Doc. A - Yalta Conference, Plaschke, Chicago Tribune...
Transcript of Doc. A - Yalta Conference, Plaschke, Chicago Tribune...
Doc. A - Yalta Conference, Plaschke, Chicago Tribune American, 1945
The eight-day Yalta Conference was held under
extreme war-time secrecy at the Russian Crimean
coast resort at Yalta on the Black Sea. (February
1945) The conference defined the Allied powers'
policy towards Germany and gave the Soviets two-
fifths of pre-war Poland after England swore to
defend the country.
Doc. B - Excerpt from the "Marshall Plan" speech at Harvard University, 5 June 1947
“It is already evident that, before the United States Government can proceed much further in its efforts to
alleviate the situation and help start the European world on its way to recovery, there must be some agreement
among the countries of Europe as to the requirements of the situation and the part those countries themselves
will take in order to give proper effect to whatever action might be undertaken by this Government. It would be
neither fitting nor efficacious for this Government to undertake to draw up unilaterally a program designed to
place Europe on its feet economically. This is the business of the Europeans. The initiative, I think, must come
from Europe. The role of this country should consist of friendly aid in the drafting of a European program and of
later support of such a program so far as it may be practical for us to do so. The program should be a joint one,
agreed to by a number, if not all European nations.”
Doc C. – Operation Vittles, Berlin Airlift
Doc. D Herblock Political Cartoon of Joseph McCarthy Doc. E - Los Angeles Times Magazine – June 19th, 1953
Doc. F - Hollywood 10 Photograph, 1950
Doc. G. State Department Statement, May 7, 1960. – Response to U-2 Incident 1960
The Department has received the text of Mr. Krushchev's further remarks about the unarmed plane
which is reported to have been shot down in the Soviet Union. As previously announced, it was known that
a U-2 plane was missing. As a result of the inquiry ordered by the President it has been established that
insofar as the authorities in Washington are concerned there was no authorization for any such flight as
described by Mr. Khrushchev.
Nevertheless it appears that in endeavoring to obtain information now concealed behind the Iron
Curtain a flight over Soviet territory was probably undertaken by an unarmed civilian U-2 plane.
It is certainly no secret that, given the state of the world today, intelligence collection activities are
practiced by all countries, and postwar history certainly reveals that the Soviet Union has not been lagging
behind in this field.
The necessity for such activities as measures for legitimate national defense is enhanced by the
excessive secrecy practiced by the Soviet Union in contrast to the free world.
One of the things creating tension in the world today is apprehension over surprise attack with weapon
of mass destruction.
To reduce mutual suspicion and to give a measure of protection against surprise attack the United
States in 1955 offered its open-skies proposal - a proposal which was rejected out of hand by the Soviet
Union. It is in relation to the danger of surprise attack that planes of the type of unarmed civilian U-2
aircraft have made flights along the frontiers of the free world for the past 4 years.
Doc. H. Herblock’s Political Cartoon and HUAC’s Purpose
HUAC
In 1947 the committee’s purpose was
threefold:
First, it intended to prove that the
Screen Writer’s s guild had Communist
members.
Second, it hoped to show that these
writers were able to insert subversive
propaganda into Hollywood films.
Third, J. Parnell Thomas, head of the
committee, argued that President
Roosevelt had encouraged pro–Soviet
films during the war. Although none of
these claims was ever substantiated,
the committee’s tactics worked to force
many talented and creative people to
leave Hollywood.
Doc. I The Berlin Wall
Doc. J. Cuban Missile Crisis – An Excerpt from JFK’s Cuban Missile Crisis Address delivered on Oct.
22, 1962 and photographic evidence
from a U-2 Spy plan.
Good evening, my fellow citizens:
This Government, as promised, has
maintained the closest surveillance of
the Soviet military buildup on the
island of Cuba. Within the past week,
unmistakable evidence has
established the fact that a series of
offensive missile sites is now in
preparation on that imprisoned island.
