Increasing Cold War tensions Flashcards
What were Julius and Ethel Rosenberg convicted of?
passing American nuclear secrets to the USSR
What was HUAC?
The House of Un-American Activities Committee which carried out extensive investigations into communist infiltration
Who was a accused of being a communist?
Alger Hiss who worked for the US State department
What did Joseph McCarthy argue?
That Truman’s foreign policy was too soft on communism and he was responsible for the loss of China.
That there was an army of communist conspirators working within the US Government.
Who was Joseph McCarthy?
a Republic senator for Wisconsin
What led to McCarthy’s downfall?
In December 1954 he made the incredible claim that the ‘Reds’ had infiltrated the US army.
What were the impacts of McCarthyism?
-Emphasised the urgency of moving US policy away from a Eurocentric focus and towards policy with a more ‘Asia first’ viewpoint.
- fuelled the view that the Korean wa would not have happened were it not for Truman’s failure to support the Chinese nationalists against Mao Zedong
When was the UN formally created?
October 1945
What happened when the first UN ceasefire failed?
Truman called for a second security council resolution which called upon UN members to aid South Korea in it’s struggle with the North.
Why was the UN significant to the USA?
- vehicle for intervention on a global scale
- enhance it’s own foreign policy aims
How was China isolated?
- USA’s refusal to accept China’s entry into the UN
- Korean war- Stalin’s reluctance to commit Soviet troops but willingness to see Chinese troops involved weakened Chinese international status
Consequences of Cold war tensions 1949-1950
1) USA no longer had a nuclear monopoly
2) China becomes a communist state
3) China and USSR form an alliance
4) Communist North Korea invades South Korea
5) McCarthyism pressures government into ‘Asia first’ policy
6) USA adopts a more direct global stance
