Transcript of The American Pageant Chapter 36, The Cold War Begins, 1945-1952 Copyright © Houghton Mifflin...
- Slide 1
- The American Pageant Chapter 36, The Cold War Begins, 1945-1952
Copyright Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
- Slide 2
- Postwar Economic Anxieties Americans cheered the end of WWII in
1945 worried -- with the war over, the U.S. would sink back into
another Great Depression. When war ended: inflation shot up with
the release of price controls gross national product sank labor
strikes swept the nation.
- Slide 3
- Congress passed the Taft-Hartley Act outlawed closed shops
(closed to non- union members) Made unions liable for damages that
resulted from jurisdictional disputes among themselves required
that union leaders take non- communist oaths Opposite of the Wagner
Act of the New Deal act was a strike against labor unions. Postwar
Economic Anxieties
- Slide 4
- Trumans Administration in response: sold war factories and
other government installations to private businesses cheaply
Congress passed the Employment Act of 1946 made it government
policy to promote maximum employment, production, and purchasing
power and created the Council of Economic Advisors to provide the
president with data to make that policy a reality Postwar Economic
Anxieties
- Slide 5
- The Long Economic Boom, 1950-1970 late 1940s and into the
1960s: the economy began to boom tremendously People who had lived
during the Great Depression now wanted to bathe in the new
prosperity middle class doubles wanted two cars in every garage
over 90% of American families owned a TV Even though this new
affluence did not touch everyone, it did touch many.
- Slide 6
- The Roots of Postwar Prosperity Why was there postwar
prosperity? was the war itself that forced America to produce more
than itd ever imagined much of the prosperity of the 50s & 60s
rested on colossal military projects Korean War defense spending,
industries like: aerospace, plastics, and electronics, and research
and development R and D, research and development, became an
entirely new industry.
- Slide 7
- Workers upped their productivity tremendously Farmers did well,
too due to new technology in fertilizers, etc. In fact, the farming
population shrank while production soared. The Roots of Postwar
Prosperity
- Slide 8
- The Smiling Sunbelt (15 states grow) Dr. Benjamin Spocks The
Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care. Became the leading advice
book on childcare Immigration also led to the growth of a fifteen-
state region: Sunbelt: the southern of the U.S. dramatically
increased in population In fact, in the 1950s, California overtook
New York as the most populous state.
- Slide 9
- Immigrants came to the Sunbelt for more opportunitieslike CAs
electronics industry aerospace complexes of TX & FL Federal $
poured into Sunbelt (some $125 million) political power grew there
too ever since 1964, every U.S. president has come from that region
(except Obama). Sunbelters were redrawing the political map, taking
the economic & political power out of the North and Northeast.
The Smiling Sunbelt (15 states grow)
- Slide 10
- The Rush to the Suburbs Why did whites in cities flee to the
suburbs? encouraged by federal agencies such as the Federal Housing
Authority & the Veterans Administration loan guarantees made it
cheaper to live in suburbs than in cramped city apartments By 1960,
1: 4 Americans lived in the suburbs Innovators like the Levitt
brothers Created cheap housing plans built 1000s of houses in
projects like Levittown, White flight left cities full of the poor
& the Afr.-Am. Federal agencies aggravated this often refused
to make loans to Blacks due to the risk factor involved with
this.
- Slide 11
- The Postwar Baby Boom After the war, many soldiers returned
home & married, then had babies Created a Baby Boom that would
be felt for generations. As the children grew up collectively, they
put strains on respective markets manufacturers of baby products in
1940s and 50s teenage clothing designers in the 60s the job market
in the 70s & 80s. By around 2020, they will place enormous
strains on the Social Security system.
- Slide 12
- Truman: the Gutty Man from Missouri 1 st president in a long
time without a college education at first approached his burdens
with humility, gradually evolved into a confident, politician.
cabinet was made up of the old Missouri gang, Trumans friends from
when he was a senator in Missouri. Often, Truman would stick to a
wrong decision just to prove his decisiveness & power of
command. However, even if he was small on the small things, he was
big on the big things, taking responsibility very seriously and
working very hard.
