Download ch. 36 the cold war begins

The Cold War Begins
I.
II.
Postwar Economic Anxieties
a.
1930s
i. Joblessness and insecurity:
1. Raised the suicide rate
2. Lowered the marriage rate
3. Lowered the birth rate
b. Would the Depression Return?
i. Some predicted that it would return:
1. GNP slumped
2. Prices went down 33%
3. 4.6 million went out on strike in 1946
c.
Obstacles of Organized Labor
i. Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 (passed over Truman’s veto; the act slowed unionization)
1. Outlawed “closed” (all-union) shop
2. Required 60 days notice be given by employers to terminate a contract
3. The Federal government could take legal action to delay any strike that threatened the
public’s health or safety
4. Made unions liable for damages that resulted from jurisdictional disputes among
themselves
5. Required union leaders to take a noncommunist oath
ii. The CIO’s “Operation Dixie” aimed at unionizing southern textile workers and steelworkers, but
failed in 1948 due to fears of racial mixing
iii. The growing service sector of the economy, often working only part-time in small shops, widely
separated from one another, proved difficult to organize than assembly-line workers
d. Stopping An Economic Downturn
i. The government sold war factories to private businesses at low prices
ii. Employment Act of 1946 –
1. Made it government policy to promote maximum employment, production, and
purchasing power
2. Created the Council of Economic Advisors to provide the president with data and
recommendations to make that policy a reality
iii. Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 (GI Bill) –
1. The government would pay for former soldiers who wanted to go to college (8 million
did this – cost $14.5 billion)
2. Enabled the Veterans Administration (VA) to guarantee about $16 billion in loans for
veterans to buy homes, farms, and small businesses
iv. This bill was enacted out of the fear that the employment markets would never be able to absorb 15
million returning veterans at war’s end
v. It raised educational levels and stimulated industry, thereby helping the economy boom during the
next era
The Economic Boom
a.
Results of the Economic Boom of the 1950s and 1960s
i. American Income Increases
1. Doubled in the 1950s
2. Nearly doubled in the 1960s
3. America had 40% of the world’s wealth (only 6% of the people)
ii. Social Mobility
1. It enriched some Americans
2. Allowed for upward mobility
iii. Politics and Society
1. Changed these
iv. Civil Rights
1. Funded the civil rights movement
v. Welfare Programs
1. Had enough money to establish Medicare and other welfare programs
vi. American Leadership
1. Established America as the world’s leader
vii. Leisure Items
1. People now wanted:
a.
2 cars
b. Swimming pools
c.
Vacation homes
d. Recreational vehicles
e.
Washing machines
f.
TVs (90% owned one by 1960)
g. Owned their own home (1920-40%; 1960-60%)
viii. Women
1. Offices and shops employed many women
2.
3.
4.
III.
IV.
V.
Service sector outgrew the industrial and manufacturing sectors (and employed more
women)
Women in work force:
a.
1945 – 25%
b. 1995 – 50%
Conflict between traditional feminine roles and employment sparked a feminist revolts in
the 1960s
Roots of Postwar Prosperity
a.
What Started Economic Prosperity?
i. WWII – the U.S. built up factories and rebuilt its economy
ii. Military economy – Cold War, Korean War, Vietnam War. This economy financed:
1. Aerospace
2. Electronics
3. Research and development
iii. Cheap energy –
1. American and European companies controlled the flow of oil from the Middle East, and
they kept prices low
2. Americans doubled their consumption of oil in 25 years after the war
iv. Electricity and education –
1. Electricity increased 6x
2. By 1970, nearly 90% of school-age population was enrolled in schools
3. Both increased productivity; American workers in 1970 could produce nearly 2x as much
in an hour as they had in 1950
4. Productivity was the key to prosperity; it doubled the average American’s standard of
living in 25 years after the war
v. Changes in the economic structure –
1. Agriculture –
a.
Work force shifted out of agriculture
i. 1945 – farmers made up 15% of the labor force; 1990s – farmers
made up 2% of the labor force
b. Expensive mechanization and new fertilizers caused consolidation of farms
c.
