APUSH- Unit 3 Notes
Yalta Conference
In February 1945, Allied forces got together at YALTA (southern Russia at the time)
FDR, Churchill, and Stalin got together to discuss post-WW2 plans
the decisions they make at Yalta shape the entire rest of the 20th century
Yalta establishes the basis for what becomes the “Cold War”
1st priority was to Re-establish order in European nations that the Axis had controlled for so long
FDR, Churchill, and Stalin agree to restore self-government
this allows the people to decide what government they want to lead their country →DEMOCRACY
Stalin later changed his mind in the late 1940s and forced Eastern European countries to become communist
He wants an empire
The only nation that will not be allowed to determine their government is Germany (they were afraid of how that vote would go)
Germany is divided into 4 zones of occupation to keep it under allied control and prevent future agression
The allied powers will govern each zone; USA, England, USSR, and, France
Berlin was also divided into 4 zones
drove Stalin crazy because we had a “little piece of his land”
to get Stalin to agree to the division of Berlin, Half of the $20 billion war reparations collected by Germany were to go to the USSR.
Poland was greatly affected by WW2 so, Chrichhil and FDR wanted to Expand the Polish borders and give the country a larger coastline on the Baltic Sea
At the time of Yalta, the war in the Pacific was still going on but the atomic bombs had not been launched yet. Stalin agreed to enter the war within 6 months. Russian troops never had to fight because at the time the US dropped the 2 atomic bombs on Japan.
In exchange for his help in the Pacific, the US and the USSR returned the islands they had lost to Japan 40 years earlier.
Lastly, Woodrow Wilson’s League of Nations ideas were revisited and renamed “United Nations”
Every country was invited, and every country had a voice
The UN could raise a military to enforce its “peaceful’ objectives
The allied countries gave themselves more power than other countries in the UN “Security Council” (the committee in charge of raising and sending an army)—> 15 countries that decide whether to send troops into battle
The “Big Five” nations have absolute veto power meaning those 5 countries have to agree to send forces, disagree, and it doesn’t happen!
Those “Big Five” nations are: USA, USSR, France, England, and, China
Cold War 1945-1991
period of great tension between capitalism and communism, short of actual war
Stalin moved troops into Eastern Europe to spread communism
US response: The Truman Doctrine
US foreign policy based on the containment of communism
Containment: to stop something from spreading
How??
economically/militarily
Economically Containment: The Marshall Plan
The US offers money to European nations to help rebuild Europe ($13 billion, supplies, food, etc..)
USSR & Eastern European countries refuse aid (Western Europe accepts aid)
1948: West German sectors unite
1949: Berlin Blockades
USSR blocks all access to West Berlin
US response: Berlin Airlift
drop in supplies to aid the people of West Berlin; food, medicine, clothing, etc.
after 10 months, the Soviets took down the blockade and allowed access to West Berlin.
N.A.T.O Treaty: The US realizes it needs a military presence in Europe, especially Germany, to prevent Soviet expansion
Warsaw Pact: Communist countries come up with their alliance
Cold War In Asia
China, 1949: Communist Revolution!
Mao Zedong defeats Chaing Kai-shek
Chaing flees to Taiwan because Mao is going to kill him
U.S decides to ignore the takeover and believes that Chaing Kaishek is still the leader—> led to a belief that Taiwan is now “China”
U.N. recognizes Taiwan as the official “CHINA”
The “Big Five” changes to: the USA, Russia, England, France, Taiwan
Stalin did not like that change, so he left the United Nations—> no communist countries
s in the U.N, meaning they could try and contain the spread of communism
The Korean War
WW2: Japan controlled Korea
Divided after WW2: North= USSR, South= USA
“38th Parallel”
June 1950: North invades South
United Nations Security Council votes 14-0 to send troops to aid South Korea
Soviets are not there to veto
American General Douglas MacArthur put in charge of troops
1st time US troops are sent into battle without the approval of Congress
UN pushes Communists back across the “38th parallel”
Truman orders MacArthur to pull back to the “38th parallel”
MacArthur denies—> he did this because he didn’t have to listen to Truman because he was working for the UN not America
He begins to criticize Truman
He sends a letter to Mao threatening to invade China
China enters the War and pushes UN troops back into South Korea
Truman fires MacArthur—> Matthew Ridgeway is put in charge
He follows orders and advances back to the “38th parallel” and the War slows down—> “Stalemate”
Meanwhile, MacArthur comes home a “hero”
people like the fact that he’s tough on communism
many people wanted him to run for president in 1952—> he ends up retiring
Election of 1952: Dwight D. Eisenhower became president
promises the people: “I will go to Korea”
He negotiated an armistice in 1953—> ends the war
Results of the Korean Conflicts
No border changes
2 million killed, 54,000 US soldiers dead
The United Nations worked!