- Slide 13
- Yalta: Bargain or Betrayal? Yalta Conference (February 1945)
final conference of the Big Three Stalin pledged that Poland should
have a representative govt with free elections, as would Bulgaria
& Romania Stalin broke those promises. Soviet Union agreed to
attack Japan 3 months after the fall of Germany by the time the
Soviets entered the Pacific war, U.S. was about to win anyway it
seemed that the U.S.S.R. had entered for the sake of taking spoils
Soviet Union was granted control of the Manchurian railroads &
received special privileges to Dairen & Port Arthur
- Slide 14
- The United States & the Soviet Union With the U.S.A. &
the U.S.S.R. = only world superpowers after WWII trouble seemed
imminent, why??? U S. had waited until 1933, to recognize the
U.S.S.R. U.S. & Britain delayed to open up a 2 nd front during
WWII U.S. & Britain had frozen the Soviets out of developing
nuclear arms U.S. had withdrawn its vital lend-lease program from
the U.S.S.R. in 1945 U.S. spurned Moscows plea for a $6 billion
reconstructive loan approved a similar $3.75 billion loan to
Berlin
- Slide 15
- Stalin wanted a protective sphere around western Russian,
why??? 2X earlier in the century Russia had been attacked from that
direction meant taking nations like Poland under its control. NOTE:
U.S. & U.S.S.R. = newcomers to the world stage were very
advanced had been isolationist before the 20th century, now found
themselves in a political stare-down that would turn into the Cold
War and last for four and a half decades. The United States &
the Soviet Union
- Slide 16
- Shaping the Postwar World U.S. did managed to establish
structures that were part of FDRs open world. Bretton Woods, New
Hampshire (1944) Western Allies established the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) to encourage world trade by regulating the
currency exchange rates. The United Nations opened on April 25,
1945. charter = similar to the old League of Nations formed a
Security Council headed by five permanent powers (China, U.S.S.R.,
Britain, France, and U.S.A.) had total veto powers headquartered in
New York City. The Senate overwhelmingly approved the U.N. by a
vote of 89 to 2.
- Slide 17
- U.N. kept peace in Kashmir & other trouble spots created
the new Jewish state of Israel formed such groups as: UNESCO (U.N.
Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) FAO (Food &
Agricultural Organization) WHO (World Health Organization) Shaping
the Postwar World
- Slide 18
- Baruch Plan (to deal w/ international cooperation in the
control of Atomic weapons) Submitted to the UN in 1946 US proposed
a system of international control relied on mandatory inspection
& supervision preserved American nuclear monopoly Failed to
maintain a U.S. monopoly on nuclear arms while preventing their
development by other nations signaled the beginning of a frenzied
nuclear arms race between the two superpowers the U.S. & the
Soviet Union. Shaping the Postwar World
- Slide 19
- The Problem of Germany Nuremberg Trials (1945-46) severely
punished 22 top culprits of the Holocaust. Economically healthy
Germany = important to the recovery of all of Europe, Soviets
feared another blitzkrieg, wanted huge reparations from Germany
Germany, like Austria, was divided into 4 occupational zones
controlled by the Allied Powers (minus China) the U.S. began
proposing the idea of a united Germany Western nations prevented
Stalin from getting his reparations from their parts of Germany
became obvious that Germany would remain indefinitely divided.