Agriculture actually achieved vaster productivity gains than any other
category
i. 1940s – one farmworker could produce enough food for 15
families; 2000 – one farmworker could produce enough food for
over 50 people
The Sunbelt
a.
People On the Move
i. We were always a people on the move, but in the post-1945 years it increased at an astonishing rate.
From 1945-1975, 30 million people changed residences every year.
ii. This resulted in family stress. One sign of this was increased books on child-rearing such as:
1. Dr. Benjamin Spock’s The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care (1945) –
instructed millions of parents
iii. Friendships were also difficult to maintain; moving caused increased loneliness and isolation
b. Growth of the Sunbelt
i. Sunbelt – a 15-State area stretching from Virginia through Florida and Texas to Arizona and
California
ii. This region increased in population at a rate nearly double that of the old industrial zones of the
Northeast (the “Frostbelt”)
c.
California
i. By 1963, CA outgrow NY as the most populous State
ii. It is still the most populous State with 35 million people, or 1 out of 8 Americans
d. South and Southwest
i. Came in search of jobs, a better climate, and lower taxes. New jobs were in:
1. The electronics industry
2. Aerospace complexes
3. Huge military installations
e.
Breaking Northern Economic Dominance
i. By the 1990s, the South and West were annually receiving $125 billion more in federal funds than
the Northeast and Midwest
ii. There became a rivalry between the North and their heavy industrial region in the Ohio Valley and
the South
iii. Every elected president since 1964 has hailed from the Sunbelt and their representation in Congress
was increasing with their population
The Rush to the Suburbs
a.
Why Was Their A Move For Whites To the Suburbs?
i. Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Veterans Administration (VA) –
1. Home-loan guarantees made it more economically attractive to own a home in the
suburbs than to rent an apartment in the city
ii. Tax Deductions –
1. On home mortgages provided additional financial incentive
Highways –
1. Built by the government sped commuters from suburban homes to city jobs
iv. By 1960, one in four lived in the suburbs
b. Construction Industry
i. Boomed in the 1950s and 1960s to meet the demand for homes
ii. Levittown – revolutionized the techniques of home construction by:
1. Building thousands of houses in a single project
2. Having specialized crews for:
a.
Laying foundations
b. Putting on roofs
c.
Installing plumbing
d. Etc.
3. This cut costs of building, but created similar houses
c.
Ethnic Shift
i. Whites left the cities for the suburbs (“white flight”)
ii. Migrating blacks from the South filled up urban neighborhoods
iii. The blacks imported the poverty of the rural South into the inner cores of northern cities
iv. Businesses and shops went along with whites to suburban shopping malls
d. Why the Ethnic Shift?
i. FHA administrators cited the “risk” of making loans to blacks, limiting their mobility
ii. This drove many into public housing projects
iii. Neighborhoods had a composition rule, which effectively built housing for blacks in neighborhoods
that were already identified as predominantly black – thus solidifying racial separation
The Postwar Baby Boom
a.
Why the Baby Boom?
i. Restored economic confidence, which caused:
1. Birthrate increased until 1957, then plunged by 1973 to rates that wouldn’t maintain
existing population figures
2. Had 50 million babies by the end of the 1950s
b. Results of the Boom
i. This was bound to cause problems:
1. Elementary school enrollments increased to 34 million by 1970
2. This then left unemployed teachers once they passed school age
ii. Increased sales in baby food, rock music, jeans, competition in the job market, and will eventually
strain the social security system
Harry S. Truman
a.
Characteristics of Truman
i. He was a farmer, then served as an artillery officer in France during WWI, failed as a haberdasher
(sold men’s clothing), rose from a judge to the U.S. Senate
ii. Didn’t have a college education
iii. Was responsible (“The buck stops here”) and moxie (the ability to face difficulty with courage,
spirit, energy, and aggressiveness)
b. Problems With Truman
i. Had a “Missouri” gang – old associates who were loyal and advised him, but often got into trouble
ii. Could send critics hot-tempered letters
iii. Was stubborn and would refuse to change even if wrong
Yalta Conference
a.
