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Chapter 26

Chapter 26. The Cold War Abroad and at Home 1945-1952. Introduction. The onset of the Cold War Its impact on American life at home Impact on American foreign policy “state of mutual hostility short of direct armed confrontation”

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Chapter 26

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  1. Chapter 26 The Cold War Abroad and at Home 1945-1952

  2. Introduction • The onset of the Cold War • Its impact on American life at home • Impact on American foreign policy • “state of mutual hostility short of direct armed confrontation” • Developed as the U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. struggled to shape the postwar world in a way that “served its own national interests”

  3. Introduction (cont.) • 1.) How did President Truman’s and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin’s policies contribute to the Cold War? • 2.) What was the containment policy, and how did the U.S. govt. implement it between 1947 and 1952? • 3.) Why did New Deal liberalism weaken after WWII, and what effects did its decline have on Truman’s administration?

  4. Introduction (cont.) • 4.) What caused the red scare following WWII, and why did Americans become so frightened of Communism? • 5.) What impact did the Cold War have on civil rights for African-Americans? • 6.) What were the effects of the GI Bill of Rights on the postwar economy and society?

  5. The Political Setting, 1945-1946 • Demobilization and Reconversion • The Truman administration rapidly demobilized the armed forces • Dropped from 12 million men in 1945 to 1.5 million by 1948 • Many veterans had trouble readjusting to civilian life • severe housing shortages • disappearing defense plant jobs • reestablishing family bonds • Over a million marriages made during the War ended in divorce by 1950

  6. Demobilization and Reconversion (cont.) • Women lost their wartime industrial jobs • Told by society that they should find fulfillment in marriage and motherhood • Many followed that idea • Others took new lower-paying jobs as office workers and saleswomen • By 1950--more women were in the paid labor force than had been during WWII

  7. The GI Bill of Rights • Passed by Congress in 1944 • Also called the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act • Reward men and women who fought for the U.S.A. in WWII • Help them adjust to civilian life • Veterans Affairs Dept. history of GI Bill

  8. The GI Bill of Rights (cont.) • Provided returning GI’s with low-interest govt.-backed loans • Start their own business • Buy homes or farms • About 4 million veterans bought homes with their GI loans • Greatly stimulated the postwar construction industry, economy, and suburbanization

  9. The GI Bill of Rights (cont.) • The govt. also offered to pay tuition and expenses for 4 years of college or professional training • 8 million veterans accepted this offer • By 1947--1/2 of the nation’s college students were GI Bill veterans • Enrollment soared • Many new 2 and 4 year colleges were founded to meet the demand • A generation of working class Americans rose to the middle class

  10. The Economic Boom Begins • By 1946, the U.S. economy was booming • Money the govt. gave veterans for education, loans, and businesses under the GI Bill stimulated growth • U.S. was the strongest industrial nation in the world • International Monetary Fund and World Bank • The U.S. mainly controlled and funded • Stabilized exchange rates • Help to rebuild Asia and Europe

  11. The Economic Boom Begins (cont.) • Wartime advances in science and technology made possible the development of new industries • Electronics • Synthetic materials • Consumes spent their war savings • About $135 billion • Bought homes, cars, electric appliances, televisions

  12. Truman’s Domestic Program • Employment Act of 1946 • A program to ensure economic growth and employment • Inflation soared • Office of Price Administration was cut • no longer were their price controls • Prices escalated • Strikes increased • Workers demanded higher wages to keep up with the cost of living • Truman wavered between getting tough with strikers and giving in to their demands

  13. Truman’s Domestic Program (cont.) • Shortages of housing and consumer goods continued • Industries struggled to catch up with consumer purchases • Americans blamed Truman for inflation, strikes, and shortages • 1946--elected Republicans as the majorities in Congress • 1st time since 1928 • Public uneasiness about the atomic arms race that was starting

  14. Anticommunism and Containment, 1946-1952 • Polarization and Cold War • After WWI, U.S. and U.S.S.R. began to argue over Eastern Europe • Especially Poland • Stalin insisted that friendly communist govts. must be installed on the Soviet borders • Secure Soviet Union from future attacks • Stalin did not allow free election there • Communist regimes came to power in Poland, Bulgaria, and Romania

