Transcript Unit 8: The Cold War

Unit 8: The Cold War
1945-1960
Topics
Part A:
• Early Cold War (1945-1960)
• The Second Red Scare
• Korean War
• American Culture
Part B:
• Vietnam
• Civil Rights
Cold War
• After WWII, the US & Soviet Union (USSR)
became hostile towards each other.
• An era of confrontation and competition
between the two nations that lasted until
1990.
• Communism vs. Democracy
• Socialism vs. Capitalism (Free Enterprise)
Yalta Conference
• A meeting between US, G. Britain & Soviet
Union in Feb. 1945
• Give back Poland
• Divide Germany into 4 zones: US, GB, USSR &
France control a zone each.
– Capital city, Berlin, would be divided, even though
it’s in the Soviet zone.
• Germany had to pay reparations in trade
goods and not cash.
Potsdam Conference
• July 1945, a meeting between Truman and
Stalin about Germany.
• Stalin wants Germany to pay heavy
reparations.
• Truman offers German industrial goods.
– Stalin doesn’t like this, demands more.
• Truman informed Stalin of successful atomic
bomb test.
– An attempt to bully Stalin to agree on terms.
The Iron Curtain
• Term coined in speech by Churchill
• Nations under Soviet controlled had to abide
by Soviet rule/gov.
– Eastern European countries under Soviet control
are called Satellite Nations.
• The Iron Curtain separated Communist
Eastern Europe from Western Europe.
• The Cold War Era had begun, 1946
Containing Communism
• George Kennan- US diplomat to Soviet Union,
explained US plan of Communism
– “a long-term, patient but firm and vigilant
containment of Russian expansive tendencies.”
• Containment- keeping communism within its
present territory through the use of diplomatic,
economic, and military actions.
– *Foundation of entire U.S. foreign policy for entire
Cold War.
The Truman Doctrine
• Communists began fighting and spreading
communism in Greece & Turkey.
– Britain tried to fight it off, ran out of money.
• President Truman asked Congress for $400
million to stop Communism from spreading.
– Marks the beginning of US pledge to fight
communism worldwide.
The Marshall Plan
• European economy in shambles after war.
– Communism looks like a good idea
• George Marshall believes that by U.S. giving
aid to rebuild economies in Europe would help
contain the spread of communism.
– $17 billion was spent on supplies, machinery and
food. (1948-1952)
Cont…
• Marshall Plan was successful:
– Economic recovery for European countries
– Helped stop spread of communism in Western
Europe
– Helped U.S. economy as well
The Berlin Airlift
• Berlin is split in half
– East  Soviet Union. West  US, Britain, Fr.
• Soviet troops cut off all supplies to Berlin.
• U.S. used cargo planes to air drop over 2
millions tons of food, medicine, clothing and
other supplies.
• It last for 11 months. June, 1948-May 1949
Election of 1948
• Harry Truman wins, wants to extend New Deal
policies, he calls Fair Deal.
– Raise minimum wage and extend Social Security
– Federal aid to K-12 education
– Expand Civil Rights legislation
– National Health Care Plan
– *Only minimum wage and Social Security
extension passed.
NATO
• North Atlantic Treaty Organization- a mutual
defense alliance created in 1949 between 12
countries.
– If Soviet Union attacked any of the 12, they would
aid attacked country.
– West Germany was allowed arms in 1955 and
joined NATO.
• Soviet Union felt threatened, created the
Warsaw Pact.
Communism Spreads
• Mao Zedong- leads
communist forces in China.
• US spends $2 Billion to stop
spread in China.
• October 1949, The People’s
Republic of China is
created.
• Soviet Union & China sign
treaty of friendship
The Korean War
(1950-1953)
• After WWII, US and USSR enter Korea to
disarm Japanese troops.
• Korea is divided at the 38th Parallel.
– Soviets control North, America controls South
• Disputes over which gov. controlled Korea.
June 25, 1950, North Korean soldiers invade
South Korea.
– Soviets supplied weapons to the North.
cont…
• President Truman bent on containing
communism sends Douglas MacArthur to
push back N. Korean troops.
• MacArthur invades from behind N. Korean
lines and pushes them back past the 38th
parallel and up to the border of China.
Change of Pace
• China gets scared that US & UN forces will invade.
They send troops to help push back forces to the
38th parallel.
• MacArthur asks Pres. Truman for more troops
and to use atomic weapons on China.
• Truman says no and fires MacArthur for
comments he made about the president being
weak.
• Truman wanted to keep Korea a limited war- a
war fought to achieve a limited objective, such as
containing communism.
Changes in Policy
• 33,000 American soldiers died in battle, another
20,000 died from disease or accidents.
• US will now use any means to contain
communism, financially or with military force.
• Defense agreements were signed with Japan,
Taiwan, the Philippines, & Australia.
• America began giving aid to French forces
fighting Communist guerillas in Vietnam.
A New Red Scare
• Americans began to fear that Communists
were trying to take over US Govt.
– Known as subversion- the effort to secretly
weaken a society and overthrow its gov.
• HUAC- The House Un-American Activities
Committee. Formed in 1938 to investigate
Communist and Fascist activities in America.
Joseph McCarthy
• Senator from Wisconsin.
• In 1950 speech, claimed he
had a list of over 200 people
in the State Department that
were members of the
Communist party.