Yalta Conference
i. In February 1945, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin, who were nicknamed the “Big Three,” met in
Yalta in the Soviet Union
ii. They planned a post-war world. They decided:
1. Germany would be split up into four zones, each under the control of France, Britain,
USSR, and the U.S.
2. Similarly, Berlin itself, which would be in the Soviet zone, would be divided up into four
zones
3. Stalin promised to allow elections in the nations his army liberated from the Germans,
including Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, and others
4. On a new international peacekeeping organization – the United Nations
5. The U.S. asked for help from Russia with Japan
b. Soviet Union and Japan
i. When the U.S. asked Russia to enter the war with Japan, the U.S. had not tested the atomic bomb
yet. It seemed reasonable to ask for their help
ii. Stalin agreed to attack Germany at least three months after their collapse, which he did
iii. In return for their help, the Soviets were given:
1. The southern half of Sakhalin Island
2. The Kurile Islands
3. Joint control over the railroads of China’s Manchuria and two seaports there
iv. This helped weaken America’s ally, especially because those were industrial areas
c.
Results of Yalta
iii.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
The agreements made at the Yalta Conference weren’t completely be fulfilled:
1. Stalin didn’t allow free elections in the countries the USSR liberated. He would also
continue to be upset that the British and Americans didn’t create another front in Europe
until 1944
2. Soviet help wasn’t really needed when they entered the war against Japan
3. Russia was given a part of China, which caused the Communist overthrow of the
government 4 years later
ii. Others say that Stalin could’ve secured a much larger part of China, but the Yalta conference
restricted him. In addition, had Stalin given free elections to Eastern Europe, then taken them over,
war would’ve been inevitable
d. Reality of Yalta
i. Weren’t drafting a peace settlement
ii. Were:
1. Sketching intentions
2. Testing one another’s reactions
3. Elastic
Shaping the Postwar World
a.
Why U.S. vs Soviet Union
i. Communism and capitalism were very different philosophies
ii. The U.S. refused to officially recognize the Bolshevik revolutionary government until 16 years after
it had been created, in 1933
iii. The Soviets didn’t like the British and American delays in opening a second front against Germany,
while the Soviets were paying with many lives
iv. Britain and the U.S. didn’t help the Soviets in developing atomic weapons
v. The U.S. abruptly terminated vital lend-lease aid to a battered USSR in 1945
vi. The U.S. refused the USSR’s plea for a $6 billion reconstruction loan, while approving a similar
loan for $2.75 billion to Britain in 1946
b. Stalin and the Security of the Soviet Union
i. Wanted to guarantee this
c.
Similarities Cause Conflicts
i. Both were isolationist countries, causing suspicion
ii. Both had a history of trying to export to all the world the political doctrines from their revolutionary
origins
iii. Both were new world powers – causing confrontations to be unavoidable
d. Cold War
i. Genuine conflicts of interest mentioned above caused the Cold War
ii. It was called a Cold War, because it was a war of words between the Soviets and U.S., not a physical
war
iii. The Cold War effected everyone all over the world
Shaping the Postwar World
a.
Postwar International Economic Agencies
i. Meeting in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire in 1944
ii. International Monetary Fund (IMF) –
1. Purpose is to encourage world trade by regulating currency exchange rates
iii. World Bank –
1. Purpose is to promote economic growth in war-ravaged and underdeveloped areas
iv. The U.S. took lead in creating these groups and funding them; the Soviets declined to be involved
b. United Nations
i. Roosevelt moved to establish the new body before the war was over (unlike Wilson). There are two
reasons why he did this:
1. This helped to capitalize on the wartimes’ spirit of cooperation
2. It prevented a peace-keeping organization from being created at a potentially divisive
peace settlement at the end of the war
c.
