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Post World War II America (1945-1960)

Post World War II America (1945-1960). Unit I-A AP U.S. History. Think About It. Explain how the Truman and Eisenhower administrations maintained continuity and fostered change in American foreign policy. Compare and contrast cultural developments of the 1920s and the 1950s.

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Post World War II America (1945-1960)

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  1. Post World War II America(1945-1960) Unit I-A AP U.S. History

  2. Think About It • Explain how the Truman and Eisenhower administrations maintained continuity and fostered change in American foreign policy. • Compare and contrast cultural developments of the 1920s and the 1950s.

  3. Legacy of World War II on American Foreign Policy • New World Order • U.S. virtually unscathed from war destruction • Imperialist powers and Axis belligerents weakened • Decolonization • Non-Alignment Movement • Superpowers • United States and Soviet Union • State of Israel • Involvement in Middle East affairs • National and International Defense • Reorganization of diplomatic and military bureaucracy • United Nations and Security Council

  4. Decolonization

  5. Understanding the Cold War • Superpower nations after WWII • Soviet Union = communism, police state • United States = capitalism, democracy • Cold War meant a “war of words” rather than outright conflict • However, the Cold War includes episodes of “hot” conflicts in various regions around the world.

  6. United Nations • General Assembly • Member nations convened to develop a postwar world to combat global issues while respecting sovereignty and peace. • Security Council • 15-member body to authorize peacekeeping and promote international security • Permanent Members • United States, Soviet Union, Great Britain, France, China • Resolutions must be unanimous

  7. Occupation of Japan • Reform • Emperor as ceremonial role • Democratization • Breakup of conglomerates • Demilitarization • Economic Recovery • Avoid communist incursion • Peace and Alliance General Douglas MacArthur and Emperor Hirohito

  8. Iron Curtain • German Occupation Zones • Democratic Republic of Germany (East Germany) • Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) • Eastern Europe • Soviet Union did not withdraw its troops from occupied Eastern Europe • Virtually forced communist regimes on Eastern European

  9. Harry Truman (D) (1945-1953) • Fair Deal • "Every segment of our population, and every individual, has a right to expect from his government a fair deal.“ – State of the Union (1949) • Labor Relations • Taft-Hartley Act (1947) • Prohibited closed shops, political contributions, sympathy strikes • Permitted “right to work” states • Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) • President order to seize national steel mills unconstitutional • Presidential Succession Act of 1947 • Social and Cultural Developments • Civil Rights • Executive Orders 9980 and 9981 (1948) • Desegregated the federal government and military • Foreign Developments • Containment • Marshall Plan • Berlin Airlift • Korean Conflict

  10. Election of 1948 • Harry S. Truman (D) • Strom Thurmond • States’ Rights Party (Dixiecrats) • Thomas Dewey (R)

  11. Truman’s Fair Deal • A continuation of New Deal-style social welfare programs • 21-Point Domestic Program • Expansion of Social Security • Increased minimum wage • Housing Act of 1949 • Urban projects and public housing • Prevention by Conservative Coalition • National healthcare insurance • Limited civil rights legislation

  12. Harry S. Truman (D) (1945-1953)Containment • Truman Doctrine • Provide economic and military support for nations threatened by communism • Greece and Turkey • National Security Act (1947) • Department of Defense • National Security Council (NSC) • Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) • NSC-68 (1950) • Justify defense spending and arms buildup as necessary • Establish alliances with non-communist nations