Cold War intensifies
The 1950s
Eisenhower Politics: “We Like Ike”
hard-line Anti-Communist stance
Stalin dies in 1953
New leader in Russia: Nikita Khruschev
wants to build a relationship with the Americans
called it: “Peaceful Coexistence”
his actions were completely different
Ike’s Cold War Policies
The Domino Theory states that if one nation falls to communism, it will produce a chain reaction leading to neighboring countries' fall.
Brinkmanship: Belief that it was necessary to go to the brink of war to maintain peace
Massive Retaliation: threatening nuclear counter-attack in response to any soviet aggression
M.A.D= Mutual Assured Destruction
Arms Race: a race to see which country has more weapons
Space Race
Soviets beat the U.S. with Sputnik launch on October 4, 1957
U.S. created a space program called NASA
Paranoia at home
Cold War fear-people think the Russians could send missiles at any time
1950s School bomb drills
Red Scare: “McCarthyism”
Senator Joe McCarthy
wanted to become more popular for re-election and made a speech about communist spies!—> fake news!
CIA-crafted as a network for covert actions (communism overseas)
foreign affairs
if they do their job right, the U.S. can get away with things without causing a war
The U-2 incident
U-2: spy plane (spied on Russians)
U-2 shot down by Russians
Pilot: Francis Gray Powers
breaks agreement to “peaceful coexistence”
the Cold War becomes more tense
Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s
Concensus Culture: caused by the cold war, people were afaid to critize the UNnited Sates in fears of being labeled a comunist.
BY the 1950s, the economy recovered and became the top of the world!
one of the greatest economic decades for our country
Asia and Europe gets back to normal and starts buying American goods
creates a demand for products—> factories open back up—> jobs are created—> Industry grows
Consumer culture—> People buy stuff they don’t need
Growing middle class
suburbs—⇾ people move away from the city because they can afford to commute
“Baby boom” —> people have money to spend = birth rate rises
women in the workforce
for somepeople this ear was a “golden age”
SEGERAGATION!!!
BLACK CHRUCHES PLAYED A PIVOTAL ROLE IN THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
1960 Presidential Election
Eisenhower served two terms, people liked him
Republican side: Richard Nixon
Democrat side: John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy won!!
Kennedy looked more appealing on television therefore Nixon lost votes
rumors that both candidates cheated because they had connections with the mafia
John F. Kennedy Background
Democrat
Boston, Mass
Wealthy Family
Catholic
WW2 Naval Hero
Senator
Author
People liked the Kennedys
He was the youngest President-43
“The New Frontier”- Kennedy policies
Top advisor: Attorney General- Robert Kennedy
Foreign Policy: Containment of Communism
Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961)
Castro took over Cuba with communism
The Berlin Wall (1962)
different from the Berlin blockade, this was intended to stop people from escaping the communist East to free west.
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
Blockade - Quarantine set up around Cuba to stop any new missiles from entering Cuba
stop Soviet ships from entering Cuba
The high point of the war, the world was seconds from nuclear obliteration
Khrushchev orders ships to turn back at the least possible moment
2 messages from Khrushchev:
1. USA promise never to invade Cuba
2. USA removes its NATO missiles from Turkey
JFK ignores the second and only responds to the first letter on national television—> ends Cuban missile crisis—> big win for Kennedy
Russia removed its missiles and Cuba remains a communist country today
The Vietnam Era
Southeast Asia:1945-54
Vietnam was in Indo-China
Indo-China was a French colony
People did not like it!
