Chapter 14: The Cold War
and the American Dream
How did the USA and USSR become enemies?
Ch. 14, Sec. 1
Peacetime
Adjustments and the
Cold War
Now that WWII is over, what
happens at home in the USA and
in the world?
Ch. 14, Sec. 1: “Peacetime Adjustments and the
Cold War
• Adjusting To Peace
• - WWII veterans returned to
work, leading to 800,000
women being laid off
• The Postwar Economy
• - the economy boomed
because people wanted
commercial goods (washers,
toasters, cars, etc) since they
had to cut back during WWII
• - many were starting families
(Baby Boom) & wanted
homes & suburbs grew
quickly
Reasons for increased U.S.
production of consumer goods in
the 1950’s
• They were tired of the shortages
and sacrifices of World War II.
• Shopping malls grew along with
suburbs in the 1950’s.
• Americans were influenced by
television and advertising.
Suburban Living
Levittown, L. I.:
“The American Dream”
1949  William Levitt produced
150 houses per week.
$7,990 or $60/month with no down payment
made these new houses affordable.
William Levitt
He applied assembly line
techniques to home
building. His massproduced houses were
so cheap that many
people could afford
them.
Suburbs of the 1950’s
Ch. 14, Sec. 1: “Peacetime Adjustments and the
Cold War
• Labor Unrest and Civil
Rights
• - there were many labor
strikes during this era (auto,
steel, meatpacking, electrical)
• - African-Americans were still
segregated, intimidated,
mistreated, etc. in the South
• - President Truman
introduced a civil rights
commission and anti-lynching
and anti-poll tax laws, but they
didn’t pass due to Southern
Democrats in Congress
Ch. 14, Sec. 1: “Peacetime Adjustments and the
Cold War
• The Fair Deal
• - the Republican Congress
blocked many of Truman’s
plans for more programs
(called the Fair Deal) similar
to the New Deal for
housing, education, health
care
• - Truman looked like he’d
lose to Thomas Dewey in
the 1948 election, but his
late train campaign led to a
surprise victory and
another Presidential term
for him
The Fair Deal
Called for new projects to
create jobs, build public
housing, and end racial
discrimination in hiring.
Truman
He won an upset
victory over his
opponent, Thomas
Dewey in 1948.
Ch. 14, Sec. 1: “Peacetime Adjustments and the
Cold War
• Origins of the Cold
War
• - Stalin and the USSR
broke a wartime
promise and started
making countries in
Eastern Europe
communist instead of
democratic, causing
tension with the USA
A State of Hostility
• Truman was determined to protect
Western Europe from the threat of Soviet
expansion.
• As the gap between the Soviet Union and
the Western democracies widened,
tensions developed.
• The resulting Cold War after WWII was a
conflict that pitted the U.S. against the
Soviet Union. The two nations never
directly confronted each other on the
battlefield.
See next slide for map of current Europe
• http://www.history.com/topics/coldwar/berlin-wall/videos/deconstructinghistory-berlin-wall
• 3:00 minutes
•Deconstructing the Berlin Wall
Ch. 14, Sec. 1: “Peacetime Adjustments and the
Cold War
• Containing Communism Abroad
• - President Truman called for:
Containment
• a policy that was to stop the spread of
communism
• Blocking by one action of another nation’s
attempts to spread influence
Next, Truman Announced…
•The Truman Doctrineaid to people
struggling to resist
threats to democratic
freedom.
Next….
• NATO formed in 1949,(North Atlantic
Treaty Organization) a military
alliance formed of 10 democratic
nations, made up of USA, Canada,
England, and other Western
European nations
•
•
- the USSR and Eastern European communist nations formed
the Warsaw Pact
Next slide… map with the spread of Communism
Ch. 14, Sec. 1: “Peacetime Adjustments and the
Cold War
• Marhsall Plan and Berlin Airlift
the Marshall Plan from the USA
gave $13 billion in aid to help
western and southern Europe
rebuild and recover from WWII
(and protect from communism)
• -
• - Germany (and the capital city of Berlin) was split
between democratic countries (West) and communist
(USSR) control and became a “battle ground” for both
• See map next slide…
Ch. 14, Sec. 1: “Peacetime Adjustments and the
Cold War
• Marhsall Plan and Berlin
Airlift (con’t)
• - Stalin blocked access
to Berlin during the Cold
War, but the USA and
England sent cargo
planes and dropped
supplies in to the city
residents
• - by 1949, Germany (and
Berlin) had been split into
West Germany
(democratic) and East
Germany (communist)
Ch. 14, Sec. 1: “Peacetime Adjustments and the
Cold War
• Fear of Communism at
Home
• - Ethel & Julius
Rosenberg gave US
atomic secrets to the
USSR and were
sentenced to death; they
were members of the
American Communist
Party
• - the U.S. developed a
great fear of communist
supporters living in
America
• The Rosenbergs
•Ch. 14, Sec. 2
• “The Korean War
and
McCarthyism”
Ch. 14, Sec. 2: “The Korean War and
McCarthyism”
How did the Korean War start and
end? How many Communists
were in the USA?
