CHAPTER 27: THE COLD WAR1945 – 1989 [only events until 1953 will be covered]Mireya Carpio, Khristian Decastro, Robyn HarrimanPeriod 3

POST-WWII AMERICA

THE AMERICAN ECONOMY

The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 [AKA GI Bill of Rights] provided economic and educational benefits to WWII veterans

Lack of consumer goods and rise in income in WWII led to purchasing goods on impulse, causing rapid inflation

Rapid inflation caused labor unrest Veterans began taking back jobs of

women and those of racial minority

THE FAIR DEAL Proposed by Truman for:

Government provision of atomic research Fair employment practices and raising minimum

wage Public housing and slum clearance Environmental and public works programming

Shot down my conservatives, being compared to New Deal reform

81st Congress, after Truman’s election Raised minimum wage, created low-income

housing, expanded financial benefits Failed to aid any other Fair Deal points

1948 ELECTION

A new Progressive Party emerged, Henry A. Wallace

Republicans headed by Thomas E. Dewey, who had enormous popularity over Truman

Southern conservatives left the Democratic Party to create the States’ Rights [or Dixiecrat] Party

After 32,000 miles of campaigning, Truman still managed to win the election

THE EFFECTS OF THE NUCLEAR AGE

Film Noir Radios tested emergency systems, and

schools and office buildings constantly practiced air raid drills

Fallout shelters were built in both public buildings and private homes

A poll in 1948 showed that two-thirds of Americans believed that nuclear technology would eventually be only beneficial

Nuclear power plants were rapidly created

FOR REAL THIS TIME

THE COLD WAR

SOVIET IDEOLOGY

Accepted by the Soviet Union and its Eastern European states

Goal: to spread communism throughout the globe

Command economy Having sole control of particular areas

of strategic interest

AMERICAN IDEOLOGY

Accepted by the US and other “Western” Democratic nations

Goal: to contain communism and eventually destroy it

Capitalist economy Abandoning traditional military

alliances and spheres of influence Reestablishing international relations

through democratic processes (an international organization)

METHODS OF ‘FIGHTING’ THE COLD WAR

USA USSR

Espionage CIA KGB

Arms Race Beating That

Nuclear Escalation

Space Exploration

Proxy WarDemocracy and

Capitalism

Communism and Command

Economy

ORIGINS OF TENSIONS

“The Big Three”: FDR, Churchill, Stalin Wartime

Atlantic Charter of 1941 Halting Western front on Germany

Post-WWII [Yalta Conference of 1941] Poland [and eventually all Soviet states] Pro-

Western or Pro-Communist? Result: agreed on balance, but Stalin tended to put

Communist gov’t officials in charge without election

Germany: Reconstruction or Reparation? Result: Four-war division of Germany and of Berlin

THE CHINA DILEMMA

Mao Zedong’s communist forces vs. Chiang Kai-Shek’s nationalist government

American public favored a third force to dominate both of these groups

When civil war broke, the US sent money and supplies to Chiang

Mao became the victory, establishing China as a Communist nation

THE CONTAINMENT POLICY

US and its allies to contain further Soviet expansion rather than create an international democratic compromise

Stalin attempted to gain control of Turkey and Greece, but his efforts were defeated by the $400 million aid provided by Congress to support the free peoples

Foundation for the Truman Doctrine

THE MARSHALL PLAN

Drafted by Secretary of State George C. Marshall in June 1947 For the welfare of Europeans To remove dependency on the US To expand the European market for American goods To prevent Western European gov’ts from falling into

Communism

Signed by 16 European nations, rejected by USSR and its satellite states

Created the Economic Cooperation Administration, which channeled $12 billion of aid into Europe

MOBILIZATION AT HOME

Atomic Energy Commission established in 1946, in charge of testing and researching nuclear warfare

National Security Act of 1947 enacted, reforming major military and diplomatic institutions, and creating a new Department of Defense