Vietminh fought against the French for independence
Leader—> Ho Chi Minh
The Geneva Conference
France gives up all claims to Southeast Asia
let Vietnam determine what their government will look like—> elections held in 1956
Ho Chi Minh is a communist!—> won the election
His opponent NGO DINH DIEM—> Capitalist
The US gets worried because it looks like the Domino Theory is taking effect.
The US sends ADVISORS to Vietnam to cancel elections—> invading the country because the people did not ask for our help. The elections never take place.
Supporters of Ho Chi Minh (communists) are upset and begin fighting against the Americans
North Vietnam: Communists, Ho Chi Minh, backed by China and the USSR
South Vietnam: Capitalist, Ngo Dinh Diem, US soldiers backed by the USA
Vietnam-different kind of warfare
Jungle warfare
Vietcong
National Liberation front
communists who lived in the SOUTH but fought for the NORTH, the US didn’t know who they were because they looked like average citizens
August 1964: The Gulf of Tonkin Incident
North Vietnam bombs American ship and it sunk
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution: granted the President (Lyndon B. Johnson) power “to take all the necessary measures” to win the war in Vietnam—> aka “blank check”
congress gives up power to run the war
LBJ can escalate the war by sending an overwhelming number of soldiers over to Vietnam—> more American lives lost the public starts to take notice
Anit-War Movement (hippies)
emerged in the 1960s, nonconformist, wanted to be different, change
Why protest Vietnam?
Vietnam did not want America’s help
They elected a communist official and were okay with it
from Vietnam’s POV America is invading their country
Americans felt that those were not good reasons to go to war
Americans were getting drafted
Vietnam was on TV—> a constant reminder of how bad it was
1968
Heaviest US troops in Vietnam; 536,100
War costs $25 million PER YEAR
Turning point of the war—> The TET Offensive
Communists launch a series of surprise attacks on over 30 cities in South Vietnam
US/ARVN(Army of South Vietnam) forces caught unaware
Communists start to win the war
On the Homefront: Assignations
Martin Luther King, JR. April 4, 1968
Robert F. Kennedy June 6, 1968
he was also running for president
1968 Presidental Election
Lyndon Johnson(DEM.) decides not to run again
Richard Nixon- Republican
Democrats are torn between two candidates- Herbert Humphery (Lyndon Johnson’s VP) and Eugene McCarthy
Protests and riots at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago because of Lyndon Johnson’s way of handling Vietnam
Democrats nominate: Humphery
Richard Nixon wins!
Nixon’x Policy
Vietnamization: the process of gradual US withdrawal to turn the war over to Vietnam, to let them fight their war.
1969
Nixon still wants to win the war
Increased bombing of North Vietnam
“Secret War” invasion of Cambodia & Laos
to cut off the Vietcong supply line
The Pentagon Papers-1971
Secret State Department documents of all activities in Southeast Asia since 1954 were leaked to the American public
Daniel Ellsworth—> A veteran who served in Vietnam and now works in the Pentagon, he sold the paper to the New York Times.
Nixon- re-elected in 1972
1973
Paris Peace Agreement —> US agrees to withdraw from Vietnam
South Vietnam are left to fight on their own
The war continues for 2 more years between North and South Vietnam
April 1975
Saigon falls to communists
Vietnam war ends
Post War Wounds
America Damaged
Country divided
Veterans developed PTS syndromes
viewed differently by the public
they were not considered heroes
became addicted to substances
had a hard time getting back to normal life
suicide rates raised
Lyndon Baines Johnson’s “Great Society” 1963-1969
Democrat
Texas
Teacher
House of Reps 1937-42
Senate 1948-60
V.P. 1961-63
Became president after JFK’s Assassination in 1963
“The Great Society”
Main goals: end poverty, and inequality, reducing crime, and improving the environment
War On Poverty
Tax cuts
food stamps
job crops/youth crops
money to education
work—study
department of transportation
Department of Housing and Urban Development
loans to farmers and small businesses
medicare/Medicaid
Relaxed Immigration Quotas
Consumer Protection
Safety on roads—> Highway Safety Act
Seatbelts in cars, windshields, and road markers. etc..
