Chapter 30: 1945-1956Postwar Period, Cold War, Korean War

GI Bill of Rights

Gave veterans an education.Severe housing shortage in U.S.Suburbs- small residential communities outside of cities.Women are going to take on the traditional role at home.Men will “bring home the bacon.”

National Security Act

1947Reorganized the military3 Branches- Army, Navy, & Air Force were brought under a new executive department (Dept. of Defense)Formed National Security Council

CIACentral Intelligence AgencyUses spies to gather info.Covert operations to weaken or overthrow gov’ts that are enemies of U.S.CIA helped the Shah return to power in Iran and create a dictatorship in Guatemala.

REDEFINING THE FAMILYA return to traditional roles after the war was the normMen were expected to work, while women were expected to stay home and care for the childrenConflict emerged as many women wanted to stay in the workforceDivorce rates surged

REMARKABLE ECONOMIC RECOVERY

Experts who predicted a postwar depression were proved wrongFailed to consider the $135 billion in savings Americans had accumulated from defense work, service pay, and investments in war bondsAmericans were ready to buy consumer goods

DESPITE GROWTH, ISSUES PERSIST

One persistent postwar issue involved labor strikesIn 1946 alone, 4.5 million unhappy workers, including Steelworkers, coal miners and railroad workers went on strike

TRUMAN TOUGH ON STRIKERS

Truman refused to let strikes cripple the nationHe threatened to draft the striking workers & then order them as soldiers to return to workStrategy worked as strikers returned to their jobs

Truman and Civil Rights

A wave of racial violence erupted in the South after WWII.He created the President’s Commission on Civil Rights.Truman wanted antilynching laws, a ban on poll taxes, and a civil rights commission.Congress refused to pass the measures.

SOCIAL UNREST PERSISTS

African Americans felt they deserved equal rights, especially after hundreds of thousands served in WWIITruman took action in 1948 by desegregating the armed forcesAdditionally, Truman ordered an end to discrimination in the hiring of governmental employees

THE 1948 ELECTION

The Democrats nominated President Truman in 1948 The Republicans nominated New York Governor Thomas Dewey Polls showed Dewey held a comfortable lead going into election day

Dewey

TRUMAN WINS IN A STUNNING UPSET

Truman’s “Give ‘em hell, Harry” campaign workedTruman won a very close race against Dewey

Truman holds a now infamous Chicago Tribune announcing (incorrectly)

Dewey’s victory

To protest Truman’s emphasis on Civil Rights, the South opted to run a third candidate, South Carolina

Governor Strum Thurmond

COLD WAR CONFLICTS

U.S vs. U.S.S.R.

ORIGINS OF THE COLD WAR

After being Allies during WWII, the U.S. and U.S.S.R. soon viewed each other with suspicionPolitical differences created a climate of icy tension that plunged the two countries into an era of bitter rivalry known as the Cold WarThe Cold War would dominate

global affairs from 1945 until the breakup of the USSR in

1991

POLITICAL POLITICAL DIFFERENCESDIFFERENCES

At the heart of the tension was a fundamental difference in political systems America is a democracy that has a capitalist economic system, free elections and competing political partiesIn the U.S.S.R., the sole political party – the Communists – established a totalitarian regime with little or no rights for the citizens Soviets viewed Marx, Engels

and Lenin as founders of Communism

SUSPICIONS DEVELOPED DURING THE WAR

Even during the war, the two nations disagreed on many issuesThe U.S. was furious that Soviet leader Joseph Stalin had been an ally of Hitler for a timeStalin was upset that the U.S. had kept its development of the atomic bomb a secret

ISSUES

THE UNITED NATIONS PROVIDES HOPE

Hopes for world peace were high at the end of the warMost visible symbol of these hopes was the United Nations (U.N.)Formed in June of 1945, the U.N. was composed of 50 nations Unfortunately, the U.N. soon became a forum for competing superpowers to spread their influence over others

The United Nations today has 191

member countries

SOVIETS DOMINATE EASTERN EUROPE

The Soviet Union suffered an estimated 20 million WWII deaths, half of whom were civilianAs a result they felt justified in their claim to Eastern EuropeThey felt they needed Eastern Europe as a buffer against future German aggression

