Transcript The Cold War Era

1945-1960
 Essential
Question:
• How and why did America aid European nations
after WWII?
 ***During WWII, the
United States, the
Soviet Union and Great Britain worked out
plans for the organization of the postwar
world.***
The three most powerful men in the world met in
Yalta to discuss the fate of the postwar world.
President Roosevelt hoped to promote his vision of
postwar cooperation. Prime Minister Churchill
spoke elegantly and forcefully. Soviet leader Stalin
stubbornly opposed much of what was proposed.
Stalin stated to his aides: “they want to force us to
accept their plans on questions affection Europe
and the world. Well, that’s not going to happen!”
As the Allies discovered, Stalin had his own plans.
 quoted in Memoirs by Andrei Gromyko

 Soviet
efforts to spread communism led to
tension with the United States who wanted
to contain communism
• “Iron Curtain” – Winston Churchill’s description
of the division between communist Eastern
Europe and democratic Western Europe
• Truman Doctrine: pledged that US would fight
the spread of communism world wide
• Marshall Plan: US would give massive economic
aid to western European countries to weaken the
appeal of communism
 WWII
peace agreement divided
Germany into four occupation zones
• Soviet Union controlled eastern parts
• United States controlled western part
 Truman
believed a united Germany was
important to the future of Europe
 Stalin believed a united Germany was a
threat to the Soviet Union
 1948
– To keep out the US, Britain and
France, Stalin’s troops blockaded Berlin,
Germany
• Cut off supplies from 2.2 million people
 Berlin
Airlift: American and British planes
flew food and supplies into Berlin
 Stalin ended the blockade but Germany
remained divided
 Berlin
Crisis showed that the U.S. and
Soviets were locked in a cold war
• Each side built up military forces to
intimidate each other
 Communist
forces under Mao Zedong
ruled mainland China
• Soviet Union now had a very powerful ally
 The
Cold War heightened Americans’
fears about communism within American
society
• 1947 – Truman ordered an investigation of
the loyalty of all federal employees
• Blacklisted film stars suspected of disloyalty
• Suspected spies in the U.S. were prosecuted
• McCarthyism: Senator Joseph McCarthy used
unproved charges to discredit people – even
highly respected government officials
 Was
the Berlin Airlift successful? Why or
why not?
 Answer
the Essential Question: How and
why did America aid European nations
after WWII?
 Essential
Question:
• What economic, social and political challenges
did Americans face after WWII?
 After WWII, the
U.S. had to adjust its
economy to peace time life
• Industries shift to producing consumer goods
• Returning soldiers needed jobs
• Huge increase in demand for consumer
goods led to inflation
• Labor strikes broke out because prices rose
faster than wages
 President
Truman and Republican
controlled Congress disagreed over how to
solve the nation’s economic problems
• Truman and the Fair Deal: Wanted to increase
government spending to provide jobs and aid
• Republicans wanted to cut government spending
and limit the rights of workers to strike
• Republicans won by overturning presidential
vetoes

Truman staged an upset mostly winning support
from workers, African Americans and farmers
• Democrats grew in popularity

Truman’s Fair Deal
• Raised minimum wage and social security benefits
• Provided funds for housing for low-income families

Pushed for civil rights reforms
• Ordered an end to job discrimination among federal
agencies
• Ordered desegregation of the armed forces
 What
economic, social and political
challenges did Americans face after
WWII?
 Essential
Question:
• How and why did America involve itself in the
Korean conflict of the 1950s”
 After WWII, the
Soviet Union and U.S.
divided Korea
• Soviet Union set up communist government
in North Korea
• U.S. set up American backed government in
South Korea
 1950
– North Korean troops gained
control of most of South Korea
 U.S. under
the United Nations flag and
under command of General Douglas
MacArthur took back South Korea and
moved into North Korea
 Chinese communists saw this as a threat
and drove U.S. forces back to South Korea
 Truman
• Wanted to negotiate an end to the fighting
• Wanted to avoid larger war w/ Chinese
• Removed General MacArthur of his command in
1951
 MacArthur
• Wanted to drop atomic bombs on Chinese bases
to end war quickly
• Publically criticized President Truman
• “we must win, there is no substitute for victory”
 Cease
fire agreement signed in 1953
(Eisenhower)
 War ended with no victory and almost no
change in territory
• More than 36,000 Americans died
• More than 103,000 Americans wounded
• Almost 2 million Koreans and Chinese killed
 U.S. showed
the Soviets that it was willing
to use force to block the spread of
communism
 How
and why did America involve itself
in the Korean conflict of the 1950s?
 Essential
Question:
• How did the American prosperity of the 1950s
affect the country’s economy and culture?
 Election
of 1952 (Republican)
 Wanted to make government “smaller
rather than bigger”
 However, supported some federally
funded projects like more than 40,000
miles of highways that united the country
 Nuclear
Soviets
arms race between U.S. and
• Built more and more atomic warheads and
guided missiles that could destroy the other
side many times over
 Several
conflicts in the Middle East tested
the resolve of both sides to avoid war
 1955 – Eisenhower and Soviet leader
Nikita Khrushchev met in Geneva,
Switzerland to make peace
 1950s
economy grew rapidly
 Americans earned higher wages and
bought more consumer goods than ever
before
• Dishwashers, washing machines, tv’s, cars,
hula hoops, poodle skirts and pizza
 Baby
boom
 Television
• Main form of entertainment
• Source for news and information
 Rock ‘n’ roll
• Differing attitudes toward music and other
forms of entertainment between older and
younger generations (generation gap)
 Many
Americans did not share in the
prosperity of the 1950s
• New expensive technology hurt small
farmers
• More middle class families moving to
suburbs leaves urban poor behind
• Minority groups faced discrimination in
housing, employment and education
 Many
condemned American materialism
 Many condemned prosperous Americans
who ignored the urban and rural poor
 With society changing, women and
African Americans questioned their roles
as 2nd class citizens even more so than
before
 What
does it mean to say that America
was a consumer society in the 1950s?
 Answer
the Essential Question: How did
the America prosperity of the 1950s
affect the country’s economy and culture?