The Cold War

1. The Cold War Chapter 26

2. Post-WWII Issues • After WWII, Truman had to deal with the postwar economic situation. If you were Truman: (do this in pairs) 1) List the top 3 issues that you think will appear after WWII 2) Come up with 2 ways to solve each of those issues

3. Truman’s Demobilization Plan • Truman demobilized the armed forces, but was concerned about housing shortages, lack of jobs, and family bonds being broken • Truman encouraged: • Women to find fulfillment in marriage and let men come back to jobs in peace time • Civil Rights through his Committee of Civil Rights which stopped cases of discrimination within the government • GI Bill of Rights – rewarded veterans with loans from the government for colleges and housing

4. Causes of the Postwar Boom • There were many reasons for the postwar booming economy: • GI Bill of Rights – money spent on the economy • Favorable World Trade – IMF and World Bank are created • Science and Technology Boom and consumer savings during the war to spend money on the new consumer goods • Growth of the Suburbs and Rise of the Sunbelt States (due to air conditioning) • Baby Boom leading to purchase of more supplies

5. Truman’s Administration In his first term, Truman received little support for New Deal programs from a conservative Congress and only the weak Employment Act of 1946 was passed (though he did get through Civil Rights legislation) Truman was blamed for many labor strikes in the postwar era (and wavered on how to deal with them) as well as the massive inflation due to the influx of money in the economy Due to the problems the Democrats lost the midterm elections and the Republican Congress took over

6. The Eightieth Congress • Having gained Congressional power for the first time in decades, the Republicans blocked Truman’s attempts at civil rights and worker’s rights and passed: • The 22nd Amendment – limiting Presidents to 2 terms • The Taft-Hartley Act – outlawing closed shops and passing “right to work” laws which prevented striking and organizing strong labor unions • Truman’s inability to pass his own measures led him to being unpopular going into the election of 1948

7. The Election of 1948 Despite his unpopularity, Truman was able to pull off an upset victory, managing to blame problems on the “do-nothing” Congress who would not pass his measures He won despite the party split (Strom Thurmond and the Dixiecrats or States’ Rights Party)

8. The “Fair Deal” Roosevelt’s victory allowed him to attempt to launch a new set of programs that helped labor, civil rights, and education that he called the Fair Deal The Congress, however, did not pass any new legislation, only adding on to previous New Deal acts such the minimum wage and Social Security Another cause of the failure of the New Deal was the more pressing concerns caused by the Cold War

9. Federal Employee Loyalty Program Truman protected internal security against Soviet intelligence by checking on the backgrounds of workers This led to firings of people for unpopular beliefs as well as actions

10. The “Red Scare” and HUAC The Smith Act and Internal Security Act made it possible to accuse people of communist activities and HUAC was used to bring them to justice Despite the protests of civil rights groups, the committee’s actions led to a second “red scare” and the blacklisting of many people

11. Alger Hiss and the Rosenbergs Alger Hiss (perjury) and the Rosenbergs (espionage) showed that government officials could be arrested and that spying could result in a death sentence (as with the Rosenbergs)

12. McCarthy and McCarthyism Senator McCarthy exploited the anti-communist sentiments of the time period and accused his Democratic opponents of treasonous activities

13. The Election of 1952 McCarthy’s labeling of Democrats as treasonous communists and Eisenhower’s popularity as a war hero and claim to clean up the “Mess in Washington” allowed him to easily win

14. The Television • Reporters during the late 1940s now had to adjust to the new wave of consumer products (televisions). Using one of the events that we have covered, write a ½ page news reel that explains what happened in the event. Consider how the event would have been covered.

15. The Rise of the “Iron Curtain” Stalin broke his promise to allow Eastern Europe it’s own governments and they became satellite states of the Soviet Union Churchill called it the “Iron Curtain” and Truman worked to create an alliance against it

16. Kenan’s “Containment” Policy • After Soviet aggression in Eastern Europe, Truman and his advisors agreed to: • Give aid to countries that were under threat from the Soviets (such as Greece and Turkey) • Build up stockpiles of nuclear weapons • Use the policy of “containment” to keep the Soviets from expanding

17. The Truman Doctrine Beginning with the Balkans, the Truman Doctrine pledged to give money to any nations that were threatened by communism around the world The National Security Act was passed, creating the NSC and CIA to modernize military capability of the US

18. The Marshall Plan Truman extended his doctrine to help Western Europe rebuild their economies as a way to discourage communist governments from forming in a series of monetary grants called the Marshall Plan The plan successfully kept communism from spreading in Europe

19. The Berlin Blockade and Airlift Truman also refused to give up Western Berlin, surrounded by the Soviets – this led to the Soviets blockading the city but Truman avoided conflict by flying planes over Berlin and dropping supplies

20. The “Cold War” Politics Truman’s actions against the Soviets seemed to justify his use of the containment policy, but he had his critics Walter Lippman, who coined the phrase “Cold War”, believed that more aggressive action should be taken against the Soviets

21. NATO and Warsaw Pact NATO’s creation allied countries with the US to protect against Soviet influence, and the Soviets countered with the Warsaw Pact The clear divisions led to an arms race between the two countries

22. The Asian Front • After winning on many fronts in Europe, the US turned to defending Asia and were successful in claiming: • Japan – rebuilt it’s economy with the help of General MacArthur while under US occupation, then signed the US-Japanese Security Treaty protecting against communism • The Philippines and the Pacific Islands – important because it allows the US to keep many important trading routes and military bases

23. Communism in China Despite successes in other Asian nations, Mao Zedong’s (communist) defeat of Chiang-Kai Shek (nationalist) and the Sino-Soviet pact between China and the Soviet Union was a large blow to Truman’s fight against the expansion of communism

24. The Korean War • Causes of the war: • North Korea (communist) invades South Korea (democratic) and MacArthur sent to stop advance • The will of the US not to have another situation like China • Events of the war: • North Korea pushes South Korea back to the peninsula • MacArthur’s amphibious assault on Inchon leads to US counterattack and invading of North Korea • China enters the war, pushes the US back to the 38th parallel – MacArthur demands a US attack on China, but his disagreement with Truman gets him fired (public opinion generally favored MacArthur) – stalemate occurs at the border for another 2 years

25. The Korean War Effects Eisenhower signs armistice establishing the original border between the Koreas The effects of the Korean War were a larger defense budget, the creation of SEATO, and differing political opinions (Democrats claimed success of containment, Republicans claimed the Democrats “soft on communism”)

26. “Cold War” Essay Outline • For the question below, give a thesis statement, three body paragraph opening sentences with two specifics each (just list terms) and a conclusion sentence • Discuss the changes in US policies after World War II both at home and abroad.