  15. Polarization and Cold War (cont.) • Pres. Truman would not accept Soviet domination of Eastern Europe • It violated the principles of national self-determination • Truman believed that the spread of communism threatened American economic interests in Eastern Europe and elsewhere

  16. The Iron Curtain Descends • Stalin tightened his grip on Eastern Europe • Truman=“get tough with the Russians” • George F. Kennan • State Department expert on U.S.S.R. • Advised the U.S. should apply “long-term, patient, but firm vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies”

  17. The Iron Curtain Descends (cont.) • Winston Churchill • Iron Curtain speech • 1946 • Condemned Stalin’s behavior • Called for an anticommunist alliance of the English-speaking peoples • History Channel video • Iron Curtain speech transcript

  18. The Iron Curtain Descends (cont.) • Truman threatened to use U.S. naval and land forces if Stalin did not withdraw his troops from Iran and offered a nuclear arms control plan that Russia rejected • U.S. objected to a Soviet counter plan • Both countries developed and stockpiled more and more nuclear weapons

  19. The Iron Curtain Descends (cont.) • Cold War • U.S. and U.S.S.R. both would use economic pressure, nuclear threats, propaganda, and subversion against each other • They would not engage in direct military combat

  20. Containing Communism • March 1947 • Truman asked Congress for millions of dollars • Help the Greek and Turkish govts. fight communist rebel movements • May 1947--Congress appropriated the $$$ • Truman Doctrine • U.S. commitment to support peoples all over the world who were threatened by Soviet aggression and/or internal communist uprisings • Truman Doctrine speech

  21. Containing Communism (cont.) • Marshall Plan • Developed by Sec. of State George Marshall • U.S. assistance to rebuild European economies • $17 billion • Attempt to prevent the spread of Communism • By 1952, it had revived the Western European economically • Communist popularity waned • American business boomed with increased sales in Europe

  22. Confrontation in Germany • 1947-1948=Stalin took over Hungary and Czechoslovakia • U.S.A., G.B., and France united their zones of occupation in Germany into West Germany • Include Western occupied parts of Berlin • Berlin blockade • Soviet reaction to unification • Prevented all ground movement of goods and people between West Germany and West Berlin • Stalin hoped to halt the establishment of West Germany • June 1948 to May 1949 • History Channel video--Berlin Blockade

  23. Confrontation in Germany (cont.) • Berlin Airlift • Truman’s reaction to the blockade • Truman told Stalin that if the Soviets shot down any supply planes, the U.S. would retaliate with atomic bombs • History Channel video--Berlin Airlift • May 1949--Stalin ended the unsuccessful Berlin blockade • West German Federal Republic was formed • Include West Berlin

  24. Confrontation in Germany (cont.) • North Atlantic Treaty Organization • NATO • Formed in April 1949 • 10 European nations, Canada, and the United States • Anticommunist military alliance

  25. NATO nations today

  26. Confrontation in Germany (cont.) • The Soviets responded by: • 1.) establishing the Germany Democratic Republic (East Germany) • 2.) developed their own atomic bomb • 3.) Warsaw Pact • Military alliance of the Soviet Union and its satellite nations

  27. Confrontation in Germany (cont.) • The 2 superpowers divided Europe into rival armed camps.

  28. The Cold War in Asia • Both superpowers wanted economic and military influence in Asia • The U.S.: • helped rebuild Japan • Structurally and economically • Occupied much of Japan’s former Pacific island empire • Crushed a communist movement in the Philippines • Aided the French in their attempt to hold on to their empire in Indochina

  29. The Cold War in Asia (cont.) • In China though, the United States did not prevent the Nationalist govt. from overthrow • U.S. sent military and economic aid • Helped Jiang Jieshi • Mao Zedong overthrew Jieshi in 1949 • Communist nation

  30. The Cold War in Asia (cont.) • Hysteria started in the United States • Began a search for disloyal elements in the U.S.A. • Republicans blamed Truman for losing China • United States built the hydrogen bomb and increased military spending • Soviets built hydrogen bombs also • Thermonuclear terror increased

  31. The Korean War, 1950-1953 • In 1945--U.S.S.R. and the United States liberated Korea from Japanese rule • The Soviets set up a communist-governed nation • People’s Democratic Republic of Korea • North of the 38th parallel • United States helped to create a pro-Western nation • Republic of Korea • South of the 38th parallel

