Society Changes in Cold War Era

1. Society Changes in Cold War Era 1945-1991

2. North American Changes • U.S. Economy • 1960s – Consumer spending at an all time high – post war U.S. economy was at an all time high and people are ready to buy goods after years of depression • 1970s – Rapid inflation and high unemployment returns and slows economy • Energy crisis occurs because of oil supply disruption due to Middle East turmoil • Causes issues into the early 1980s • Industry struggles – especially auto makers, ship builders, and steel companies • U.S. Companies close – people lose jobs • 1980s – Economy recovers but national debt grows as the government was spending more money on programs than taxes were bringing in • New industries begin in new technology programs and service industries (banking, health care and sales)

3. North American Changes • Social Changes • Standard of Living increases • Booming economy • GI Bill of Rights – allowed many veterans to attend college • Baby Boom occurs – many veterans marry and start families • African American Advances – segregation is ending • 1948 – Segregation of armed forces ends • 1954 – Brown v. Board of Education – ends segregation of public schools • Civil Rights movement begins – ending separate but equal of African Americans • Led by – Martin Luther King Jr., James Farmer, Malcolm X • Led to Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 • Women’s Rights – movement in 1960s and 1970s that said women and men should be equal • Counterculture movement – rebellion of teens and young adults against mainstream culture and focused around the Vietnam War

4. North American Changes • Canadian Changes • Quiet Revolution – 1960s movement in Quebec Province which saw the French speaking area want separation from the rest of Canada • Other aspects were much like U.S. • Economy boom • Baby boom • Veterans taken care of with special programs • Counterculture revolution – housed American males escaping the draft of the Vietnam War

5. Western Europe Changes • Marshall Plan keeps chaos from coming to Western Europe – was on the brink of economic collapse until this program helped rebuild the area • 1950s – Farms and factories producing more than before World War II • West Germany becomes a major economic power • Dramatic immigration from former European colonies caused strain on economy and there was a period of poverty and strained relations between the people of certain regions of Europe • Alliances and Economic Unity – Europe no longer center of power so old rivalries began to go away • NATO formation brings unity to Western Europe • Tried to create a single market economy to rival the U.S. • 1957 – European Economic Community formed • 1960 – Free Trade Association formed

6. Eastern Europe and Soviet Union • Soviet Union had a tough rebuild – many were killed and there was a great deal of damage to economy • Stalin – instituted strict government control and pushed economy back to prewar levels by 1953 • Nikita Khrushchev – “De-Stalinized” Russia by loosening some of the most drastic economic and political restrictions, but offered no freedom • Revolutions in Eastern Europe • Revolts put down in East Germany, Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia • Solidarity Movement – led by Lech Walesa in Poland to protest Communism

7. Glasnost and Perestroika • Caused by economic problems that began in the 1960s and became desperate issues in the 1980s • Started by: Mikhail Gorbachev • Glasnost and Perestroika – radical changes made by Gorbachev to fix Soviet Union’s problems • Glasnost – discuss problems openly • Perestroika – reforming the economic and political systems of Soviet Union • Reforms: • Pursued arms control agreements – cut military costs • Introduced free-market mechanisms into Soviet economy • Pulled Soviet troops out of Eastern Europe – led to changes in Eastern Europe

8. Revolutions Return to Eastern Europe • Started in 1989 with pull out of Soviet troops • Velvet Revolution – peaceful revolution in Czechoslovakia that pushed out Communists • Solidarity Movement – gained free-elections in Poland • Fall of the Berlin Wall – opened up East Germany to West Germany and allowed free flow of citizens across the boarder • 1990 – East and West Germany re-unify into one nation again

9. Post Cold War Russia • 1991 – Hard line communists attempt a coup on Gorbachev’s government in Russia, but it fails • Boris Yeltsin helps keep hard liners out of power • Gorbachev’s power gone – Soviet Union begins to break up with small republics once under Soviet control gaining their freedom • Ends Cold War • Communism ends in Russia – Yeltsin, now the president, begins to introduce capitalism to Russian system • Freedom for land owners and business owners • Reforms were mixed – by early 2000s Russia had rebounded but transition has been hard for Soviet Union • Major Issues following collapse of Communism – ethnic unrest and need for new governments • Problems in Chechnya – considered part of Russia that wanted its freedom – led to bloody fighting

10. Post Cold War Europe • With the fall of Communism in some areas it led to rise in tensions between different ethnic groups who were fighting for control and freedom • Major issue in Yugoslavia – Serbs wanted to remain part of Yugoslavia, but others wanted to separated into an independent nation – led to a nasty war between ethnic groups • Serbs began using a policy of ethnic cleansing, eliminating an ethnic group through killing or forced emigration to another region • U.S. diplomacy ends crisis in 1995 • Second crisis started in Kosovo in 1999 – NATO warplanes bombed the region and peacekeepers are still there ensuring peace and order • Economic issues become a problem also as some nations do well and others struggle • European Union forms in 1992 – allows Eastern European nations to join to help Europe become an economic power – first joint political and economic group in Europe

11. Post Cold War U.S. • Economy was booming in the 1990s: • Saw a transition to technology industry – computers help this growth • Emergence of the Internet – linked us globally • Led to the boom in Stock Market because of “.com Industries” • Economy takes a downturn in 2000s – energy shortages, increased government spending, rising national debt, and growing gap between rich and poor were major concerns

12. Conflicts for the U.S. • Focus begins to shift to Middle East problems: • First Persian Gulf War (1990) – U.S. forces Saddam Hussein to move his Iraqi army out of Kuwait and back into Iraq – threat to oil supplies • War on Terror – Terrorist groups always a problem in the Middle East began a campaign of attacks on embassies and even the U.S. soil in the 1993 attack on World Trade Center • Main focus – al Qaeda and its leader Osama Bin Laden • September 11, 2001- al Qaeda flies planes into both World Trade Center Towers and the Pentagon leading to the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan to get rid of the group and its supporters the Taliban • 2003 – U.S. invades Iraq – starting Second Gulf War and ending the reign of Saddam Hussein • May 2, 2011 – U.S. forces take out Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan ending a nearly 10 year man-hunt