The purpose of these bases can be
none other than to provide a nuclear
strike capability against the Western
Hemisphere. … The characteristics of these new
missile sites indicate two distinct
types of installations. Several of them
include medium range ballistic
missiles, capable of carrying a nuclear
warhead for a distance of more than 1,000 nautical miles. Each of these missiles, in short, is
capable of striking Washington, D. C., the Panama Canal, Cape Canaveral, Mexico City, or any
other city in the southeastern part of the United States, in Central America, or in the Caribbean
area. … The path we have chosen for the present is full of hazards, as all paths are; but it is the one most
consistent with our character and courage as a nation and our commitments around the world.
The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall
never choose, and that is the path of surrender or submission. Our goal is not the victory of might, but the vindication of right; not peace at the expense of
freedom, but both peace and freedom, here in this hemisphere, and, we hope, around the world.
God willing, that goal will be achieved. Thank you and good night.
Doc. K. - Timeline of Space Exploration
1957
Oct. 4 - USSR launches Sputnik 1.
Nov. 3 - USSR launches Sputnik 2 which carried a small dog named Laika into
orbit.
1958
Jan. 31 - Explorer 1, the first American satellite to reach orbit, is launched. It
carried scientific equipment that lead to the discovery of the Van Allen
radiation belt.
Oct. 1 - The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is
formed.
1959
Jan. 2 - Luna 1 is launched by the USSR. It is the first man-made object to
orbit the Sun.
Mar. 3 - Pioneer 4 is launched on an Earth-Moon trajectory. It passed within
37,000 miles of the Moon before falling into a solar orbit.
Oct. 4 - Luna 3 orbits the Moon and photographs 70% of its surface.
1960
Apr. 1 - Tiros 1, the first successful weather satellite, is launched.
Aug. 18 - The US launches Discoverer XIV, its first camera equipped spy
satellite.
1961
Apr. 12 - Yuri Gagarin orbits the Earth once and becomes the first man in space.
May 5 - Alan B. Shepard becomes the first American in space.
May 25 - President John F. Kennedy addresses Congress and challenges the
nation to go to the Moon before the end of the decade.
Dec. 7 - NASA announces the Gemini Program.
1962
Feb. 20 - John Glenn orbits the Earth three times.
1963
Jun. 16 - Cosmonaut Valentia Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space.
1964
Jul. 31 - Ranger 7 transmits the first close range images of the Moon.
1966
Apr. 3 - Luna 10 becomes the first satellite to orbit the Moon.
Aug. 14 - Lunar Orbiter 1 enters orbit around the Moon and takes the first picture
of the Earth from that distance.
Nov. 11 - Gemini 12, the last flight of the Gemini Program, launches with James
Lovell and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin aboard.
1969 Jul. 20 - Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin become the first men to
walk on the Moon while crewmate Michael Collins orbits around the
Moon alone.
Doc. L - Salt Treaty (1972) and Time Magazine Cover
Doc. M - Cover of Time Magazine and Excerpt from Ronald Reagan’s Tear Down This Wall Speech
"In the 1950s, Khrushchev predicted: 'We will bury you.' But in the West today, we see a free world that has achieved a level of prosperity and well-being unprecedented in all human history. In the Communist world, we see failure, technological backwardness, declining standards of health, even want of the most basic kind-
-too little food. Even today, the Soviet Union still cannot feed itself. After these four decades, then, there
stands before the entire world one great and inescapable conclusion: Freedom leads to prosperity. Freedom replaces the ancient hatreds among the nations with comity and peace. Freedom is the victor.
"And now the Soviets themselves may, in a limited way, be coming to understand the importance of freedom. We hear much from Moscow about a new policy of reform and openness. Some political prisoners have been released. Certain foreign news broadcasts are no longer being jammed. Some economic
enterprises have been permitted to operate with greater freedom from state control.
"Are these the beginnings of profound changes in the Soviet state? Or are they token gestures, intended to raise false hopes in the West, or to strengthen the Soviet system without
changing it? We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of
human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace.
"General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek
liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!'"