The United Nations vs the League of Nations?
i. The League had adopted rules denying the veto power to any party to a dispute; the UN provided
that no member of the Security Council (the U.S. , Britain, the USSR, France, and China) could have
action taken against it without its consent
ii. In essence, the League presumed great-power conflict; the UN presumed great-power cooperation.
Both approaches have their faults
iii. The Senate overwhelmingly approved the UN Charter in July 1945 (89-2), because it provided
safeguards for American sovereignty and freedom of action
d. Successes of the United Nations
i. Preserved peace in Iran, Kashmir, and other areas
ii. Played a big role in creating Israel
iii. U.N. Trusteeship – guided former colonies to independence
iv. U.N. Agencies
1. UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization)
2. FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization)
3. WHO (World Health Organization)
e.
Failure of the United Nations
i.
IX.
X.
i.
XI.
XII.
U.S. delegate Bernard Baruch proposed that the U.N. create an agency that had worldwide authority
over atomic energy, weapons, and research
ii. The Soviets and Americans distrusted each other to the point where they felt they couldn’t disarm
until they could trust that the rest of the world couldn’t arm against them
The Problem of Germany
a.
Nuremburg Trials
i. Lasted from 1945-46
ii. Punished Nazis for their war crimes, including committing crimes against the laws of war and
humanity and plotting aggressions contrary to treaty pledges
iii. Out of 22 Nazis:
1. 12 were hung
2. 7 were sentenced to long jail terms
3. 1 committed suicide
iv. Some charge that these people were tried for offenses that had not been clear-cut crimes when the
war began
v. The trial of several small-fry (lesser) Nazis lasted for years afterwards
b. Germany Is Split
i. Some wanted to dismantle Germany’s industry
ii. The Soviets wanted reparations (since the U.S. wouldn’t lend them money)
iii. The U.S. and others believed that a healthy, German economy would be vital to the recovery of
Europe
iv. France, Britain, and the U.S. wanted a reunited Germany, while the communists responded by
tightening their grip on their Eastern zone. West Germany eventually became an independent
country, while East Germany, along with other Soviet-dominated Eastern European countries, such
as Poland and Hungary, became marginally independent “satellite” states, bound to the Soviet Union
c.
Eastern “Bloc”
i. Poland, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary all became communist. This
was done by one of two methods:
1. Eliminated anti-Communist leaders before elections
2. Forcefully installed a Communist government if a government other than Communist
was elected
ii. East Germany – Stalin was determined that Germany would never be a threat again. Stalin installed
a brutal communist government. They became known as the German Democratic Republic or East
Germany
iii. Finland – Signed a treaty of cooperation with the Soviets. They could manage their own domestic
affairs, but had to be neutral in foreign affairs
iv. Yugoslavia – Tito, a communist, became dictator. However, he worked independently from the
Soviet Union
v. Eastern European disappeared from Western sight behind the “iron curtain” of secrecy and isolation
that Stalin clanged down across Europe from the Baltic to the Adriatic. The iron curtain would
continue for 40 years
d. Berlin Airlift
i. The French, British, and Americans realized that the Soviet Union wouldn’t allow a reunified
Germany. So in 1948, they decided to reunify their areas, creating the Federal Republic of Germany
or West Germany
ii. In 1948, a dispute rose over using West German money in Berlin. The actual cause was the USSR
wanted people to stop using East Berlin as an escape route to West Berlin. As a result, the Soviets
blockaded West Berlin, which was within East Germany. No shipments were allowed into West
Berlin, causing severe shortages of food and other supplies
iii. To prevent war, Truman began the Berlin airlift, moving supplies into West Berlin by plane for the
next 15 months. By May 1949, the Soviets ended the blockade
The Cold War Starts
a.
USSR and Iran
i. In 1946, Stalin broke an agreement to remove his troops from Iran’s northernmost province, which
the USSR had occupied, with British and American approval, during WWII. The Soviets needed the
oil
ii. When Stalin used his troops to aid a rebel movement, Truman protested, and the USSR backed down
b. Truman Doctrine
i. Containment
1. Developed by a young diplomat and Soviet specialist, George F. Kennan
2. It called for the United States to resist Soviet attempts to form Communist governments
elsewhere in the world
ii. Truman Doctrine
1. In March 1947, the Truman Doctrine was created
2. It said that the policy of the United States must be to support and assist free people who
are resisting conquest by armed minorities or by outside pressures
3. Supported containment of communism
c.
