The Fair Deal and ContainmentChapter 18

IntroductionThe United States emerged from World War II

the preeminent military and economic power in the world. Americans had a monopoly over the atomic bomb and enjoyed a

commanding position in international trade. While much of Europe and Asia struggled to recover from the

physical devastation of the war, the U.S. was virtually unscathed, its economic infrastructure intact and operating at peak efficiency.

By 1955 the United States, with only 6 percent of the world’s population, was producing well over half of the world’s goods.

Harry Truman

Became president when FDR died on April 12, 1945, at his vacation home in Warm Springs, Georgia.

Background – Was seen at first as a “caretaker” president

Domestic proposals of 1945 – proposed to continue and enlarge the New Deal

Replaced much of Roosevelt’s cabinet soon after becoming president and became known for his decisiveness (The buck stops here)

                                              

Demobilization Under Truman

The public demanded that the president “bring the boys home” Rapid reduction of armed forces

By 1950, armed forces down to 600,000 10% of what it had been during WWII World War II veterans returned to school, new jobs,

wives, and babiesThis contributed a baby-boom

The Great Depression caused many couples to delay beginning a family.

As prosperity returned during the war, birthrates began to rise.

Americans born during this postwar period comprised what came to be known as the baby-boom generation.

Demobilization Under Truman

Demobilization did not bring depression because: Unemployment pay and other Social Security

benefits Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944

A Welfare Program for GIs –The GI Bill of Rights

Paid for education, vocational training, medical treatment, low interest loans for building homes or going into business.

Pent-up demand for consumer goods (most important)Fueled by wartime shortages

The New Deal Programs Under Attack

The problem of inflation Demands for wages increases Strikes Price controls ended after 1946

Congressional elections of 1946 Discontent with Democrats Truman’s falling stock Republicans won majorities in both houses

of Congress

Record of the Republican Congress

Taft-Hartley Act – an effort to chip away at the New Deal (1947) Restrictions on labor meant to curb the power of unions – allowed

states to adopt right-to-work laws and allowed the President to force striking workers back to work for a 90-day cooling off period

Passed over Truman’s vetoTax reduction (1948)

Truman felt that the government debt should be reduced Congress overrode Truman’s veto of $5 billion tax cut

National Security Act (1947) Created a national military establishment, headed by a

secretary of defense. Included the National Security Council with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Central Intelligence Agency

Civil Rights (1940s)Nazism prompted Am. reform:In 1948, Truman

Banned racial discrimination in the hiring of federal employees.

Ended racial segregation in armed forces Professional baseball

integrated Jackie Robinson –1947 for the Brooklyn

Dodgers (Rookie of the Year) Example followed by other teams and

would prompt football and basketball to integrate.

Racism, not inferiority, impeded blacks

Division of theDemocratic Party

Truman’s strategy for 1948 To shore up New Deal coalition New departure—emphasis on civil rights

The 1948 election Rep. nominated Thomas E. Dewey (Gov. of N.Y.) Democrats nominated Truman and included a strong

civil rights plank Southern conservatives formed the States’ Rights

Democratic Party (“Dixiecrats”) and nominated J. Strom Thurmond (Gov. of S.C.)

The Democratic left nominated Henry Wallace (FDR’s V.P.) on the Progressive party ticket, sympathized with the Soviet Union

1948 Election Results

Truman won in major upset Whistle-stop train tour – “Give’em hell, Harry” Chicago Tribune: “Dewey Defeats Truman”

Split in Democratic party helped Truman by uniting New Deal coalition: blacks (first major presidential candidate to campaign

in Harlem), Jews, Catholics, farmers, and middle-income Americans helped by New Deal.

Democratic majorities also elected in Congress

A vindication of the New Deal

The Election of 1948

The Fair DealAs he began his new term, Harry Truman

declared that all Americans were entitled to a “Fair Deal” from their government. Mainly extensions or enlargements of New Deal programs

already in place.Truman won on higher minimum wage

and extension of Social Security, rent controls, farm price supports, housing, and rural electrification

Truman lost on civil rights bills, national health insurance, federal aid to education, direct subsidies of farm income, and repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act

Postwar Effortsat Revenge

The Nuremberg Trials of 1945-46 After, WWII the Allied powers decided to place on trial the

highest-ranking Nazi officers for “crimes against humanity” 22 Nazi leaders were tried at an international military

tribunal at Nuremburg, Germany. 12 were sentenced to death.