STALIN INSTALLS PUPPET GOVERNMENTS

Stalin installed “satellite” communist governments in the Eastern European countries of Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia and East GermanyThis after promising “free elections” for Eastern Europe at the Yalta Conference

In a 1946 speech, Stalin said communism and capitalism were

incompatible – and another war was inevitable

U.S. ESTABLISHES A POLICY OF CONTAINMENT

Faced with the Soviet threat, Truman decided it was time to “stop babying the Soviets”In February 1946, George Kennan, an American diplomat in Moscow, proposed a policy of containmentContainment meant the U.S. would prevent any further extension of communist rule

CONTAINMENT

U.S. began using CONTAINMENT: to prevent Communist rule in other nationsDid not mean using military power- instead they tried to “contain” Communism where it was and not let it expand into other countries

CHURCHILL: “IRON CURTAIN” ACROSS EUROPE

Europe was divided into two political regions; mostly democratic Western Europe/

communist Eastern EuropeIn a 1946 speech, Churchill said, “An iron curtain has descended across the continent”

Churchill, right, in Fulton, Missouri delivering his “iron curtain” speech,

1946

“Iron Curtain”An imaginary line that separates Communist nations in Eastern Europe from those nations in Western EuropeThe phrase “iron curtain” came to stand for the division of Europe

U.S. & Soviet Union did not get along which led to the COLD WAR: conflict b/w the 2 nations, but they never fought in a battle.

Iron Curtain cartoon,

1946

THE TRUMAN DOCTRINEA U.S. policy that gave aid to free nations threatened by opponents.First used in Greece & Turkey in the late 1940s, vowed to provide aid (money & military supplies) to support “free peoples who are resisting outside pressures”By 1950, U.S. had given $400 million in aid to Greece and Turkey

THE MARSHALL PLANMARSHALL PLAN: program where the U.S. supplied aid to European nations to help them rebuild after WWII

June 1947, Secretary of State George Marshall proposed planWestern Europe accepted help, while Eastern Europe (Stalin) rejected the aid Over the next four years 16 European countries received $13 billion in U.S. aid By 1952 Western Europe’s economy was flourishing

The Marshall Plan helped Western Europe recover

economically

Marshall Plan aid sent to

European countries

Marshall Aid

cartoon, 1947

SUPERPOWERS STRUGGLE OVER SUPERPOWERS STRUGGLE OVER GERMANYGERMANY

At the end of the war, Germany was divided among the Allies into four zones for the purpose of occupationU.S, France, & Great Britain decided to combine their 3 zones into one zone – West Germany, or the federal Republic of GermanyU.S.S.R. controlled East Germany, or the German Democratic Republic Now the superpowers were occupying an area right next to each other – problems were bound to occur

BERLIN AIRLIFT – 1948BERLIN AIRLIFT – 1948When the Soviets attempted to block the three Western powers from access to Berlin in 1948, the 2.1 million residents of West Berlin had only enough food for five weeks, resulting in a dire situation

Like the whole of Germany, the city of Berlin was divided

into four zones

AMERICA & BRITAIN AIRLIFT SUPPLIES TO WEST BERLIN

Not wanting to invade and start a war with the Soviets, America and Britain started the Berlin airlift to fly supplies into West BerlinFor 327 days, planes took off and landed every few minutes, around the clockIn 277,000 flights, they brought in 2.3 million tons of food, fuel and medicine to the West Berliners

Berlin Blockade & Airlift Berlin Blockade & Airlift (1948-49)(1948-49)

SOVIETS LIFT BLOCKADE

Realizing they were beaten and suffering a public relations nightmare, the Soviets lifted their blockade in May, 1949

On Christmas 1948, the plane crews brought gifts to West

Berlin

NATO FORMEDNorth Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO): a defensive military alliance formed by ten Western European nations, U.S., & Canada.April 4, 1949Originally began b/c they were afraid of Soviet Union attacking them.

