The Cold War Begins
1945 - 1952
Postwar Economic Anxieties
Fear of second Great Depression
Strikes
Taft-Hartley Act (1947)
• Vetoed by Truman/ Congress overrode veto
Outlawed the “closed” (all union) shop
Made union liable for damages
Required union leaders to take a non-Communist oath
Employment Act (1946)
Gov’t policy to promote maximum employment, production,
& purchasing power
Created Council of Economic Advisers to the president
GI Bill of Rights
Servicemen’s
Readjustment Act of
1944
Sent GIs to school
Veteran's Administration
(VA) – provided for
billions in loans to buy
homes, farms, &
businesses
Economic Boom 1950 –1970
Growth of the middle class
Women entered the workforce in large
numbers
Paved the way for the Civil Rights Movement
Funded new welfare programs – Medicare
Defense spending – Korean War
Increase in fuel & electricity consumption
Gains in productivity
Roots of Postwar Proseperity
World War II’s impact on war production
“permanent war economy”
Pentagon dollars spent in aerospace, plastics, and
electronics industries (1950, Korea)
Cheap Energy
Doubled consumption of oil
Education
Nearly 90% school-age enrolled in schools
Economic structure
Mechanization on farms resulted in a shift away from
agriculture
Society Changes
30 million changed residences every year
Dr. Benjamin Spock’s The Common Sense
Book of Baby and Child Care (1945)
“The Sunbelt”
See map p. 863
15 state stretching in a crescent from VA through
FL and TX to AZ & CA
Population soared
Couple looking at house
Couple looking at house
In postwar America, millions of families shopped for new houses in the country's burgeoning suburbs. In the
first decade after the Second World War, 4.3 million veterans used GI Bill loan provisions to purchase singlefamily residences. Many of these men and women were members of what Tom Brokaw, NBC's news anchor,
has called "the greatest generation." They survived the Great Depression, served in the war, and became
parents of America's baby boomers. (H. Armstrong Roberts)
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Rush to the Suburbs
“White Flight” out of the cities
Made possible by the FHA & VA providing
guaranteed home loans & tax deductions
Levittown – NY’s Long Island (1940s)
Designed by 2 brothers
Revolutionized the techniques of home
construction
African Americans
Refused loans by FHA
Public housing for blacks built in “black
neighborhoods”
Baby Boomers
Demographic explosion
50 million babies by the end of the 1950s
Schools were overcrowded
“Youth Culture” developed
“Secondary Boom” – baby boomers had
children
Future strain on Social Security
Yalta Conference
Feb 1945 – Stalin, FDR, Churchill
Free elections promised for Poland, Bulgaria, &
Romania
Called for a San Francisco Conference to establish
the United Nations
Deal made with Stalin:
• Soviets promised land & joint control over the RR’s in
Manchuria
• In return, Stalin would attack Japanese within 3 months
of the defeat of Germany
The United States &
The Soviet Union
Mutual suspicions / Cold War
Communism & capitalism
Similarities:
Both had been isolated from world affairs before
WWII
History of conducting “missionary” diplomacy
The wartime “Grand Alliance” between US,
USSR, & Britain was out of necessity & ended
with the war
Shaping the Postwar World
1944 – International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Encouraged world trade by regulating currency
exchange rates
Founded the International Bank for Reconstruction
& Development (World Bank)
• Soviets declined to participate
April 25, 1945 – United Nations Conference
Representatives from 50 nations met in CA
Similar to the League of Nations Covenant
Security Council recreated – dominated by the Big
5 powers (US, Britain, China, USSR, & France)
United Nations
Headquarters – NY City
Successes
Helped preserve peace in Iran & Kashmir
Role in creating Israel – New Jewish state
• (recognized by the US in 1945)
Arms
UNESCO – (United Nations Educational, Scientific, &
Cultural Organization)
FAO – (Food & Agricultural Organization)
WHO – (World Health Organization)
UNRRA – (United Nations Relief & Rehabilitation
Administration)
The Problem of Germany
Nuremberg Trials
High ranking Nazis were tried for war crimes
• 12 were hanged, 7 receive long jail terms, 1 committed
suicide
• Set a precedent for holding individuals accountable for
their actions. “I was just following orders” was not
acceptable.
