Download Events packet

Name _________________________________
The Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project is the code name for the US government's secret project that was established before World
War II and culminated in the development of the nuclear bomb. The idea of forming a research team to create a
nuclear weapon was endorsed in a letter than Einstein sent to Franklin Roosevelt, the president of America at the
time. This was in 1939. In 1942 Enrico Fermi, a physicist, successfully controlled a nuclear reaction in his reactor
called CP-1 (Chicago Pile 1). CP-1 was located at the University of Chicago under a squash court, quite incredibly.
The following was said by a member of the project:
Later in the project the first atomic bomb was exploded at Los Alamos. This was on July 6, 1945. The director of
Los Alamos said upon witnessing the first test of a nuclear weapon:
We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. I
remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita. Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he
should do his duty and to impress him takes on his multi-armed form and says, "Now, I am become Death, the
destroyer of worlds." I suppose we all felt that one way or another.
J. Robert Oppenheimer
A month after the first bomb was tested, two nuclear
weapons were exploded over Japan, at Hiroshima and
Nagasaki. There were many reasons for this. The
official reason is that it would immediately end the war,
thus saving the lives of thousands of American
servicemen. Immediate deaths from the bomb are
estimated to be about 100,000. This figure is
astounding. However, it is comparable to the estimated
number of casualties that would have resulted from a
Allied invasion of the Japanese home islands. However,
the choice to drop the bombs on Japan is very
controversial and there are many people that feel they
were unnecessary, and that Japan would have
surrendered anyway.
Bomb Dropped on Nagasaki
Undoubtedly, the atomic bomb is the most powerful
destructive force that mankind has ever wielded.
However, many scientists defend their participation in
it's creation:
At Los Alamos during World War II there was no moral
issue with respect to working on the atomic bomb.
Everyone was agreed on the necessity of stopping
Hitler and the Japanese from destroying the free world.
It was not an academic question ‚ our friends and
relatives were being killed and we, ourselves, were
desperately afraid.
-Joseph O. Hirschfelder, chemist
Original Source: National Archives
At Los Alamos we had some conversations on the subject and I must admit that my own position was that the atom
bomb is no worse than the fire raids which our B-29s were doing daily in Japan, and anything to end the war quickly
1
was the thing to do.
-George B. Kistiakowsky
Soon after the Manhattan Project became a
success, the Soviet Union developed their own
atomic bomb. With these new weapons that could
destroy entire cities and civilizations, the atomic
arms race and cold war began. First these
weapons were attached to bombers, but soon
space-based systems were developed. These
systems utilized rockets that could take a nuclear
warhead from one side of the globe to another in
under an hour. Since the 1950's, there has
existed an amount of weaponry on earth great
enough to destroy humanity and all it's
accomplishments. No one has used these
weapons against another country since WW-II,
however. This is because of the concept known
as Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD). If the US
were to launch an attack against Russia, the
Russians would immediately retaliate by
launching their missiles, and not only would the
US be destroyed, but Russia would as well. Thus,
in this game of nuclear warfare, no one can win.
If either side decides to play, they both lose, as
well as the rest of the world.
First Fusion Bomb Test
This test was conducted on an island. After the bomb
went off, the entire island was gone.
Original Source: DOE
What was the Marshall Plan?
The Marshall Plan is also called the European Recovery Plan. It was enacted by the US in 1947 as a way to help rebuild
Europe after World War II. The genius behind the plan was George Marshall, who was at the time the US Secretary of
State. William Clayton and George Kennan are also credited with writing the majority of the Marshall Plan.
Though part of the Marshall Plan was meant to help the badly damaged Europe recover from WWII, the other part of the
Marshall Plan was meant to prevent communism from gaining a stronghold in war torn countries. Certain countries either
refused aid or received very little aid. Japan, for example, did not receive aid. Aid was offered to the USSR but was
refused.
West Germany received some aid under the Marshall Plan. The UK and France received the most aid, over 200 million
each. Other countries receiving funds for reconstruction were Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Italy, the
Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey. For the most part these countries represented the allied
relationships formed during WWII. However, some countries, like Italy, were part of the Axis forces during the war.
In total the US government spent 13 billion US dollars (USD) from 1948-1951. Some of this money spent was considered
part of Germany’s debt, since much of the destruction was the result of German invasion and bombing of certain
countries. The US was fortunate to have very little damage since it entered the war late, and the contiguous states were
largely untouched by the war.
What is NATO?
