1 / 62

Chapter 26

Chapter 26. The Cold War Abroad and at Home 1945-1952. Introduction. The onset of the Cold War Its impact on American life at home Impact on American foreign policy “state of mutual hostility short of direct armed confrontation”

vaughan
Download Presentation

Chapter 26

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Chapter 26 The Cold War Abroad and at Home 1945-1952

  2. Introduction • The onset of the Cold War • Its impact on American life at home • Impact on American foreign policy • “state of mutual hostility short of direct armed confrontation” • Developed as the U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. struggled to shape the postwar world in a way that “served its own national interests”

  3. Introduction (cont.) • 1.) How did President Truman’s and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin’s policies contribute to the Cold War? • 2.) What was the containment policy, and how did the U.S. govt. implement it between 1947 and 1952? • 3.) Why did New Deal liberalism weaken after WWII, and what effects did its decline have on Truman’s administration?

  4. Introduction (cont.) • 4.) What caused the red scare following WWII, and why did Americans become so frightened of Communism? • 5.) What impact did the Cold War have on civil rights for African-Americans? • 6.) What were the effects of the GI Bill of Rights on the postwar economy and society?

  5. The Political Setting, 1945-1946 • Demobilization and Reconversion • The Truman administration rapidly demobilized the armed forces • Dropped from 12 million men in 1945 to 1.5 million by 1948 • Many veterans had trouble readjusting to civilian life • severe housing shortages • disappearing defense plant jobs • reestablishing family bonds • Over a million marriages made during the War ended in divorce by 1950

  6. Demobilization and Reconversion (cont.) • Women lost their wartime industrial jobs • Told by society that they should find fulfillment in marriage and motherhood • Many followed that idea • Others took new lower-paying jobs as office workers and saleswomen • By 1950--more women were in the paid labor force than had been during WWII

  7. The GI Bill of Rights • Passed by Congress in 1944 • Also called the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act • Reward men and women who fought for the U.S.A. in WWII • Help them adjust to civilian life • Veterans Affairs Dept. history of GI Bill

  8. The GI Bill of Rights (cont.) • Provided returning GI’s with low-interest govt.-backed loans • Start their own business • Buy homes or farms • About 4 million veterans bought homes with their GI loans • Greatly stimulated the postwar construction industry, economy, and suburbanization

  9. The GI Bill of Rights (cont.) • The govt. also offered to pay tuition and expenses for 4 years of college or professional training • 8 million veterans accepted this offer • By 1947--1/2 of the nation’s college students were GI Bill veterans • Enrollment soared • Many new 2 and 4 year colleges were founded to meet the demand • A generation of working class Americans rose to the middle class

  10. The Economic Boom Begins • By 1946, the U.S. economy was booming • Money the govt. gave veterans for education, loans, and businesses under the GI Bill stimulated growth • U.S. was the strongest industrial nation in the world • International Monetary Fund and World Bank • The U.S. mainly controlled and funded • Stabilized exchange rates • Help to rebuild Asia and Europe

  11. The Economic Boom Begins (cont.) • Wartime advances in science and technology made possible the development of new industries • Electronics • Synthetic materials • Consumes spent their war savings • About $135 billion • Bought homes, cars, electric appliances, televisions

  12. Truman’s Domestic Program • Employment Act of 1946 • A program to ensure economic growth and employment • Inflation soared • Office of Price Administration was cut • no longer were their price controls • Prices escalated • Strikes increased • Workers demanded higher wages to keep up with the cost of living • Truman wavered between getting tough with strikers and giving in to their demands

  13. Truman’s Domestic Program (cont.) • Shortages of housing and consumer goods continued • Industries struggled to catch up with consumer purchases • Americans blamed Truman for inflation, strikes, and shortages • 1946--elected Republicans as the majorities in Congress • 1st time since 1928 • Public uneasiness about the atomic arms race that was starting

  14. Anticommunism and Containment, 1946-1952 • Polarization and Cold War • After WWI, U.S. and U.S.S.R. began to argue over Eastern Europe • Especially Poland • Stalin insisted that friendly communist govts. must be installed on the Soviet borders • Secure Soviet Union from future attacks • Stalin did not allow free election there • Communist regimes came to power in Poland, Bulgaria, and Romania