Truman Doctrine Is Tested
i. In 1945, the Soviet Union wanted control of the Dardanelles (straits in the entrance to the Black Sea)
in Turkey and began making threats against them
ii.
XIII.
In Greece, Communists fought to overthrow the government that had returned to power after the
Axis withdrew
iii. Britain was usually the country that would help other, smaller countries in Europe. However, they
were bankrupt from the war and unwilling to help
iv. Responding to the Truman Doctrine, Congress approved $400 million in aid for Greece and Turkey
d. Truman Doctrine For and Against
i. Critics have said it:
1. Divided the world into pro-Soviet and pro-American camps
2. Instilled fear that the Soviet threat was primarily military in nature
ii. Proponents have said it:
1. Was Truman’s fear of a revived isolationism that led him to exaggerate the Soviet threat
and made him pitch his message as a global war against godless communism
e.
Reinhold Niebuhr
i. Was a Protestant clergyman
ii. Truman found support in him
iii. Believed that the world was drifting away from its Christian foundations
iv. Crusaded for 5 decades against fascism, pacifism, and communism
v. He divided the world into good and evil (Hitler and Stalin were evil)
f.
The Marshall Plan
i. The U.S. didn’t want to repeat the mistakes of WWI. This time, the U.S. would help restore the wartorn nations so that they might create stable democracies and achieve economic recovery
ii. As a result, Secretary of State George Marshall created the Marshall Plan. Europeans who worked
together for a joint plan for their economic recovery would receive aid from the U.S.
iii. Aid through the Marshall Plan was intended to create strong democracies and open new markets for
American goods
iv. The Soviet Union was invited to join, but refused, saying that the Americans were buying their way
into European affairs. They would’ve had to accept it on difficult terms – making vast political
reforms and have outside controls. They discouraged their satellite nations from joining as well
v. The U.S. realized they had to do something quickly when a Soviet sponsored coup in
Czechoslovakia led to a communist government
vi. 17 Western European nations joined and received over $13 billion in grant and loans over the next 4
years
g. Results of the Marshall Plan
i. Within a few years, most Western European nations were exceeding their prewar outputs
ii. Communist parties in these countries lost ground as a result
h. Creation of Israel
i. After the end of WWII, Jews called for the establishment of a Jewish homeland. Their traditional
homeland was Palestine. In May 1948, the UN established Israel
ii. However, Palestine was the ancient homeland of the Arabs. As a result, conflict between Israel and
its Arab neighbors erupted
iii. While supporting Israel, the U.S. worked to prevent oil-rich Arab nations from falling under the
influence of the Soviet Union
America Begins To Rearm
a.
National Security Act
i. Department of Defense –
1. Housed in the Pentagon
2. Headed by the Secretary of Defense
3. Purpose was to coordinate the army, navy, and air force
ii. National Security Council (NSC) –
1. To advise the president on security matters and to coordinate with the CIA foreign fact
gathering
iii. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) –
1. Gather facts on foreign countries
b. Selective Service System
i. In 1948, provided for the conscription of selected young men from 19-25 years of age
ii. This shaped millions of people’s educational, marital, and career plans for 25 years
c.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) – Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium
i. The Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan demonstrated his commitment to making America a
leader in post-war world affairs. Yet Truman didn’t want the U.S. to be the only nation in the
Western Hemisphere pledged to defend Western Europe from the Communists
ii. In April 1949, the U.S., Britain, France, and Canada joined 8 other nations in forming NATO, the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization. They agreed on collective security, meaning if one nation in
NATO was attacked, it would be considered an attack on all of them
iii. In response, the Soviet Union created the Warsaw Pact, an similar alliance with its satellite nations
in Eastern Europe
iv. The fall of the Soviet Union has led to NATO expanding membership and moving toward
peacekeeping throughout the world
d. Purposes of NATO
i. Strengthen the policy of containing the Soviet Union
ii. It would provide a framework for the reintegration of Germany into the European family
iii. It would reassure Europeans that a traditionally isolationist U.S. was not about to abandon them
Results of Joining NATO
i. It marked a shift in diplomatic policy
ii. It was a step in the militarization of the Cold War
iii. NATO formed the basis of all Cold War American policies with Europe
Reconstruction and Revolution In Asia
a.
