Download presentation
Presentation is loading. Please wait.
1
Wednesday April 19th, 2017 Learning Target;
I can explain what led to the Red Scare and how McCarthyism affected Americans. Agenda News-Check Vocab Go over vocab/Yesterday’s notes Red Scare and McCarthy Notes Look at Bomb Shelter Red Dot Activity Things to Remember; Vocab 1 Due TODAY 4/19
2
CNN Student News Check Unit 10 vocab #1 during news
3
4/18 Learning Target I can analyze and explain whether Russia or the US was more responsible for the Cold War.
4
Part IV. Significant Events
5
Feb. 1945 Yalta Agreement The “Big 3” Meet at Yalta
The USSR agrees to enter the war in the Pacific. Stalin demands control of Eastern Europe but makes vague promises to allow free elections in the future.
7
Feb Early Tensions By 1946, Stalin had declared that there would be no lasting peace with capitalism. At this time, he controlled Eastern Europe and refused to hold elections in Poland. Truman, mindful of Munich, took a tough approach to dealings with Stalin.
8
1946 Kennan’s Telegram Early in 1946, Soviet expert George Kennan sent a sixteen page telegram from Moscow to Washington. He argued that the Soviets were fanatical and that the US must act firmly to CONTAIN Soviet aggression and influence. Containment became the overall US policy toward the USSR.
9
1946: Iron Curtain Speech Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill gave a speech at a small college in Missouri in which he warned of growing Soviet Power. Some consider this speech a declaration of Cold War pitting East vs. West.
10
1947: Truman Doctrine In the Spring of 1947, it looked as though Communist forces may overthrow the governments of Greece and Turkey. Truman asked congress for aid packages to prevent this from happening. This becomes known as the Truman Doctrine.
11
Truman Doctrine “I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.” --Harry S. Truman, 1947
12
1947: Marshall Plan Convinced that all of Europe was susceptible to Communism because of the economies were in shambles, the US pledged a massive aid program totaling $17 Billion. It worked: Western Europe Recovered and Communism did not take root.
13
US Cold War policy in one word.
CONTAINMENT US Cold War policy in one word.
14
1948: Berlin Airlift Germany had been split in half. Berlin had also been split, but was in East Germany. The West refused to give up West Berlin. Stalin tried to force surrender by blockading West Berlin. The West refused to give up and airlifted supplies to West Berlin.
16
1949: NATO Formed The North Atlantic Treaty Organization consisting of the US, Canada, and Western Europe becomes the first peace-time alliance in US history. The USSR counters with the Warsaw Pact in 1955.
17
United Nations On April 25, nations met in San Francisco, CA to establish a new peace keeping organization. Organization was intended to promote peace
18
Containment Truman’s policy of taking measures to prevent any extension of communist rule to other countries.
19
Iron Curtain Term coined by Winston Churchill to describe the division of Europe between West/East, Free/Communist.
20
Marshall Plan Proposed by George Marshall in to provide aid to all European nations that needed it. Over the next four years the U.S. gave 16 nations $13b in aid.
21
Berlin Airlift Stalin Blockaded West Berlin off to England/U.S. For 327 days planes landed every few minutes in West Berlin that brought food, fuel and medicine.
22
NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Military treating giving self defense protection to each other.
23
HUAC House Un-American Activities Committee. Committee that investigated communists influence in America. First started with the movie industry.
24
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg
Accused of giving nuclear secrets to USSR and were sentenced to death. Became the first U.S. civilians executed for espionage.
25
Joseph McCarthy/McCarthyism
McCarthy—Republican Senator from Wisconsin. Claimed communists were taking over the government. McCarthyism—is the unfair tactics of accusing people to be communists.
26
Brinkmanship Using the threat of war to stop the aggression of another nation. U.S. followed this policy by building up its air force and nuclear weapons.
27
CIA Central Intelligence Agency
The CIA used secret operations to weaken or overthrow governments that were not friendly to the United States
28
Warsaw Pact The communist version of NATO. Organization of the Eastern European Countries.
29
4/18 Learning Target I can analyze and explain whether Russia or the US was more responsible for the Cold War.
30
4/19 Learning Target I can explain what led to the Red Scare and how McCarthyism affected Americans.