The Tokyo Trial (1946-48) 7 sentenced to death and hanged (including Tojo) 18 given prison sentences (released in 1957) The question of trying the emperor as a war criminal was

dismissed for fear of a revolt.

Postwar Efforts at Peace

The United Nations – There was some hope when, in 1945, the United Nations was created; an organization to promote international stability A General Assembly where representatives from all

countries could debate international issues. The Security Council had 5 permanent members – U.S.,

Soviet Union, Britain, France, and China could veto any question of substance. There were also 6 elected members.

Key: U.S. Senate ratified the UN charter 89 to 2; sharp contrast to League of Nations

Postwar Reality

Consequences of World War II Soviet Union with agenda Unlike the isolation after WWI, the U.S. was engaged in world affairs

Wartime Agreements Unlike WWI, there was no Peace of Paris to reshape Europe. Instead, the Yalta agreement of February 1945, signed by Roosevelt,

Churchill, and Stalin, turned the prevailing military balance of power into a political settlement.

Potsdam Conference, in suburban Berlin (July 1945)—Truman, Stalin, Churchill – Finalized plans on Germany. Germany would be demilitarized and would remain divided.

The Fall of Eastern Europe

Postwar Reality:Soviet Control of Eastern Europe

Europe was politically cut in half; Soviet troops had overrun eastern Europe and penetrated into the heart of Germany.

During 1944-1945, Stalin starts shaping the post-war world by occupying SE Europe with Soviet troops that should have been on the Polish front pushing toward Berlin.

Roosevelt did not have postwar aims because he still had to fight Japan; Stalin did have postwar aims

Developmentof the Cold WarThe Cold War (1945-91) was one of perception

where neither side fully understood the intentions and ambitions of the other. This led to mistrust and military build-ups.

United States U.S. thought that Soviet expansion would

continue and spread throughout the world. They saw the Soviet Union as a threat to their

way of life; especially after the Soviet Union gained control of Eastern Europe.

Developmentof the Cold War

Soviet Union They felt that they had won World War II. They had

sacrificed the most (25 million vs. 300,000 total dead) and deserved the “spoils of war.” They had lost land after WWI because they left the winning side; now they wanted to gain land because they had won.

They wanted to economically raid Eastern Europe to recoup their expenses during the war.

They saw the U.S. as a threat to their way of life; especially after the U.S. development of atomic weapons.

Cold War Mobilizationby the U.S.

Alarmed Americans viewed the Soviet occupation of eastern European countries as part of a communist expansion, which threatened to extend to the rest of the world.

In 1946, Winston Churchill gave a speech at Fulton College in Missouri in which he proclaimed that an “Iron Curtain” had fallen across Europe.

In March 1947, U.S. president Harry Truman proclaimed the Truman Doctrine.

The Truman Doctrine (1947)

Reasoning Threatened by Communist influence in Turkey and

Greece “Two hostile camps” speech

Financial aid “to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation”

Sent $400 million worth of war supplies to Greece and helped push out Communism

The Truman Doctrine marked a new level of American commitment to a Cold War.

The Policy of ContainmentDefinition - By applying firm diplomatic,

economic, and military counterpressure, the United States could block Soviet aggression.

Formulated by George F. Kennan as a way to stop Soviet expansion without having to go to war.

Would later be expanded in 1949 in NSC-68, which called for a dramatic increase in defense spending, from $13 billion to $50 billion a year, to be paid for with a large tax increase. NSC-68 served as the framework for American policy over

the next 20 years.

The Marshall Plan(1947-48)

War damage and dislocation in Europe invited Communist influence

Economic aid to all European countries offered in the European Recovery Program

$17 billion to western EuropeSoviets refused – The blame for dividing

Europe fell on the Soviet union, not the United States. And the Marshall Plan proved crucial to Western Europe’s economic recovery.

DividingGermany

U.S., Britain, and France merged their zones in 1948 to create an independent West German state. The Soviets responded by blockading land access to

Berlin. The U.S. began a massive airlift of supplies that

lasted almost a year. (7,000 tons a day. In May 1949 Stalin lifted the blockade, conceding that

he could not prevent the creation of West Germany.Thus, the creation of East and West

Germany

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (1949)

Stalin’s aggressive actions accelerated the American effort to use military means to contain Soviet ambitions.

The U.S. joined with Canada, Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg to establish NATO, a mutual defense pact.

Pledged signers to treat an attack against one as an attack against all.

Counterpart in Eastern Europe – Warsaw Pact

The Cold War Heats Up:Problems of the Atomic Age

Establishment of Israel Minutes after Jewish residents of Palestine announced

their independence in May 1948, Truman recognized the new state of Israel and began sending them aid.