General MacArthur and Japan
i. MacArthur wanted to democratize Japan
ii. The Japanese cooperated very well. They saw that good behavior and the adoption of democracy
would speed the end of the occupation – and it did
iii. The constitution, created largely by MacArthur and adopted in 1946:
1. Renounced militarism
2. Provided equal rights for women
3. Introduced a Western-style democratic government
iv. All this paved the way for a phenomenal economic recovery that made Japan one of the world’s
biggest industrial powers
b. War Trials In Japan
i. Japanese war criminals were tried in Tokyo from 1946 to 1948
ii. 18 were sentenced to prison terms, while 7 were hanged
c.
Nationalists vs Communists In China
i. A civil war raged for years between Nationalists and communists
ii. Washington halfheartedly supported the Nationalist government of Generalissimo Jiang Jieshi
against communist leader Mao Zedong
iii. Ineptitude and corruption within Jiang’s government eroded the confidence of the people and
communist armies overwhelmed the Nationalists
iv. In 1949, Jiang fled to the island of Formosa (Taiwan)
d. Results of the Collapse of Nationalist China
i. ¼ of the world’s population (500 million) became communist. This became a huge issue in the U.S.
ii. Republicans highly criticized Truman and the Secretary of State, Dean Acheson, for losing China to
communism. They insisted that Democratic agencies were filled with communists and had
deliberately withheld aid from Jiang so that he would fall
iii. Democrats replied that when a regime has forfeited the support of its people, no amount of outside
help will save it. Truman didn’t lose China, Jiang lost it because he never controlled all of China
e.
Arms Race
i. 1949 – The Soviets exploded an atomic bomb (3 years earlier than many experts had thought
possible)
ii. In response, Truman ordered the development of the “H-bomb” (hydrogen bomb), which is 750
times more powerful than an atomic bomb. Einstein and Oppenheimer were against the
development of the bomb because of its potential to wipeout life on earth
iii. 1952 – The U.S. tested its first H-bomb at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Its blast killed one
Japanese fisherman and wounded 22 of his crewmates. Fishing boats 1,000 miles from Bikini
brought in radioactively contaminated fish
iv. 1953 – The Soviets tested their first H-bomb
v. Each side tried to outdo the other in the scramble to build more destructive weapons. If the Cold
War ever turned into a hot war, there might be no world left for democracies or communists
Ferreting Out Alleged Communists
a.
“Loyalty” Program
i. Many people feared that communist spies, paid by Moscow, would undermine the government
ii. In 1947, the Loyalty Review Board was created that investigated:
1. 3 million federal employees (3,000 resigned or were dismissed, but not charged)
iii. The attorney general drew up a list of 90 supposedly disloyal organizations, none of which was
given the opportunity to prove its innocence
iv. Loyalty oaths became increasingly common for employees
b. Smith Act of 1940
i. This act makes it a crime to advocate the overthrow of the U.S. government. The act still is in effect
today
ii. In 1949, 11 communists were brought before a jury for violating the Smith Act of 1940. They were
convicted for advocating the overthrow of the American government by force
iii. Later, the Supreme Court ruled in Yates v. U.S., however, that it’s alright to urge someone to believe
in the overthrow of the government. It’s not alright for one to urge someone to physically overthrow
the government. This makes the act difficult to enforce
c.