Selective Service System revived in 1948 in case of war

CIA created to collect information and eventually engage secretly in political and military operations

BERLIN AIRLIFT

US, UK, and France agreed to merge the three western zones of German occupation into the West German Republic

On June 24, 1948, Stalin placed a blockade on western Berlin, implying that Germany’s split meant that Western controllers should lose its outpost in Soviet Territory

Unwilling to risk war, Truman’s airlift sent supplies, food, and 2.5 million tons of other materials to Berlin to keep the 2 million people there alive

NATO

[National Atlantic Treaty Organization] Consolidated 12 nations on April 4, 1949,

stating that any attack on one member was an attack against all members

Initially designed as a defense against possible Soviet invasion

Influenced the Soviet Union to create their own alliance of Communist nations under the Warsaw Pact of 1955

NATO MEMBERS CONSOLIDATED BY 1950

NSC-68

[National Security Council report, number 68]

UK refused to continue aiding Germany during the Berlin Airlift

Report states that the US cannot rely on other nations to contain communism, and must rather take its own leadership

Expanded military power, quadrupling the American defense budget

1950-1953

THE KOREAN WAR

INSTIGATION

Both USSR and US sent troops to Korea, unwilling to leave

Nation agreed on temporary boundary on 38th parallel

USA stated that did not consider South Korea in its “defense perimeter”; North Koreans tempted to invade

US able to win UN assistance for South Korea

UNSETTLING BOUNDARIES

Boundary pushed past the 38th parallel by northern forces, capturing the southern capital of Seoul

American forces (under MacArthur) pushed boundary back past 38th parallel, almost reaching the USSR

On November 4, 1950, the Chinese sent their own troops in favor of the Communist North

Boundary yet again pushed to the south of the 38th parallel

RELIEVING MACARTHUR

MacArthur resisted Truman’s limits on military discretion, insisting that China should be invaded, or somehow punished

MacArthur sent a letter to House Republican leader Joseph W. Martin, stating, “There is no substitute for victory.”

Appalled, Truman relieved him of duty on April 11, 1951

THE END OF THE KOREAN WAR

Opposing forces met in Panmunjom, but never reached a final decision until 1953

Established the permanent boundary between the north and South

Like WWII, the war pumped substantial amounts government funds into the economy

Mobilization and public support, however, were not as great

DOMESTIC FEAR OF COMMUNISM

REPUBLICAN DOMINATION

HUAC formed to battle Democrats House Un-American Activities

Committee performed and publicized investigations to prove that the government would not have tolerated Communist subversion if it was not under Democratic rule

HUAC interviewed Hollywood writers and producers

“Hollywood Ten”

ALGER HISS

Whittaker Chambers accused Alger Hiss of the State Department of sending State Department documents to the USSR in 1937 and 1938

Hiss not tried for espionage because of statue of limitations

Because of Richard Nixon’s efforts, Hiss was eventually arrested for perjury

Hiss was imprisoned for several years.

THE FEDERAL LOYALTY PROGRAM

1947 – Truman permits a program to review the loyalty of federal employees

1950 – Truman allows the firing of employees deemed “bad security risks”

McCarran Internal Security Act of 1950 Forced al Communist organizations in the

US to register with the gov’t FBI directory J. Edgar Hoover

investigated and harassed alleged radicals

THE ROSENBURG CASE

USSR successfully detonated an atomic bomb in 1949; Americans believed that the US gave the USSR atomic research information

David Greenglass of the Manhattan Project, admitted to have provided info to USSR agents

Admitted that the masterminds were his sister and brother-in-law, ordinary New York couple Ethel and Julius Rosenburg

MCCARTHYISM

Harsh investigations spread to other agencies

Publicized investigations, going through federal offices and American embassies

Joseph McCarthy, Wisconsin Republican Senator

During a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia, claimed to have a list of 205 known communists working in the State Department