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... for the Week of April 17, 2000
... for the Week of April 10, 2000
... for the Week of April 3, 2000
... for the Week of March 20, 2000
Dating back to 1917, when Russia embarked on
a political journey envisioned by Karl Marx, tensions between the United States and Russia
have been tense. During World War II, the two nations had an uneasy alliance, held
together only by their mutual disgust for Hitler and Germany. But a series of events
toward the end of the war actually produced a second conflict that in terms of cost and
scope would far surpass the global warfare of 1939-1945. This new Cold War, one
fought in foreign lands, in space and in missile silos across the plains of both nations,
would lead both to the brink of Armageddon in the atomic age. Leaders such as Stalin and
Truman,
Read and Hear the Iron
Curtain speech by Winston Churchill
The Truman Doctrine, President Harry Truman
Read and Hear McCarthyism,
speeches by Sen. Joe McCarthy
Kennedy and Reagan - The Rise
and Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Birth of a Boom, America in the 1950s
Listen to a 1950s Chevrolet commercial - "See the USA in Your
Chevrolet"
Listen to Reagan
try to add a little humor to the Cold War (caught joking on tape before a radio
address)
The End of a War, the Cold War winds down
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 As the end of the war became more sure,
the big three met at Yalta to hammer out the final chapter of the European theatre of war.
Churchill, who would be voted out of office within a month, and Roosevelt, who
would die even before that, bent to Stalin's will, relinquishing eastern Europe as a
Russian buffer of protection and dividing Germany and the city of Berlin. Stalin
promised in return free elections, a promise that will go unkept. |
The first order of business
for the Allies following the end of the war was not making the same mistake as WWI.
Promising not to let Germany fall into a state of desperation, America spearheaded the
Marshall Plan, a massive relief effort that sent tons of aid to starving Germans and other
Western democracies. |
The first test of the resolve of those
western democracies would be in Korea, a nation, like Germany, divided after the war.
When the communist-controlled North invaded across the 38th Parallel in June 1950,
the newly-created United Nations reached a critical bridge: remain a spectator or cross
the divide the use force to liberate the South. After invading and Inchon and
tempting our fate on the shores of the Yalu, trapped Marines (top)
fought there way out of the frozen Chosin Reservoir, only to have the 38th re-established
as the dividing line between North and South in 1953. |
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As our frustration with
Communism grew, so did our anger. With the nation riding a tide of McCarthyism, the
Rosenbergs were sentenced to death for treason, an illustration as to the depth of the
national hatred for "the enemy." |
But real fear of the Russians did not
reach its peak until 1958, when they launched a tiny orbital into space. Long
believing the American way of life fostered innovation and progress, the United States was
stunned when the Russians successfully orbited Sputnik around the Earth. Immediate
changes in math and science education followed. You can thank the Russians for
homework.
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The real fear that Sputnik
spawned was that of an atomic weapon, sent from Russia, that could drop from the
sky. The Russians proved they had the know-how to do it. As much as the Pledge
and recess, "duck and cover" drills became a part of the school day. |
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Following Stalin's death in 1955,
Nikita Khrushchev began his reign in Russian with an open mind toward America. He
believed, after all, that war was |
His construction of the
Berlin Wall marked the fruition of an Iron Curtain. While Churchill spoke of this line
that marked the boundaries of freedom and oppression, NATO made them clear. The wall
made it final. The ironic picture at right shows the elaborate defensive features of
the wall. |
The wall became the site for one of John F.
Kennedy's most famous speeches. "Ich bin ein Berliner," claimed Kennedy,
boasting of his support for the free people of West Berlin. But harsher words would
follow, as reconnaissance photos show Russian missiles
90 miles from Florida. |
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For 5 days
in October of 1962, the world hung in the balance as the two superpowers stared one
another down, eyeball to eyeball. Khrushchev blinked, as Kennedy quarantine
effectively stifled the Russians. |
For the remainder of the 60s, as American
attention was continually drawn toward Vietnam, the "war" between America and
Soviets headed toward a new frontier: Space. Both fascinating
and frightening,
rockets and spaceships became the obsession of small children and a glimmer of progress in
a troubling decade. |
Besides
the stars, America's soul hit the road. With roots in the 1920s, our love of the car
and the freedom it gave us greatly contrasted the foreign tensions that loomed over us.
Cars like the 1958 Impala allowed America to "See
the USA in Your Chevrolet." |
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| Chapter
26 |
| Section One |
Section Two |
| Root of the Cold War - From friend to foe... |
1949 - 1 billion people change sides - How did America
respond? |
| Containment and the Truman Doctrine |
The Forgotten War in Korea |
| The "Plan" to save Europe heats up a Cold
War |
Stalemate, Peace and the 38th Parallel...again. |
| Section Three |
Section Four |
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Chinese Revolution + Russian A-Bomb = McCarthyism |
Brinkmanship raises the stakes - fight fire with fire |
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Spy Rings validate the Sen. from Wisconsin |
Khrushchev, Sputnik...then U-2 |
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Why do his own tactics bring him crashing down? |
An infuriated Khrushchev orders missiles to Cuba |
| Chapter 27.1 |
Chapter 27.2 |
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Levittown and the Suburban Dream |
Just what was the American Dream? - "Conform or be
cast out." |
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How did Suburbia define family roles? |
Salk, Spock and Sports Illustrated |
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Truman faces a troubled economy...yet still wins in '48 |
Cars, Consumers and Baby Carriages |
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