The NATO flag

NNorth orth AAtlantic tlantic TTreaty reaty OOrganization (1949)rganization (1949)

United StatesUnited States

BelgiumBelgium

BritainBritain

CanadaCanada

DenmarkDenmark

FranceFrance

IcelandIceland

ItalyItaly

LuxemburgLuxemburg

NetherlandsNetherlands

NorwayNorway

PortugalPortugal

1952: Greece & 1952: Greece & Turkey Turkey

1955: West Germany1955: West Germany

1983: Spain1983: Spain

THE WARSAW PACT

To counter the U.S. defense alliance (NATO), in 1955 the Soviets formed their own:

Warsaw Pact- defensive military alliance by Soviet Union and their Allies

Warsaw Pact (1955)Warsaw Pact (1955)

} U. S. S. R.U. S. S. R.

} AlbaniaAlbania

} BulgariaBulgaria

} CzechoslovakCzechoslovakiaia

} East GermanyEast Germany

} HungaryHungary

} PolandPoland

} RumaniaRumania

NATO

WARSAW

NEUTRAL

Satellite Nations

A country that is dominated by another nation.Soviet Union controlled Eastern European nations, made them Communist.

THE COLD WAR AT HOME

At the height of WWII, about 80,000 Americans claimed membership in the Communist PartySome feared that the first loyalty of these American Communists was to the Soviet UnionOverall, Americans feared communist ideology, a world revolution and Soviet expansion Anti-Soviet

cartoon

U.S. GOVERNMENT TAKES ACTIONMarch of 1947, President Truman set up the Loyalty Review BoardCreated to investigate federal employees & dismiss those disloyal to the U.S. governmentThe U.S. Attorney General also drew up a list of 91 “subversive” organizations – membership in any was ground for suspicion

THE BLACKLIST TENTen witnesses refused to cooperate because they believed the proceedings were unconstitutional – they were jailedSubsequently, the committee blacklisted 500 actors, directors, writers and producers whom they believed had communist connections

The “Blacklist Ten” (And two lawyers)

SPY CASES STUN THE NATION

Two spy cases added to the fear gripping the nationAlger Hiss was accused of being a spy for the SovietsA young Republican congressman named Richard Nixon gained fame by tirelessly prosecuting Hiss Hiss was found guilty and jailed – less than four years later Nixon was VP

Nixon examines microfilm in Hiss

case

THE ROSENBERGS Another high profile trial was the Rosenberg spy caseThe Rosenbergs were accused of providing information to Soviets which enabled them to produce an atomic bomb in 1949Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were found guilty and executed

The Rosenbergs were the first U.S. citizens executed for espionage

MCCARTHY LAUNCHES “WITCH HUNT”

Most famous anti-Communist activist was Senator Joseph McCarthy, a Republican from WisconsinMcCarthy took advantage of people’s concern about Communism by making unsupported claims that 205 state department members were Communists

Anti-Communist propaganda during McCarthy era

MCCARTHY’S DOWNFALL

Finally, in 1954 he went too farHe accused high ranking Army officers of being CommunistsIn the televised proceedings McCarthy’s bullying of witnesses alienated the national audienceThree years later he died of alcoholism at age 49

McCarthy’s attacking style and utter lack of evidence led

to his downfall

Counsel Joseph Welch

THE AMERICAN SHAMETHE AMERICAN SHAMEToday, those Congressional witch hunts and episodes of “red-baiting" are universally discredited as abuse of official power The history of the blacklist era has come to stand for demagoguery, censorship, and political despotism; and the blacklisting, persecution, and jailing of American citizens for their political beliefs - or their perceived political beliefs - is regarded as a shameful chapter in modern American history

SECTION 3: THE COLD WAR TURNS HOT

CHINA:For two decades, Chinese

communists had struggled against the nationalist government of Chiang Kai-Shek

The U.S. supported Chiang and gave the Nationalist Party $3 billion in aid during WWII

However, Mao Zedong’s Communist Party in China was strong, especially among Chinese peasants

CHINESE CIVIL WAR: 1944-1947 After Japan left China at

the end of the War, Chinese Nationalists and Communists fought a bloody civil warDespite the U.S. sending $ billions to the Nationalists, Communists under Mao won the war and ruled ChinaChiang and the Nationalists fled China to neighboring Taiwan (Formosa)Mao established the People’s Republic of ChinaU.S.A didn’t recognize new government in China

MAO

Kai-Shek

AMERICA STUNNEDAmerican public was shocked that China had fallen to CommunistsMany believed containment had failed & communism was expandingAmerican fear of communism & communist expansion was increasing

