Topic: War in Korea and the New Red Scare Ch. 27.2
MAIN IDEAS
NOTES:
A New Red
Scare
Fear of
Communists

The Rise of
McCarthyism
Eisenhower and
the Cold War
The Arms Race


Joseph McCarthy (WI senator) accused Communists of working inside
the State Department.
o Had names of 57 people who were loyal to the Communist Party
o Never produced any evidence
 Those who questioned him, he also called Communists
 McCarthyism
 Went too far -he accused Communism in the U.S. Army

1950- Truman approved work on the hydrogen bomb
o More powerful than the atomic bomb
 First tested in 1952
 Vaporized a South Pacific island
Soviet Union also begins nuclear testing
o 1949-tested atomic bomb then 1953-hydrogen bomb
Became known as the arms race
o American children practice “duck and cover” drills
 Hide under their desks
o Families build underground bomb shelters
1957-Sputnik is launched by Soviets
o If they can launch a satellite, they can launch a missile
o 1958-US launches satellite
 NASA created shortly after



Cold War Crises
New fear of Communism(Reds) in America in the late 1940s/1950s
o First was in 1917 after the Russian Revolution
House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)
o Investigated Communist influence in America
 1947-hearing to expose Communists in Hollywood
 Actors and writers who did not answer questions or
refused to reveal names of suspected Communists
were blacklisted, or denied word.
o Some never worked again.
 Spy cases
o Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
 Tried for providing Communist spies
with secret details on the atomic
bomb
 Found guilty and executed

Eisenhower modified Truman’s policy of containment
o Supported Brinkmanship
Topic: War in Korea and the New Red Scare Ch. 27.2
MAIN IDEAS
NOTES:

The Korean War
Fighting in Korea
Threatened the Soviet Union with “massive retaliation”
against Soviet advances

Cold War began in Europe but spread quickly to Asia
o China
 Communist and National Parties fought for control since
early 1900s
 Joined together to fight Japan in WWII, but
resumed civil war afterwards.
 US backed the Nationalists
 Nationalists lost and fled to Taiwan
 Mao Zedong becomes leader of the People’s Republic of
China in 1949
 Americans fear Asia will fall to communism
o Korea
 Japan controlled from 1910-WWII
 Allies divided Korea at the 38th parallel
 Soviet controlled the North
 US occupied the South
o Neither side recognized each other

June 25,1950- N.Korea’s troops stormed across the 38th parallel
o US called for a cease-fire
 Didn’t work
o Truman has to make a decision
 Does he send troops to stop N.Korea?
 June 27, he calls up all air and sea forces for support
 UN also decides to help
 US and 15 other countries send troops
o UN troops were pushed back to the southern tip of the Korean
Peninsula
 Fierce fighting for 6 weeks
 UN troops surprise attack from behind
 Thought the war would be over since N.Korea’s
capital was taken.
 China sent troops to help out N. Korea
 Pushes UN troops back under the 38th parallel

By spring 1951 UN forces drove N. Korea and China back behind the 38th
parallel.
o Stalemate- no one was winning
The War Ends
Topic: War in Korea and the New Red Scare Ch. 27.2
MAIN IDEAS
NOTES:


American reaction to the war dominated the 1952 presidential election
o (R) Eisenhower wins election
Cease-fire on July 27,1953
o Korea was still divided
o 130,000 Americans were killed or wounded