Next slide… map of the Korean area
Current “Supreme Leader” of North Korea
is Kim Jong-un
North Korea
China
South Korea
Japan
Why does Korea look like this at night?
http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/26/world/asia/nasa-iss-north-korea-no-lights/
Ch. 14, Sec. 2: “The Korean War and
McCarthyism”
• Origins of the Korean
War
• - Mao Zedong became
the leader of China
when it became
communist in 1949
• - Korea had been split
into two countries;
North (communist) and
South Korea
Ch. 14, Sec. 2: “The Korean War and
McCarthyism”
• Fighting Breaks out in
Korea
• - North Korea attacked
South Korea in 1950 and
the U.S. sent troops to
support the South in an
effort to contain
communism from
spreading further
• - this helped push the
North back to almost
China, but China warned
us to stop
•U.S. involvement
in the Korean War
was an example
of Truman’s
containment
policy.
Ch. 14, Sec. 2: “The Korean War and
McCarthyism”
• China Enters the
Conflict
• - China began
supporting North
Korea and soon
pushed the
South/U.S. troops
back to the 38th
parallel (the original
split line)
Ch. 14, Sec. 2: “The Korean War and
McCarthyism”
• War Ends in Stalemate
• - Dwight D. Eisenhower
won the 1952 Presidential
election
• - by 1953 (3 years later),
the war had become
unpopular and the US
and USSR helped
negotiate a treaty to split
North and South Korea….
at the original split line
• (the 38th Parallel)
Ch. 14, Sec. 2: “The Korean War and
McCarthyism”
• McCarthy and Communism
• - Joseph McCarthy, Republican
senator from Wisconsin, accused
many people in the U.S.
government (and other areas) of
being communist supporters
• - this type of accusation
(whether legit or not) was called
McCarthyism
• - he put some Army leaders on
“trial” in Senate hearings on
whether they supported
communism; this eventually
turned many against him, but his
accusations had done much
damage to the accused and
created concern in the US
Eisenhower and the Cold War
• Like Truman, he waged the Cold War
• His Sec. of State, Dulles, rejected
Truman’s containment policy and
favored a more aggressive stand.
• Dulles urged the overthrow of Comm.
governments, and announced the U.S.
would go to the brink of war to combat
Communism.
• brinksmanship- the act of
pushing a dangerous situation to
the limits.
Ch. 14, Sec. 2: “The Korean War and
McCarthyism”
• Eisenhower and the Cold War
(1)
• - A Cold War Effect-The USSR
and USA began an “arms
race”, developing weapons
with more destructive power.
We tried to top each other by
developing weapons of
destruction.
• - they Hydrogen Bomb (H-Bomb)
was developed by the US in 1952
and three years later the USSR
successfully tested their own HBomb
Pawnee National Grassland
Yes, we have nuclear missile sites!
Iran’s and Guatemala's Leaders
Seemed to Favor Communism
• In 1953 in Iran, the CIA helped
topple a leader whom they
thought might seek Soviet aid.
• In 1954, the CIA trained an army
that succeeded in overthrowing
Guatemala’s President.
Eisenhower and the Cold • During Eisenhower’s
War
presidency the Suez
Canal was at the
center of another
Cold War conflict.
• - 1955: Suez Canal was
seized by Egypt (friends
of USSR) from France &
England
• - France, Britain, & Israel
attacked Egypt; the USA,
USSR and United
Nations got them to pull
back from Egypt and
started a cease-fire
(preventing a major battle)
What is this?????
