1945 - 1952. Towards the end of the war, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development...
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The Cold War 1945 - 1952
1945 - 1952. Towards the end of the war, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (The World Bank) and the International Monetary Fund
Towards the end of the war, the International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (The World Bank) and the
International Monetary Fund were established to help rebuild and
stabilize the postwar economy; the US would have the greatest
influence over policy The Soviet Union refused to ratify the
agreement because the US wanted to rebuild under capitalismthus it
cut off the possibility of bringing aid to its people and Eastern
Europe
Slide 3
At the end of the war, occupied Europe was divided into spheres
of influence between the Allies and the Soviet Union Germany was
divided into 4 zones each controlled by an Allied power The United
Nations was created in 1945 by the Allies to mediate disputes
between members and impede aggressors The UN achieved great success
with humanitarian programs (relief to Europe and Asia) The Western
nations allied with the US and held the balance of power against
the Soviets in a cold war that would last until 1989
Slide 4
Though FDR favored diplomacy and compromise, Harry Truman was
committed to a get-tough policy with the Soviets In 1946, Winston
Churchill gave a speech in Fulton Missouri about the Iron Curtain
splitting Europe into democracy and communism, and that the US
needed to ally with Britain to stop the spread of communism Civil
war in Greece and Turkey, with the threat of communist victory,
Truman provided $400 million in aid to defeat the rebels The Truman
Doctrine simply committed the US to a policy of containment
(stopping communism from spreading)
Slide 5
Known as the European Recovery Program, the Secretary of State
George Marshalls plan to rebuild Europe by revitalizing a European
capitalist economy The plan placed the US in a decisive role to
rebuild Europe as Europeans were introduced to US goods The plan
further cemented the policy of containment and drove a deeper wedge
between the West and the Soviet East
Slide 6
When the western zones of Germany merged, Stalin reacted by
cutting off land access to West Berlin (the Berlin Blockade) The US
and Royal Air Force responded by around- the-clock airlifts to
supply West Berliners with nearly 2 million tons of food and
supplies The Berlin crisis resulted in the creation of a democratic
West Germany and communist East Germany Furthermore, ten European
nations, the US, and Canada formed an anti-Soviet military alliance
known as NATO in April, 1949; West Germany was incorporated in 1955
The Soviet Block responded in kind, creating the Warsaw Pact,
including East Germany
Slide 7
The Division of Europe
Slide 8
Trumans policy of containment rested on the USs monopoly of
atomic weapons In August, 1949, the Soviet Union conducted their
first nuclear test By the mid-1950s, both sides had amassed lethal
stockpiles of hydrogen bombs, an arms race that further drove the
East and West into the depths of the Cold War
Slide 9
Trumans tough stand against communism did not stop his approval
rating to be as low as Hoovers Congress blocked Trumans proposals
to extend the New Deal Americans were tired of rationing and the
demand for goods created steep inflation rates Strikes paralyzed
the nation In 1946, the Republican Congress began to undo the New
Deal, and overrode Trumans veto of the Taft-Hartley Act, which
limited the tools available to labor unions, and required all union
officials to swear that they were not communists
Slide 10
Truman had to deal with splitting Democrats: Henry Wallace
challenged Truman by running as a Progressive (Truman denounced him
as a communist) Strom Thurman represented the South as the States
Rights Party, or Dixiecrats, split with Democrats over civil rights
legislation Truman discredited a Do-Nothing Congress and called a
special session, ordering the desegregation of the federal
workforce and military Truman held onto the New Deal coalition (see
ch. 24) and defeated Republican Thomas Dewey
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
After the election, Truman proposed a package of reforms hoping
to give every individual a fair deal Truman was able to a few
things through a hostile Congress (National Housing Act, minimum
wage raise, SS expansion) but little else Truman helped to define
cold war liberalism as promoting economic growth through expanded