- Slide 20
- 1948--U.S.S.R. stopped all air & railway access to Berlin
***Berlin is located deep in East Germany, Believed this would
starve the Allies out, Berlin itself was divided into four zones as
well Allies organized the massive Berlin Airlift to feed the people
of Berlin May 1949--Soviets stopped their blockade of Berlin The
Problem of Germany
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- Germany Divided 1945: Germany had been divided into four zones
controlled by: Great Britain France United States USSR
- Slide 22
- Berlin Blockade Soviet blockade West Berlin Two million
Berliners depended on the Western Allies for all their food, fuel
and other needs
- Slide 23
- Berlin Airlift 4000 tons of supplies were needed every day
Airplanes surpassed goal and landed every 3 minutes at West Berlins
2 airports. At the peak of the airlift 13,000 tons landed in one
day continued for 11 months Success finally forced the Soviets to
lift the blockade in May 1949 West Berlin a symbol of resistance to
communism
- Slide 24
- Berlin Air Lift--German children watching American planes bring
food, 1948 German children watching an American plane in "Operation
Vittles" bring food and supplies to their beleaguered city. The
airlift kept a city of 2 million people alive for nearly a year and
made West Berlin a symbol of the West's resolve to contain the
spread of Soviet communism. ((c) Bettmann/Corbis) Berlin Air
Lift--German children watching American planes bring food, 1948
Copyright Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
- Slide 25
- Berlin Airlift: Outcome Western Allies formed independent West
German state Created a constitution West Germany = Federal Republic
of Germany Capital = Bonn East Germany = German Democratic Republic
Capital = Berlin
- Slide 26
- The Cold War Congeals 1946--Stalin used his troops to aid a
rebel movement in Iran Truman protested, Soviets backed down.
Truman soon adopted the containment policy crafted by Soviet
specialist George F. Kennan Dubbed the term containment in the Long
Telegram firm containment of Soviet expansion would halt Communist
power.
- Slide 27
- March 12, 1947: Truman requested that the containment policy be
put into action in what would come to be called the Truman
Doctrine: $400 million to help Greece and Turkey from falling into
communist power. basically, the doctrine said: U.S. would aid any
power fighting Communist aggression later criticized because the
U.S. would often give money to dictators fighting communism. The
Cold War Congeals
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- The Truman Doctrine & Containment I believe that it must be
the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are
resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside
pressures[We] must assist free peoples to work out their own
destiny in their own way.
- Slide 29
- In Western Europe, France, Italy, & Germany were still in
terrible shape Truman, with the help of Secretary of State George
C. Marshall, implemented the Marshall Plan, a miraculous recovery
effort that had Western Europe up & prosperous in no time. Not
only to help recovery, but to prevent communism taking hold. The
Cold War Congeals
- Slide 30
- Marshall Plan in action: helped in the forming of the European
Community (EC). sent $12.5 billion over 4 years to 16 cooperating
nations to aid in recovery at first, Congress didnt want to comply
especially when this sum = $2 billion U.S. was already giving to
European relief as part of the United Nations Relief and
Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) Then there was a
Soviet-sponsored coup that toppled the government of Czechoslovakia
Congressmen realized it was important and they passed the plan. The
Cold War Congeals
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- Truman also recognized Israel on its birthday, May 14, 1948
despite heavy Arab opposition despite the fact that those same
Arabs controlled the oil supplies in the Middle East. The Cold War
Congeals
- Slide 32
- America Begins to Rearm National Security Act (1947) created
the Department of Defense housed in the Pentagon headed by a new
cabinet position, the Secretary of Defense under which served
civilian secretaries of the army, navy, & air force. also
formed the National Security Council (NSC) advise the president on
security matters Also formed the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
coordinate the governments foreign fact- gathering (spying).
- Slide 33
- America Begins to Rearm North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) is formed in 1948 U.S. joined Britain, France, Belgium, the
Netherlands, and Luxembourg to form an alliance an attack on one
NATO member an attack on all despite the U.S.s policy of
traditionally not involving itself in entangling alliances. In
response, the U.S.S.R. formed the Warsaw Pact, its own alliance
system. NATOs membership grew to 14 with the 1952 admissions of
Greece & Turkey, and then to 15 when West Germany joined in
1955.
- Slide 34
- New Alliances NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization is
formed in 1948 Warsaw Pact (1955): formed by Soviets in response to
NATO
- Slide 35
- Reconstruction and Revolution in Asia General Douglas MacArthur
= head of reconstruction in Japan tried the top Japanese war
criminals dictated a constitution that was adopted in 1946
democratized Japan.
