Cold war notes

Cold war

A time of high tension and suspicion between the USSR and the United States

Arms race

Soviets announced that they had their first atomic bomb in Sept. 1949, then Americans developed the H-Bomb in 1952, to be followed by the Soviets who did theirs in 1953

Harry Truman

33rd US president, Democrat, made decisions over the cold war and the Korean war

Taft-hartley Act

Bill by the Republican congress that outlawed all union shops, made unions liable for riot damages, and required union leaders to be non-communist

Labor Strikes

After the war ended, strikes ran rampant on salt, automobile, manufactoring, and mining industries in 1946

Post-war economy

Prices rose 33% once war limitations were off

Labor unions

Labor unions grew substantially postwar because strikes were actually allowed to happen and prices rose like crazy

Council of Economic advisors

a new 3 member committee with economic advisors to help with economic government policies

Employment act

Act that promoted maximum employment and made the council of economic advisors

Servicemen’s readjustment act

GI bill

1. Provided college

2. preference for veterans in federal and state jobs

3. made the Veterans association to give veterans loans for homes, farms, and buisnesses

long economic boom

The Gross national product (GNP) kept rising year by year and provided a two decade plateau of stable growth.

Made 60% middle class, and most families had a car, tv, and washing machine

this was due to military spending, cheap energy, and agricultural businesses grew

military spending

defense spending was to make up about 10% of the GNP 1947

Postwar mobility

growth of highways, which allowed the suburbs to grow too

Baby boom

men got back from the war, babies were made, 50 million. made the boom and bust cycle

Benjamin Spock

Wrote the common sense book of baby and childcare for new parents during the baby boom since the traditional role of like having your mother care for the new child was more difficult since suburbs split up families

Sunbelt

The area where most migrants moved to, where America gets the most sun

William T.J. Levitt

him and his brother were builders who revolutionized the housing industry by basically making the same house thousands of times and made “cookie cutter levittowns”

White flight

movement of white families to the suburbs because of cheap loans from the VA plan, tax deductions for mortgages, and construction of highways

Post-war Germany

Germany was split up into 4 parts and given to the victors of the war as a temporary solution. Soviets got the eastern part and made it communist, everyone else got the western part and made it democratic. They were supposed to re-unite Germany, but couldn’t agree on communism or democracy. There was also a factor of the Soviets wanting to have a weak Germany.

Berlin

berlin was the capital of Germany, and was also split up into 4 sections, but berlin was deep in communist territory.

Berlin Blockade

In order for the soviets to take the whole city, on June 1948, Soviet forces cut off west berlin supply lines in order to starve out that side and make them have to fall to communism

Berlin Airlift

In response to the berlin blockade, democratic forces got planes and delivered supplies to west berlin by plane, delivering 13000 tons of supplies a day. After realizing they couldn’t afford to go against us, the soviets dropped the blockade on May 1949, losing the first stage of the cold war

Iron Curtain

March 5th, 1946, Winston Churchill gave a speech in America about the dangers of the postwar division of east and west Europe with the analogy of an Iron curtain, which soon after came true with the berlin Blockade

George Kennan

American diplomat stationed in Moscow who said the USSR was a threat and developed the containment doctrine that was to stop the spread of communism

Truman Doctrine

policy to Support free people who are resisting outside pressures (defend against the spread of communism)

Greece and Turkey

First place for containment to go under effect, because if Greece fell to communism, Turkey would fall to communism, and then the whole Mediterranean would fall to communism

NATO

National Atlantic Treaty Organization

Warsaw Pact

USSR retaliation to NATO where the USSR and her soviets made a pact for mutual defense

Israel

Truman decided to officially recognize the State of Israel, going against Arab Nations and going against the wishes of the defense departments and the European allies. This was so gain the Jewish vote after the holocaust

Post-war Japan

Japan was occupied by the US military and Gen. MacArthur was tasked with brining democracy in Japan, which they quickly agreed to. US help made Japan spring back from the war quickly and Japan became an industrial power

Chiang Kai-Shek

Nationalist leader of China who was backed by the Americans, but didn’t keep the power

Mao Ze-dong

Communist leader of china who was backed by the Soviets and overthrew the nationalist leaders with claims of redistribution and education, leading china to be communist and losing 1/6 of the world’s population to communism

Loyalty Review board

A federal team that investigated 3 million federal employees of communism, and 3000 were fired or resigned, and made remaining employees do “loyalty oaths”

Strom Thurmond

electoral candidate of the Dixiecrats and governor of South Carolina

States Rights party (dixiecrats)

More southern democrats that formed the Dixiecrats, who supported segregation and led by Strom Thurmond

Henry Wallace

leader of the progressive party and former VP

Progressive party

Split off of the democrat party who wanted improved relations with the USSR and more New Deal legislation

Thomas Dewey

1948 Republican candidate and NY governor who everybody thought was gonna win but then he didnt

Fair Deal

Truman’s platform for the 1948 election that promised improved housing, full employment, higher minimum wage, new TVA’s, and an extension of social security (bolded actually happened)

Korea

After WW2, Korea had been split into north and south at the 38th parallel, north:USSR, south:America.

Usual stuff, America wanted democracy, Ussr wanted communism.

1949, both USSR and US left Korea, but kept advisors.

June 25, 1950, Soviet-made tanks pushed south korean forces to the Pusan Perimeter

United Nations in the Korean War

Truman brought up the invasion to the US congress, and the US brought up the invasion to an emergency meeting of the UN. The UN condemned the invasion of North Korea as an agression and sent UN forces to intervene. UN POLICE ACTION

Truman then set a precident and without consulting congress, sent un-ready forces from Japan under Gen. MacArthur

Gen. Douglas MacArthur

Under Gen. MacArthur, UN forces attacked near the 38th parallel, and pushed North Korean forces nearly all the way to the north korean border. near the Yalu river before chinese forces intervened and attacked the overextended American forces. The border was pushed all the way back to the 38th parallel, where most conflict stayed.

MacArthur wanted to use atomic bombs, Truman said no. MacArthur scolded him in public, Truman fired him.

Inchon

Port town near the 38th parallel where MacArthur invaded with his troops that was unexpectedT

Yalu River

River in north Korea where MacArthur’s troops pushed enemy forces

Joseph McCarthy

1950, republican senator said there were 205 communists in congress, intending to get himself re-elected. He then dropped the number to 57, but over the 4 years of him being in office, he never gave a single name, making it all a “red witch hunt”

He also said the army was full of reds, leading Army-McCarthy hearings, but he didn’t find anyone either. A few months later, he was classified as indecent, and died soon after of alcohol

The rosenburgs

accused spy siblings who got thrown under the bus by another spy and were killed for it

Hydrogen bomb

bomb like insanely strong

Red Scare

Loyalty program headed by Tom Clark to draw up a list of potential communists

HUAC

House Un-American Activities Committee to investigate communist subversion, led by Richard Nixon, where this is where he got his spot in the public eye

Hollywood

HEAVILY investigated by the HUAC for communist propaganda in films

Alger Hiss case

HUAC investigated Alger Hiss after Whittaker Chambers said he had communist doccuments. By the time the case rolled around, it was too late and Alger Hiss just got 5 years for purjury

McCarran Security Bill

It would have allowed the president to arrest and detain anyone, but it was Vetoed by Truman because he thought it was too powerful, but congress overrode it and enacted it anyway

CIA

main spying center for the US

NSC 68