NATO stands for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a military alliance formed on April 4, 1949,
when twelve countries signed the North Atlantic Treaty. The twelve original NATO countries are
Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal,
Great Britain, and the United States. Each member nation agreed to treat attacks on any other member
2
nation as if it were an attack on itself. Any aggressor would have to face the twelve-nation alliance. This
was NATO's policy of deterrence, which was a way to discourage attacks by the Soviet Union or other
Eastern bloc countries (Communist countries in Eastern Europe). NATO provided the additional benefit of
discouraging fighting among the member nations
The Arms Race
The nuclear arms race was central to the Cold War. Many feared where the Cold War was going
with the belief that the more nuclear weapons you had, the more powerful you were. Both
America and Russia massively built up their stockpiles of nuclear weapons.
The world greatly changed when USA exploded the H-bomb in 1952. This one bomb was
smaller in size than the Hiroshima atomic bomb but 2500 times more powerful. The Russians
produced an H-bomb in 1953 and the world became a much more dangerous place.
However, it is possible that the sheer power of these weapons and the fear that they evoked,
may have stopped a nuclear war.
USA produced a bomber - the B52 - that could fly 6,000 miles and deliver a nuclear pay-load.
Such a development required massive financial backing from the government - something which
America could afford to do and which Russia could not. Russia concentrated on producing
bigger bombs - a far more cost effective procedure.
In October 1957, the world was introduced to the fear of a missile attack when Sputnik was
launched. This was to lead to ICBM’s : Inter-continental ballistic missiles. As a result, America
built the DEW line around the Artic - Defence and Early Warning system.
At the end of the 1950’s, American Intelligence estimated that in a Russian missile attack, 20
million Americans would die and 22 million would be injured.
During the 1960’s, the Russians put their money into producing more missiles regardless of
quality while America built fewer but better quality missiles - the Atlas could go 5,000 miles at a
speed of 16,000 mph. By 1961, there were enough bombs to destroy the world.
Despite this, great emphasis was put on new weapon systems - mobile missile launchers were
built, missiles were housed underground in silos and in 1960 the first Polaris submarine was
launched carrying 16 nuclear missiles. Each missile carried four warheads which could targeted
on different cities; hence one submarine effectively carried 64 nuclear warheads.
In 1967, China exploded an H-bomb. China was a communist country. In the west, NATO felt
out-numbered as the table below shows and so had to place her faith in nuclear missiles.
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg
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
3
information to the Soviet Union since working on the Manhattan Project during the Second World
War.
The FBI were desperate to discover the names of the spies who had worked with Klaus Fuchs
while he had been in America. Elizabeth Bentley, a former member of the American Communist
Party, had in 1945 given FBI agents eighty names of people she believed were involved in
espionage. At the time it had been impossible to acquire enough information to bring the
suspects to court. These people were interviewed again and one of them, Harry Gold, confessed
that he had acted as Fuchs's courier. He also named David Greenglass as being a member of
the spy ring. Greenglass was now interviewed and he named his sister and brother-in-law, Ethel
Rosenberg and Julius Rosenberg.
At this point the confessions stopped. The Rosenbergs both denied they had been involved in
spying for the Soviet Union. However, it was decided couple were nevertheless charged with
conspiracy to commit espionage. Virtually the only evidence against them was supplied by David
Greenglass. He claimed that Julius Rosenberg had given him atom bomb secrets that he in turn
passed to Harry Gold. The defense attorney, Emmanuel Bloch, argued that Greenglass was
lying in order to gain revenge because he blamed Rosenberg for their failed business venture.
The jury believed the evidence of David Greenglass and both Julius Rosenberg and Ethel
Rosenberg, were found guilty and sentenced to death. A large number of people were shocked
by the severity of the sentence as they had not been found guilty of treason. In fact, they had
been tried under the terms of the Espionage Act that had been passed in 1917 to deal with the
American anti-war movement.
Afterwards it became clear that the government did not believe the Rosenbergs would be
executed. J. Edgar Hoover, head of the FBI, had warned that history would not be kind to a
government responsible for orphaning the couple's two young sons on such poor evidence.
Rumours began to circulate that the government would be willing to spare the couple's life if they
confessed and gave evidence about other Communist Party spies.
The case created a great deal of controversy in Europe where it was argued that the Julius
Rosenberg and Ethel Rosenberg were victims of anti-semitism and McCarthyism. Nobel prizewinner, Jean-Paul Sartre, called the case "a legal lynching which smears with blood a whole
nation".
Julius Rosenberg and Ethel Rosenberg remained on death row for twenty-six months. They both
refused to confess and provide evidence against others and they were eventually executed on
19th June, 1953. As one political commentator pointed out, they died because they refused to
confess and name others.