- Slide 36
- Reconstruction and Revolution in Asia China (1949) communist
forces, led by Mao Zedong, defeated the nationalist forces, led by
Chiang Kai-shek, who then fled to the island of Formosa (Taiwan)
Now 1/4 of the world population (500,000,000 people) = Communist
Critics of Truman Said he did not support the nationalists enough
but Chiang Kai-shek never had the support of the people to begin
with.
- Slide 37
- Reconstruction and Revolution in Asia September of 1949 Truman
announced that the Soviets had exploded their first atomic bomb = 3
years before experts thought it was possible Eliminated U.S.
monopoly on nuclear weapons NSC-68 A National Security Council
report that recommended the development of the H- Bomb U.S.
exploded the hydrogen bomb in 1952, Soviets did too a year later
The dangerous arms race of the Cold War began The image above shows
the Soviet press release photograph of their first atomic bomb
(1949).
- Slide 38
- Ferreting Out Alleged Communists Loyalty Review Board: Led an
anti-red chase investigated more than 3 million federal employees.
The attorney general also made a list of 90 organizations that were
potentially not loyal to the U.S. none was given the opportunity to
defend itself
- Slide 39
- 1949: 11 communists were brought to a New York jury for
violating the Smith Act of 1940, = the first peacetime
anti-sedition law since 1798 were convicted, sent to prison their
conviction was upheld by the 1951 case Dennis v. United States.
Ferreting Out Alleged Communists
- Slide 40
- HUAC: House of Representatives established the Committee on Un-
American Activities (HUAC) 1938 to investigate subversion, and in
1948 committee member Richard M. Nixon prosecuted Alger Hiss Early
1950--State Department official, was convicted of perjury for lying
about his Communist affiliations his trial & conviction lent
credibility to the paranoia about a Communist conspiracy
contributed to the rise of Senator Joseph McCarthy case was
prosecuted by Richard Nixon Recently released evidence from Soviet
archives has helped harden the case against Hiss, the question of
his guilt continues to be a contentious one among historians &
journalists Ferreting Out Alleged Communists
- Slide 41
- February 1950: Joseph R. McCarthy burst upon the scene,
charging that there were scores of unknown communists in the State
Department. He couldnt prove it many American began to fear that
this red chase was going too far how could there be freedom of
speech if saying communist ideas got one arrested? Ferreting Out
Alleged Communists
- Slide 42
- Hisss conviction led to the rise of Senator Joseph McCarthy
McCarthys accusations: I have here in my hand a list of the names
of 205 men that were known to the Secretary of State as being
members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still
working and shaping the policy of the State Department. He later
reduced his list to 57, then to one policy risk.
- Slide 43
- An embarrassment to the Democrats McCarthys accusations of
subversion in the govt were meant to embarrass the Democrats
critics who disagreed with him were charged with being soft on
communism. Fall of McCarthy McCarthys support declined with the end
of the Korean War, the death of Stalin, & when his hearings as
he investigated subversion in the U.S. Army were televised
revealing his smear tactics to the public. The Senate voted 67 to
22 to censure McCarthy for unbecoming conduct He died 3 years later
of alcohol-related illness Ferreting Out Alleged Communists
- Slide 44
- Soviet success of developing nuclear bombs so easily was
probably due to spies 1951, Julius & Ethel Rosenberg were
brought to trial, convicted, & executed for selling nuclear
secrets to the Russians. Their sensational trial, electrocution,
and sympathy for their two children began to sober America zeal in
red hunting. McCarthy failed to identify a single Communist in
government, but cases like Hisss & the 1951 espionage trial of
Julius & Ethel Rosenberg lent weight to McCarthys
allegations.
- Slide 45
- Democratic Divisions in 1948 1946: Republicans win control of
the House Election of 1948 Republicans nominate Thomas E. Dewey to
Democrats choose Truman again when war-hero Dwight D. Eisenhower
refused to be chosen Trumans nomination split the Democratic Party
Southern Democrats (Dixiecrats) nominated Governor J. Strom
Thurmond of South Carolina on a States Rights Party ticket.
