Students:
Gruppe 1 - Udarbejdet af Kristian, Tobias, Theis, Jonas & Weicnke.
The Cold War lasted from aprox. 1947-1991. It was a war between The Western World(Capitalism) and The Eastern World(Communism). It’s called the Cold War because it was never an actual war, just military tension between the two superpowers of the time. Both countries feared a nuclear war.
After the 2nd world war Berlin got seperated into 2 blocks, the easterns and the western block. The eastern block was controlled by the Soviet Union and the western block was controlled by The United States of America.
The western block got financial assistance from the USA from the Marshal plan, along with all the other western-european countries. The Eastern block got financial support from the Russian COMECON(The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance)
Timeline
1945 january 4-11: Yalta conference.
A meeting between the world top leaders from US., Great Britain and Sovjet to discuss the post war situation.
1945 August 6: USA’s first time to drop an A-bomb.
Instead of having two top nations dropping atom bombs at each other, they dropped them in nowhere.
This was a battle of which country that had the biggest bomb = power. (this really forged the reputation that USA has gained today, as one of the most powerful nations and also made for an admireably and terrifying opponent in the Cold War)
1947 June: The Marshall plan is announced.
The Marshall plan was an economic help from USA to countries that had difficulties with the recover from WW. II.
It improved the trading opportunities between USA and the participating countries.
1948 February: Communist takeover in Czechoslovakia
1948 june 24: Berlin blockade begins.
Communist Soviet who had the rights to the area around Berlin and half of Berlin, made a blockade to stop the transport of supplies to the “western” part of Berlin.
1949 march 11: USA, Great britain and France created NATO.
They signed a tract, with several agreements, but most important they signed to support each other in war. As Russia grew stronger, then this was a very important agreement for the whole world. In 1954 Russia suggested that Russia should be a part of NATO to remain peace in Europe. But NATO declined the offer.
1949 May 12: Berlin blockade ends.
1949 september: Soviet drops first A-bomb.
1950 February: Joeseph McCarthy begins communist witch hunt.
1950 June: The Korean war begins.
North Korean soldiers, crosses the South Korean borders, and forces the South Korean soldiers to back-down. USA decided to help South Korea, which FN’ Security department agrees on without Soviet Union having any vote. USA fights with South Korea, and forces North Korean soldiers to retreat. Though after this, China sends 300.000 “volunteering soldiers” to help North Korea.
1951: January 12: Federal Civil Defense Administration established
USA was scared for a possible atomic attack from the soviets.
Therefore they builded a defense system: Gave civils info about surviving.
The Cuba missile defence system.
1953: July -- Korean war ends.
1954: March -- KGB established
1954: July -- Vietnam split at 17th parallel
1955: May -- Warsaw Pact formed
1957: October 4 -- Sputnik launched into orbit
1959: January -- Cuba taken over by Fidel Castro
McCarthyism: “Reds under the Beds”
During this time period, the domestic and foreign affairs in the US were closely linked, as the fear of Communism from Europe had spread to North America. As a result of the continuous rising fear had spread in the US, something in the likes of a witch hunt was commenced when it was discovered that several of the politicians that held powerful positions within the government, held Communist sympathies. That resulted in a rise in the already growing fear of Communism and it spawned the idea that America might be “attacked from within”.
The witch hunt that sought to rid the country of communism and those who sympathized with it, was led by an “inscrupulous” and until then unknown man; Senator Joseph McCarthy from Wisconsin.
HUAC (House Un-American Activists Commitee) was established to investigate cases that was under suspicion of bieng subversed, as well as attitudes and action. From 1951, McCarty was the chairman of HUAC. His period as chairman was a both success and a failure. He successfully managed to make the people accused or suspected of communism move or flee the country, but as a downside; it was famous writers and actors, such as Charlie Chaplin.
In the 1980’s, the United States increased diplomatic, military and economic pressures on the Soviet Union. And at that time was the communist world already suffering from economic stagnation.
When the Berlin Wall fall, in 1989-1990, and system change in the east - blocks was the war between the United States, and the Soviet Union, over.
in short, McCarthyism was based on
- Causing fear and panic in the public
- Getting rid of any tiny threat.
McCarthyism is founded based around the idea that any ethnic American that does not behave or i some way conflicts with the rest of society, i. e. bieng homosexual or communist, posed a threat to the country as a whole, and had to be hunted down, exposed and dealt with.
kilder: