Transcript The Cold War [1945

The Cold War [1945-1991]:
An Ideological Struggle
Soviet &
Eastern Bloc
Nations
[“Iron Curtain”]
GOAL  spread worldwide Communism
METHODOLOGIES:
US & the
Western
Democracies
GOAL  “Containment”
of Communism & the
eventual collapse of the
Communist world.
[George Kennan]
1. Espionage [KGB vs. CIA]
2. Arms Race [nuclear escalation]
3. Ideological Competition for the minds and hearts
of Third World peoples [Communist govt. &
command economy vs. democratic govt. & capitalist
economy]  “proxy wars”
4. Bi-Polarization of Europe [NATO vs. Warsaw Pact]
The Division of Berlin
The Bipolarization of Europe
George Kennan [“X Article”]:
CONTAINMENT
Goals
Means
Actual Application
1. Restoration
of the balance
of power
Encouragement
of selfconfidence in
nations
threatened by
Soviet expansion.
Long-term
program of U.S.
economic
assistance
[Marshall Plan]
2. Reduction of
Soviet ability
to project
outside power.
Exploitation of
tensions in
international
communism.
Cooperation with
communist regimes;
[supporting Titoism
in Yugoslavia]
George Kennan [“X Article”]:
CONTAINMENT
Goals
Means
Actual Application
3. Modification
of the Soviet
concept of
international
relations.
Negotiating
settlement of
outstanding
differences.
Using “carrots &
sticks’;
containing
Germany with an
embrace and
Russia at arms
length.
National Defense Budget [1940-1964]
Korean War
[1950-1953]
Korean War
[1950-1953]
Kim Il-Sung
Syngman Rhee
“Domino Theory”
The Shifting Map of Korea
[1950-1953]
Taft-Hartley
• In 1947, the Conservative Congress passed
Taft-Hartley Act, a blow to labor
– Banned the “closed-shop”
– Made unions liable for damages in disputes among
themselves
– Union leaders ahd to sign a anti-communist oath
• Taft-Hartley was aimed to slow union growth,
especially in the growing South and Southwest
• In the 1950’s, union membership peaked, and
started a slow decline from that point forward
Government Policies to Help
Economy
• Employment Act of 1946
– Promote maximum employment, production, and
purchasing power
• Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 (G.I.
Bill)
– Send soldiers to school
• 8 million advanced education at Uncle Sam’s expense, 2
million of which went to schools of higher learning. 14.5
billion spent in total
– Veteran’s Administration (VA)
• 16 billion in loans to buy homes, farms, and small
businesses.
– GI Bill helped educate a workforce and spur a
rebound in the construction industry
The GI Bill
• Financed by the federal government, thousands of World War II
veterans crowded into college classrooms in the 1940s. Here a
fresh crop of ex-soldier students lays in supplies for the new term.
© Bettmann/ CORBIS
Economic Miracle
• Starting around 1950, the American
economy rebounded at astounding rates.
– 2 decades of growth
– In the 1950’s national income doubled
– In the 1960’s, it doubled again
– Americans, only 6% of the world population,
had an astonishing 40% of the world’s wealth
Middle Class America
• In the 1950’s 60% of Americans were
considered middle class. This allowed for the
consumer industry to flourish:
– 90% owned a TV
– Majority owned their own cars and washer machines
– By 1960, 60% of Americans owned their own homes
• Women Benefit
– Urban shops and offices allowed women to enter the
workforce, especially as the service sector of the
economy grew.
– But, their still was pressure for women to maintain the
traditional role of housewife and mother, but with the
increased opportunities in the workplace, this leads to
a clash and the feminist movement in the 60’s.
Coca• American
consumerism-Colonizing
the
and American
World
products--flooded
over the globe
after World War
II, as this 1950
cover from Time
magazine
illustrates.
©1950 Time, Inc./ Getty Images
National Defense Budget, 1940–2003
•
Gross national product (GNP) was used before 1960. It includes income
from overseas investment and excludes profits generated in the United
States but accruing to foreign accounts. Gross domestic product (GDP),
used thereafter, excludes overseas profits owed to American accounts
but includes the value of all items originating in the United States,
regardless of the destination of the profits. Until recent years those
factors made for negligible differences in the calculation of national and
Budget Office, Historical
and Statistical
Abstract
of the United States, relevant
domestic product,Sources:
but Congressional
most economists
now Tables,
prefer
the latter
approach.
years.
Distribution of Population Increase, 1950–2002
•
States with figures higher than 91 percent were growing faster than the
national average between 1950 and 2002. Note that much of the growth
was in the “Sunbelt,” a loose geographical concept, as some Deep South
states had very little population growth, whereas the mountain and
Pacific states were booming.
Copyright (c) Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.
Suburbia
• Rise of the Suburbs:
– Many middle class white Americans fled to the
Suburbs starting around 1950. Commonly known as
White Flight
– Government pl\policies also contributed to White
Flight
• FHA and VA house loans made it attractive to own in a
suburb as opposed to renting in the city
• Tax deductions for loan interest
• Government built highways made it accessible to live in
suburbs but work in the city.
• By 1960, 1 in 4 Americans lived in the suburbs and by 2000,
50%$ of all Americans lived in the suburbs.
Aerial View of the Onramps to a Typical New
Interstate Highway, 1950s
• The growth of cities and
the ever-increasing
number of cars on the
roads led dense
metropolitan areas to
re-envision traffic
management and, by
extension, greatly alter
the nature of the
American city.
Harold Lambert/ Getty Images
Drive-in Café in Los Angeles, the Mother and Model of All Suburbias
• Part of the rapidly growing automotive culture of 1950s
America, new destinations sprang up like drive-thru
restaurants, drive-in movies, roadside shopping malls,
and interstate-side motels for the new family vacation.
Slim Aarons/ Getty Images
Moving to the Suburbs
• After World War II,
Americans by the millions
moved to suburban housing
developments like this one.
Although criticized for their
architectural monotony and
cultural barrenness, the
suburbs provided
inexpensive and spacious
housing for growing families
seeking to escape the
crowded confines of the
cities.
J. R. Eyerman/ Time & Life Pictures/ Getty Images
Baby Boomers
• Decade and a half after 1945 saw a huge increase in the
birthrate.
– By end of the 1950’s, there was an astonishing 50 million new
babies born.
• Economically speaking, the baby boomers were
important.
–
–
–
–
Market for canned and baby foods and toys in the 1950’s
60’s spent billion of dollars on cloths, music, and other goods.
70’s, enter workforce and changing purchasing trends
80’s competed for jobs and started raising families, spurring
more spending.
– 90’s send children to school and start to see grandchildren,
creating more spending.
– Now, looking to retire and this has a burden on social security.
Breton Woods
• IN 1944, Western Allies met in Breton Woods,
New Hampshire
– Established the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to
encourage world trade by regulating currency
exchange rates.
– Founded the World Bank too. Goal was to promote
economic growth in war-ravaged and underdeveloped
areas.
– Unlike end of World War I, the U.S participated in
these worldwide organizations, and also financially
supported them .
United Nations
• Fifty nations and their representatives met in
San Francisco April 25, 1945 to fashion the UN
charter.
• Differed from League of Nations in many ways:
– Security Council developed (Great Britain, U.S.,
France, China, and USSR) and stated no action taken
against it without its approval.
– U.N. also had an Assembly that allowed small
countries to have power.
– Permanently housed in New York City.
– In early days, worked well in Kashmir and Iran.
– Former colonies got independence
– Helped create world organizations of UNESCO, FAO,
and WHO
– UN failed in terms of atomic bomb though
To?of
• AWhere
satirical view
the Truman
1947
Doctrine.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
•
The Marshall Plan Turns
The poster in this 1950 photograph in Berlin reads,
Friends
“Berlin Enemies
Rebuilt with Helpinto
from the
Marshall Plan.”
United States Foreign Aid,
• Military
Marshall Plan aid
swelledEconomic,
the outlay for Europe. Note
the
and
1945–
emphasis on the “developed” world, with relatively little aid going
to what are now called “Third
World” countries.
1954
Copyright (c) Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.
•
American Motor of the Latest
Type
In this Russian view, the conquering Truman uses U.S.
moneybags to induce dollar-hungry European nations to draw the
U.S. capitalistic chariot.
Soviet Magazine, Krokodil
•
Reaching Across the Atlantic
When the United States joined with the Western European
powers in in
the North
Atlantic Alliance, soon1948
to be called the North
Peacetime,
Atlantic Treaty Organization, it overcame its historic isolationism
in the wake of wars. By 1955 former enemy West Germany would
be admitted to NATO to help defend Western Europe against
Soviet aggression.
The Granger Collection
1948 Election
Truman for Democrats
Wallace for Progressives
Dewey for the Republicans
J. Strom Thurmond for State Rightists
1948 Election
• With Dewey in drivers seat with the Democratic
Party ruptured three ways and public opinion
polls in his favor, Truman took to the campaign
trail.
• Truman made over 300 give-em hell speeches:
– Spoke out against Taft-Hartley, Do-Nothing
republicans
– Whipped up support for civil rights programs,
improved labor benefits, and health insurance
– His speeches worked and on election night Truman
stole victory from Dewey.
1948 Election
Point Four and Fair Deal
• Point Four:
– Give financial aid and support to
underdeveloped countries to help them
prevent a rise in communism
– Basically the idea of giving money up front to
prevent communism so you did not have to
spend much more later shooting them.
– Helped impoverished areas of the world in
Latin America, Africa, Near and Far East.
Point Four and Fair Deal
• Fair Deal:
– Designed to do the following:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Increase minimum wage
Improve housing
Full employment
New TVA’s
Extension of Social Security
Better farm price supports
– But, a conservative Congress and lack of support
from Southern Democrats meant only minimum wage,
support for public housing (Housing Act of 1949), and
Social Security changed (Social Security Act of 1950)