- Slide 46
- Democratic Divisions in 1948
- Slide 47
- At home, Truman outlined a sweeping Fair Deal program called
for improved housing full employment Higher minimum wage better
farm price supports a new Tennessee Valley Authority an extension
of Social Security.
- Slide 48
- Democratic Divisions in 1948 Interest group opposition
activities of certain interest groups blocked helped to block
support for the Fair Deals plan for enlarged federal responsibility
for economic & social welfare. Southern conservatives the
American Medical Association (socialized medicine) & business
lobbyists The Korean War took funding away from social welfare
programs only successes came raising the minimum wage providing for
public housing in the Housing Act of 1949 Extending old-age
insurance to more beneficiaries with the Social Security Act of
1950.
- Slide 49
- The Korean Volcano Erupts (1950) Background: When Russian &
American forces withdrew from Korea, they left the Korea full of
weapons and with rival regimes (communist North and democratic
South) 38 th Parallel Korea was divided at the thirty-eighth
parallel into competing spheres of influence. The Soviets supported
a Communist government, led by Kim Il Sung, in North Korea U.S.
backed a Korean nationalist, Syngman Rhee, in South Korea. Then, on
June 25, 1950, North Korean forces suddenly invaded South Korea
Surprised South Korea and pushing them dangerously south toward
Pusan
- Slide 50
- Truman sprang to action remembering that the League of Nations
had failed from inactivity ordered U.S. military spending to be 4X
as desired by the National Security Council Memorandum Number 68,
or NSC-68. also used a Soviet absence from the U.N. to label North
Korea as an aggressor and send U.N. troops to fight against the
aggressors Truman asked the United Nations Security Council to
authorize a police action against the invaders. A military action,
undertaken without a formal declaration of war, by regular armed
forces agst. perceived violators of international peace. This term
was applied to the participation of UN authorized troops in the
Korean War agst communist North Korea ordered General MacArthurs
Japan-based troops to Korea. The Korean Volcano Erupts (1950)
- Slide 51
- Slide 52
- The Military Seesaw in Korea General MacArthur landed a
brilliant invasion behind enemy forces at Inchon on September 15,
1950 drove the North Koreans back across the 38th parallel, towards
China & the Yalu River. overconfident he boasted that hed have
the boys home by Christmas, but in November 1950, Chinese
volunteers flooded across the border & pushed the South Koreans
back to the 38th parallel.
- Slide 53
- MacArthur = humiliated wanted to blockade China & bomb
Manchuria, Truman didnt want to enlarge the war beyond necessity
MacArthur began to publicly criticize President Truman and spoke of
using atomic weapons had no choice but to remove him from command
on grounds of insubordination. MacArthur returned to cheers while
Truman was scorned as a pig, an imbecile, an appeaser to communist
Russia and China, and a Judas. In July 1951, truce discussions
began but immediately snagged over the issue of prisoner exchange.
Talks dragged on for 2 more years as men continued to die. The
Military Seesaw in Korea
- Slide 54
- Churchill and Truman, "Iron Curtain Speech," March 5, 1946 On
March 5, 1946, former British prime minister Winston S. Churchill
(1874 1965) delivered a speech, which he intended for a worldwide
audience, at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. President
Harry S. Truman (right) had encouraged Churchill (seated) to speak
on two themes: the need to block Soviet expansion and the need to
form the Anglo-American partnership. Always eloquent and
provocative, Churchill denounced the Soviets for drawing an "iron
curtain" across eastern Europe. This speech became one of the
landmark statements of the Cold War. (Harry S. Truman Library)
Churchill and Truman, "Iron Curtain Speech," March 5, 1946
Copyright Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
- Slide 55
- Couple looking at house In postwar America, millions of
families shopped for new houses in the country's burgeoning
suburbs. In the first decade after the Second World War, 4.3
million veterans used GI Bill loan provisions to purchase single-
family residences. Many of these men and women were members of what
Tom Brokaw, NBC's news anchor, has called "the greatest
generation." They survived the Great Depression, served in the war,
and became parents of America's baby boomers. (H. Armstrong
Roberts) Couple looking at house Copyright Houghton Mifflin
Company. All rights reserved.