  13. America Should Seek Peace with the Soviet Union;America Should Contain the Soviet Union Henry A. Wallace – “Speech Delivered at Madison Square Garden” (1946) George F. Kennan – “The Sources of Soviet Conduct” (1987) In these circumstances it is clear that the main element of any United States policy toward the Soviet union must be that of a long-term, patient but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies… [I]t will be clearly seen that the Soviet pressure against the free institutions of the western world is something that can be contained by the adroit and vigilant application of counter-force at a series of constantly shifting geographical and political points, corresponding to the shifts and maneuvers of Soviet policy, but which cannot be charmed or talked out of existence. The Russians look forward to a duel of infinite duration, and they see that laready they have scored great successes. It must be borne in mind that there was a time when the Communist Party represented far more of a minority in the sphere of Russian national life than Soviet power today represents in the world community. • The real peace treaty we now need is between the United States and Russia. On our part, we should recognize that we have no more business in the political affairs of Eastern Europe than Russia has in the political affairs of Latin America, Western Europe and the United States. We may not like what Russia does in Eastern Europe. Her type of land reform, industrial expropriation, and suppression of basic liberties offends the great majority of the people of the United States. But whether we like it or not the Russians will try to socialize their sphere of influence just as we try to democratize our sphere of influence… Under friendly peaceful competition the Russian world and the American world will gradually become more alike. The Russians will be forced to grant more and more personal freedoms; and we shall become more and more absorbed with the problems of social-economic justice.

  14. Truman & Containment (1945-1953)Marshall Plan • European Recovery Program • $13 billion in grants • Rebuild and develop European infrastructure • Designed to prevent communist uprisings or infiltration in vulnerable nations

  15. Truman & Containment (1945-1953)Berlin Airlift • Soviet Union establishes blockade of West Berlin • U.S. and allies launch aerial campaign from 1948-1949 • Drop food and fuel to citizens • Extremely successful • Over 200,000 flights • 47,000 tons daily

  16. Truman & Containment (1945-1953) Cold War Alliances • North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) • Permanent alliance between U.S., Canada, and Western Europe • If one member is attacked, all treaty nations will defend • Warsaw Pact • Soviet Union’s version of NATO • Eastern European satellite nations

  17. Truman & Containment (1945-1953) Korean Conflict (1950-1953) • North Korean Invasion (1950) • Advised by Soviet Union and China • Truman and United Nations Intervention • General Douglas MacArthur launched successful counterattack • Repulsed to 38th parallel by Chinese support troops • Armistice (1953) • 38th parallel: Communist North and Democratic South • Truman win/lose • Containment worked • “soft on Communism”

  18. Nuclear Arms Race • Nuclear weapon development • United States develops weapons with higher yields • Soviet Union • Detonated first nuclear weapon (August 1949) • United Kingdom • Detonated first nuclear weapon (October 1952) • France • Detonated first nuclear weapon (February 1960) • China • Detonated first nuclear weapon (October 1964)

  19. Second Red Scare (1947-1957) • Government Policies • Loyalty Review Board • McCarran Internal Security Act (1950) • House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) • Investigate Americans for pro-communist beliefs and blacklisting • Senator Joseph McCarthy (R) • McCarthyism • Espionage • Alger Hiss • Klaus Fuchs • Julia and Ethel Rosenberg

  20. Election of 1952 • Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) • I Like Ike • Richard Nixon as VP • Checkers speech • Adlai Steveneson (D)

  21. Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) (1953-1961) • Modern Republicanism/Dynamic Conservatism • Reduce federal scope of power • Balanced budgets • Pro-business policies • Progressive republicans • Interstate Highway System (1956) • National Defense Education Act (1958) • Social and Cultural Developments • Second Red Scare • Affluent Society • Conformity and Consensus of Values • Civil Rights Movement • Brown v. Board of Education (1954) • Rosa Parks and Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-1956) • Little Rock Nine (1957) • Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) • Sit-ins • Foreign Developments • Brinkmanship • Sputnik • U-2 Incident

  22. Interstate Highway System

  23. Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) Adlai Stevenson (D) Election of 1956

  24. Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) (1953-1961)Brinkmanship • Secretary of State John F. Dulles • Massive Retaliation • Domino Theory • Eisenhower Doctrine • Extension of Truman Doctrine to Middle East • Covert Operations • Operation Ajax (1953) - Iran • Operation PBSUCCESS (1954) - Guatemala

