters

 There were no defenses to ICBMs or IRBMs.
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Bay of Pigs

 April 1961: President John F. Kennedy approved an
invasion of Cuba.
 Using Cuban exiles as the initial landing force, the target
was the Bay of Pigs on the Cuban coast.
 The invasion was poorly planned and quickly crushed.
Operation Mongoose

May 1961: The U.S.
aggressively tried to
destabilize the Cuban
regime and assassinate
Cuban President Fidel
Castro.
Led by Robert Kennedy
and the CIA.
Robert F. Kennedy

 “My idea is to stir things up on the
island with espionage, sabotage,
general disorder, run and operated by
Cubans themselves with every group
but Batistaites and Communists. Do
not know if we will be successful in
overthrowing Castro but we have
nothing to lose in my estimate.” 1961
Cuban Missile Crisis
1962: President
 October
Kennedy was informed
by national security
advisors that the Soviet
Union was attempting to
set up a nuclear missile
base in Cuba.
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Nuclear Weapons
United States
Russia
United
Kingdom
France
China
India
Pakistan
North Korea
Israel
Iran
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