• He never had a list of names.
• He played on people’s fears of
communism spreading to US
gov.
McCarthyism
• 1952, McCarthy accuses many politicians of
being communists.
• He used a tactic of asking a series of question,
never let the person finish their answer and
never accepted the answer.
– With no clear answer, person on trial was
considered guilty.
Alger Hiss
• Worked in Roosevelt
Administration from 19351945.
• Accused of giving out secret
documents and a member
of the Communist Party.
• Under an investigation with
HUAC, he was found guilty
of perjury- lying to a judge
under oath.
The Rosenbergs
• Julius & Ethel
Rosenberg- accused of
selling atomic secrets
to Soviet Union and
heading a Communist
Party spy ring.
• They were executed in
1953 for espionage,
spying.
Facing the Bomb
• Soviets tested A-Bomb in 1949.
• Soviets in 1953 tested Hydrogen Bomb, more
powerful than A-Bomb.
• Americans prepared for a Soviet attack.
– “Duck-and-cover”
• If the blast didn’t kill you, fallout would,
radiation left over from the blast.
• Americans built fallout shelters, bunkers, to
protect them from radiation.
– Stocked them with canned foods.
Eisenhower’s Politics
• WWII hero, wins 1952 Presidential election.
• Believed US could not contain communism
fighting small wars.
• Massive Retaliation- use nuclear weapons if a
communist nation tried to seize territory by
force.
• Increases, nuclear arsenal from 1,000 in 1953
to 18,000 in 1961.
Eisenhower Wins!
• “I like Ike!”- Catch phrase for 1952 election.
• Dynamic Conservatism- policy of balancing
economic conservatism with some activism.
• Federal Highway Act- passed in 1956, $25
billion for a 10 year effort to build 40,000 miles
of interstate highway.
Dynamic Conservatism
Goals
• Reduction in size of gov.
• Balance budget
• Cut taxes & spending
Reality
• Gov. grew
• Some balanced, not all
• Income taxes &
spending were cut by
10%, but spending
began to increase
John Foster Dulles
• Secretary of State
• Brinkmanship- the
willingness to go to the
brink of war to force the
other side to back
down.
Russians in Space
• Oct. 4, 1957, Russia launches Sputnik into
outer space, the first artificial satellite.
• Americans believed Russia will attack from
space.
• NASA- The National Aeronautics and Space
Administration is created to research rocket
science technology.
– America falling behind Russian missile tech.
– Protect America from Russian space attacks.
Fighting Communism Covertly
• To prevent Communist uprisings in other
countries, Eisenhower used covert, or
secret, operations by the Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA).
• Goal in the 1950s:
– Overthrow anti-American leaders in foreign
countries.
– Replace with pro-American leaders.
Continuing Tensions
• Nikita Khrushchev is the new
Soviet Union leader in 1956.
• Demanded US, G. Britain, and
France remove troops from
West Berlin.
• John Foster Dulles threatened
to use NATO.
– Khrushchev backed down.
cont…
• The leaders of the two countries called for a
meeting called a summit in 1960.
– Eisenhower and Khrushchev would discuss how to
improve relations.
• Before the summit, a US spy plane piloted by
Francis Gary Powers was shot down over Soviet
lands.
– Made matters worse.
• Eisenhower would leave office in 1961.
Life After the War
• The economy in the US boomed after WWII.
• GI Bill- (official name Servicemen’s
Readjustment Act 1944) provided generous
loans to veterans to help them establish
businesses, buy homes, and attend college.
• More goods were demanded, more labor hours.
– Workers want more pay
Changing Labor Laws
• In order to stop strikes from unions, Congress
passed the Taft-Hartley Act.
• Taft-Hartley Act- outlawed closed shops (the
practice of forcing businesses to hire only union
members).
– Right-to-work laws- outlawed union shops (requiring
new workers to join the union).
– Prohibited featherbedding- the practice of limiting
work output in order to create more jobs.
The Spread of Wealth
• By 1956, jobs in all aspects of the markets and
industry were occupied by veterans.
• White collar workers, such as those in sales
and management, outnumbered the blue
collar workers, the people who perform
physical labor in industry.
Expanding Business
• 1950s saw the rise of multinational
corporations- large corps with overseas
investments.
– Located near important raw materials
– Cheaper labor pool  offer lower prices on
good more competitive. Capitalism!
• 1950s saw the rise of Franchises- a person
owns and runs one or several stores of a chain
operation.
The Growth of Families
• Suburbs began to grow across the nation.
• Levittown in NY was one of the earliest
suburbs.
– New suburbs went up to provide housing for new
families.
• Baby Boom- 1945-1961, more than 61 million
babies were born in US.
Curing a Disease
• A polio epidemic swept the nation in the
1950s.
– Known as infantile paralysis because young children
could easily catch the disease.
• Most died, if not, confined to an “iron lung”
– Once recovered, paralyzed for the rest of life.
Jonas Salk
• A research scientist that
developed an injectable
vaccine that prevented
polio.
• 1955, the vaccine was
proven safe.
• Polio has been nearly
wiped from existence since.
Popular Culture
• By the end of the 1950s, TV sets were cheap &
in almost all American homes.
• Very few channels.
• Offered news, comedy, action, and game
programs.
• Radio programs were converted into TV
shows.
– Ex. The Lone Ranger