Truman and Eisenhower (1945 - 1960)

Cold War

A conflict that was between the US and the Soviet Union. The nations never directly confronted each other on the battlefield but deadly threats went on for years.

what is the Americans goal during the cold war?

1. They wanted to promote democracy and capitalism in Europe.

2. They wanted to rebuild the nations that are war rorn so they are not able to fall down to communism

what is the Soviets goal during the cold war?

1. Try to promote socialism and communism in Europe

2. they don't want to leave Eastern Europe.

3. control the nations and promote communism by establishing "puppet" governments of the Soviet Union.

(An important fact that you need to know is that behind all of these goals by the Soviet Union, they basically wanted political control over Eastern Europe)

what will become the satellites of the USSR?

Eastern Europe will become the satellites of the USSR. Any Eastern European nation trying to break away from the USSR will face a "Red Army" (Soviet invasion)

Iron Curtain

Winston Churchill's term for the Cold War division between the Soviet-dominated East and the U.S.-dominated West.

American policy of containment

Resisted Soviet expansion in hopes that the Soviet Union would eventually collapse. We didn't want communism to spread too far, but rather "contain" it.

Truman Doctrine

1947, President Truman's policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism or totalitarian ideology, mainly helped Greece and Turkey

Marshall Plan

A United States program of economic aid for the reconstruction of Europe (1948-1952)

Germany divided and the Berlin Airlift

At the end of WWII, the allies divided and occupied Germany and Berlin to rebuild the destroyed nation.

June 1948, the USSR tried to take over the Western half of Berlin.

From June 1948 to May 1949, the US airlifted supplies into West Berlin to keep it free from Soviet control.

By late 1948, Germany is devided.

IMPORTANT: West Germany is DEMOCRATIC and East Germany is COMMUNIST

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organization; an alliance made to defend one another if they were attacked by any other country; US, England, France, Canada, Western European countries

Warsaw Pact

An alliance between the Soviet Union and other Eastern European nations. This was in response to the NATO

Soviet Atomic Threat

When the U.S. and other large countries were worried because the Soviet Union had successfully tested the atomic bomb

The Cold War turns into a Hot War

1. In May 1949, communist leader Mao Zedong overthrows Democratic leader Chaing Kai Sheck

2. The US cuts off all relations with China

3. Communism is spreading to Asia and we were very unprepared for this development because we were too focused on preventing communism to go too far in Europe.

Post WWII Korea 1945 - 1950

- After WWII, South Korea was occupied by the United States and we were trying to promote democracy and capitalism

- North Korea was occupied by the USSR and they were trying to promote communism

- In 1949, both the US and USSR withdrew from Korean occupation

Korean War (1950-1953)

1. June 1950, North Korea crosses the 38th parallel and invades South Korea. Their intension was clear - they wanted to control the South and turn it communitst. Their invasion made it South to the Pusan perimeter within months.

2. Truman under the US policy of containment must not let South Korea fall to communism

3. The UN votes to send aid and 40,000 troops led by Douglas MacArthur to help keep SOuth Korea free.

4. MacArthur launches a 2 - pronged attack

- Land at Pusan and push North

- Land at Inchon and push East

5. MacAurther pushed to the 38th parallel and captured some 130,000 North Koreans as POW's. MacArthur has "contained" communism at the 38th.

6. The UN tells MacArthur to push north to create a united Korea and he is more than happy to oblige and he moves towards China.

- As MacArthur approaches the Chinese border at the Yalu river, China warns the U.N. that they can't stand MacArthur coming close to their borders

- Chinese communist soldiers have been captured and identified

- Chinese units are identified

- The Soviet Union made planes attacking UN forces.

7. MacArthur and the UN forces lost battle after battle and pushed South of the 38th Parallel

8. MacArthur makes crazy suggestions to the UN.

- He suggests to drop 30-50 atomic bombs on China

- take China's seaports

- Put a naval blockade on China

9. Truman denies MacArthur's idea because it will provoke another war with nuclear weapons and instructed him to keep containment at the 38th Parallel

10. MacArthur wants to do more than just "containment". He wants to destroy North Korea, move into China to take out communism, and he makes suggestions to the American Newspapers.

11. Truman fires MacArthur In 1951

July 1951-July 1953

(The peace talks continue)

1. The 38th parallel would be a border between the North and South of Korea.

2. DMZ would be established at the 38th

3. POW's of war would be returned to both sides

Red Scare

fear that communists were working to destroy the American way of life

Loyalty Review Boards

Created by Truman to conduct investigations of government employees and dismiss those that were found to be disloyal to the U.S. government.

Why was the Loyalty Review Board created and what was its purpose?

Loyalty review boards were created in 1947 by Truman because he wanted to respond to the growing fear of communists influence during the Cold War and its primary goal was to make sure that federal employees ensure their loyalty to the United States.

HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee)

The House of Reps created a committee to investigate Un - American activities in the United States. A lot of individuals were questioned and they weren't allowed to see evidence against them or know who had accused them of disloyalty.

Who were the individuals that were questioned and why were they questioned?

Labor leaders, individuals in influential govt, and Hollywood industry leaders and they were questioned because of widespread fear of communism.

Alger Hiss

U.S. government official accused of being a communist spy and convicted of perjury. (There wasn't enough evidence against him and it was later proved that he was a KGB spy)

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

they were accused of passing secret govt info about the atomic bomb to the soviets and both of them were found guilty. They were sentenced to the electric chair.

McCarthy

United States politician who unscrupulously accused many citizens of being Communists and wants to get rid of communism all together in America (1908-1957)

who does McCarthy accuse of being communist?