(Upcoming 1948 election --strong Jewish vote in U.S., no Arab vote)

Russia detonated its first atom bomb in 1949

Truman ordered construction of the hydrogen bomb

The Cold War heats up:Problems of the Atomic Age

Call for buildup of conventional forces to provide alternative to nuclear war. The Soviet army had at its command over 260 divisions. The United States, in contrast, had reduced its forces by

1947 to little more than a single division. As the Cold War heated up, American

military planners were forced to adopt a nuclear strategy in face of the overwhelmingly superiority of Soviet forces. They would deter any Soviet attack by setting in place a

devastating atomic counterattack.

“Losing China”Truman was preoccupied

with Europe. Events in Asia would soon bring charges from Republicans that the Democrats were letting the Communists win.

Communist movement in China grew as poverty and civil unrest spread. By 1947, China was in a full-scale civil war.

Rise of Mao Tse-tung (Communist)

“Losing China”

U.S. supports Chiang Kai-shek and his Nationalists – corrupt and inefficient government

Nationalists lost to Communists and fled to Formosa (Taiwan) in 1949

After “losing” China, the United States sought to shore up friendly Asian regimes

The Korean War(1950-53)

Since World War II the country had been divided along the 38th parallel. The North was controlled by

the Communist government of Kim Il Sung

The South by the dictatorship of Syngman Rhee.

North Korean forces invaded South Korea in 1950.

The Korean War (1950-53)

Having already “lost” China, it was decided that the United States would fight the North Koreans. It would use enough force to deter aggression, but

without provoking a larger war with the Soviet Union or China.

The U.S. would not declare war. The United Nations sanctioned aid to South Korea as a “police action.” The move succeeded only because the Soviet

delegate, who had veto power, was absent because he was protesting the UN’s refusal to recognize the Communist government in China.

The Korean War(1950-53)

Truman ordered American military forces to Korea under UN auspices and under the command of General Douglas MacArthur. U.S. 350,000; South Korean 400,000; other UN

members 50,000 Stalin had agreed to the North

Korean attack, but promised only supplies. He would eventually send pilots dressed in Chinese

uniforms and using Chinese phrases over the radio.

Side Effects of the Korean War

Congress never voted a declaration of war; set a precedent: war by order of the president rather than by vote of

CongressTruman also expanded American forces

in NATO. By 1952, there were 261,000 American troops stationed in

Europe, three times the number in 1950.Truman also increased assistance to the

French in Indochina, creating the Military Assistance Advisory Group for Indochina. This was the start of America’s deepening involvement in

Vietnam.

MilitaryDevelopments

MacArthur pushed the North Koreans back to the 38th Parallel. He then decided to

invade the North in an effort to unify Korea

Chinese Communist “volunteers” entered the war and pushed U.S. back.

Dismissal of MacArthur

MacArthur wanted to blockade China and use Taiwanese Nationalists to invade mainland China. He ordered China to make peace or be

attacked.Truman removed MacArthur from

all his commands and replaced him with General Matthew Ridgway who gradually pushed back almost to original line.

End of War

Snags in negotiations Truce talks lasted for two years

Truce signed on July 27, 1953Cost of the war

U.S. – 33,000 deaths and 103,000 wounded and missing.

S. Korean – 1 million N. Korean and Chinese – about 1.5

million

The SecondRed Scare

Started in 1945 as the domestic counterpart to the Cold War but reached its climax during the Korean War

Evidence of espionage By 1950 anticommunism had created a

climate of fear, where legitimate concerns mixed with irrational hysteria.

Truman signs executive order for federal employee loyalty program

The SecondRed Scare

House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) Accusations about pro-Communist subversives in

governmentThe Alger Hiss case

Whittaker Chambers, former Soviet agent, accused Hiss, who worked at the State Department, of passing secret documents

Hiss convicted of perjuryJulius and Ethel Rosenberg executed in

1953

Senator Joseph McCarthy

Witch-huntSaw an

opportunity to improve his political career

Army-McCarthy Hearings (1954)

1945 Iran Crisis

Significant Events 1946 Kennan’s “long telegram”

McMahon Bill creates Atomic Energy Commission

1947 Truman DoctrineMarshall announces European recovery planHUAC investigates Hollywood

1948 Berlin blockadeTruman upset Dewey

1949 Soviet atom bomb testNATO established

1950 Korean War begins 1952 Eisenhower defeats Stevenson 1954 Army-McCarthy hearings