The Cold War: Truman Era

The Cold War in Asia

At the end of WWII, the US was committed to restoring peace and stability in Asian nations

Americans were concerned that unstable Asian nations would turn communist, and therefore the US wanted to help “vulnerable” countries by restoring Asian trade with the world

Ex: July 4, 1946 US restored Philippine independence

- in exchange for special business rights and the lease of military bases, the US gave the Philippines tariff concessions and $600 million to repair war damage- despite rebellious guerrilla forces, the Philippines became an independent, democratic nation (with of course militaristic, economic and political aid from the Americans)

The Cold War in Asia

The Occupation of Japan: Potsdam Declaration (July 1945): Allied powers met in Potsdam to discuss

what they would do with Germany and Japan after the war What to do with Japan?

- militarists should be punished - disarm Japan- Japanese rule restricted to their home islands- reeducate Japan and transform it into a democratic nation

General Douglas MacArthur = Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers- under his leadership, Japan was disarmed- a new constitution was established that allowed for an elected representative government and to allow women to vote

Japan received $2 billion in aid from the US 1951: Japan regained its independence

The Cold War in Asia

Communist Triumph in China: China became divided after Japan surrendered North: Mao Zedong (Communists) Southwest: Chiang Kai-shek (Nationalists)Civil War Since the 1930s, civil war between the Communists and the

Nationalists prevailed throughout China Because Allied forces were committed to Japan, Communist

guerilla forces were able to take over most of China and therefore weakened the Nationalists

Chiang influence was reduced to Taiwan Americans were not able to “save” China from communism

The Cold War in Asia

Aftermath of Communist Victory Truman criticized: accused of “writing off” Chiang and blamed for Communist

victory US recognized the nationalist government in Taiwan as the government of all of

China and blocked Mao’s attempts to gain a seat in the UN Soviet Union defended Mao and walked out of the UN Security Council and

boycotted its proceedings War in Korea Remember the Cairo conference??? (Allied nations promised Korean

independence…but it did not happen!) After Japanese surrendered, Soviet Union troops occupied Korea north of the

38th parallel and established a communist government In the south, the US supported the government of Syngman Rhee (chosen in UN

–supervised elections) Defense perimeter: it was agreed that Korea should be viewed as outside the

area of protection and the following year, the US withdrew most if its troops

The Cold War in Asia

The Cold War in Asia

Fighting Begins June 25, 1950: North Korea invaded South Korea US called an emergency meeting of the Security Council and won

a 9-to-0 vote to order North Korea to withdraw troops Eventually, all the Security Council called on all UN members to

aid South KoreaMacArthur in Command Gen. MacArthur appointed to command all UN troops in Korea by

Truman Truman also ordered American troops to Korea without asking

Congress to declare war Although MacArthur made some advancement, American troops

were eventually pushed back after 200,000 Chinese troops came to aid North Korean forces

The Cold War in Asia

Truman Fires MacArthur Truman and MacArthur disagreed over the conduct of the war MacArthur believed that the US should bomb China and invade

from Taiwan but Truman did not want to risk war with China MacArthur was removed from his command The Conflict Ends Results of the Korean War = stalemate Dwight Eisenhower (who was presidential candidate at the time)

promised to go to Korea to settle hostilities in 1952 1953: cease-fire was declared and left Korea divided

Cold War America

Prosperity Continues: US experienced great economic success after WWII Many factors contributed to the continuing prosperity:

- provided goods (food) to nations overseas- due to rationing during the war, US saved $30 billion - wartime taxes were cut by $6 billion - consumer demand resulted in a rise of prices (inflation)- defense spending rose to $50 billion by 1953- Marshall Plan

Cold War America

Cold War America

Women Returning soldiers from the war quickly replaced many women

who were working in factories “women ought to be delighted to give up any job and return to

their proper sphere in the kitchen” – Women’s Bureau However, continuing prosperity created new job opportunities

for women The kinds of jobs available to women changed (this was

especially evident amongst African American women) Female employment did not mean that they gained economic

equality (still earned less than two-thirds as much as men)

Cold War America

Cold War America

Gains for African Americans: The majority of African Americans greatly benefited from the

postwar economic boom Transition from farming to manufacturing; rural areas to cities New job opportunities in fields such as law and nursing Average income for African Americans nearly doubled Changing social attitudes helped African American advances

- the war against Germany and the Cold War played a key role- images from the Holocaust made many Americans more sensitive to racism in the US- Americans realized their poor treatment of minorities (African Americans, Japanese Americans, etc.)