  25. Eisenhower & Brinkmanship (1953-1961)Soviet Union • Temporary Thaw with Soviet Union • “Atoms for Peace” (1953) • Hungarian Revolt (1956) • Sputnik (1957) • U-2 Incident (1960)

  26. Vietnam Geneva Conference (1954) Ho Chi Minh and North Vietnam Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) (1954) Cuba Fidel Castro and Revolution Deposes Fulgencio Batista (1959) American Embargo Cuban Alliance with Soviet Union Eisenhower & Brinkmanship (1953-1961)Vietnam and Cuba

  27. Eisenhower & Brinkmanship (1953-1961)Farewell Address (1961) “Military-Industrial Complex” Cold War and Arms Race implications Warning of a military-corporate state

  28. The Military-Industrial Complex • Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations. This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence ñ economic, political, even spiritual ñ is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.” • “We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.”

  29. Baby Boom (1946-1964)

  30. American Suburbia • Causes • Postwar economic expansion • G.I. Bill and FHA • Great Migration • Interstate highways • Details • Single-family homes • Subdivisions and zoning • Shopping malls • Effects • “White flight” • Urban decay

  31. Second Red Scare (1947-1957) • Cold War Fears • Duck and Cover • “He May Be a Communist” • McCarthyism • Demographics: • Republican • Conservative Protestants and Catholics • Blue-collar workers • Tactics • Media and Television • Blacklisting • Reaction • Army-McCarthy Hearing (1954) • “Decency” • Edward R. Murrow of CBS • Public Outcry

  32. Nifty FiftiesThe American Dream • Corporate America • White-collar jobs • Business dress codes • Consumerism • Credit cards • Shopping malls and strip malls • Advertising/Brand Names/Franchising • Ford • Cheerios • Chef Boyardee • Carnation Milk

  33. Nifty FiftiesWomen • Suburban and middle-class growth and mainstream media culture reinforced cult of domesticity • “Know your role” • Increased employment opportunities • 40% of women held jobs

  34. Nifty FiftiesConformist and Conservative Society • Causes • New Deal politics, Cold War/Communism, Materialism, Baby Boom, Suburbia • Social Mores • Traditional gender roles • Respect for authority • Against perversion, drugs • Church Membership • 49% in 1950 • 69% in 1960 • Impact on Politics • “under God” added to the Pledge of Allegiance (1954) • “In God We Trust” as national motto and on paper currency (1956) • Billy Graham • Evangelism to be pure, not improved

  35. Nifty FiftiesTeenagers and Rebellion • Teenagers • “Quiet Generation” • Attracted to lifestyle of rock and roll, television, and movie stars • Rise in juvenile delinquency • Beat Generation/Beatniks • Rejection of contemporary conformist and materialist lifestyle • Spiritual liberation • Free lifestyle and experimentation

  36. Nifty FiftiesTelevision and Movies • Television • Ownership • 9% in 1950 • 65% in 1955 • 87% in 1960 • Impact • Corporate sponsorships • Sitcoms of the American middle class family • Ozzie and Harriet • Leave it to Beaver • Father Knows Best • Movies • Epic, science fiction, and Cold War themes • The Day the Earth Stood Still • Rebel Without a Cause

  37. Nifty FiftiesMusic • Classic Pop • Billie Holiday • Crooners • Frank Sinatra • Dean Martin • Doo Wop • Vocal group harmony • Rock and Roll • Influenced by rhythm and blues, jazz, gospel, country, and pop • Electric guitars • Chuck Berry • Elvis Presley

  38. Nifty FiftiesLiterature • Post-Modernism • Post-WWII reactionary movement • The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger • The Death of a Salesman and The Crucible by Arthur Miller • To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee • Beat Generation • Rejection of materialism, sexual liberation, drug experimentation, Eastern religions and philosophies • On the Road by Jack Kerouac

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