Essential Question: How did the Cold War increase fears in the
United States? Slide 2 The Cold War by the 1950s In the 1950s, Cold
War tensions led to anxiety & fear in America: The USSR
dominated Eastern Europe & China fell to communism The Korean
War almost led to a full-scale war with China The U.S.-Soviet
atomic arms race led to fears of a nuclear attack The discovery of
Soviet spies in the U.S. led to a new Red Scare Slide 3 The Red
Scare During the Red Scare, the govt became concerned about the
growth of communism in America The Loyalty Review Board was created
to investigate & dismiss disloyal govt employees The House
Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) investigated suspected
communists in the entertainment & other industries From
1947-1951, 3.2 million govt employees were investigated & 212
were dismissed as security risks (2,900 resigned rather than face
investigation) Slide 4 In 1947, numerous Hollywood writers &
executives were investigated by HUAC; 500 were blacklisted from the
film industry & some were sent to prison for refusing to
testify (the Hollywood Ten) Slide 5 The Red Scare Red Scare fears
in America were heightened by the discovery of spies working for
the USSR: State Dept employee Alger Hiss who was eventually
convicted of spying for the USSR Ethel & Julius Rosenberg were
convicted & executed for passing atomic bomb secrets to the
USSR Slide 6 Alger Hiss Julius & Ethel Rosenberg Slide 7
McCarthyism Activity Examine the document titled McCarthys Telegram
to Truman & answer the questions provided After a brief class
discussion, read Trumans Response & answer the questions
provided Slide 8 McCarthyism In 1950, Wisconsin Senator Joseph
McCarthy emerged as the leader of anti-Communism in the U.S. He
attacked Truman & the Democrats for allowing communists to
infiltrate the govt He used public trials to make unsupported
accusations against suspected communists in the State Dept &
the U.S. military Slide 9 McCarthyism in Action McCarthys attacks
lasted 4 years But McCarthyism did not result in a single confirmed
Communist or spy in the U.S. govt McCarthy was briefly popular but
by 1954, the Senate & American public grew tired of his
bullying techniques & McCarthyism faded Slide 10 Essential
Question: How did the Cold War evolve by the 1950s & how did
President Eisenhower respond to these foreign policy challenges?
Warm-Up Question: What was the Red Scare? What was HUAC? How did
Joe McCarthy increase the tensions of the Red Scare? Slide 11
Eisenhower & the Cold War In 1952, World War II hero Dwight
Eisenhower was elected president At home, he tried to promote the
good times of the 1950s economic boom In foreign policy, he took a
strong stand against Communism Slide 12 Brinksmanship Eisenhower
began a New Look to fight the Cold War: He invested heavily in new
long- range nuclear missiles (ICBMs) In foreign policy, he used
veiled threats of nuclear war to achieve his goals (called
brinksmanship) In case of a Soviet attack, the U.S. would use
massive retaliation thus making the use of nuclear weapons unlikely
on either side Slide 13 The stockpiling of ICBMs Nuclear submarines
Slide 14 What are the stakes of war? Massive Retaliation? Mutual
Assured Destruction? Slide 15 Americans were anxious by the threat
of nuclear war & built fallout shelters for protection Slide 16
Eisenhower & the Cold War Interstate Highway System In response
to the threat of a Soviet nuclear attack, Eisenhower pushed
Congress to create the Interstate Highway System in 1956 41,000
miles of divided highway to connect major U.S. cities In addition
to helping promote trade & travel, these highways were vital to
evacuate cities during a nuclear attack Slide 17 Interstate Highway
System Slide 18 Covert CIA Operations In addition to relying on
nuclear weapons, Eisenhower increased the role of the CIA in
foreign policy The CIA spied on foreign nations & carried out
covert operations to weaken communist governments The CIA led
successful coups in Iran & Guatemala and tried to overthrow
Fidel Castro in Cuba Slide 19 The Eisenhower Doctrine After Stalins
death in 1953, new Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev began to
challenge U.S. influence: In 1955, the USSR formed the Warsaw Pact
alliance In 1956, the Soviet military violently suppressed an
anti-communist revolt in Hungary In 1956, the USSR began to make
moves towards the Middle East In 1957, the president issued the
Eisenhower Doctrine, pledging the USA to protect the Middle East
from Communism Slide 20 Sputnik & the Space Race In 1957, the
USSR launched the 1 st space satellite, Sputnik I People feared
that the U.S. had lost its competitive edge National Aeronautics
& Space Administration The National Aeronautics & Space
Administration (NASA) was formed in 1958 to catch up to the Soviets
National Defense Education Act National Defense Education Act was
created to promote math, science, & technology education
Advanced placement (AP) classes were created as a result of the
NDEA Slide 21 The space race intensified the Cold War between USA
& USSR The Original Seven NASA Mercury Astronauts Slide 22
Eisenhower & the Cold War Eisenhower failed to thaw the Cold
War by the end of the 1950s: In 1960, an American U-2 plane was
shot down over the USSR proving we were spying on Russia He was
unable to negotiate with the USSR weapons reduction Before leaving
office, he warned against overspending on defense (Military
Industrial Complex) Slide 23 Francis Gary Powers & the U-2
Incident Slide 24 Conclusions By 1960, the Cold War remained the
major focus of U.S. foreign policy Truman contained communism in
Europe while Eisenhower used the CIA & brinksmanship to limit
Soviet global influence But, Americans remained anxious due to
McCarthyism, threats of nuclear war, & increasing govt spending
on defense Slide 25 Slide 26 Closure Activity Compare &
contrast the Cold War policies & actions of Presidents Truman
& Eisenhower: List the events and/or policies that each
president faced When you compile your list, which president was the
better Cold Warrior? Explain Slide 27 Read A U2 is Shot Down (p.
626-627) Write 1 paragraph describing the incident and its role in
the Cold War.