Cigarette Labeling/ Warning
Air Quality Act
Civil Rights Act of 1964
banned discrimination in private facilities open to the public
Affirmative Action 1965
24th Amendment
Outlawed poll taxes
Voting Rights Act of 1965
outlawed literacy tests
Civil Rights Background
Plessy v. Ferguson 1896
Plessy Homer was arrested for riding in the wrong train car because people found out about his ancestry
“Separate But Equal”—> this case led to segregation to be legal
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas 1954
overturn the Plessy decision
separate facilities are not equal—> got rid of segregation
Richard Nixon
Nixon leaves office before he can get impeached!
Watergate
Democratic Headquarters
Hotel and office complex in Washington D.C
June 17, 1972—> Someone (The Plumbers) broke into the offices and left electronic bugging devices. They were caught and pleaded guilty to the charges.
Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward—> reporter from Washington DC who kept investigating this case
One of the Burglars had been paid by C.R.E.EP.
James Mccord writes a letter to the judge indicating there’s more to the story, then the senate begins to investigate
John Dean, former white house counsel, comes forward and testifies that Nixon and other white officials were involved.
Nixon Aides: Haldeman and Ehrlichman resign
Alexander Butterfield: “The Smoking Gun”
reveals that Nixon was so paranoid he also bugged the White House
July 1974
Articles of Impeachment
Obstruction of Justice
Misuse of Presidential Powers
Refusal to comply with the committee’s requests for evidence
The 1970s
Watergate ruins the presidency
President Gerald R. Ford
US public did not like him
“all ploticans are crooks”
american public did not vote for him
Republican
Congress man from Michigan
Pardons Nixon
Pardons draft dodgers
Clumsy?
The Frod Years: 74-76
inherit economic problems
energy crisis/ rising inflation
Turmoil in the Middle East
Loss of U.S. Prestige
Vietnam/Watergate
Election of 1976:
Gerald Ford (R) vs Jimmy Carter (D)
Jimmy wins!!
democrat
Georgia
Peanut Farmer
Navy
Honest, Goodman (Bad President)
“No Washington experience”—> outsider
because of this fact American people are more comfortable with him
But he has no connections in Washington, making it harder for him to pass laws, etc…
Energy Crisis
oil countries limiting oil supply
OPEC setting oil prices high
gas shortage
push for conservation methods
Department of Energy created
Alternative fuels
doesn’t work because the technology wasn’t advanced yet
Rising prices (1980 inflation 100% that of 1970)
Unemployment rising
Both these situations refer to STAGFLATION!
Foreign Policy
Focus on Humanitarian interests, not military buildup
help other people/other countries
Middle East:
1978- Camp David Accords
Peace treaty between Egypt (Anwar Sadat) and Israel (Menachem Begin)
1979: Iran Hostage Situation
Ayatollah Khomeini—> started a Religious Revolution
Anit-American
seizes the American embassy: 66 hostages for 444 days
Carter could not get them out and that looked bad to the American people
Pop Culture 1970
Women’s Liberation Movement
Leader of the movement—> NOW
Equal Rights Amendment: 1972—> failed
ROE V. WADE: 1973
Color Television
Blockbuster Movies
Jaws
The Exorcist
Star Wars
Disco
ECONOMY WAS REALLY BAD
The 1980s
The Election of 1980
ABC movement (Anybody But Carter)
The “New Right”
Conservatism (backlash against the 60s and 70s)
Anti-Liberal
Small Gov’t
Ronald Reagan becomes president
Republican, Former Democrat
Governor of California
Former Actor
Master at using the media
March 1981: Assassination attempt by John Hinckley
How he fixes the Recession
Normal Plan for Economic Recovery:
Stimulate Demand (FDR)—> get money to the lower and middle class so they can buy products
tax cuts, jobs, etc..
The money will then circulate through the economy
Regan’s Economic Plan
Supply-Slide
“Trickle-Down Economics”
Instead of giving money to the poor, this gives money to the richer—> “make the rich richer”
Tax cuts for the wealthy would spur production and increase employment and wages. The idea was that the money would trickle down to the lower classes
This plan does not work!!
Rich people kept the money for themselves!!
But the economy turns around anyway, and Regan looks like a genius!!
How?
The oil embargo stopped, and Middle Eastern countries started to give us oil again
jobs opened up and prices went down
Thus, this makes Regan’s plan look good, although it had nth to do with the economy
The Election of 1984
Regan won in a landslide over Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro (the first female to run for vice president!!)
