Download Causes and Beginning of the Civil War

USA as the World’s Policeman
Topic 20
Dean Gooderham Acheson (1893 – 1971) was an American statesman and lawyer. As United
States Secretary of State in the administration of President Harry S. Truman from 1949 to
1953, he played a central role in defining American foreign policy during the Cold War.
Acheson helped design the Marshall Plan and played a central role in the development of the
Truman Doctrine and creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Acheson's most famous decision was convincing President Truman to intervene in the Korean
War in June 1950.
He also persuaded Truman to dispatch aid and advisors to French forces in Indochina, though
in 1968 he finally counseled President Lyndon B. Johnson to negotiate for peace with North
Vietnam. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, President John F. Kennedy called upon Acheson
for advice, bringing him into the executive committee (ExComm), a strategic advisory group.
In the late 1940s Acheson came under heavy attack over Truman's policy toward China, and
for Acheson's defense of State Department employees (such as Alger Hiss) accused during the
anti-gay Lavender and anti-Communist Red Scare investigations of Senator Joseph McCarthy
and others.
1950
12 January
US Secretary of State, Dean Acheson, announces that American “cordon
sanitaire” does not include South Korea; news about such conduct, together with intelligence
materials convince Stalin to push Kim Il Sung to act, as well as further back Ho Chi Minh’s
war in Vietnam
February
McCarthy’s accusations formulated against Soviet espionage, but also help
provided from USSR for Mao Zedong find wide reception in the USA
20 June
Acheson briefs US Congress that war is unlikely
25 June
North Korea attacks South Korea (North Korean army numbers over 135,000 +
40,000 troops supplied by China; the army is well armed with modern Soviet arms; South
Korea has an army of 95,000 poorly armed and lack of concrete support from the USA)
25 June
UNSC Resolution 82 calls for:
• all hostilities to end and North Korea to withdraw to the 38th Parallel;
• a UN Commission on Korea to be formed to monitor the situation and report to the
Security Council;
• all UN members to support the United Nations in achieving this, and refrain from
providing assistance to the North Korean authorities
The resolution was adopted by a vote of 9 support, none opposed, and one abstention.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 83, adopted on June 27, 1950, determins that the
attack on the Republic of Korea by forces from North Korea constitutes a breach of the peace.
The Council calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities and for the authorities in North
Korea to withdraw their armed forces to the 38th parallel.
The resolution is adopted by 7 to 1 against from Yugoslavia. Egypt and India were present but
did not participate in voting and the Soviet Union was absent.
27 June
UN votes a decision to help Korea (USSR boycotts, and Yugoslavia abstains)
and to send troops there Korea. US troops are joined by symbolic contingents from: Canada,
Australia, New Zealand, UK, France, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Greece, the
Netherlands, Ethiopia, Columbia, the Philippines, Belgium and Luxemburg. (US provided
50% ground forces – most of the rest was Korean, 86% naval and 93% air forces were
provided by USA). In the peak of action UN troops numbered 400,000 Koreans, 250,000
Americans and 35,000 from other nations.
Adopted on July 7, 1950
• the attack on the Republic of Korea by the forces from North Korea
constituts a breach of the peace, the Council recommens that the
members of the United Nations furnish such assistance to the
Republic of Korea as may be necessary to repel the attack and restore
peace and security to the area.
• The Council further recommends that all members providing
military forces and other assistance to The Republic make these
forces and assistance available to a unified command under the
United States of America.
• The Council then requested that the United States designate the
commander of such forces and authorized said commander to use the
Flag of the United Nations at his discretion in the course of operations
against North Korean forces.
• The Council requests that the United States provide it with reports as
appropriate on the course of action taken by the unified command.
• The resolution is passed with the votes from the United Kingdom, the
Republic of China (Taiwan), Cuba, Ecuador, France, Norway and the
United States.
• The Kingdom of Egypt, India and the Socialist Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia abstain.The Soviet Union,is absent, having been
boycotting proceedings since January, in protest that the Republic of
China and not the People's Republic of China held a permanent seat
on the council.
