Cold War Begins

1. Cold War Begins Chapter 36

2. Postwar Economic Anxieties • Significant fear that US would return to Depression following War • Saved money during WWII, now wanted to spend • Caused inflation • Not enough supply • Strikes happened following war as unions tried to get better wages in response to inflation • Taft Hartley Act • Makes closed shops illegal • Must be in a union to work in a closed shop • Weakened unions • Opposition to Unions • Struggle to unionize workers in South and West • Service sector jobs were difficult to unionize • Democratic attempts to slow economic downturn • Sold government installations to private investors • GI Bill (Servicemen’s Adjustment Act) 1944 • Made it easier to have soldiers go to school, vocational training and homes • Kept soldiers out of workforce and encouraged construction industry

3. Long Economic Boom 1950-1970 • America grew continuously from 1950-1970 • Created social mobility and allowed for development of social welfare programs and civil rights movement • Television and Rock n Roll and increased materialistic culture developed • Larger homes, multiple cars, vacations, washing machines etc. • Large amounts of jobs became available for women • Created tension between career and home • Reasons for prosperity • US was only nation with factories intact; • Economy’s foundation was military spending • First WWII then Korean War • Military funded and incentivized high tech industries • America and Europe controlled oil production from Middle East • Increased productivity from education and efficiency • Labor shifted away from Agricultural to Industrial • Highway Act (1956) created interstate Highway system

4. Sunbelt and Suburbs • Population became very fluid – people moved frequently and over great distances • Weakened traditional family structures • Sunbelt grew fastest – area from Southwest through old South and Florida • Grew because of good climate, military, technological industries • Old industrial areas in Northeast (Frost Belt) and Midwest (Rust Belt) suffered shrinking populations • Demographic and economic shift also resulted in political power shift away from North • Suburbs were made possible from cheap loans from Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Veterans Administration (VA) as well as new highways • Levittown – suburban tract homes built to increase efficiency and decrease cost • White Flight – whites left cities for suburbs – some neighborhoods were redlined to insure blacks or Jews could not move in • Baby Boom (1945-1960) • Extended period of high birth rates • Results in demographic “bubble” through different industries

5. Yalta Conference • Discuss plans for the post war world in February 1945 • agree to establish peacekeeping forces • discuss governments of east Europe • Soviets will declare war on Japan when Nazis are defeated • Soviets got land, trade concessions and control over trade in parts of China • Laid plans for United Nations • Stalin broke most of his pledges regarding governments of east Europe • Yalta intended as a beginning understanding between Soviets and US • US-Soviet Tensions • US did not share atomic information with Soviets • Conflict over who and how Europe would control Europe • Bretton Woods (1944) established International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to help development of Third World – Soviets refuse to participate • United Nations • Created in San Francisco in 1945 – established international governing body that institutionalized political dominance of allied powers in security council

6. Germany • Nuremberg Trials held German leaders responsible for WWII and Holocaust • Many were jailed or executed for crimes against humanity • Soviets resisted any attempt to rebuild Germany; US supported it to create an ally against Soviets • Germany was divided into 4 occupation zones • Churchill says political division between USSR and Western Europe is like an Iron Curtain • Cold War Speech • Long Telegram • George Kennan, American diplomat stated that USSR intended to expand and US had to contain the spread with force or the threat of force • Must consistently be resisted everywhere • Truman Doctrine • US would support “free people resisting subjugation” • Led to US interfering with Soviets in Greece and Turkey • Resulted in US support of many leaders/groups claiming to resist communism • Berlin Airlift (1948) • Soviets tried to force Allies from Berlin by blockading it; Truman sent supplies by air until USSR backed down

7. Containment • Long Telegram and Truman Doctrine led to policy of containment outlined in NSC-68 • Established commitment to large peace time military • Policy to aggressively limit communism to areas where they already were and prevent its expansion Marshall Plan • Provided food and money to rebuild Europe • Attempt to avoid economic crisis similar to post World War I • Try to prevent attractiveness of communism • Offered to East Europe in effort to take them away from Stalin • Soviet led coup in Czechoslovakia encouraged Congressional support for plan • National Security Act (1947) • Department of Defense located at Pentagon • National Security Council (NSC) to advise president on security • Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to gather facts • Voice of America – began transmitting American propaganda

8. America Rearms • NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organization • Signed April 4, 1949 • Member nations pledge to support each other if attacked • Helped unify Europe and led to Arms Race • Reconstruction in Japan • Gen Douglas MacArthur took responsibility for governance of Japan • Japan cooperated and democratized quickly to end occupation earlier • Civil War in China • Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai Shek) led Nationalists against Mao Tse Tung of the Communists • Communists win and Nationalists retreated to Taiwan • Soviets become atomic power • 1949 Soviets develop atomic bomb with the help from Julius and Ethel Rosenberg –American spies for Soviets • US responded by building H-Bomb 1952; Soviets get one in 1953

9. Red Scare • Loyalty Review Board (1947) investigated federal employees to determine if they were communists • Dennis v. US (1951) Supreme Court upheld convictions of communists under the Smith Act (1940) for advocating overthrow of government. • HUAC – House Committee on Un-American Activities • Searched for communist influences in US • Blacklists – actors, etc had careers ruined • Alger Hiss Case • Led by Richard Nixon, he convicted Hiss, of being a spy • Was a famous case – Nixon used “pumpkin papers” to convict him • Established Nixon as major national figure • Local anti-communist efforts • Feared communism led to changes in social values • Took books from libraries and textbooks because of communist themes • Hunt for communism turned into a witch hunt and some began to resist its efforts

10. McCarthyism • Joe McCarthy • Claimed hundreds of communists • never proved anything • McCarthyism means accusing someone of disloyalty without evidence

11. Election of 1948 • Democrat candidates • Harry Truman – campaigned nationwide with “give ‘em hell” speeches against Congress • Dixiecrats – Strom Thurmond • Southern Democrats who opposed desegregationand favored States’ Rights • Henry Wallace - Progressive Party • Opposed Truman’s policies against USSR but was seen as too soft on communism • Republicans • Thomas Dewey of New York • Truman wins the election on strength of blacks, farmers and workers • Truman wanted to send aid to poor countries to helpprevent them becoming communist • Truman’s Fair deal • Created jobs • Ended job discrimination • Built public housing • Was opposed by Republicans and Dixiecrats • 22nd Amendment (1947) • Limits President to 2 terms

12. Conflict in Korea “Forgotten War” • US and Soviets divide Korea after WWII on 38th Parallel • Korean War • June 1950- Communist North with Soviet equipment invaded South in attempt to reunite Korea and took almost entire peninsula to Pusan • NSC 68 was put into effect, increasing size of military • United Nations, led by US, join war to stop North – officially it was a “police action” without Congressional Approval • Douglas MacArthur came from Japan to lead US forces • September 1950 Launched surprise attack at Inchon and forced North Koreans to the Yalu River (border with China) • November 1950 China joins to stop UN and pushes US forces back • MacArthur wanted US to attack China; even use nukes on Chinese/Korean border • Did not listen to President Truman • Truman fired MacArthur • Truce agreed to in 1953 reestablishing 38th parallel border • DMZ (demilitarized zone) created between two nations