Regan’s Domestic Policies
Conservative Values
Anti-feminism ( women were not getting jobs), Anti- Abortion (he could not stop it, but he did limit it in some aspects), Anti- Gay rights( refused to acknowledge a disease affecting the Gay community, millions of lives lost)
Cut spending on Social programs
Reagan’s Foreign Policy
The huge increase in military spending led to the most unbalanced budget in history
Reagan spent more than any other president, even FDR, who started the national budget. The national debt doubled in Reagan’s first term!
The Cold War—> heats back up
Arms Race—> countries are now building more weapons
Relations with Russia heat back up as well
Mikhail Gorbachev, new leader in Russia
Russia is also broke during this time, meaning they can’t keep up with America during the Amrs race
Gorbachev tried to change the Soviet Union, but it ended up failing and led to the end of the Cold War!
S.D.I. (“Star Wars”)
could not exist in the 1980s
The plan was to put laser beams in space and shoot down enemies. There was no technology to support this phenomom
very science fiction, but Reagan pumped millions of dollars into this program
He received lots of criticism for this decision
Iran-Contra Affair
How Reagan released the 66 hostages in Iran
a highly illegal deal was made in which Reagan gave Iran weapons to fight their conflicts and in return America gets the hostages and money.
Money went to a group called the Contras in Nicaragua to help fund their revolution and overthrow their communist government.
However, Contras are drug lords, and Congress has already passed a law that you can’t give money to drug lords.
Oliver North—> takes the blame for Reagan’s actions
1983, Soldiers sent to Lebanon
An evil, powerful leader took over Lebanon, and soldiers were sent to take care of it. However, that failed.
This was an attempt to build back America’s powerful military status after the defeat in Vietnam.
Grenada Invasion
invaded to protect 3-4 Americans from some rebels, he sent 30,000 soldiers. America won
just to prove that America’s military status is back
Culture of the 1980s
Culture of the 80s
Yuppies (The “Me” generation)
business men
usually white
a generation that focused more on building a career than seddeling down
growing economy
insider trading
Inside information about a company is leaked to specific people
GREED!
inflated economy
Stock Market Crash 1987
Sandra Day O’Connor became the first woman on the Supreme Court!!
Neon and Pastels
Big Hair
Pegging pants
Music
Madonna
Michael Jackson
Hard Rock “Hair-Bands”
Live-Aid etc..
The biggest development in music from the 80s was MTV
Election of 1988
George H. Bush (R) vs. Michael Dukakis (D)
Bush won because he was Ronald Regan’s vice president
George H. Bush
Ambassador to UN
Former CIA chief
Vice President
Dan Quayle was VP
His presidency sort of fails because he’s not Ronald Regan, similar to how America elected William Howard Tafft, because he was connected to Teddy Roseveltt, but Tafft never meets that standard.
He raised taxes even tought his camphain said he wasn’t going to do it
contributing towards the national Deficit
The End of the Cold War
Gorbachev’s Perestroika (economic “RESTRUCTURING”) and Glasnost (“Openness”)
gave people ecominc freedom
gave people freedom of speech
major dea; for russia becasue it turns them more Capitalist
people get a lttile taste of freedom
they like it and want more
Late 1980s: Revolution in Europen Communist Countires
1989: Communit gov’ts overthrown in Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Yugoslavia, and East Germany
The Berlin Walls Falls November 9,1989
USSR Crumbles
1991: coup in Russia overthros Gorby
communist government falls
Democracy takes over
1st president Boris Yeltsin
USSR broken up
12 independent republics, Russia is still the largest
Urakin is one of them
Vladimir Putin becomes president in 2000
America and the Middle East
Iraq—> leader Saddam Hussein
1990 I raq invades Kuwait
very rich country because they have one of the biggest oil reserve
America gets involved because of the oil supply
The US send troops but it did not declare war
“Operation Deset Storm” or 1st Persian Gulf War
easy victory!
Iraq kicked out of Kuwait
Saddam Hussein reminaed in power in Iraq
Sanction put on Iraq (Restrictions)
not allowed to have certain weapons
limit on Military
second gulf war was fought because Iraq violated the sanctions
but it was a lie and the US went in anyway