4
“McCarthyism or 'The Red Scare' ”
Senator Joseph R. McCarthy was a little-known junior senator from Wisconsin until February 1950 when
he claimed to possess a list of 205 card-carrying Communists employed in the U.S. Department of State.
From that moment Senator McCarthy became a tireless crusader against Communism in the early 1950s, a
period that has been commonly referred to as the "Red Scare." As chairman of the Senate Permanent
Investigation Subcommittee, Senator McCarthy conducted hearings on communist subversion in America
and investigated alleged communist infiltration of the Armed Forces. His subsequent exile from politics
coincided with a conversion of his name into a modern English noun "McCarthyism," or adjective,
"McCarthy tactics," when describing similar witchhunts in recent American history. [The American
Heritage Dictionary gives the definition of McCarthyism as: 1. The political practice of publicizing
accusations of disloyalty or subversion with insufficient regard to evidence, and 2. The use of methods of
investigation and accusation regarded as unfair, in order to suppress opposition.] Senator McCarthy was
censured by the U.S. Senate on December 2, 1954 and died May 2, 1957.
The Space Race
For over a decade, the United States and the Soviet Union were engaged in a heated competition—the space race. Th
Union launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik. The Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and the American presiden
Johnson and Richard Nixon all agreed that conquering outer space was very important. Both countries wanted to win
show their military strength.
Soviet Premier Khrushchev wanted to show that communist technology was superior. President Kenn
Speaking about the prospect of sending astronauts to the moon in 1961, Kennedy said, "No single spa
impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space. And none will be s
Space Race Timeline: Events Leading up to Americans Walking on the Moon
1957
The Soviet Union launches Sputnik, the first artificial Earth satellite. "Sputnik" is the Russian word for
"Traveler."
1958
The United States launches its first satellite, Explorer I.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is formed in the United
States. NASA is the federal agency devoted to exploring space.
1959
5
The Soviet Union launches Luna 2. This is the first space probe to hit the moon.
1961
Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the
first person to orbit the Earth.
Alan Shepard, Jr. becomes the first American
astronaut in space.
1962
John Glenn, Jr. becomes the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth.
1963
The first woman in space is Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova.
1968
The United States launches Apollo 8, the first manned space mission to orbit the moon.
1969
6
U.S. astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins
make it to the moon. Armstrong is the first man to walk on the moon and was
followed by Buzz Aldrin.
By reaching the moon first, the United States won the space race. Soviet and U.S. leaders knew that being
the first country to land on the moon would be an extremely important media event. The world watched
each country’s progress with great interest. Scientists and government leaders in both countries were
under intense pressure to meet tough deadlines.
Bay of Pigs
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was an unsuccessful attempt by United States-backed Cuban exiles
to overthrow the government of the Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. Increasing friction between
the U.S. government and Castro's leftist regime led President Dwight D. Eisenhower to break
off diplomatic relations with Cuba in January 1961. Even before that, however, the Central
Intelligence Agency had been training anti-revolutionary Cuban exiles for a possible invasion
of the island. The invasion plan was approved by Eisenhower's successor, John F. Kennedy.
7
On April 17, 1961 about 1300 exiles, armed with U.S. weapons, landed at the Bahía de
Cochinos (Bay of Pigs) on the southern coast of
Cuba. Hoping to find support from the local
population, they intended to cross the island to
Havana. It was evident from the first hours of
fighting, however, that the exiles were likely to
lose. President Kennedy had the option of using
the U.S. Air Force against the Cubans but
decided against it. Consequently, the invasion
was stopped by Castro's army. By the time the
fighting ended on April 19, 90 exiles had been
killed and the rest had been taken as prisoners.
The failure of the invasion seriously embarrassed the young Kennedy administration. Some
critics blamed Kennedy for not giving it adequate support and others for allowing it to take
place at all. The captured exiles were later ransomed by private groups in the U.S.
Additionally, the invasion made Castro wary of the U.S. He was convinced that the Americans
would try to take over the island again. From the Bay of Pigs on, Castro had an increased fear
of a U.S. incursion on Cuban soil.
The Cuban Missile Crisis
The closest the world has come to nuclear war was the Cuban Missile Crisis of October
1962. The Soviets had installed nuclear missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles off the coast of the
United States. U.S. armed forces were at their highest state of readiness. Soviet field
commanders in Cuba were authorized to use tactical nuclear weapons if invaded by the
U.S. The fate of millions literally hinged upon the ability of two men, President John F.
Kennedy and Premier Nikita Khrushchev, to reach a compromise.
