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Chapter 27
The Cold War
and the Fair Deal,
1945-1952
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Containing Communism
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The Cold War
• Differences with the Soviets
•
While this violated a signed agreement, the Russians did not see it as
a violation, but rather as self-defense. When Truman inherited the
presidency, he was placed into a crumbling alliance with the Russians.
A diplomatic mistake was made when secretary of state George
Kennan tried to use the atomic bomb to pressure the Russians to back
off from their demands.
• Containment
• To prevent Russian expansion in Europe and Asia,
secretary of state Kennan argued that the U.S. policy
must be one of containing the Russians where they
already were.
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The Cold War, continued
• The Truman Doctrine
• The Marshall Plan
• 1948, France, England and the United States united their
zones of occupation in Germany. They then organized a new
democratically elected government. The Russians, the only
Communist member of the Allies, resented this action and
began to restrict road and rail access from West Berlin. A
blockade was then put on the city, and for months the only
way that its citizens received food, coal, or medicine was via a
massive American airlift of goods.
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• Dividing Germany
• As the Marshall Plan drew the Western nations closer together. To
expedite relief and recovery efforts, France, England, and the United
States consolidated their holdings in West Germany in 1948.
• Building Alliances
• On April 4, 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty was signed, creating the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which pledged that an
attack against one member was an attack against all, and would be
responded to as such. In 1948, Palestine, which had been under
Ottoman rule until the dissolution of that empire following World
War I, making it a British protectorate, was partitioned between Arab
and Jewish settlers, re-creating the Jewish state of Israel. The US was
the 1st to recognize the new nation, and almost immediately
afterward, the Arab states neighboring Israel attacked it.
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“It’s the Same Thing”
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The Occupation of Germany and Austria
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Demobilization under Truman
• Truman’s Uneasy Start
• Harry Truman had been added to the Democratic ticket in 1944,
when FDR ran for his fourth term. He was a virtual unknown in the
Senate when he was chosen to be the Democratic vp candidate.
When he came into the presidency, he replaced many of FDR’s
cabinet members while favoring many of the New Deal programs.
• Converting to Peace
• By 1947, the military had shrunk from 12 million to 1.5 million. This
placed many veterans in need of education, employment, and
housing. Americans born during this time came to be known as the
Baby Boomers, for a large number of children were born following
the war. Congress offset the financial impact of demobilization by
providing unemployment insurance and money to attend colleges
and trade schools.
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Drugstore In Bronxville, NY
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Demobilization under Truman, continued
• Controlling Inflation
• When wages were not raised to compensate, several unions went on
strike. For the most part, Truman’s administration was successful in
combating the strikes, but after the 1946 elections, Truman gave up
the battle.
• Partisan Cooperation and Conflict
• Congress established the Council of Economic Advisers, which was
charged with advising the president on the economic health of the
nation. In 1946, Republicans took control of Congress and passed
the Taft-Hartley Labor Act. It banned closed shops, but allowed for
union shops where they were permitted by state law. Truman
vetoed the bill but his veto was overturned.
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Civil Rights during the 1940s
• Jackie Robinson
•
In 1948, Truman would ban racial discrimination in the hiring of
federal employees. Then he integrated the armed forces. While this
was occurring, Jackie Robinson was making his own case for the
integration of society by being the first African American to play
major league baseball. By his performance, he was able to illustrate
that segregation was based on racism, not African Americans’
supposed inferiority.
• Shaping the Fair Deal
• In his State of the Union speech, he outlined what was to become
his “Fair Deal” program: securing the human rights of U.S. citizens,
protecting human resources, and extending government programs
for the unemployed and the retired.
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Jackie Robinson
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Civil Rights
• The Election of 1948
• The Democrats nominated Truman for his own
term. The Republicans nominated Thomas
Dewey, governor of New York. In an act of
defiance against Truman’s support of civil
rights, a third party, known as the Dixiecrats
due to its makeup of former Confederate
states, split from the Democrats. On Election
Day, Truman won the presidency.
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Fight for Desegregation
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Birth of the Dixiecrats
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The Election of 1948
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The Cold War Heats Up
• “Losing” China and the Bomb
• In China, the Nationalists, led by Chiang Kai-Shek, had been fighting
the Communist forces of Mao Tse-Tung since the 1920s. Once peace
was obtained, America supported the restoration of the Nationalists,
even though it was widely believed they were too corrupt to stand on
their own.
• Soon after, civil war erupted again and the Nationalists were forced
from China to the island of Formosa, modern-day Taiwan. It would be
30 years before the Communist government in China was recognized.
In Vietnam, the United States would try to bolster their alliances by
supporting the French, who had colonies there opposing the
Communist forces of Ho Chi Minh. About the same time, it was
revealed that the Soviets had successfully detonated an atomic bomb
of their own, leading Truman to fund the construction of a more
powerful weapon, the hydrogen bomb.
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War in Korea
• After World War II, Japan lost its claim to the Korean peninsula, which
it had occupied since 1910. The Allies would try to establish a new
government there, but the act was hindered by Soviet forces, which
had advanced into Korea and defeated the Japanese forces in the
northern part.
• Much like the Germany situation, the Allies would agree to divide the
nation at the 38th parallel.
• On each side of the border, separate governments were created,
resembling their supporting nations.
• On June 25, 1950, North Korean soldiers attacked South Korea.
Truman sent in forces under the auspices of UN support. After almost
three years, an armistice was signed that ended the fighting and
reestablished the border at the 38th parallel.
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Fight and Flight
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Anti-Communism
• Another Red Scare
• The Korean War exacerbated the anti-Communist fears in the
American public. To prevent Communist invasion of key government
positions, Truman established procedures to keep them out of
office. Those Communists who were, or had been, in office were
tried. The most famous case was that of Alger Hiss, who was found
guilty for lying about espionage against the United States.
• McCarthy’s Witch Hunt
• The most famous of the Red Scare’s proponents was
Joseph McCarthy. As a senator from Wisconsin, he
would stir up anti-Communist feelings and engage
in a hunt for Communist spies in the government.
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Joseph R. McCarthy
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Conclusion
• Assessing the Cold War
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Chapter 27
The Cold War and the Fair Deal
1945-1952
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