The Korean War & McCarthyism The Early 1950’s The Korean War & McCarthyism

Conflict in Korea From 1910 to 1945, Japan ruled over Korea very harshly After WWII, Korea was taken from Japan and split into 2 separate countries The Soviets backed the northern region and the USA backed the southern, tensions rose to a new level in 1950 In June 1950, North Korean forces (armed with Soviet weapons) invaded the south, within 3 days Soviet led forces had almost captured Panmunjom and Seoul POTUS Truman convinced the UN security counsel to send troops, 90% of those serving from 16 nations would come from America When the UN forces arrive, they are badly outnumbered and take heavy losses. As America arrives the war turns and soon the Soviet backed North Koreans have retreated into China General MacArthur believed that the US could only win the war if we attacked China, Truman was afraid of WWIII and refused, MacArthur begins to openly criticize Truman in public, Truman responds by firing him In July 1951, the peace talks begin but take 2 years until the fighting stops, the result was that Korea would remain 2 separate nations, 1 communist

The Korean War

Post WWII Red Scare Many Americans became very concerned with the spread of Communism after: China was taken over, the Soviets created their own nuclear bombs and America was unable to stop the spread of Communism in Korea Many Americans began to worry about Communist sympathizers and spies secretly working to overthrow the US government In the late 1940’s, Alger Hiss a State Dept worker was accused of giving American secrets to the Soviets. A known communist produced photos that Hiss had given secrets and as a result Hiss was sentenced to time in prison In 1950, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were found guilty of giving the Soviets secrets about our nuclear bomb program, they were sentenced to death In 1990, the Soviet Union released evidence that both Hiss and the Rosenberg’s were all Russian spies

McCarthyism A climate of Communist fear contributed to the rise of Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy McCarthy build his career by threatening to expose Communists While giving a speech in 1950, McCarthy waved a piece of paper in the air and claimed it had the names of over 200 Americans who were secret spies for the USSR, working in just 1 branch of our government alone Over the years, he refused to show the list to anyone, instead forcing Congress to hold hearings on everyday citizens to determine if they were Communist or not Over the next 4 years, his career went from one of the most respected to being censured by Congress He will die in 1957 without exposing any hidden Communist spies in our government or society At one point, his insanity accused not only the US Army of being Communist, but John Wayne and the New York Yankees as well