  32. The Korean War, 1950-1953 (cont.) • Democratic People’s Republic of Korea wanted to reunited Koreans under its rule • Invaded South Korea in 1950 • Truman sent U.S. forces under General Douglas MacArthur to South Korea to repel the invasion • Did so without consent from Congress

  33. July 1950

  34. The Korean War, 1950-1953 (cont.) • The United Nations sent a token army to fight under MacArthur • U.S., U.N., and South Korean troops soon pushed the North Koreans back to the 38th parallel • Truman and MacArthur decided to conquer the North and put it under the control of the South Korean govt.

  35. The Korean War, 1950-1953 (cont.) • MacArthur’s armies neared the Yalu River • Mao Zedong warned that he would not “stand idly by” • MacArthur ignored the threat • He was caught off guard by the 33 Chinese divisions that forced his troops deep into South Korea

  36. October 1950

  37. January 1951

  38. The Korean War, 1950-1953 (cont.) • 1951--MacArthur’s forces reached the 38th parallel • Truman then ordered them to hold that position until a peace settlement was reached • MacArthur protested • He wanted total victory by using atomic bombs against China • Truman removed MacArthur--April 1951 • MacArthur was put in charge of civilian control over the military • History Channel speech--Truman • History Channel speech--MacArthur

  39. The Korean War, 1950-1953 (cont.) • Truce came in 1953 • Border between the 2 Koreas was nearly the same as in 1950 • U.S. lost 54,000 lives • Cost $54 billion • In 1953, the defense spending was 2/3 of the federal budget • In 1950 it was 1/3 • The U.S. also began aiding France against an independence revolt in Indochina • SEATO was created in 1954 • U.S., Australia, New Zealand, and other countries

  40. The Truman Administration at Home, 1945-1952 • The Eightieth Congress, 1947-1948 • Republican controlled • Began to undo the New Deal • Passed the Taft-Hartley Act • Less favorable to unions than the Wagner Act • Truman had vetoed it but Congress overrode the veto • Truman courted liberal, labor, and Jewish votes for the next election by: • condemned the reactionary Congress • Recognized the new state of Israel

  41. The Politics of Civil Rights and the Election of 1948 • President’s Committee on Civil Rights • 1946 • Set up by Truman • Investigate racism • Suggest ways to protect minorities • Congress should pass: • Antilynching bill • Anti-poll tax bill • Other civil-rights bills

  42. The Politics of Civil Rights and the Election of 1948 (cont.) • Southern Democrats resisted these possible changes • Truman did not make any specific proposals • 1948 Democratic National Convention • Liberals and urban politicians forced the party to adopt a strong civil-rights platform • This allowed Truman to press for the measures recommended by his civil-rights committee • Southern Democrats founded the Dixiecrat Party • Nominated Strom Thurmond for President • Segregationist from SC

  43. The Politics of Civil Rights and the Election of 1948 (cont.) • 1948 election had 4 candidates: • Democrats--Truman • Republicans--Thomas Dewey • Dixiecrats--Thurmond • New Progressive Party--Henry Wallace • Made up of left-wing Democrats • Many believed Dewey would win easily

  44. The Politics of Civil Rights and the Election of 1948 (cont.) • Truman secured the northern African-American vote: • Issued executive orders against discrimination in govt. employment and segregation in the armed forces • Truman received the support of northern African-Americans and the Roosevelt New Deal coalition • Gave Truman a close victory • Wallace and Thurmond did not take enough of the Democratic vote to make a difference

  45. 1948 Election

  46. The Fair Deal • Truman’s social and economic reforms • Increase in the minimum wage • Increase in social-security benefits • Public-housing construction • Removal of slums • Conservation Southern Democrats and Republicans blocked all civil-rights and most Fail Deal measures

  47. The Politics of Anticommunism • Loyalty and Security • Federal Employee Loyalty Program • Established March 1947 • Truman formed after Republican accusations that he was not protecting internal security • Provided for checks on all govt. workers • Remove out any disloyal personnel • Between 1947-1951: • more than 500 people were fired • Thousands resigned • Most because they espoused unpopular beliefs, not because they had committed unlawful acts

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