Transcript Chapter 26

Chapter 26
The Cold War Abroad and at Home
1945-1952
Introduction
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The onset of the Cold War
Its impact on American life at home
Impact on American foreign policy
“state of mutual hostility short of direct armed
confrontation”
– Developed as the U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. struggled to
shape the postwar world in a way that “served its
own national interests”
Introduction (cont.)
• 1.) How did President Truman’s and Soviet
leader Joseph Stalin’s policies contribute to
the Cold War?
• 2.) What was the containment policy, and how
did the U.S. govt. implement it between 1947
and 1952?
• 3.) Why did New Deal liberalism weaken after
WWII, and what effects did its decline have on
Truman’s administration?
Introduction (cont.)
• 4.) What caused the red scare following WWII,
and why did Americans become so frightened
of Communism?
• 5.) What impact did the Cold War have on civil
rights for African-Americans?
• 6.) What were the effects of the GI Bill of
Rights on the postwar economy and society?
The Political Setting, 1945-1946
• Demobilization and Reconversion
– The Truman administration rapidly demobilized the armed
forces
• Dropped from 12 million men in 1945 to 1.5 million by 1948
– Many veterans had trouble readjusting to civilian life
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severe housing shortages
disappearing defense plant jobs
reestablishing family bonds
Over a million marriages made during the War ended in divorce by
1950
Demobilization and Reconversion
(cont.)
• Women lost their wartime industrial jobs
• Told by society that they should find
fulfillment in marriage and motherhood
– Many followed that idea
– Others took new lower-paying jobs as office
workers and saleswomen
• By 1950--more women were in the paid labor
force than had been during WWII
The GI Bill of Rights
• Passed by Congress in 1944
• Also called the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act
• Reward men and women who fought for the
U.S.A. in WWII
• Help them adjust to civilian life
• Veterans Affairs Dept. history of GI Bill
The GI Bill of Rights (cont.)
• Provided returning GI’s with low-interest
govt.-backed loans
– Start their own business
– Buy homes or farms
• About 4 million veterans bought homes with their GI
loans
– Greatly stimulated the postwar construction industry,
economy, and suburbanization
The GI Bill of Rights (cont.)
• The govt. also offered to pay tuition and expenses for
4 years of college or professional training
– 8 million veterans accepted this offer
– By 1947--1/2 of the nation’s college students were GI Bill
veterans
– Enrollment soared
– Many new 2 and 4 year colleges were founded to meet the
demand
• A generation of working class Americans rose to the
middle class
The Economic Boom Begins
• By 1946, the U.S. economy was booming
• Money the govt. gave veterans for education, loans,
and businesses under the GI Bill stimulated growth
• U.S. was the strongest industrial nation in the world
• International Monetary Fund and World Bank
– The U.S. mainly controlled and funded
– Stabilized exchange rates
– Help to rebuild Asia and Europe
The Economic Boom Begins (cont.)
• Wartime advances in science and technology
made possible the development of new
industries
– Electronics
– Synthetic materials
• Consumes spent their war savings
– About $135 billion
– Bought homes, cars, electric appliances,
televisions
Truman’s Domestic Program
• Employment Act of 1946
– A program to ensure economic growth and employment
• Inflation soared
– Office of Price Administration was cut
• no longer were their price controls
• Prices escalated
• Strikes increased
– Workers demanded higher wages to keep up with the cost
of living
• Truman wavered between getting tough with strikers
and giving in to their demands
Truman’s Domestic Program (cont.)
• Shortages of housing and consumer goods continued
– Industries struggled to catch up with consumer purchases
• Americans blamed Truman for inflation, strikes, and
shortages
• 1946--elected Republicans as the majorities in
Congress
– 1st time since 1928
• Public uneasiness about the atomic arms race that
was starting
Anticommunism and Containment,
1946-1952
• Polarization and Cold War
– After WWI, U.S. and U.S.S.R. began to argue over
Eastern Europe
• Especially Poland
– Stalin insisted that friendly communist govts. must
be installed on the Soviet borders
• Secure Soviet Union from future attacks
– Stalin did not allow free election there
– Communist regimes came to power in Poland,
Bulgaria, and Romania
Polarization and Cold War (cont.)
• Pres. Truman would not accept Soviet
domination of Eastern Europe
– It violated the principles of national selfdetermination
• Truman believed that the spread of
communism threatened American economic
interests in Eastern Europe and elsewhere
The Iron Curtain Descends
• Stalin tightened his grip on Eastern Europe
• Truman=“get tough with the Russians”
• George F. Kennan
– State Department expert on U.S.S.R.
– Advised the U.S. should apply “long-term, patient,
but firm vigilant containment of Russian expansive
tendencies”
The Iron Curtain Descends (cont.)
• Winston Churchill
– Iron Curtain speech
– 1946
– Condemned Stalin’s behavior
– Called for an anticommunist alliance of the
English-speaking peoples
– History Channel video
– Iron Curtain speech transcript
The Iron Curtain Descends (cont.)
• Truman threatened to use U.S. naval and land
forces if Stalin did not withdraw his troops
from Iran and offered a nuclear arms control
plan that Russia rejected
• U.S. objected to a Soviet counter plan
• Both countries developed and stockpiled more
and more nuclear weapons
The Iron Curtain Descends (cont.)
• Cold War
– U.S. and U.S.S.R. both would use economic
pressure, nuclear threats, propaganda, and
subversion against each other
– They would not engage in direct military combat
Containing Communism
• March 1947
– Truman asked Congress for millions of dollars
– Help the Greek and Turkish govts. fight communist rebel
movements
– May 1947--Congress appropriated the $$$
• Truman Doctrine
– U.S. commitment to support peoples all over the world
who were threatened by Soviet aggression and/or internal
communist uprisings
– Truman Doctrine speech
Containing Communism (cont.)
• Marshall Plan
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Developed by Sec. of State George Marshall
U.S. assistance to rebuild European economies
$17 billion
Attempt to prevent the spread of Communism
By 1952, it had revived the Western European
economically
– Communist popularity waned
– American business boomed with increased sales in Europe
Confrontation in Germany
• 1947-1948=Stalin took over Hungary and
Czechoslovakia
• U.S.A., G.B., and France united their zones of
occupation in Germany into West Germany
– Include Western occupied parts of Berlin
• Berlin blockade
– Soviet reaction to unification
– Prevented all ground movement of goods and people
between West Germany and West Berlin
– Stalin hoped to halt the establishment of West Germany
– June 1948 to May 1949
– History Channel video--Berlin Blockade
Confrontation in Germany (cont.)
• Berlin Airlift
– Truman’s reaction to the blockade
– Truman told Stalin that if the Soviets shot down any supply
planes, the U.S. would retaliate with atomic bombs
– History Channel video--Berlin Airlift
• May 1949--Stalin ended the unsuccessful Berlin
blockade
• West German Federal Republic was formed
– Include West Berlin
Confrontation in Germany (cont.)
• North Atlantic Treaty Organization
– NATO
– Formed in April 1949
– 10 European nations, Canada, and the United
States
– Anticommunist military alliance
NATO nations today
Confrontation in Germany (cont.)
• The Soviets responded by:
– 1.) establishing the Germany Democratic Republic (East Germany)
– 2.) developed their own atomic bomb
– 3.) Warsaw Pact
• Military alliance of the Soviet Union and its satellite nations
Confrontation in Germany (cont.)
• The 2 superpowers divided Europe into rival
armed camps.
The Cold War in Asia
• Both superpowers wanted economic and military
influence in Asia
• The U.S.:
– helped rebuild Japan
• Structurally and economically
– Occupied much of Japan’s former Pacific island empire
– Crushed a communist movement in the Philippines
– Aided the French in their attempt to hold on to their
empire in Indochina
The Cold War in Asia (cont.)
• In China though, the
United States did not
prevent the
Nationalist govt. from
overthrow
– U.S. sent military and
economic aid
– Helped Jiang Jieshi
– Mao Zedong
overthrew Jieshi in
1949
– Communist nation
The Cold War in Asia (cont.)
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Hysteria started in the United States
Began a search for disloyal elements in the U.S.A.
Republicans blamed Truman for losing China
United States built the hydrogen bomb and increased
military spending
• Soviets built hydrogen bombs also
• Thermonuclear terror increased
The Korean War, 1950-1953
• In 1945--U.S.S.R. and the United States liberated
Korea from Japanese rule
• The Soviets set up a communist-governed nation
– People’s Democratic Republic of Korea
– North of the 38th parallel
• United States helped to create a pro-Western nation
– Republic of Korea
– South of the 38th parallel
The Korean War, 1950-1953
(cont.)
• Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea wanted
to reunited Koreans under
its rule
• Invaded South Korea in
1950
• Truman sent U.S. forces
under General Douglas
MacArthur to South Korea
to repel the invasion
– Did so without consent
from Congress
July 1950
The Korean War, 1950-1953 (cont.)
• The United Nations sent a token army to fight
under MacArthur
• U.S., U.N., and South Korean troops soon
pushed the North Koreans back to the 38th
parallel
• Truman and MacArthur decided to conquer
the North and put it under the control of the
South Korean govt.
The Korean War, 1950-1953 (cont.)
• MacArthur’s armies neared the Yalu River
• Mao Zedong warned that he would not “stand
idly by”
• MacArthur ignored the threat
• He was caught off guard by the 33 Chinese
divisions that forced his troops deep into
South Korea
October 1950
January 1951
The Korean War, 1950-1953 (cont.)
• 1951--MacArthur’s forces reached the 38th parallel
• Truman then ordered them to hold that position until
a peace settlement was reached
• MacArthur protested
– He wanted total victory by using atomic bombs against
China
– Truman removed MacArthur--April 1951
• MacArthur was put in charge of civilian control over the military
– History Channel speech--Truman
– History Channel speech--MacArthur
The Korean War, 1950-1953 (cont.)
• Truce came in 1953
• Border between the 2 Koreas was nearly the same as
in 1950
• U.S. lost 54,000 lives
• Cost $54 billion
• In 1953, the defense spending was 2/3 of the federal
budget
• In 1950 it was 1/3
• The U.S. also began aiding France against an
independence revolt in Indochina
• SEATO was created in 1954
– U.S., Australia, New Zealand, and other countries
The Truman Administration at
Home, 1945-1952
• The Eightieth Congress, 1947-1948
– Republican controlled
– Began to undo the New Deal
– Passed the Taft-Hartley Act
• Less favorable to unions than the Wagner Act
• Truman had vetoed it but Congress overrode the veto
– Truman courted liberal, labor, and Jewish votes for the
next election by:
• condemned the reactionary Congress
• Recognized the new state of Israel
The Politics of Civil Rights and the
Election of 1948
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President’s Committee on Civil Rights
1946
Set up by Truman
Investigate racism
Suggest ways to protect minorities
Congress should pass:
– Antilynching bill
– Anti-poll tax bill
– Other civil-rights bills
The Politics of Civil Rights and the
Election of 1948 (cont.)
• Southern Democrats resisted these possible changes
• Truman did not make any specific proposals
• 1948 Democratic National Convention
– Liberals and urban politicians forced the party to adopt a
strong civil-rights platform
– This allowed Truman to press for the measures
recommended by his civil-rights committee
• Southern Democrats founded the Dixiecrat Party
– Nominated Strom Thurmond for President
• Segregationist from SC
The Politics of Civil Rights and the
Election of 1948 (cont.)
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1948 election had 4 candidates:
Democrats--Truman
Republicans--Thomas Dewey
Dixiecrats--Thurmond
New Progressive Party--Henry Wallace
– Made up of left-wing Democrats
• Many believed Dewey would win easily
The Politics of Civil Rights and the
Election of 1948 (cont.)
• Truman secured the northern African-American vote:
• Issued executive orders against discrimination in
govt. employment and segregation in the armed
forces
• Truman received the support of northern AfricanAmericans and the Roosevelt New Deal coalition
– Gave Truman a close victory
– Wallace and Thurmond did not take enough of the
Democratic vote to make a difference
1948 Election
The Fair Deal
• Truman’s social and economic reforms
– Increase in the minimum wage
– Increase in social-security benefits
– Public-housing construction
– Removal of slums
• Conservation Southern Democrats and
Republicans blocked all civil-rights and most
Fail Deal measures
The Politics of Anticommunism
• Loyalty and Security
– Federal Employee Loyalty Program
• Established March 1947
• Truman formed after Republican accusations that he was not
protecting internal security
• Provided for checks on all govt. workers
• Remove out any disloyal personnel
– Between 1947-1951:
• more than 500 people were fired
• Thousands resigned
– Most because they espoused unpopular beliefs, not because they
had committed unlawful acts
The Anticommunist Crusade
• The loyalty program stimulated more fear of
subversion
• Magazines published stories about the “red” menace
• 39 states passed laws requiring their employees to
take loyalty oaths
• Teachers, union leaders, and public officials hesitated
to advocate reform
– Fear of being suspected of being procommunist
The Anticommunist Crusade (cont.)
• House Un-American Activities Committee
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HUAC
1947
Began hearings on communist influence
Witnesses who refused to testify about their own and
other people’s past political activities and views were cited
for contempt of Congress
• They lost their jobs
• Hollywood studios and radio networks blacklisted
employees they considered left-wing
The Anticommunist Crusade (cont.)
• The Truman administration prosecuted the
leaders of the Communist Party
– Conspiracy to preach the overthrow of the govt.
– The Supreme Court upheld the convictions
• The First Amendment freedoms may be restricted to
protect national security
• There were only 30,000 American Communist
• Any danger from them was minimal
Alger Hiss and the Rosenbergs
• Hiss worked in the
State Department
• 1950
• Accused of giving
classified documents
to the Soviets
• Convicted of perjury
for lying
Alger Hiss and the Rosenbergs
(cont.)
• Ethel and Julius
• Part of a spy ring that
had stolen atomic
secrets for the Soviets
• Found guilty of
conspiracy to commit
espionage
• Rosenbergs insisted
they were innocent
• sentenced to death
Alger Hiss and the Rosenbergs
(cont.)
• Republicans claimed
that the Hiss and
Rosenbergs cases
proved that the
Democratic
administration had
been made up of
communist traitors
McCarthyism
• Rep. Senator from WI
• Without supporting
evidence McCarthy
accused many public
officials of communist
activities or being
agents
– Democratic senators,
members of Truman
administration, and
other public officials
McCarthyism (cont.)
• He won a following among insecure and/or
discontented groups
• He frightened political leaders into rigid
anticommunist stances on complex issues
• McCarran Internal Security Act
– 1950
– Subversive Controls Act
– Communist had to register with the Attorney General
• McCarran-Walter Immigration and Nationality Act
– 1952
– Quota system
The Election of 1952
• Democrats--Adlai Stevenson
• Republicans--Dwight D. Eisenhower
• Eisenhower and the Republicans won easily
won the White House and Congress
– McCarthyist labeling of the Democrats as the
party of treason
– Stalemate in Korea
– Eisenhower’s pledge to go to Korea to end the war
Conclusion
• WWII was followed by a period of economic
boom
• GI Bill of Rights contributed to that prosperity
• Rose a generation of working-class veterans
into the middle class
• Millions of GI’s attended college, started
businesses, bought homes
Conclusion (cont.)
• The U.S.A. tried to contain communism
– Aid to Greece and Turkey
– Marshall Plan
– Berlin airlift
– Help create West Germany
– Organized NATO
– Fought the Korean War
Conclusion (cont.)
• Truman’s anticommunist rhetoric and govt. loyalty
program contributed to a red scare
– Silenced dissenters
– Weakened Democratic liberalism
• Republicans could not undo popular New Deal
programs, but they did block most Fair Deal
initiatives
• The election of 1952 ended the 1st phase of the
postwar era and 20 years of Democratic control of
the presidency