Committee On Un-American Activities (HUAC)
i. Created in 1938 to investigate “subversion”
ii. In 1947, ten writers, directors, actors, and producers were brought before HUAC and were asked
about being associated with Communism. Most had created or been in a movie during WWII that
was favorable toward the Soviets. They were charged with contempt of Congress and were
sentenced from 6 months to a year
iii. The movie industry no longer made controversial films and agreed not to hire certain people in
Hollywood who may have Communist leanings, called blacklisting
d. Alger Hiss
e.
XIV.
XV.
i.
ii.
iii.
XVI.
In 1948, Richard M. Nixon a member of HUAC, led the chase for Alger Hiss
Hiss was a former State Department official and an ex-New Dealer
He denied being communist, but was caught in embarrassing falseho9ods, convicted of perjury in
1950, and sentenced to 5 years in prison
iv. Richard Nixon gained national exposure
e.
Were There Communists In the U.S. Government?
i. There may have been; the atomic bomb could’ve been developed sooner than planned because of
spies
ii. Communists didn’t infiltrate government agencies with much harm
iii. Politicians used the red scare to put aside issues of sexual freedom, declining religion, and civil
rights
f.
McCarran Internal Security Bill
i. Authorized the president to arrest and detain suspicious people during an “internal security
emergency”
ii. Critics protested that the bill was similar to concentration camp tactics
iii. Truman vetoed the bill, but Congress overrode it
g. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
i. In 1951, they were convicted of espionage – giving the Soviets atomic secrets
ii. They died in the electric chair in 1953 – the only people in American history ever executed in
peacetime for espionage
iii. Their sensational trial and the orphaning of their two children sobered some citizens on the idea of a
red scare
Democratic Divisions In 1948
a.
Democratic National Convention
i. Because of high prices and taxes, the Republicans won control of Congress in 1946
ii. It looked good for their presidential candidate, New York governor Thomas Dewey
b. Republican National Convention
i. Dwight Eisenhower refused to be nominated, so Truman was nominated
c.
Dixiecrat Party
i. Southern Democrats were alienated by Truman’s strong stand in favor of civil rights for blacks, so
they split the party and formed the Dixiecrats from 13 southern States
ii. They nominated Governor Strom Thurmond of SC on a States’ Rights ticket
d. Progressive Party
i. Vice president Henry A. Wallace disagreed with the administration’s get-tough-with-Russia policy
and reformed the new Progressive Party. The party was made up of:
1. Former New Dealers
2. Pacifists
3. Liberals
4. Communist backers
ii. Wallace was the only voice of hope out of the gloom of the beginning of the Cold War
e.
Results of the Election of 1948
i. Truman had little money and few active supporters, so he had to rely on his instincts and folksy
personality
ii. He gave 300 speeches on:
1. Criticized the Taft-Hartley Act
2. The “do-nothing” Republican Congress
3. Garnered support for his program of civil rights
4. Improved labor benefits
5. Improved health insurance
iii. The Chicago Tribune ran off an early edition with the headline “DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN.”
However, it turned out that Truman had won:
1. 303 – Truman; 189 – Dewey; 39 – Thurmond
2. 24.2 million – Truman; 22 million – Dewey; 1.2 million – Thurmond; 1.2 million –
Wallace
iv. The Democrats regained control of Congress as well
f.
Why Did the Republicans Win?
i. The Republicans were overconfident
ii. Truman’s never-say-die campaign won him the support of many Americans
iii. Dewey struck many people as arrogant, evasive, and wooden
g. Truman’s Foreign Policy
i. In his inaugural address, Truman called for a plan that would lend U.S. money and technical aid to
underdeveloped lands to help them help themselves
ii. He wanted to spend millions to keep underprivileged peoples from becoming communists rather
than spend billions to shoot them after they had become communists
iii. The program brought badly needed assistance to impoverished countries
h. Fair Deal
i. Called for:
1. Improved housing (low-cost housing projects and slum cleanup)
2. Full employment
3. A higher minimum wage (a whole 75 cents per hour!)
ii.
iii.
XVII.
XVIII.