  15. Polarization and Cold War (cont.) • Pres. Truman would not accept Soviet domination of Eastern Europe • It violated the principles of national self-determination • Truman believed that the spread of communism threatened American economic interests in Eastern Europe and elsewhere

  16. The Iron Curtain Descends • Stalin tightened his grip on Eastern Europe • Truman=“get tough with the Russians” • George F. Kennan • State Department expert on U.S.S.R. • Advised the U.S. should apply “long-term, patient, but firm vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies”

  17. The Iron Curtain Descends (cont.) • Winston Churchill • Iron Curtain speech • 1946 • Condemned Stalin’s behavior • Called for an anticommunist alliance of the English-speaking peoples • History Channel video • Iron Curtain speech transcript

  18. The Iron Curtain Descends (cont.) • Truman threatened to use U.S. naval and land forces if Stalin did not withdraw his troops from Iran and offered a nuclear arms control plan that Russia rejected • U.S. objected to a Soviet counter plan • Both countries developed and stockpiled more and more nuclear weapons

  19. The Iron Curtain Descends (cont.) • Cold War • U.S. and U.S.S.R. both would use economic pressure, nuclear threats, propaganda, and subversion against each other • They would not engage in direct military combat

  20. Containing Communism • March 1947 • Truman asked Congress for millions of dollars • Help the Greek and Turkish govts. fight communist rebel movements • May 1947--Congress appropriated the $$$ • Truman Doctrine • U.S. commitment to support peoples all over the world who were threatened by Soviet aggression and/or internal communist uprisings • Truman Doctrine speech

  21. Containing Communism (cont.) • Marshall Plan • Developed by Sec. of State George Marshall • U.S. assistance to rebuild European economies • $17 billion • Attempt to prevent the spread of Communism • By 1952, it had revived the Western European economically • Communist popularity waned • American business boomed with increased sales in Europe

  22. Confrontation in Germany • 1947-1948=Stalin took over Hungary and Czechoslovakia • U.S.A., G.B., and France united their zones of occupation in Germany into West Germany • Include Western occupied parts of Berlin • Berlin blockade • Soviet reaction to unification • Prevented all ground movement of goods and people between West Germany and West Berlin • Stalin hoped to halt the establishment of West Germany • June 1948 to May 1949 • History Channel video--Berlin Blockade

  23. Confrontation in Germany (cont.) • Berlin Airlift • Truman’s reaction to the blockade • Truman told Stalin that if the Soviets shot down any supply planes, the U.S. would retaliate with atomic bombs • History Channel video--Berlin Airlift • May 1949--Stalin ended the unsuccessful Berlin blockade • West German Federal Republic was formed • Include West Berlin

  24. Confrontation in Germany (cont.) • North Atlantic Treaty Organization • NATO • Formed in April 1949 • 10 European nations, Canada, and the United States • Anticommunist military alliance

  25. NATO nations today

  26. Confrontation in Germany (cont.) • The Soviets responded by: • 1.) establishing the Germany Democratic Republic (East Germany) • 2.) developed their own atomic bomb • 3.) Warsaw Pact • Military alliance of the Soviet Union and its satellite nations

  27. Confrontation in Germany (cont.) • The 2 superpowers divided Europe into rival armed camps.

  28. The Cold War in Asia • Both superpowers wanted economic and military influence in Asia • The U.S.: • helped rebuild Japan • Structurally and economically • Occupied much of Japan’s former Pacific island empire • Crushed a communist movement in the Philippines • Aided the French in their attempt to hold on to their empire in Indochina

  29. The Cold War in Asia (cont.) • In China though, the United States did not prevent the Nationalist govt. from overthrow • U.S. sent military and economic aid • Helped Jiang Jieshi • Mao Zedong overthrew Jieshi in 1949 • Communist nation

  30. The Cold War in Asia (cont.) • Hysteria started in the United States • Began a search for disloyal elements in the U.S.A. • Republicans blamed Truman for losing China • United States built the hydrogen bomb and increased military spending • Soviets built hydrogen bombs also • Thermonuclear terror increased

  31. The Korean War, 1950-1953 • In 1945--U.S.S.R. and the United States liberated Korea from Japanese rule • The Soviets set up a communist-governed nation • People’s Democratic Republic of Korea • North of the 38th parallel • United States helped to create a pro-Western nation • Republic of Korea • South of the 38th parallel

