Cold war......the last few events.

The Red Scare & McCarthyism

Sputnik and the space race; first ever space satellite in October 1957 created insecurities in America “it suggested that communism had mastered the universe” with their superior technological achievements

Yuri Gagarin was the first man in space; put there by the USSR

Many Americans felt very vulnerable about the threat of Soviet world domination; so much so that it produced a fear of communism at home

The USSR was dominate in Asia and now in space technology

The Red Scare & McCarthyism

In 1950 the Cold War anxieties led to a state of hysteria, based on the fear of communism existing in America

There was a belief that communist spies within the US government were to blame for the USA failures regarding the “Space Race”

3,000 workers had been sacked. Grounds for dismissal were vague (House Un-American Activities Committee). Those charged: actors, scientists, writers and trade unionists--blacklisted

The Red Scare & McCarthyism

Spy ring was uncovered

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg; minor spies, little evidence, but were executed anyways

They had passed atomic secrets to the USSR

The hysteria gripping the US grew

The Red Scare & McCarthyism

Senator Joseph McCarthy was a politician wanting to revive his career and used the opportunity to bane communists from the USA to do just that

“the State Department is infested with communists. I have here in my hand the list of 205 names that are known to being members of the Communist Party”

He had no evidence; he had no names. The influence of the hysteria made Americans believe him

His tactics would be to humiliate witnesses

He couldn’t intimidate Joseph Welch; Boston lawyer for the army’s defense. His trial was televised and 80 million viewers saw how he destroyed McCathy with his rational and reasoned approach.

The Red Scare & McCarthyism

Senator Joseph McCarthy was a politician wanting to revive his career and used the opportunity to bane communists from the USA to do just that

“the State Department is infested with communists. I have here in my hand the list of 205 names that are known to being members of the Communist Party”

He had no evidence; he had no names. The influence of the hysteria made Americans believe him

His tactics would be to humiliate witnesses

He couldn’t intimidate Joseph Welch; Boston lawyer for the army’s defense. His trial was televised and 80 million viewers saw how he destroyed McCathy with his rational and reasoned approach.

The Berlin Wall

There were two major reasons for the building of the Wall:

1. Economics. Too many well-educated people moved from East Germany, and some worked in West Berlin and lived in East Berlin (it's cheaper there), so DDR lost money on this.

2. Political. The West side interfered with the East side (the Russian sector).

The Berlin Wall

Between the years 1954 -1960, East Germany suffered a "brain drain"

During that period, 4,600 doctors, 15,885 teachers, 738 university teachers, 15,536 engineers and technicians moved from East to West Germany. Altogether this came to 36,759 people with academic and professional qualifications, plus 11,705 students. By July 1961, nearly 3 million people had left East Germany.

These highly qualified people were educated at the expense of East Germany (and former Nazi Germany). So West Germany benefited from East Germany's investment. Of course such a situation was unsustainable for East Germany. Being a new state East Germany needed its educated people to re-build the country after the ravages of the 2nd World War.

The Berlin Wall

During the "cold war" of the 1950s and 1960s, the western countries used Berlin as a spy center - to spy on the Eastern block. As long as the border was open - they could also enter the Russian sector. In 1960 there were about 80 spy centers and similar organizations working against the Eastern block. This kind of spy war was also called "The Silence War". So from here the USSR wanted to put an end to such “freedoms” and conspiracies.

The Berlin WallWhen the Berlin Wall was built on 13th of August, the military, police and the home guard had to block this line of demarcation, at first with troops and barbed wire. At 15th of August they started to build the actual Wall, and then re-build and make the Wall and the border more effective.

It was deemed the “anti-fascist protective barrier” by the East, and the “wall of shame” by the West

While the wall was in place the Stasi police kept an eye on everyone. They kept files on 5.5 million East Germans through an elaborate system of informers. Over 600, 000 people were employed by the Stasi and you never knew who they were. An informant could have been your husband or your wife even.

The fate of the Berlin Wall

How the Cold War endedStalin died in 1953

Khrushchev took over.

“Desalination” was put into action: political relaxation was encouraged. Purges were stopped and some exiled politicians were returned to positions of power

Soviet insistence on collectivization in agriculture was dropped in East Germany and Poland

How the Cold War endedMikhail Gorbachev; Soviet leader from 1985-91

New political thinking. He decided to abandon the arms race in favor of negotiated disarmament because he knew that the USSR did not have the weapons technology nor the finance to compete with the the USA any longer.

By 1989 Gorbachev and President Reagan had established a truce

The consequences were felt more in the satellite states more so than in Russia, for the Cold War protected them in many ways.Without Soviet backing the governments of eastern Europe found their position increasingly precarious.

Bibliography

Phillips, Steve. The Cold War. Heinemann Educational Publishers:Oxford. 2001. print.