31
The Red Scare (1950s)
32
Paranoia After World War II, the Soviet Union gobbled up Eastern Europe. For the first time, the Soviet Union and Communism were world powers. There were small groups of communist supporters in the U.S. A fear spread that these Americans might engage in subversive (secret, anti-government) activities The Republican party, in particular, more heavily made up of the wealthy and conservative Americans, led the attacks on these subversives
33
Early Hunts for Subversives
Truman, a democratic president, feared losing office if he was seen as ‘weak’ on communism He set up Loyalty Review Boards, which reviewed government employees in order to remove/fire subversives The House of Representatives set up a committee (the House Un-American Activities Committee or HUAC) to find and root out subversives. They did not just search in the government. For example, famously, they held hearings to find subversives in Hollywood. Blacklists Robin Hood?
34
HUAC & the Hollywood Ten
HUAC- House Un-American Activities Committee Congressional Committee whose original purpose was to investigate ALL radical groups in the U.S., including fascist and socialist, but over time it came to focus only on the communist threat. Hollywood Ten was a group of screenwriters who were accused of being Communist during the McCarthy Era They did not cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee's investigation, They refused to admit to being in the Communist Party They wouldn’t provide any names of others who might be Communists Punished! The ten were fined and sentenced to a year in jail. They were also blacklisted from working in the film industry in Hollywood, until the 1960's when the ban was lifted.
36
Paranoia Hysteria A number of events pushed the fear of communism to absurd heights 1949 China fell to Communism Soviets get the atom bomb Spy cases!!! Alger Hiss accused of smuggling secret American documents to the Soviets The Rosenbergs couple accused of selling the atom bomb plans to the Soviets Executed!
37
Judge in the Rosenberg case, when handing down his sentence
“I consider your crime worse than murder... I believe your conduct in putting into the hands of the Russians the A-Bomb years before our best scientists predicted Russia would perfect the bomb has already caused, in my opinion, the Communist aggression in Korea, with the resultant casualties exceeding 50,000 and who knows but that millions more of innocent people may pay the price of your treason. Indeed, by your betrayal you undoubtedly have altered the course of history to the disadvantage of our country. No one can say that we do not live in a constant state of tension. We have evidence of your treachery all around us every day for the civilian defense activities throughout the nation are aimed at preparing us for an atom bomb attack.”
38
Trials "How does this video show the amount of pressure that someone being questioned during a committee experiences?" "Is being a Communist even a crime? Why do you think it was possible for hearings like these to even occur?"
39
Witch Hunts Joe McCarthy McCarthyism Successful strategy
Republican senator from Wisconsin Felt he was unlikely to win reelection Decided to use fear of communism to boost his career McCarthyism McCarthy went on a rampage, announcing that the government was stuffed with ‘reds’ Made claims that he had inside knowledge and proof (for example, he’d say ‘I have a list of 205 people in the government who are members of the communist party’, but then would refuse to produce the names. Senators, when speaking in the senate, are immune from the charge of slander (knowingly telling lies to hurt another person’s reputation) Successful strategy McCarthy won reelection and became famous However, when he accused the army of having tons of communist subversives, and called hearings on this issue, army officials blasted McCarthy and burst his imaginary bubble. He became a national disgrace
41
Impact of the Red Scare on American People
bomb shelters in suburbia Duck and cover drills in schools Demand for conformity (doing the same thing everyone else is doing) to prove loyalty Same clothes, same haircut, same lifestyle and goals, etc.
44
4/19 Learning Target I can explain what led to the Red Scare and how McCarthyism affected Americans.
45
Bomb Shelter Air system contaminated with radiation Waste disposal
Water system contaminated with radiation Measuring levels of radiation Inadequate heating system Failure of the lighting system Failure of the communications system Not enough food and water Boredom, loneliness and lack of entertainment Sickness and lack of medical supplies Radiation burns Containing fires
46
Goal of Activity: The goal of the activity is to form as large of a group of “non-dot” members as possible Points: The largest group of “non-dot” students will win points The whole group will lose if there is one “dot” member in your group “Dot” members will win points for being the only dot in a group
47
Advice: Since everyone in the class will deny having a dot you must look for any indication of suspicion If you suspect someone has a dot you should say out loud, “Bob is a dot!” If you are a “Dot” then you must bluff to convince others that you are not a dot.
48
So, what? This activity was designed to allow you to experience the anti-communism hysteria and suspicion of the McCarthy Era in U.S. History during the 1950’s During this era, Americans turned on their fellow citizens and denounced them as Communist sympathizers based on little to no Evidence If you were a “dot,” what were you? Guilt by Association: If students were friends with suspected “dots,” they were accused of being “dots.”
Similar presentations
© 2025 SlidePlayer.com. Inc.
All rights reserved.