KOREAN WAR Japan had taken over Korea in 1910 and ruled it until August 1945As WWII ended, Japanese troops north of the 38th parallel surrendered to the SovietsJapanese soldiers south of the 38th surrendered to the AmericansAs in Germany, two nations developed, one communist (North Korea) and one democratic (South Korea)

Soviet controlled

U.S. controlled

NORTH KOREA ATTACKS SOUTH KOREAOn June 25, 1950, North Korean forces swept across the 38th parallel in a surprise attack on South KoreaWith only 500 U.S. troops in South Korea, the Soviets figured the Americans would not fight to save South KoreaInstead, America sent troops, planes and ships to South Korea

MACARTHUR’S COUNTERATTACKAt first, North Korea seemed unstoppableHowever, General MacArthur launched a counterattack with tanks, heavy artillery, and troopsMany North Koreans surrendered; others retreated across the 38th parallel

CHINA JOINS THE FIGHTCHINA JOINS THE FIGHTJust as it looked like the Americans were going to score a victory in the North, 300,000 Chinese soldiers joined the war on the side of the North KoreansThe fight between North and South Korea had turned into a war in which the main opponents were Chinese Communists vs. America

MACARTHUR RECOMMENDS ATTACKING CHINAMACARTHUR RECOMMENDS ATTACKING CHINA

To halt the bloody stalemate, General MacArthur called for an extension of the war into ChinaMacArthur called for the U.S. to drop atomic bombs on several Chinese citiesPresident Truman rejected the General’s requests

OK, so that wasn’t duringOK, so that wasn’t during the the Korean War.Korean War.But at least, you got to hear his voice.But at least, you got to hear his voice.

MACARTHUR VS. TRUMANMacArthur continued to urge President Truman to attack China and tried to go behind Truman’s back – Truman was furious with his generalOn April 1, 1951, Truman made the shocking announcement that he had fired MacArthurAmericans were surprised and many still supported their fallen general

Macarthur was

given a ticker-tape

parade

““Old soldiers never die, they just - - - fade away.”Old soldiers never die, they just - - - fade away.”

AN ARMISTICE IS SIGNEDNegotiators began working on a settlement as early as the summer of 1951Finally, in July 1953, an agreement was signed that ended the war in a stalemate

(38th parallel) America’s cost: 54,000 lives and $67 billion

Korean War Memorial, Washington D.C.

REPUBLICANS PLAN FOR 1952 ELECTION

By 1951 Truman’s approval rating sank to an all-time low of just 23%Why? Korean War, rising tide of McCarthyism, and a general impression of ineffectiveness

The Republican (right) were chomping at the bit in the ’52

election

STEVENSON VS. IKE 1952 ELECTION

The Democrats nominated intellectual Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson while the Republicans nominated war hero Dwight David Eisenhower

Stevenson Ike

“I LIKE IKE”

Eisenhower used the slogan, “I Like Ike” for his presidential campaignRepublicans used Ike’s strong military background to emphasize his ability to combat Communism worldwide

IKE’S VP SLIP-UPOne potential disaster for Ike was his running mate’s alleged “slush fund”Richard Nixon responded by going on T.V. and delivering an emotional speech denying charges but admitting to accepting one gift for his children – a dog named CheckersThe “Checkers speech” saved the ticket

Nixon and his dog Checkers

This speech can be found at earthstation1.com/Nixonearthstation1.com/Nixonin streaming real video format.

IKE WINS 1952 ELECTION

INTERSTATE HIGHWAY ACT 1956

In 1956 Ike authorized nationwide highway network – 41,000 miles of road linking America

THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM

“Automania” spurred the construction of roads linking major cities while connecting schools, shopping centers and workplaces to residential suburbs

IMPACT OF THE HIGHWAY

The Interstate Highway system resulted in:More truckingLess railroadMore suburbs, further away Trucking is the #1 means of

moving cargo in the United States today

HIGHWAYS “HOMOGENIZE” AMERICA

Another effect of the highway system was that the scenery of America began to look the sameRestaurants, motels, highway billboards, gas stations, etc. all began to look similarThe nation had become “homogenized”

Anytown, USA

THE END