Sputnik Stuns the World
•
•
•
The beginning of the SPACE RACE.
Interesting facts:
First man made object to orbit the earth.
• Sputnik was only 23 inches in diameter but weighed about 184 pounds.
• At 500 miles up, at the speed of 18,000 miles an hour, Sputnik circled the
globe every 96 minutes, making 1,440 orbits around the Earth before
beginning its reentry.
• Sputnik probably broke up somewhere above the western United States.
A man in Encino, CA, woke up one morning and noticed something
glowing in his backyard. Upon inspection, it proved to be plastic tubing of
the type used in Sputnik. No one has been able to prove whether this in
fact was part of the satellite.
• Sputnik 2 contained a dog named Laika, making her the first living
creature to enter space. Although food and water were provided to her,
she did not survive more than a few hours due to the intense heat.
• The first Sputnik provided scientists with data about the nature and ion
density of the Earth’s upper atmosphere. It was important to know how
radio frequencies would work in space and thus whether astronauts
would be able to communicate with a base on Earth.
• Eisenhower and the Cold War
• - in 1957, the USSR shocked
the US when they launched
Sputnik, the first satellite
• - this meant the USSR had
missiles powerful enough to
get nukes to the USA
• - Sputnik began the “Space
Race” for both countries
where both put large amounts
of money into space programs
to build satellites, etc. and show
superiority.
• This began a competition
between the U.S. and U.S.S.R.
in the exploration of space.
What was this about?????
U2 INCIDENT
• occurred during the Cold War on 1 May 1960
• United States government at first denied the
plane's purpose and mission
• then was forced to admit its role as a
covert surveillance aircraft
• the Soviet government produced its intact
remains and surviving pilot, Francis Gary
Powers
BUSTED!
• photos of military bases in Russia taken by
Powers were also recovered
• Coming roughly two weeks before the
scheduled opening of an East–West summit in
Paris, the incident was a great embarrassment
to the United States[1] and prompted a
marked deterioration in its relations with the
Soviet Union.
What happened to Powers?
• Powers carried with him a modified silver dollar which
contained a lethal, shellfish-derived saxitoxin-tipped
needle, but did not use it.
• Powers pleaded guilty and was convicted of espionage
on 19 August and sentenced to three years
imprisonment and seven years of hard labor. He
served one year and nine months of the sentence
before being exchanged for Rudolf Abel on 10
February 1962.[12] The exchange occurred on
the Glienicke Bridge connecting Potsdam, East
Germany, to West Berlin.
•
Ch. 14, Sec. 2: “The Korean War and
• - USSR’s leader was now
McCarthyism”
Eisenhower and the Cold
War
Nikita Khrushchev and
President Eisenhower tried to
set up peace talks with him in
1960
• - two weeks before the talks,
an American U-2 spy plane
was shot down over
USSR(another Cold War
event)
• Eisenhower denied the
aircraft was a spy plane until
the pilot was captured.
• -We refused to apologize. This
angered the USSR and the
peace talks broke down,
increasing tensions
Section 3: The
Fifties
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wb0Jmy-JYbA
What was life like in America
during this Cold War era? Who &
what was popular?
Ch. 14, Sec. 3: “The Fifties”
“Which one is my house?”
• The Domestic Scene in the 50s
• - Many people began moving
•
•
•
•
out of the cities and into the
suburbs, taking money, taxes,
etc. with them
- This left the cities with less of a
tax base to work with and led to
urban decay
- 1950s saw a great increase in
Mexican immigration to US
- Many came for temporary
agricultural work in the Southwest
and then stayed illegally in order
to stay here
Other Mex. imm. came through
the govt. sponsored bracero,
or temporary worker, program.
Ch. 14, Sec. 3: “The Fifties”
• The Domestic Scene in the
•
•
•
•
50s (con’t)
- Pres. Eisenhower increased
gov’t spending in some areas,
yet kept business and
conservatives somewhat happy
One major development was
the Interstate Highway
system, modeled after
Germany’s autobahn
This was to allow for easier
travel and to evacuate cities
faster in case of attack
A byproduct of this was the end
of highways (Route 66, etc.)
being the primary travel routes (
The Highway Act of 1956
• Supported by President Eisenhower
• He remembered Germany’s autobahns
had great military value
• He called on Congress to pass this act
and created the nation’s first
interstate system.