- Slide 56
- Girl in front of dome atomic bomb shelter As the Cold War
intensified and the Soviets became a nuclear power, the government
began to consider methods to survive a nuclear war. One "solution"
was to encourage people to build backyard bomb shelters. Pictured
here is one family's atomic bomb shelter that slept six. The cost
was $1,250 in 1951. (Corbis-Bettmann) Girl in front of dome atomic
bomb shelter Copyright Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights
reserved.
- Slide 57
- Korean War The Korean War was one of ebb and flow, advances and
retreats--the movement of troops up and down the rugged Korean
peninsula. Here, American troops advance while Korean women and
children march in the opposite direction hoping to avoid the
destruction of war. Over 33,000 Americans lost their lives in Korea
during the conflict. (Corbis-Bettmann) Korean War Copyright
Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
- Slide 58
- MacDonald, Weizmann, and Ben-Gurion America's first ambassador
to Israel, James G. MacDonald (1886-1964) (left) meets in 1948 with
Israel's President Chaim Weizmann (1874-1952) (right). The
historian Michelle Mart has written that "Jews in the postwar world
first symbolized a complete lack of masculinity for their role as
victims and then masculine resurgence in their survival and
construction of a new state"--a change in the image that
conditioned American leaders to respect the new Israeli leaders.
(National Archives) MacDonald, Weizmann, and Ben-Gurion Copyright
Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
- Slide 59
- Marshall Plan poster of ship The goal of the Marshall Plan was
to provide American economic support for the rebuilding of Europe's
economy. By the time the plan ended, the United States had provided
over $12.5 billion dollars to those European nations participating
in the European Recovery Program. This poster demonstrated that
with cooperation, Europe would soon be moving forward again.
(Courtesy of George C. Marshall Foundation) Marshall Plan poster of
ship Copyright Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
- Slide 60
- New West: Wing production on the Boeing B-52 assembly line,
Seattle, 1950s Symbolic of the defense spending and investment that
helped the West's economy flourish, Seattle's Boeing plant in 1951
began production of the first of the B-52 Stratofortress heavy
bombers. They would continue rolling off the Boeing assembly line
until the end of the decade. (Courtesy Boeing Defense & Space
Group) New West: Wing production on the Boeing B-52 assembly line,
Seattle, 1950s Copyright Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights
reserved.
- Slide 61
- Soldiers of 11th Airborne Division watch atomic bomb explosion,
1951 tests in Nevada Soldiers of the 11th Airborne Division watch
as an atomic explosion mushrooms into the sky during 1951 testing
maneuvers in Nevada. ((c) Bettmann/Corbis) Soldiers of 11th
Airborne Division watch atomic bomb explosion, 1951 tests in Nevada
Copyright Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
- Slide 62
- Truman with "Dewey Defeats Truman" headlines, 1948 So few
pollsters predicted that President Harry S. Truman (18841972) would
win the 1948 presidential election that the Chicago Tribune
announced his defeat before all the returns were in. Here a
victorious Truman pokes fun at the newspaper for its premature
headline. (Corbis-Bettmann) Truman with "Dewey Defeats Truman"
headlines, 1948 Copyright Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights
reserved.
- Slide 63
- Communist hysteria in the media: Red Menace poster Although
Hollywood generally avoided overtly political films, it released a
few dozen explicitly anticommunist films in the postwar era.
Depicting American communists as vicious hypocrites, if not
hardened criminals, Hollywood's Cold War movies, like its
blacklist, were an effort to protect its imperiled public image
after HUAC's widely publicized investigation of the movie industry.
(The Michael Barson Collection/Past Perfect) Communist hysteria in
the media: Red Menace poster Copyright Houghton Mifflin Company.
All rights reserved.