In 1962, the Soviet Union was desperately behind the United States in the arms race. Soviet
missiles were only powerful enough to be launched against Europe but U.S. missiles were
capable of striking the entire Soviet Union. In late April 1962, Soviet Premier Nikita
Khrushchev conceived the idea of placing intermediate-range missiles in Cuba. A deployment
in Cuba would double the Soviet strategic arsenal and provide a real deterrent to a potential
U.S. attack against the Soviet Union.
Meanwhile, Fidel Castro was looking for a way to defend his island nation from an attack by
the U.S. Ever since the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, Castro felt a second attack was
inevitable. Consequently, he approved of Khrushchev's plan to place missiles on the island. In
the summer of 1962 the Soviet Union worked quickly and secretly to build its missile
installations in Cuba.
8
For the United States, the crisis began on October
15, 1962 when reconnaissance photographs
revealed Soviet missiles under construction in
Cuba. Early the next day, President John
Kennedy was informed of the missile
installations. Kennedy immediately organized the
EX-COMM, a group of his twelve most
important advisors to handle the crisis. After
seven days of guarded and intense debate within
the upper echelons of government, Kennedy
concluded to impose a naval quarantine around
Cuba. He wished to prevent the arrival of more Soviet offensive weapons on the island. On
October 22, Kennedy announced the discovery of the missile installations to the public and his
decision to quarantine the island. He also proclaimed that any nuclear missile launched from
Cuba would be regarded as an attack on the United States by the Soviet Union and demanded
that the Soviets remove all of their offensive weapons from Cuba.
During the public phase of the Crisis, tensions began to build on both sides. Kennedy
eventually ordered low-level reconnaissance missions once every two hours. On the 25th
Kennedy pulled the quarantine line back and raised military readiness to DEFCON 2. Then on
the 26th EX-COMM heard from Khrushchev in an impassioned letter. He proposed removing
Soviet missiles and personnel if the U.S. would guarantee not to invade Cuba. October 27 was
the worst day of the crisis. A U-2 was shot down over Cuba and EX-COMM received a
second letter from Khrushchev demanding the removal of U.S. missiles in Turkey in exchange
for Soviet missiles in Cuba. Attorney General Robert Kennedy suggested ignoring the second
letter and contacted Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin to tell him of the U.S. agreement
with the first.
Tensions finally began to ease on October 28 when Khrushchev announced that he would
dismantle the installations and return the missiles to the Soviet Union, expressing his trust that
the United States would not invade Cuba. Further negotiations were held to implement the
October 28 agreement, including a United States demand that Soviet light bombers be
removed from Cuba, and specifying the exact form and conditions of United States assurances
not to invade Cuba.
9
The Cold War
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was built by the communist government of East Berlin 1961. The wall separated East
Berlin and West Berlin. It was built in order to prevent people from fleeing East Berlin. In many ways it
was the perfect symbol of the "Iron Curtain" that separated the democratic western countries and the
communist countries of Eastern Europe throughout the Cold War.
How it All Started
After World War II the country of Germany ended up dividing into two separate countries. East Germany
became a communist country under the control of the Soviet Union. At the same time West Germany was
a democratic country and allied with Britain, France, and the United States. The initial plan was that the
country would eventually be reunited, but this didn't happen for a long time.
The City of Berlin
Berlin was the capital of Germany. Even though it was located in the eastern half of the country, the city
was controlled by all four major powers; the Soviet Union, the United States, Britain, and France.
Defections
As people in East Germany began to realize that they did not want to live under the rule of the Soviet
Union and communism, they started to leave the eastern part of the country and move to the west. These
people were called defectors.
Over time more and more people left. The Soviet and East German leaders began to worry that they were
losing too many people. Over the course of the years 1949 to 1959, over 2 million people left the country.
In 1960 alone, around 230,000 people defected.
10
Although the East Germans tried to keep people from leaving, it was fairly easy for people to leave in the
city of Berlin because the inside of the city was controlled by all four major powers.
Building the Wall
Finally, the Soviets and the East German leaders had had enough. On August 12th and 13th of 1961 they
built a wall around Berlin to prevent people from leaving. At first the wall was just a barbed wire fence.
Later it would be rebuilt with concrete blocks 12 feet high and four feet wide.
The Wall is Torn Down
In 1987 President Ronald Reagan gave a speech in Berlin where he asked the leader of the Soviet Union,
Mikhail Gorbachev, to "Tear down this Wall!"
President Ronald Reagan giving speech
Around that time the Soviet Union was beginning to collapse. They were losing their hold on East
Germany. A few years later on November 9, 1989 the announcement was made. This meant the Cold War
was over. The borders were open and people could freely move between Eastern and Western Germany.
Much of the wall was torn down by people chipping away as they celebrated the end to a divided
Germany. On October 3, 1990 Germany was officially reunified into a single country.
11