Germany was divided into 4 military zones
Zones controlled by France, US, USSR, & Britain
until free elections could be held
Stalin refused to hold elections in his zone
Berlin was also divided into 4 zones
Problems emerge
Soviets blockaded access to Berlin (1948)
Berlin airlift – over a year/ organized by the US
Soviets lifted to blockade in May 1949
West Germany
Eventually became an independent country
East Germany
Became a nominally independent “satellite” state
of the USSR
Iron Curtain – separation or division in
Europe between free & “satellite” states
Churchill and Truman, "Iron Curtain Speech," March 5, 1946
Churchill and Truman, "Iron Curtain
Speech," March 5, 1946
On March 5, 1946, former British prime
minister Winston S. Churchill (1874–
1965) delivered a speech, which he
intended for a worldwide audience, at
Westminster College in Fulton,
Missouri. President Harry S. Truman
(right) had encouraged Churchill
(seated) to speak on two themes: the
need to block Soviet expansion and the
need to form the Anglo-American
partnership. Always eloquent and
provocative, Churchill denounced the
Soviets for drawing an "iron curtain"
across eastern Europe. This speech
became one of the landmark statements
of the Cold War. (Harry S. Truman
Library)
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Berlin Air Lift--German children watching American planes bring food, 1948
Berlin Air Lift--German children watching American planes bring food, 1948
German children watching an American plane in "Operation Vittles" bring food and
supplies to their beleaguered city. The airlift kept a city of 2 million people alive for
nearly a year and made West Berlin a symbol of the West's resolve to contain the
spread of Soviet communism. ((c) Bettmann/Corbis)
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Crystallizing the Cold War
Containment Doctrine – 1947
George F. Kennan
Called for a policy of “containment” against the
inherent expansionism of communism
Truman Doctrine – March 1947
Asked for $400 million to bolster Greece & Turkey
The policy of the US should be to support free
peoples who are resisting communism aggression
Marshall Plan – June 1947
Economic recovery – help countries economically to
prevent the spread of communism
Marshall Plan poster of ship
Marshall Plan poster of ship
The goal of the Marshall Plan was to
provide American economic support for
the rebuilding of Europe's economy. By
the time the plan ended, the United
States had provided over $12.5 billion
dollars to those European nations
participating in the European Recovery
Program. This poster demonstrated that
with cooperation, Europe would soon be
moving forward again. (Courtesy of
George C. Marshall Foundation)
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The Cold War caused the US to:
1947 – National Security Act
Established the Dept of Defense
• Housed in the Pentagon
• Headed by the Sec of Defense – cabinet member
• Joint Chiefs of Staff
Established National Security Council (NSC)
• Advise the president on security matters
Established Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
Selective Service resurrected the draft
NATO
US was invited to a European Pact
US joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in
1949
An attack on one as an attack on all
Communist countries will form the Warsaw Pact
Soldiers of 11th Airborne Division watch atomic bomb explosion, 1951 tests in Nevada
Soldiers of 11th Airborne Division watch atomic bomb explosion, 1951 tests
in Nevada
Soldiers of the 11th Airborne Division watch as an atomic explosion mushrooms
into the sky during 1951 testing maneuvers in Nevada. ((c) Bettmann/Corbis)
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Postwar Asia
Japanese officials were tried for war crimes
18 sent to prison, 7 were hanged
Japan was occupied by General Douglas
MacArthur
Dictated a constitution for the Japanese
Fall of China
Jiang Jiesji (Chiang Kai-Shek) was forced to
Taiwan
Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung) took over &
established a communist government
Identifying the Communists
Fear of communist spies
1947- Truman launched a “loyalty” program
Organizations were identify as suspicious
Loyalty Review Board investigated federal
employees
Loyalty oaths were required for certain jobs
1949 – 11 communists were tried under the
Smith Act of 1940
First peace time anti-sedition act since 1798
Upheld in Dennis v. US (1951)
Communist Witch Hunt
1938 – HUAC (House Committee on Un-American
Activities)
Investigate subversion
Richard Nixon led the chase after Alger Hiss
Hiss was eventually charged with perjury & sentenced to 5
years
Senator Joseph McCarthy (1950)
Charged that there were scores of known communist in the
State Department
Could not prove anything
Ended after he accused the US Army in televised hearings
Censure by the Senate
The Witch Hunt Continues
1950 – McCarran Internal Security Bill
Vetoed by Truman/ overridden by Congress
Authorized the president to arrest & detain
suspicious people during an “internal security
emergency”
Julius & Ethel Rosenberg
Convicted in 1951 of espionage (gave info on
atomic bomb to the Soviets)
1953 – executed
Democratic Divisions in 1948
Republicans controlled Congress
Rep – Thomas Dewey
Dem – Harry S Truman
Split the party
“Dixiecrats”/ States’ Rights Party
J. Strom Thurmond
Progressive Party – Henry A. Wallace
Election of 1948
Truman goes on his “Whistle Stop” Tour
Lashed out against Taft-Hartley law & the “do
nothing” Congress
• Gained support for civil rights, improved labor benefits, &
health insurance
“Dewey Defeats Truman” headline
Truman’s Plans
Provide aid to prevent the spread of communism
Fair Deal- improved housing, full employment,
higher minimum wage, better farm prices
supports, new TVAs, & an extension of Social
Security
• Only succeed 3 areas – SS, housing, & min wage
Truman with "Dewey Defeats Truman" headlines, 1948
Truman with "Dewey Defeats Truman" headlines, 1948
So few pollsters predicted that President Harry S. Truman (1884–1972) would win
the 1948 presidential election that the Chicago Tribune announced his defeat before
all the returns were in. Here a victorious Truman pokes fun at the newspaper for its
premature headline. (Corbis-Bettmann)
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The Korean War
Korea was split after WWII along the 38th parallel
North – Soviet controlled
South – US controlled
June 25, 1950 – North invaded South Korea
NSC-68 // recommended by Truman
US should increase military spending by 4X
UN Security Council condemned actions of North
Korea
Asked for assistance to restore peace
Truman ordered naval & air units to support South Korea
• Ordered General Douglas MacArthur to Korea
Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was one of ebb and
flow, advances and retreats--the
movement of troops up and down the
rugged Korean peninsula. Here,
American troops advance while Korean
women and children march in the
opposite direction hoping to avoid the
destruction of war. Over 33,000
Americans lost their lives in Korea
during the conflict. (Corbis-Bettmann)
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Military Seesaw
MacArthur led the Inchon Landing
Very successful
Pushed North back across the 38th parallel
UN okayed MacArthur to invade North
As long as Soviets & Chinese didn’t interfere
Chinese forces did get involved
Stalemate resulted
MacArthur wanted to attack China & Truman
disagreed
Truman was forced to fire MacArthur
MacArthur was still welcomed as a hero