APUSH - Period 8 (1945-1980): Cold War America

Cold War

ideological conflict between US and Soviet Union - no direct fighting, but proxy wars

Iron Curtain

term coined by Winston Churchill to describe border between communist and free election countries

How was Germany split after WWII?

into East (USSR) and West (US), but Berlin itself (in East) also split East vs. West

early years of the UN

forms after WWII, is meant to keep peace, but US and USSR are both in it and never agree (especially about nuclear weapons)

George Marshall

general in WWII and Truman’s Secretary of State, pushed containment policy

containment

prevent spread of communism (laid out in Truman Doctrine)

Truman Doctrine

says US will intervene in countries being taking over by communists

Marhsall Plan

US pours billions of dollars into helping western Europe recover from WWII

• rebuild cities, etc.

• b/c want ppl in Europe to be happy so that communist revolutions don’t happen

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organization - alliance of Western European countries with US (agreed to alliance b/c wanted US to step in if Stalin invaded them)

Berlin Airlift

1st standoff between US and USSR in Cold War - Stalin blocked trade to West Berline, so US dropped food by plane

military advances in the US during the early Cold War

• CIA formed

• Airforce department added

• hydrogen bomb developed

Communist Revolution in China + how US reacted

• late 40s: civil war, Mao Zedong took over and allied with USSR

• US worried China would take over the destroyed Japan, so helped Japan rebuild economically

Korean War

• communist North Korea (aided by USSR and China) tried to take over South Korea

• Truman got UN (not Congress) to approve war (UN says collective “security action” needed) - sent General Douglas MacArthur

• rough conditions, goes badly for Americans until MacArthur launched huge offensive and pushed communists back into North

• US then invades North, pushed out by Chinese

• Truman and MacArthur disagree about next steps, eventually ends in stalemate with peace treaty under Pres. Eisenhower (1953)

disagreement between Pres. Truman and General MacArthur in Korean War

after failed invasion of North Korea, MacArthur still wants to invade (says there’s no substitute for winning), Truman says no, MacArthur humiliates Truman in front of Congress, Truman fires MacArthur

Harry S. Truman

• Democrat, became president after FDR

• wasn’t as popular as FDR b/c didn’t have same ambitious plan/charisma

Fair Deal

Truman’s plan to extend/maintain New Deal

What happens in the US during demobilization after WWII?

• economy struggles (inflation, unemployment, strikes)

• Taft-Hartley Act - Congress limited unions’ power

Second Red Scare

anti-communist sentiment/hysteria; caused by USSR’s successful test of atomic bomb in 1949 (US worries about spies)

House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)

conducted investigations into suspected communist activity, similar to Salem Witch Trials (ppl would say they were a “reformed” communist and accuse others)

Alger Hiss

accused of being Soviet spy by a “reformed” communist, went to jail

Rosenbergs

couple executed for spying for the Soviets (husband helped on one part of Manhattan Project, wife took notes)

Joseph McCarthy

senator who accused lots of ppl in military, Hollywood, gov, etc. of communist spying; greatly increased hysteria & caused McCarthyism (communist-hunting)

Dwight Eisenhower

• Republican, became president after Truman (1952)

• was WWII war general/hero, was generally well-liked

• VP = Richard Nixon

• let Joseph McCarthy dig himself a hole - accused much of army, then lost popularity b/c was aggressive/disrespectful on televised hearings

• didn’t want to help France in Vietnam - said jungles would swallow American troops

• generally thought roads, schools, etc. should be state-funded, not funded by federal gov

U-2 incident

US plane shot down when flying over USSR (wasn’t supposed to be flying there - spying); re-escalated tension

military-industrial complex

some US industries profit from war and want to get US into wars - Eisenhower warns US of this in Farewell Address

Highway Act of 1956

funded interstate highway system

• exception to Eisenhower’s rule of state funding - thought this was an issue of national security b/c would enable ppl to move quicker during nuclear attack

economics during the 1950s

economic boom, gov has balanced budget, consumerism/ads, lots of wealth, more middle class, highest standard of living world had known

social/cultural life in the 1950s

• nuclear family w/ traditional gender roles (CONFORMITY)

• “white flight” to suburbs - ex. Levittowns

  • “American Dream”

  • minorities stay in cities and create neighborhoods

• baby boom b/c men come home from military and start families

• TV, more cars, organized religion, new schools, polio vaccine

• emphasis on psychology of parenting/raising kids well (Dr. Benjamin Spock wrote books on child psychology)

• leisure starts to look more like it does today

G.I. Bill

1950s bill that provided funding for veterans to get college education

beatniks

anti-conformity; were the counter-culture/early hippies

Space Race

began when USSR sent satellite to orbit Earth, US gov created NASA in response, astronauts became heroes

music in the 1950s

rock n’ roll - adults saw it as scandalous

• Elvis Presley

• The Beatles

migration through the Rust Belt and the Sun Belt during 1950s

• Rust Belt - Northeastern US, which traditionally contained most factories

• Sun Belt - new Southern industrial region (could build more factories there b/c air conditioning invented) - many moved there in search of work b/c not as many workers needed in North after WWII