foreign trade and federal expenditures (chiefly on defense),
Anti-communism was another key element in both his foreign and
domestic policies
Slide 14
The cold war triggered a massive reordering of governmental
power, to keep the nation in a steady state of preparedness during
an uneasy peace The National Security Act established the
Department of Defense (replacing War), and the National Security
Council (the policy-making body for national defense appointed by
president) The National Science Foundation pursued scientific
research, especially in physics The OSS was transformed into the
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that gathers and evaluates
foreign intelligence The federal government quadrupled in size,
with most of the payroll focused on national security (75%) Defense
accounted for 10% of the total GNP
Slide 15
President signed an executive order (9835) establishing a
loyalty program for all federal employees; any employee could be
dismissed if found to have subversive ideas on national security,
communist sympathies, and lifestyles The Internal Security Act of
1950 (the McCarran Act) required Communist organizations to
register with the Subversive Activities Control Board and it
authorized the arrest of suspected persons during national
emergencies The Immigration and Nationality Act (1952) allowed the
government to ban any person deemed subversive from visiting the US
The organization stayed active until 1973
Slide 16
Slide 17
The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) launched
investigations into communist influence, especially in Hollywood
Friendly witnesses like Gary Cooper (of Frank Capras Americana
movies) and Ronald Reagan testified to Americas greatness and the
evils of communism Some gave names of suspected former friends so
that they themselves would be cleared and able to work Some
attacked HUAC and argued for their rights under the 1 st, 5 th, and
6 th Amendments, some went to prison for contempt, and many were
blacklisted Hollywood films would be under heavy censorship during
this period
Slide 18
Ronald Reagan, president of the Screen Actors Guild, testified
stating that a small minority of actors within the union were
communist agitators trying to influence labor decisions in
Hollywood. Other actors like Humphrey Bogart and his wife Lauren
Bacall lead a protest of actors against HUAC. They made small
headlines compared with the testifiers.
Slide 19
State Department advisor Alger Hiss was accused of being a
communist spy Richard Nixon, a California representative pursued
the charges and Hiss went to jail for perjury Julius and Ethel
Rosenberg were accused of stealing and providing the Soviets with
atomic secrets; and despite a weak case, the Rosenbergs were found
guilty and then executed despite worldwide protests in 1953
Slide 20
Congressman Nixon inspecting the evidence known as the Pumpkin
Papers Nixon later revealed that the case was won in the papers
before it reached the courts Alger Hiss at his hearing Though he
was convicted of perjury; whether or not he was a communist spy is
still debatable to this day
Slide 21
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, civilians executed for espionage.
It is evident that Julius was a spy, but the case against his wife
is very thinat most she typed up his notes. In terms of what the
Russians got from the Rosenbergs is questionable at best. Did their
crime warrant the death penalty? Like the Hiss case, it was decided
by the newspapers. President Eisenhower refused clemency requests
from the pope, and other world leaders, scientists, and
celebrities.
Slide 22
Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy played to the anti- commie
hysteria in America by declaring that 205 communists worked for the
State Department He refused to name names and the lack of evidence
discredited him, but he did succeed in undermining Truman, New Deal
Democrats, and most importantly, he captured the peoples attention
towards the Red Menace: Better Dead Than Red! His tactics were
inquisitional, media-hyped, and infuriatingly passionate McCarthy
attacked womens organizations and homosexuals TV, which helped
McCarthy initially, also initiated his downfall when he went on to
attack prominent military figures On TV he appeared deranged, and
finally was asked: Have you no sense of decency, sir? His career
ruined, censured by Congress, McCarthy died of alcohol-related
hepatitis three years later
Slide 23
Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the communist
party?
