Matakuliah : G0862/American Culture and Society
Tahun
: 2007
People of Plenty
(1945 – 1950)
Meeting 7
Contents
•
•
•
•
American Domination: war of Ideology
The politics of Consensus
The trouble with kids
The domino theory: Vietnam and Korean
War
The Fifties
The 1950s was a decade of prosperity, optimism,
conservatism and conformity. But as the era neared its
end, a counter-culture reared its head through American
society. Rebellion and non-conformity were the reactions
to the texture of American society.
Various celebrities epitomized the defiance of youthMarlon Brandon, James Dean, Elvis Presley, Jack
Kerouac, and others.
Trouble with Youth
People of Plenty
The War of Ideology
Nixon’s Kitchen debate
Nuclear Bomb Shelter (1950)
The Domino Theory
The Domino Theory
The Korean War showed the American government that
the communist threat was not restricted to Europe. Two
regions in particular, appeared vulnerable to
communism, Indo-China and Latin America. Indochina
had been colonized by the French in the late 19th
Century but had been lost to Japan during the Second
World War.
Resistance groups set-up to fight the Japanese often
contained supporters of the communist party and after
the allied victory in 1945, France attempted to
reestablish control. Western governments feared that if
France was unsuccessful in this, communism might
spread throughout the whole of South East Asia.
The Domino Theory
The same reasoning was applied to Latin America after
guerrilla fighters, under the leadership of Fidel Castro,
overthrew Fulgencio Batista, the right-wing dictator of
Cuba in 1959.
To justify his support for South Vietnam, President
Dwight Eisenhower and Vice-President Richard Nixon
put forward the 'domino theory. It was argued that if the
first domino is knocked over then the rest topple in turn.
Applying this to South-east Asia he argued that if South
Vietnam was taken by communists, then the other
countries in the region such as Laos, Cambodia,
Thailand, Burma, Malaysia and Indonesia, would follow.