1950
28 June
Soeul falls to North Koreans
30 June
American Far Eastern forces are commissioned to Korea under
MacArthur
5 July
First US troops take part in action and are easily overcome
7 July
UN Resolution 84
10 July
Upon US request, UN agrees to US Commander of its forces and Truman
nominates MacArthur to supreme command
June-August North Korean advances force South Koreans and US troops to retreat, holding
barely 10% of the Korean peninsula round Pusan
15 September UN troops under the command of MacArthur land at Inchon; the operation was
intended to liberate Soeul and cut North Korean supply lines
24 September UN troops enter Soeul; and attack from Pusan drives North Koreans into
retreat, but barely one-quarter/one third escapes
1 October
South Korean troops pass 38th Parallel
2 October
Mao informs Stalin, that China will enter the war
7 October
UN pass a resolution calling for a unified, independent and democratic Korea
9 October
UN troops pass 38th Parallel
19 October Pyongyang falls
25 October Chinese troops enter fighting in northwest Korea
1 November UN troops are 18 miles away from Yalu river (border river with China)
7 November End of Chinese operation in the north
8 November First (in history) jet battle takes place between F-80s and MiG-15s, with the
two latter shot down
October-November Debates in the US concerning the policy to be applies in Indochina; a
vision to start occupation and concentrate on Europe is opposed by ideas to counter
Communists and continue advance
24 November US troops under General Walker resume the offensive
25-26 November
Chinese offensive; Although US troops hold, Chinese Popular Army
breaks through South Korean defies and endangers the whole from; Mac Arthur manages to
control the situation, but orders to retreat beyond the 38th Parallel
December
Doubts and debates in US about the conduct of war, which by now is a UNChina war (concept to pursue war against limited warfare)
1951 4 January
Chinese New Year’s offensive takes Soeul; counteroffensive is
launched by Ridgway
April Front line again ailing 38th Parallel with Soeul recaptured
11 April
Truman dismisses MacArthur over disagreement concerning limited
war (what MacArthur opposed)
22 April
Chinese offensive is halted south of 38th Parallel by 19 May
End May
Front stabilizes on 38th Parallel
Stalemate
23 June
Soviet UN official Jakob Malik proposes cease fire
10 July
Talks begin at Kaesong; hostilities continue
August-mid-October Fighting resumed in the Battle of Heartbreak Ridge
Late October Talks resumed at Panmunjom; fighting continues
12 November Ridgeway orders cease fire; raids, local attacks, patrols continue, but do not
break into larger actions
1952
November
General Dwight Eisenhower is elected president with a mandate to end the war;
the president orders the design of military plans including use of nuclear weapons, which are
made public
1953
5 March
Stalin dies
May
Last Chinese attacks and attempts to change front line
27 June
Armistice signed by Lieutenant General Nam Il and Lieutenant General
Wiliam Harrison at 10:00am at Panmunjom
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_War
McCarthyism 1950-1954
Mar 21, 1947
Truman Loyalty Oaths
President Harry S. Truman issues Executive Order 9835, establishing a Loyalty- Security
Program for all federal employees. Designed to pre-empt Republican charges of Communist
infiltration of the government, Truman's loyalty oaths only heighten the country's growing
fears of Communist subversion.
Jun 23, 1947
Taft-Hartley Act
Congress passes the Taft-Hartley Labor-Management Relations Act over President Truman's
veto, sharply curtailing the rights of organized labor while forcing unions to purge
Communists from their ranks.
Oct 20, 1947
House Un-American Activities Committee
The House Un-American Activities Committee opens hearings investigating Communist
activity in Hollywood.
Oct 27, 1947
John Lawson Refuses
Screenwriter John Howard Lawson, a hostile witness before the House Un-American
Activities Committee, refuses to answer, on constitutional grounds, whether he is or was a
member of the Communist Party. He is ejected from the hearing and later charged with
Contempt of Congress.
Nov 24, 1947
Hollywood Ten
The House of Representatives issues citations for Contempt of Congress to the Hollywood
Ten—John Howard Lawson, Alvah Bessie, Herbert Biberman, Lester Cole, Edward Dmytryk,
Ring Lardner Jr., Albert Maltz, Samuel Ornitz, Adrian Scott, and Dalton Trumbo.
Nov 25, 1947
Hollywood Blacklisting
The Motion Picture Association confirms the blacklisting of the Hollywood Ten from
employment in the film industry.
May 1, 1948
Arrest in Alabama
Glenn Taylor, Progressive Party candidate for Vice President on Henry Wallace's ticket, is
arrested in Alabama for violating segregation laws by attempting to hold an integrated
political rally. Taylor's jailor is Birmingham police commissioner Bull Connor, who will later
became notorious for unleashing attack dogs on peaceful civil rights protestors associated
with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Aug 3, 1948
Alger Hiss Named a Communist
Former Communist Whittaker Chambers testifies before the House Un-American Activities
Committee, naming Alger Hiss—an important figure in Franklin Roosevelt's State
Department—as a Communist agent.
Aug 5, 1948
Alger Hiss Testifies
Alger Hiss testifies before the House Un-American Activities Committee, denying that he is,
or ever was, a member of the Communist Party.
Aug 25, 1948
First TV Broadcast of Congressional Hearing
Alger Hiss and Whittaker Chambers both testify in a televised hearing of the House UnAmerican Activities Committee. It is the first time any Congressional hearing has been
broadcast over television.
Nov 2, 1948
Truman’s Surprise Reelection
President Harry S. Truman is elected to a second term as president, defeating Republican
Thomas Dewey, Progressive Henry Wallace, and Dixiecrat Strom Thurmond in the election
of 1948.