4. Better farm price supports
5. New TVAs
6. An extension of Social Security
Most of the Fair Deal fell victim to congressional opposition from Republicans and southern
Democrats
The only major successes came with:
1. Raising the minimum wage
2. Housing Act of 1949 – providing for public housing
3. Social Security Act of 1950 – extending old-age insurance to more people
The Korean War
a.
Invasion of South Korea (June 1950)
i. Japan had invaded Korea during WWII. Afterwards, the Allies agreed to divide the nation
temporarily into a Soviet-occupied northern zone and an American-occupied southern zone
ii. Once the troops withdrew, in 1949, a Communist government was set up in the north, while a proAmerican government was set up in the south
iii. In June 1950, North Korean troops crossed the 38th parallel in an attempt to reunite Korea
iv. Douglas MacArthur was called upon to lead UN troops in Korea. He was in charge of the
occupation of South Korea and Japan
v. Before UN troops arrived, the North Koreans, supplied with Soviet tanks and air power, had swept
through South Korea in just weeks. Only a small part of the country, near the port city of Pusan,
remained
b. Truman’s Reaction
i. Was proof that the containment doctrine couldn’t be relaxed for a minute, or else it would be an
invitation for communist aggression
ii. Used as an excuse for military expansion
c.
NSC-68
i. At first a buried document, Truman recommended in NSC-68 that the U.S. should increase its
defense spending 4x
ii. The results were:
1. 3.5 million in the military and $50 billion a year on defense
2. A sense of almost limitless money for arms
3. The U.S. could bear the strain of a huge rearmament program
d. United Nation’s Reaction To Korea
i. The Soviets temporarily left the UN Security Council
ii. In June 1950, they unanimously condemned North Korea as the aggressor. The Soviets weren’t
there to veto the vote
iii. The Council called upon all UN members to help restore peace. Two days later, without consulting
Congress, Truman ordered American air and naval units to support South Korea
iv. He also ordered General Douglas MacArthur’s Japanese based occupation troops into action against
the North Koreans
v. Officially, the U.S. was participating in a UN “police action.” But in fact, the U.S. made up the
overwhelming bulk of the UN contingents, and General MacArthur, appointed UN commander of
the entire operation, took his orders from Washington, not from the Security Council
The Military Seesaw In Korea
a.
MacArthur’s Strategy (September 1950)
i. MacArthur suspected that the North Korean’s supply line was stretched thin. Therefore, he decided
to land troops at Inchon, near the 38th parallel and attack enemy supply lines from behind
ii. The strategy worked, causing the North Koreans to withdraw to near the Yalu River
iii. MacArthur didn’t want the North Koreans regrouping and coming again
b. China and the Korean War (November 1950)
i. At this point, the Chinese, who were Communist, told the UN to not advance any farther. However,
MacArthur didn’t listen
ii. He didn’t believe that Chinese intervention would be effective
iii. Thousands of Chinese “volunteers” fell upon his overextended lines and pushed the U.N. forces
southward
c.
An Angered MacArthur
i. Humiliated, he wanted:
1. The old Chinese government, which had taken refuge in Taiwan, go back to China and
create a second front
2. He also wanted to use nuclear bombs on China if they got involved
3. A blockade of the Chinese coast
4. Bombardment of Chinese bases in Manchuria
d. Washington’s Reaction
i. Didn’t want to enlarge the war. They believed that Europe, not Asia, was the administration’s first
concern; and the USSR, not China, loomed as the more sinister foe
ii. When MacArthur wrote Congress, criticizing the President, Truman fired him. He feared that the
war would escalate and possibly draw in the Soviets
iii. MacArthur was deemed a hero by many, while Truman was considered an idiot
iv. Ridgeway replaced MacArthur.
e.
End of the Korean War
i.
ii.
iii.
After two more years, a truce was signed in 1953
It left Korea in about the same state it was in before the war. Americans wondered why 55,000
soldiers had been killed and 113,000 wounded for such limited results
South Korea – 415,004 dead; 428,568 wounded; North Korea/Communist China – 2,000,000
casualties