Cold War 1949-1989

Social Studies

The Cold War
http://www.mtv.egreen.wednet.edu/ColdWar%20Webquest/WebquestColdWar.htm
You and your group members will be assigned one of the topics below to research. As a group you will be using the provided links, as well as library materials, to gather as much information to produce a multimedia presentation for the class. You will be the expert for this topic, so be prepared to answer questions. Topics: Korean War (general), Bay of Pigs, Cuban Missile Crisis, Space Race/Arms Race/, and Berlin Wall/Berlin Airlift, McCarthyism

Additional Resources

McCarthyism
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAmccarthy.htm
Joseph McCarthy was born on a farm in Appleton, Wisconsin, on 14th November, 1908. His parents were devout Roman Catholics and Joseph was the fifth of nine children. He left school at 14 and worked as a chicken farmer before managing a grocery store in the nearby town of Manawa.

The Berlin Wall
http://www.wall-berlin.org/gb/berlin.htm
The history of the Berlin Wall, from its creation to its destruction: An exhibition comprising around a hundred photographs

The Cuban Missile Crisis
http://hyperion.advanced.org/11046/days/index.html
The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest the world ever came to nuclear war. The United States armed forces were at their highest state of readiness ever and Soviet field commanders in Cuba were prepared to use battlefield nuclear weapons to defend the island if it was invaded. Luckily, thanks to the bravery of two men, President John F. Kennedy and Premier Nikita Khrushchev, war was averted.

The Arms Race
http://www.pjhealy.com/coldwar/arms.html
The most visible part of the cold war was the arms race. Massive and expensive militarization movements on the part of both nations involved caused a new psychology to develop.

The Korean War
http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~korea/koreanwar.html
The events that led up to the Korean War and the War itself left behind a trail of unanswered questions, ho rrible stories of atrocities, and most important of all, a divided Korea. In the following series of visual presentations, we will try to explore the different episodes of this significant event.

Space Race
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/sputnik/index.html
While the Sputnik launch was a single event, it marked the start of the space age and the U.S.-U.S.S.R space race.

Space Race
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/science/july-dec97/sputnik_10-2a.html
In a move that left America feeling uneasy, the Soviet Union successfully launched the first man-made satellite.

The Berlin Airlift
http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/history/postwwii/ba.htm
Faced with the choice of abandoning the city or attempting to supply its inhabitants with the necessities of life by air, the Western Powers chose the latter course and for the next 11 months sustained the city's 2 1/2 million residents in one of the greatest feats in aviation history.

The Truman Doctrine
http://www.trumanlibrary.org/teacher/doctrine.htm
The Truman Doctrine has raised profound questions from historians regarding its origins, long-term consequences, and the relationship between domestic and foreign policy. However, one thing is for certain, the Truman Doctrine signaled America's post war embrace of global leadership and ended its longstanding policy of isolationism.

The Rosenberg Trial
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USArosenbergT.htm
In 1950 Klaus Fuchs, head of the physics department of the British nuclear research centre at Harwell, was arrested and charged with espionage. Fuchs confessed that he had been passing information to the Soviet Union since working on the Manhattan Project during the Second World War.

The Hollywood Ten
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAhollywood10.htm
In 1947 the House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), chaired by J. Parnell Thomas, began an investigation into the Hollywood Motion Picture Industry. The HUAC interviewed 41 people who were working in Hollywood. These people attended voluntarily and became known as "friendly witnesses". During their interviews they named nineteen people who they accused of holding left-wing views.

U-2 Incident
http://americanhistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa061801a.htm
The U.S. instituted high altitude reconnasaince flights over the Soviet Union because of this aura of mistrust. The U-2 was the plane of choice for the spying missions.