  32. The Korean War, 1950-1953 (cont.) • Democratic People’s Republic of Korea wanted to reunited Koreans under its rule • Invaded South Korea in 1950 • Truman sent U.S. forces under General Douglas MacArthur to South Korea to repel the invasion • Did so without consent from Congress

  33. July 1950

  34. The Korean War, 1950-1953 (cont.) • The United Nations sent a token army to fight under MacArthur • U.S., U.N., and South Korean troops soon pushed the North Koreans back to the 38th parallel • Truman and MacArthur decided to conquer the North and put it under the control of the South Korean govt.

  35. The Korean War, 1950-1953 (cont.) • MacArthur’s armies neared the Yalu River • Mao Zedong warned that he would not “stand idly by” • MacArthur ignored the threat • He was caught off guard by the 33 Chinese divisions that forced his troops deep into South Korea

  36. October 1950

  37. January 1951

  38. The Korean War, 1950-1953 (cont.) • 1951--MacArthur’s forces reached the 38th parallel • Truman then ordered them to hold that position until a peace settlement was reached • MacArthur protested • He wanted total victory by using atomic bombs against China • Truman removed MacArthur--April 1951 • MacArthur was put in charge of civilian control over the military • History Channel speech--Truman • History Channel speech--MacArthur

  39. The Korean War, 1950-1953 (cont.) • Truce came in 1953 • Border between the 2 Koreas was nearly the same as in 1950 • U.S. lost 54,000 lives • Cost $54 billion • In 1953, the defense spending was 2/3 of the federal budget • In 1950 it was 1/3 • The U.S. also began aiding France against an independence revolt in Indochina • SEATO was created in 1954 • U.S., Australia, New Zealand, and other countries

  40. The Truman Administration at Home, 1945-1952 • The Eightieth Congress, 1947-1948 • Republican controlled • Began to undo the New Deal • Passed the Taft-Hartley Act • Less favorable to unions than the Wagner Act • Truman had vetoed it but Congress overrode the veto • Truman courted liberal, labor, and Jewish votes for the next election by: • condemned the reactionary Congress • Recognized the new state of Israel

  41. The Politics of Civil Rights and the Election of 1948 • President’s Committee on Civil Rights • 1946 • Set up by Truman • Investigate racism • Suggest ways to protect minorities • Congress should pass: • Antilynching bill • Anti-poll tax bill • Other civil-rights bills

  42. The Politics of Civil Rights and the Election of 1948 (cont.) • Southern Democrats resisted these possible changes • Truman did not make any specific proposals • 1948 Democratic National Convention • Liberals and urban politicians forced the party to adopt a strong civil-rights platform • This allowed Truman to press for the measures recommended by his civil-rights committee • Southern Democrats founded the Dixiecrat Party • Nominated Strom Thurmond for President • Segregationist from SC

  43. The Politics of Civil Rights and the Election of 1948 (cont.) • 1948 election had 4 candidates: • Democrats--Truman • Republicans--Thomas Dewey • Dixiecrats--Thurmond • New Progressive Party--Henry Wallace • Made up of left-wing Democrats • Many believed Dewey would win easily

  44. The Politics of Civil Rights and the Election of 1948 (cont.) • Truman secured the northern African-American vote: • Issued executive orders against discrimination in govt. employment and segregation in the armed forces • Truman received the support of northern African-Americans and the Roosevelt New Deal coalition • Gave Truman a close victory • Wallace and Thurmond did not take enough of the Democratic vote to make a difference

  45. 1948 Election

  46. The Fair Deal • Truman’s social and economic reforms • Increase in the minimum wage • Increase in social-security benefits • Public-housing construction • Removal of slums • Conservation Southern Democrats and Republicans blocked all civil-rights and most Fail Deal measures

  47. The Politics of Anticommunism • Loyalty and Security • Federal Employee Loyalty Program • Established March 1947 • Truman formed after Republican accusations that he was not protecting internal security • Provided for checks on all govt. workers • Remove out any disloyal personnel • Between 1947-1951: • more than 500 people were fired • Thousands resigned • Most because they espoused unpopular beliefs, not because they had committed unlawful acts

More Related