State department, education fields, and the US army.

McCarthyism

The act of accusing people of disloyalty and communism

What did the US army do about McCarthy?

1. They fought back against the accusations

2. The hearings were on Tv and people saw what he really was and McCarthy was very out of control.

3. By 1954, McCarthy lost all of his power and was "censured" in the senate

The National Security Act of 1947

Passed in 1947 in response to perceived threats from the Soviet Union after WWII. It established the Department of Defense and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and National Security Council.

National Security Council

Advised the President on security measures

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

A U.S. agency created to gather secret information about foreign governments and to keep us safe.

Atomic Energy Commission

Established to promote peaceful uses of atomic energy. (Nuclear Power Point)

GI Bill

law passed in 1944 to help returning veterans buy homes, pay for higher educations, and small monthly incomes

The "baby boom"

- birth rates increased

- women stayed home

election of 1948

Truman pulled off a surprise victory over Dewey

Chicago Tribune

This newspaper made the huge mistake of printing the headline "Dewey defeats Truman" in 1948:

The economy at this time period

- there was a lot of personal savings

- a lot of consumer spending

- easy credit

Civil Rights Under Truman

- segregation ends in the military

- everyone is equal in the federal job

Jackie Robinson

The first African American player in the major league of baseball. His actions helped to bring about other opportunities for African Americans.

Election of 1952

A race between Dwight D. Eisenhower for the republicans and Adlai Stevenson for the democrats. Eisenhower won in a landslide.

American Cars and Roads

- passed the Federal highway Act of 1952 and they depended on the automobile.

Economy during 1952

- slowed down the new deal

- cut spending

- reduce taxes

- balance budget

Suburbs

- housing shortage after WWII

- standardized housing

Consumerism

- the US was producing 1/2 of the worlds goods

- credit cards were seen for the first time

- market revolution was the credit cards

TV

- By 1952, FCC was formed to regulate TV, created culture, and I love Lucy was so popular.

Radio

- listen to radios in the car

Movies

movie studios had to focus on gimmicks bring in the movie - goers

Music

Teenagers sought a "sound" they could call their own

Beatnik

In the 1950s, a person who criticized American society as apathetic and conformist

Civil Disobedience

- the African American community starts to protest with non violence

Plessy v. Ferguson

"separate but equal" doctrine supreme court upheld the constitutionally of jim crow laws

Brown vs. Board of Education (1954)

Supreme Court decision that overturned the Plessy vs. Ferguson decision (1896); led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, the Court ruled that "separate but equal" schools for blacks were inherently unequal and thus unconstitutional. The decision energized the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s.

Linda Brown

the young girl who was refused enrollment at her neighborhood grade school which led to the famous Supreme Court case which ended segregation in public schools

Thurgood Marshall

NAACP legal counsel and the first African-American Supreme Court Justice

The Supreme Court Decision (May 1954)

- schools must be based on geography

- segregated schools were unconstitutional

Murder of Emmett Till (1955)

14 year old Af. Am. boy from North (Chicago) spending time w/ relatives in South, was flirty w/ a white woman, woman's husband and brother kidnapped him and murdered him, beaten beyond recognition, husband and brother put on trial and found innocent => international outrage (later sold their confession bc couldn't be tried again)

Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott

In Montgomery, Alabama, she refused to give up her bus seat to a white man as required by city ordinance. Her action, though planned, started the civil rights movement and led to a bus boycott lasting 11 months.

Martin Luther King Jr.

U.S. Baptist minister and civil rights leader and protests with civil disobedience

Montgomery Bus Boycott

1955 protest action to end segregation on buses in Montgomery, Alabama

Little Rock Nine

In September 1957 the school board in Little rock, Arkansas, won a court order to admit nine African American students to Central High a school with 2,000 white students. The governor ordered troops from Arkansas National Guard to prevent the nine from entering the school. The next day as the National Guard troops surrounded the school, an angry white mob joined the troops to protest the integration plan and to intimidate the AA students trying to register. The mob violence pushed Eisenhower's patience to the breaking point. He immediately ordered the US Army to send troops to Little Rock to protect and escort them for the full school year.

Orval Faubus (1910-1994)

Governor of Arkansas 1955-1967; 1957 ordered Arkansas National Guard to stop 9 African Americans from integrating Little Rock High School (The Little Rock Nine); Eisenhower sent US troops to enforce integreation and protect students

MLK's organization

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference

The Arms Race

both the US and USSR had growth in nuclear arsenals

Air Raid Drills and Fallout Shelters

the fear and paranoia of a soviet attack and we used duck and cover

Sputnik

The world's first space satellite. This meant the Soviet Union had a missile powerful enough to reach the US.

U-2 Incident

The incident when an American U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union.

The Middle East (Israel and Iran)

In 1948, Israel was created and conflict came between Israel and its Arab neighbors who also viewed Palestine as their home land.

While the United States supported Israel, the US worked to prevent oil rich Arab nations from falling under the influence of the Soviet Union.

In 1952, a pro communist leader gained control in Iran and the US CIA organized his overthrow and restore power.

Eisenhower Doctrine

Policy of the US that it would defend the Middle East against attack by any Communist country

Vietnam

Ho Chi Min declared the colonies independence from the French in 1945 and defeated the French

Guatemala

the CIA helped overthrow the govt of Guatemala on the grounds that its leaders were sympathetic to communism

Cuba

Castro overthrew Batista. (Castro is communist). IKE replied by cutting off ties with Cuba. Castro turns to the USSR for economic aid and military aid.

IKE's Farewell Address

he warned Americans about the dangers of the "military - industrial complex."