7. Increasing Cold War Tensions Flashcards
Who were the rosenburgs?
-convicted of passing American nuclear secrets to the USSR =execution
When was McCarthyism reach most prominence?
By 1950
What committee carried out investigations on communist sympathisers+ when and what did they do?
- 1938
- house of un-American activities committee
- they investigated communist infiltration
Why were so Many innocents convicted by ‘house of in-American activities committees’?
- people Believed communist infiltration was very prominent and this created fear
- people became sacrificial victims to feed into the paranoia
- as MCcarthy promoted the idea that there was an army of communist conspirators working with US government influencing policies
- eg. Alger Hiss
What was the aim of McCarthy’s pressure on Truman?
-McCarthy’s pressure was designed to tighten governments attitude toward the communist threat on USA.
Who were the targets During McCaugheys anti-Communism attacks
- state department
- film industry
- democratic parties
- universities
Who did Edgar J Hoover believe was undermining American tradition+ feelings about the UN
- teachers who he referred to as reducators a reference to the nickname of red’s (communists)
- He believed that the UN favoured Left wing and liberal causes
date/ explain the US senate decision against McCarthy and what did this mean for him?
- December 1954
- They voted in favour of McCarthy been guilty of having brought the body into disrepute
- He was finished and all those who had joined the anti communist bandwagon
What Significance did McCarthy have on foreign policy
- Emphasise the urgency of moving away from a Eurocentric policy towards an ‘Asian first’
- said Asia was less secure than the Europe where the west had consolidated their position
What factors resulted in a more Asia first policy
- Domestic Americans who rejected the Eurocentric focus
- And McCarthyism =strength of the shift towards a more clearly defined Asian first policy
why could Britain no longer maintain its pre-war role as USA’s main partner in Europe
- lead to USSR destabilising Europe while international community focuses on Asia
- it meant an increase defence spending by Britain due to tension
- Korean conflict jeopardise stability and stability created by NATO
What year was the UN made and headquarters?
- October 1945
- New York
Explain the composition of the UN membership +(members+numbers)
-Did not reflect the emergence Of two Ideologically divided power blocks
-capitalist membership
-weighed in favour of pro-western interests
-50 members
-20 capitalist American states
-members from Middle East were pro-Western (Iran)
^all USA’s natural allies
What was the impact of Europe’s empires on the UN membership
- European empires were still intact meaning it limited the number of potential new members
- ensuring the USA Had support as most member countries were capitalist allies
- protecting US dominance in UN
what factor within china insured that USA’s dominance remained in UN?
-usa insisted that mainland china could not take china’s seat (ran from taiwan) and potential challenge to US dominance was excluded.