Nov 2, 1949
CIO Boots Communist Labor
The Congress of Industrial Organizations votes in its national convention to revoke the charter
of the United Electrical Workers, the third largest union in the CIO, for failing to purge itself
of Communist influence. Ultimately twelve left-leaning unions, and countless individual leftwing organizers, will be booted from the CIO.
Jan 21, 1950
Alger Hiss Convicted
Alger Hiss is convicted for perjury after a jury concludes that he made false statements in
denying Whittaker Chambers' allegations that the two men had known each other as
Communists in the 1930s. Hiss will serve more than three years in federal prison.
Feb 9, 1950
Joseph McCarthy Claims Targets
Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy gives a speech in Wheeling, Virginia, dramatically
claiming, "I have in my hand a list of 205 cases of individuals who appear to be either cardcarrying members or certainly loyal to the Communist Party" within the United States State
Department.
RED SCARE
The term "Red Scare" has been applied to two distinct periods of intense anti-Communism in
United States history: first from 1917 to 1920, and second from the late 1940s through the
mid-1950s. Both periods were characterized by widespread fears of Communist influence on
U.S. society and Communist infiltration of the U.S. government. These fears spurred
aggressive investigation and (particularly during the first period) jailing of persons associated
with communist and socialist ideology or political movements.
http://civilliberty.about.com/od/freespeech/tp/McCarthyism-Timeline-History.htm
1946
Using elaborate (and completely fictional) war stories, forged documents, and a fake limp,
Wisconsin politician Joseph McCarthy successfully wins election to the U.S. Senate as a war
hero.
1947
The U.S. House Un-American Activities Committee destroys the careers of ten prominent
Hollywood figures for their refusal to testify about alleged ties to U.S. progressive and
socialist movements. While McCarthy is not directly involved in the HUAC's work, it appears
to have inspired his later efforts.
1950
In a February speech, Joseph McCarthy argues that the United States is losing the Cold War
and that the fault rests with McCarthy's political enemies in the Truman administration:The
reason why we find ourselves in a position of impotency is not because our only powerful
potential enemy has sent men to invade our shores, but rather because of the traitorous actions
of those who have been treated so well by this Nation. It has not been the less fortunate, or
members of minority groups who have been traitorous to this Nation, but rather those who
have had all the benefits that the wealthiest Nation on earth has had to offer - the finest
homes, the finest college education and the finest jobs in government we can give.
This is glaringly true in the State Department. There the bright young men who are born with
silver spoons in their mouths are the ones who have been most traitorous. I have here in my
hand a list of 205- a list of names that were made known to the Secretary of State as being
members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping policy
in the State Department.The explosive accusations transformed Joe McCarthy, a little-known
freshman senator from Wisconsin, into a household name.
1952
McCarthy's book, McCarthyism: The Fight for America is published, and his characterization
of the Democratic Party as soft on Communism helps General Dwight Eisenhower win the
November presidential elections. Eisenhower would later become a critic of McCarthy's
tactics.
1953
McCarthy becomes chair of the Senate Operations Committee, and uses his authority in this
role to assign himself as chair of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which he
uses as an instrument to push his "anti-Communism" efforts.
1954
The four-day Army-McCarthy hearings, nationally televised and broadcast on the radio,
damage McCarthy's standing among the American public. He is censured by the U.S. Senate
and stripped of his chairmanship, and his role as a national politician effectively comes to an
end. Later that year, Eisenhower famously refers to McCarthyism as "McCarthywasm."
1957
His career as a national politician essentially over, Joe McCarthy dies of alcohol-induced
hepatitis.
1958
The John Birch Society, which advances paleoconservative principles and targets alleged
Communists in the U.S. government, is founded.
2003
Conservative pundit Ann Coulter's Treason, which portrays McCarthy as an American hero,
is published.
2007
Conservative revisionist historian M. Stanton Evans' Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story
of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies, which further attempts to
rehabilitate McCarthy's image, is published.
2010
Citing the work of American Nazi author Elizabeth Dilling (who, ironically, was herself
convicted on sedition charges in 1944), right-wing pundit Glenn Beck argues that Joseph
McCarthy was "absolutely right."
2012
Rep. Allen West (R-FL) accuses Democratic politicians of secretly belonging to the American
Communist Party:What percentage of the American legislature do you think are card-carrying
Marxists? I believe there’s about 78 to 81 members of the Democratic Party that are members
of the Communist Party. They actually don’t hide it. It’s called the Congressional Progressive
Caucus.Earlier in the year, West called on Democratic leaders to leave the country:This is a
battlefield that we must stand upon ... Take your message of equality of achievement, take
your message of economic dependency, and take your message of enslaving the
entrepreneurial will and spirit of the American people somewhere else. You can take it to
Europe, you can take it to the bottom of the sea, you can take it to the North Pole, but get the
hell out of the United States of America.This is consistent with the older Tea Party
movement's emphasis on anticommunism and other policies associated with
paleoconservatism.