Cold War America

Cold War America

Gains for African Americans continued…

During this period, African Americans worked hard to gain civil rights

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP): series of lawsuits to end violations of constitutional rights of African Americans

Cold War America

Gains for African Americans continued…

African Americans still struggled for full equality

In the North, they lived in crowed inner-city areas

Paid about half of what White Americans earned

In the South, segregation and racism prevailed- denied the vote- no political influence

Cold War America

Inflation in the Postwar Years: Government spending on wartime

military programs and for postwar domestic programs brought prosperity and inflation (inflation = when the amount of money in circulation increases and prices rise because the demand for goods exceeds the supply)

As a result of inflation, the purchasing power began to decrease

Production slowed down and therefore employers stopped paying for overtime

Losing purchasing power resulted in strikes (5,000 strikes in 1946)

Cold War America

The Taft-Hartley Act: Union activities became a major issue in the congressional elections

of 1946 Anxiety caused by the strikes helped the conservative, anti-labor

candidates and for the first time in 18 yrs. Republicans gained control of both the Senate and the House

Result of conservatism = the Taft-Hartley Act- intention was to keep unions from abusing their power- outlawed certain practices, such as the closed shop (forced business owners to only hire union members, jurisdiction strikes (businesses had to recognize one union instead of another), featherbedding (limited workers’ output to create more jobs), and high fees charged to workers for joining a union

Unions were also forbidden to use their money to support political campaigns

Cold War America

This act proved to be very controversial

Supporters thought that it would keep union activities in check

Labor leaders called it the “slave labor” law- claimed that it had erased many of the gains made since 1933

Cold War America

Election of 1948: Democratic party was divided as the 1948 presidential election drew

near Southern Democrats were opposed to Truman’s civil-rights programThe Candidates South Democrats formed “Dixiecrat” party and nominated South

Carolina Governor Strom Thurmond for president Others supported Progressive party led by former Vice President

Henry Wallace Truman had lost support from both the right and the left wings of his

party Truman was renominated after Eisenhower did not accept

nomination Republican candidate = Governor Thomas E. Dewey of NY

Cold War America

Cold War America

The Campaign Being aware that he was behind the public-opinion polls, Truman

pursued an aggressive campaign Called out Republicans for not carrying through with promises to

pass civil rights legislation He traveled the country giving speeches with the hopes of

gaining votes Even on election day, pollsters predicted a Republican victory

but Truman pulled through- won labor support when he vetoed the Taft-Harley Act- won the votes of many African Americans for supporting civil rights proposals- won votes of farmers for supporting high farm price supports

Cold War America

Cold War America

The Fair Deal Truman called for a Fair Deal = a return to and expansion of

Roosevelt’s New Deal policies Because Congress was influenced by an alliance of Republicans

and conservative Southern Democrats, most of Truman’s proposals were blocked

By 1949, the US slipped into a recession (lasted for a few months)

The recession was stabilized by from existing policies of the New Deal (price supports for agriculture and social security benefits)

Cold War America

Fear of Communism: The Cold War in Korea increased fear of communism in the US A communist spy ring was uncovered in Canada Americans feared that spies existed in the government,

universities, etc. to attack American democracy Search for scapegoatsConstitutional Rights Should the constitutional rights protect communists?? 1949: 11 members of the Communist party in the US were

convicted of conspiracy The communist conspiracy led to extensive precautions (such as

loyalty oaths before being hired and security checks)

Cold War America

Loyalty Oaths Criticism of American institutions was often mistaken for disloyalty In several rulings, Courts found state loyalty oaths to be

constitutional Subversives Truman accused of “losing” China to communism because of

subversives = individuals in the State Department attempting the overthrow the government

Whittaker Chambers v.s. Alger Hiss- Chambers, a magazine editor, admitted to being a communist spy in the 1930s and claimed he had received secret documents from Alger Hiss (State Department official)- Hiss denied spying and he was not convicted, but he was found guilty of lying under oath

Cold War America

McCarthyism Fear of communism increased, as did communist subversion February 1950: Senator Joseph R. McCarthy accused the

Democratic party of “twenty years of treason” Claimed that Roosevelt deliberately sacrificed the navy at Pearl

Harbor and “sold out” to the Soviet Union at the Yalta Conference He also claimed that the State Department was full of communists Mass hysteria over communism prevailed McCarthy had no evidence to back him up, yet many government

officials’ careers were ruined McCarthyism = the use of indiscriminate, unfounded political

accusations to destroy or assassinate the character of one’s opponent

Cold War America

Cold War America

Truman’s Legacy: 1952: Truman announced that he would not run for reelection He was seen as “soft on communism” – after the communist

victory in China and the war in Korea “Truman scandals” – political corruption (although Truman was

not personally involved) Positives:

- keep US out of economic isolation- many of his programs were enacted- most of his Fair Deal measures became law- his policy of “containment” continued even after his presidency- made US dedicated to aiding nations in need of democratic defense