The Culture of the Car
Car registrations:
1945  25,000,000
1960  60,000,000
2-family cars doubles from 1951-1958
1958 Pink Cadillac
1959 Chevy Corvette
1956  Interstate Highway Act  largest
public works project in American
history!
Å Cost $32 billion.
Å 41,000 miles of new highways built.
Ch. 14, Sec. 3: “The Fifties”
• Changes Sweep
America
• - The economy was now
booming and many
people were starting
families and buying
homes
• - In the 1950s,
America’s population
increased by 30 million
• - This sharp increase in
the birthrate after WWII
(1946-1961) was known
as the Baby Boom
Baby Boom
It seems to me that every other young
housewife I see is pregnant.
-- British visitor to America, 1958
1957  1 baby born every 7 seconds
The Baby Boomers
•Economic
prosperity after
WWII
contributed to
the baby boom.
Ch. 14, Sec. 3: “The Fifties”
• Changes Sweep America
• - The Baby Boom also helped lead
•
•
•
•
to the growth of the suburbs as
people moved out of apartments in
the cities to residential areas
surrounding a city
- What used to be farmland now had
homes, theaters, restaurants, etc.
Car sales also increased greatly as
people needed a car to get to their
work in the city
- Many moved from the northern
and eastern parts of the U.S. to
warmer South and Southwest
(known as the Sun Belt)
- In the 1960s, California passed
New York as most populated state
Suburban Living
SHIFTS IN POPULATION
DISTRIBUTION,
1940-1970
Central Cities
Suburbs
Rural Areas/
Small Towns
1940
31.6%
19.5%
48.9%
1950
32.3%
23.8%
43.9%
U. S. Bureau of the Census.
1960
32.6%
30.7%
36.7%
1970
32.0%
41.6%
26.4%
Life in the Suburbs
Influenced consumer
Spending in the 1950’s
• Nearby malls with convenient
parking encouraged shopping.
• Pressure to conform encouraged
people to live like their
neighbors.
• Owning the latest home products
was a sign of status.
Ch. 14, Sec. 3: “The Fifties”
• The American Dream in the
•
•
•
•
1950s
- For many (but not all), they
were “living the dream” in
America during this time
- Living in nice houses, in a nice
part of town, with nice families,
with nice workplaces
- The economy was booming
with many people buying
different items such as
dishwashers, vacuums, TVs,
lawn mowers, etc.
- To take advantage of this
demand, the advertising
industry took off with
commercials encouraging
people to buy things
Youtube
Lucy
Candy
Ch. 14, Sec. 3: “The Fifties”
• Pop Culture and Rock ‘n’ Roll
• - TV shows replaced movies as
•
•
•
•
the main form of entertainment
- Popular TV shows included:
I Love Lucy, Father Knows Best,
Lassie, Lone Ranger, Mickey
Mouse Club
- Popular musicians included
Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Fats
Domino and Jerry Lee Lewis
- the most popular was Elvis
Presley who was also
controversial (some would only
show him from the hips up due
to his gyrations)
- Poets & writers known as
“beatniks” disliked how bland
America was and spoke against it
Television – The Western
Davy Crockett
King of the Wild Frontier
Sheriff Matt
Dillon, Gunsmoke
The Lone Ranger
(and his faithful
sidekick, Tonto):
Who is that masked man??
Suburban Living:
The Typical TV Suburban Families
The Donna
Reed Show
1958-1966
Father Knows Best
1954-1958
Leave It
to Beaver
1957-1963
The Ozzie & Harriet Show
1952-1966
Elvis Presley
•Was the Rock
and Roll artist
with the biggest
fan club.
Desi Arnaz
ON THE
SHOW
I LOVE LUCY
Beatniks
•A group of writers
that protested
against American
society
Ch. 14, Sec. 3: “The Fifties”
•
•
•
•
•
•
The Election of 1960
- John F. Kennedy (Dem) ran
against Vice Pres. Richard M.
Nixon (Rep) in 1960’s very close
election
- With the help of the first
televised debates, JFK won the
election in 1960 to become the
youngest (43) and first Catholic
President of the U.S.
- Kennedy promised to “get the
country moving again” after the
Eisenhower years
- America was drawn to his youth,
energy and confidence and was very
excited to see this new era in
American leadership
Youtube of the actual debate