1. The Korean War, Divided Korea, Continuing Tensions, Red Scare at Home, The Arms Race, The Cuban Missile Crisis. What was the significance of the Cuban Missile Crisis? How did the actions of Joseph McCarthy impact the lives of innocent Americans? How did the actions of Nikita Khrushchev influence the Cuban Missile Crisis?

2. The Korean War After WWII, Korea was divided into North Korea and South Korea. North Korea became a communist government and had support from SU. North Korea hoped to unite the country under a communist government. South Korea did not want to become communist.

4. The UN told North Korea to withdraw its troops, but North Korea did not listen. President Truman sent US forces to protect South Korea, thus the beginning of the Korean War. China recently became a communist country. They joined North Korea in the fighting that lasted two years. Neither side was able to take control of the entire country.

5. When Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected president, he worked towards ending the Korean War. At the end of the fighting Korea was still divided into two countries. The US did promise that they would help protect from future invasions.

6. **Leaders of free nations feared that communism would spread to Southwest Asia. They developed alliances with South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

8. Red Scare at Home **Communism was nothing new. However the storied told by communist refugees were terrifying. Some people still liked some the ideas of communism. In 1919 the American Communist Party was founded. This caused many Americans to panic.

9. Red is the official color of Communist Party and were often called “reds” so the term Red Scare became known to describe the panic. Laws were passed making it illegal to over throw the government. Many communists were arrested. After China fell, people worried that a revolution might happen in the US.

10. Their worst fears were confirmed when Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy announced that there were hundreds of communists inside the US government. The news media fed people’s fears. Reports warned of spies and put attention on Senator McCarthy.

11. Many innocent people were investigated, but enough real spies were found to keep the public calling for more investigations. People’s fears grew and the investigations turned ugly. People were bullied and lists of names were demanded. If people refused to cooperate they would lose their jobs.

12. After the US held off North Korea, people’s fears calmed down. The US Senate said that McCarthy’s actions were irresponsible and inappropriate. The Red Scare was over and so was McCarthy’s career.

13. The Arms Race An Arms Race is a race to build more and better weapons than your enemy. Both the US and SU built atomic weapons. Both countries developed the H-Bomb which was 1,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb.

14. Americans built underground shelters and students were taught to “duck and cover” beneath their desks. Local governments stored up medicine, food, and supplies. The strategy was, as long as the US had more and better weapons the SU would be afraid to attack.

17. The Cuban Missile Crisis In 1959, Fidel Castro successfully led a revolution in Cuba and he formed a communist government. This alarmed many Americans including President John F. Kennedy. Nikita Khrushchev was the leader of the SU.

21. The US sent spy planes which discovered that the SU was setting up nuclear missiles in Cuba, 90 miles away. Kennedy told the American people what they found and demanded that the SU remove the missiles. The US sent the Navy to create a blockade to stop the SU from sending more missiles.

22. It looked as the two superpowers were moving closer to war. Finally the SU ships turned around and the SU agreed to remove the missiles from Cuba. The crisis was over, but the leaders of both countries realized how close they had come to fighting a disastrous war. Kennedy spoke of the importance of peace.

23. In the 1960s, the tensions between the two superpowers remained. Communism continued to disregard personal freedoms by building the Berlin Wall. The wall made of concrete and barbed wire prevented people East Berlin escaping to West Berlin. Those who tried to escape were shot.