Slide 24
Post-war prosperity did not dispel any anxiety over the reality
and rhetoric of the Cold War, as the nation remained on permanent
alert Movies focused on the adjustment of soldiers returning home,
The Best Years of Our Lives, showcased a lonely, isolated
homecoming of soldiers reuniting with their families Film noir was
a new genre that grew out of the cynicism, crime, hysteria, and
frustration of the era in hard-boiled classics like Out of the Past
Sci-fi films became popular, sometimes disguising headlines:
Invasion of the Body Snatchers is REALLY about the brainwashing of
communism, not pod people Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman and
Salingers Catcher in the Rye explore materialism and shallowness,
as well as failure
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
The move to the suburbs, high levels of consumption, the rush
towards marriage and parenthood, these behaviors illustrate a
defense against the fears and anxieties of the Cold War era Younger
couples and a baby boom, combined with high consumer spending
changed middle-class family dynamics Married, middle-class women
sought employment to support larger families and their rate of
consumption The GI Bill helped many returning GIs by sending them
to college, and helping them get jobs, but it also led to a decline
in female graduation and enrollment The conservative trend in
America bemoaned the destruction of the traditional family (linking
it to communism), and high-profile experts studied the dangers of
women abandoning their role as wife and mother
Slide 28
The Idealized image of 1950s post-war America
Slide 29
Defense spending stimulated the economy more in the West,
especially in California, than any other regionby the end of the
1950s, 1/3 of workers in Los Angeles were employed by the defense
industry The availability of land, space made western states
attractive to military planners To accommodate the burgeoning
population, new highway systems were built that created housing
sprawl, traffic congestion, air pollution, and strains on local
water supplies
Slide 30
Postwar patriotism was seen as a way to combat communism The
Pledge of Alligiance was said with hand over heart, rather than
salute Public education stressed the zeal for democracy as American
ideals were stressed (as communist ideals were stressed in the
Soviet Union)
Slide 31
Under an interim government under Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Japan
underwent a reconstruction program that brought reforms in land
distribution, trade unions, woman suffrage, an end to feudal
marriages, demilitarization, and finally a constitutional
democracy: The MacArthur Constitution The US worked to include
Japan in their anti-Soviet Bloc economically and militarily The
Nationalist government fell to Mao Zedong and the communists on
October 1, 1949 The Peoples Republic of China (PRC) was not
recognized initially by the West, and the Nationalist government
occupied Taiwan 1950 the Soviet Union and China joined a formal
alliance, putting the pressure on Trumans administration that he
had lost China
Slide 32
After WWII, the Soviets occupied North Korea and backed Kim Il
Sung; The US occupied South Korea and backed Syngman Rhee; Korea
was divided at the 38 th Parallel June 25, 1950: N. Korea attacked
S. Korea; Truman asked the UN for authorization to send troops;
with the Soviet Union boycotting the UN, they agreed Gen. Douglas
MacArthur commanded the theater and pushed them back across the 38
th Parallel The Chinese saw this as a threat to their security and
attacked, driving the UN forces back to the 38 th Parallel where a
costly stalemate settled in MacArthur, insistent on attacking and
perhaps provoking a war with China, criticized Truman; Truman flew
to Korea and fired MacArthur
Slide 33
Slide 34
MacArthur observing the Marines landing at Inchon, September
15, 1950
Slide 35
Though MacArthur was easily the most recognized military hero:
the Philippines, the surrender of Japan, and the rebuilding of
Japan, you cant speak out against the Commander-in-Chief. Truman
fired him despite a lot of criticism. Truman handled it beautifully
as he let MacArthur address Congress and retire: An old soldier
never dies, they simply fade away. And thats what MacArthur
did.
Slide 36
Criticized for bypassing Congress, Truman explained that his
authority for a peacetime draft in 1948 and the military
intervention in Korea was justified under NSC-68 that consolidated
decision making on containment to the executive, and advocated a
massive buildup of military power The policy of containment was
just that, it stated little on the idea of liberation but it now
placed America in a difficult position in terms of WHERE to contain
communism The stalemate in Korea left many Americans disillusioned
with the Truman administration
Slide 37
The Korean War ruined any chance of Truman runninghe dropped
out and the Democrats put Illinois governor Adlai Stevenson, an
unimposing intellectual, as their frontrunner Former General Dwight
D. Eisenhower ran as a moderate Republican, with VP Richard Nixon
Nixon waged a relentless attack on Stevenson, calling him an
appeaser, using TV to Eisenhower pledged to settle the war Ike won
a solid election, and the Republicans took control of Congress
Slide 38
Slide 39
Not without controversy, Richard Nixon went on TV to defend
accusations of receiving illegal campaign contributions. He
defended his familys modest lifestyle, but did say he accepted one
gift. A puppy. Our little girl Tricia named it Checkers, and like
all kids, loves dogs, and I just want to say this right now, that
regardless of what they say about it, were going to keep it! It
diffused the issue, without confronting it.