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Exam Study Notes 34-43

Total War and Mobilization

  • Total War: World War II was a total war, with both sides dedicating all efforts and resources to victory.

  • US Mobilization: The US mobilized massive resources on the home front.

  • Strategic Bombing: The US conducted strategic bombing of enemy military and civilian sites.

Manhattan Project

  • Secret Project: A highly secretive military project to develop and test the nuclear bomb.

Japanese Internment

  • Fear and Hysteria: The bombing of Pearl Harbor led to fears of Japanese-Americans undermining the war effort.

  • Executive Order: FDR issued an executive order to remove Japanese-Americans from the West Coast into internment camps.

  • Civil Rights Violation: Many lost homes and businesses, marking a violation of civil rights.

Double V Campaign

  • Black Americans' Rally: Black Americans rallied around the Double V campaign, fighting fascism abroad and racism at home.

Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC)

  • Desegregation Pressure: Black leaders pressured FDR to desegregate war production industries.

  • Executive Order: An executive order created the FEPC, prohibiting US companies with war contracts from segregating their workforce.

  • Civil Rights Step: This was an important step toward civil rights.

  • Great Migration: Another Great Migration occurred, with blacks leaving the South for war jobs in the North and West.

Rosie the Riveter

  • Government Propaganda: Government propaganda depicted women doing "men's" work.

  • Labor Shortage: Industry needed women in factories due to the labor shortage.

  • Key Role: Women played a key role in producing goods needed for the war effort.

War Production Board

  • Coordination and Planning: Responsible for coordinating and planning war production.

  • Resource Allocation: Allocated resources to industry to produce war materials.

  • Centralized Planning: Similar to the War Industries Board from WWI, representing a form of centralized planning.

War Labor Board

  • Labor Management: Managed labor by encouraging workers to take certain jobs and relocate if necessary.

  • Dispute Mediation: Mediated labor disputes to avoid strikes.

Office of Price Administration

  • Rationing and Price Controls: In charge of rationing goods and implementing price controls during the war.

  • Price Ceilings: Set maximum prices for some goods to prevent inflation.

Second Front

  • Soviet Pressure: Stalin hoped for the Allies to open a second front in the West to alleviate pressure on the Soviets.

  • Stalin's Perception: Stalin perceived a slow-played second front to weaken the Soviet Union.

Island Hopping

  • US Strategy: US strategy in the Pacific War to take strategic islands to get closer to Japan.

  • Unconditional Surrender: Aimed to force Japan's unconditional surrender.

Atlantic Charter

  • Pre-Pearl Harbor Meeting: Meeting between Churchill and Roosevelt before Pearl Harbor.

  • War Goals: Discussed war goals and the post-war world.

  • Key Agreements: Agreed on destroying the Nazis, creating a new international organization (UN), and establishing a post-war world based on self-determination.

United Nations

  • League of Nations Replacement: Replacement for the League of Nations.

  • International Cooperation: Along with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, it was meant to help international cooperation.

  • Security Council Power: The UN Security Council gave the US and USSR veto power.

Marshall Plan

  • Economic Recovery Plan: Economic recovery plan for Europe, with the US providing billions of dollars to help rebuild after the war.

  • Containment of Communism: Aimed to counter the threat of communism in Western European countries by fostering prosperity.

Yalta & Potsdam Conferences

  • Post-War World Mapping: These conferences mapped out much of the post-war world and set up the Cold War.

  • Yalta (February 1945):

    • Partition of Germany was agreed upon.

    • Stalin was convinced to hold free elections in Eastern Europe (which he didn't).

    • The Soviets agreed to help with Japan three months after Germany’s defeat.

  • Potsdam:

    • Truman informed Stalin of the atomic bomb.

    • The Allies agreed on the terms of German partition.

Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb

  • Factors:

    • Bloodshed in Pacific battles (Iwo Jima and Okinawa) indicated that an invasion of Japan would be horrendous.

    • The US wanted to end the war quickly and save American lives.

    • Possible intimidation of the Russians to behave better in Eastern Europe and Asia.

Minorities in the War Effort

  • Women: Worked in factories to make war goods.

  • Latinos: Served in integrated units and migrated from Mexico under the Bracero program.

  • Native Americans: Fought in the war and served as code talkers. One was a flag raiser on Iwo Jima.

  • Black Americans: Fought in segregated units and moved North for jobs.

  • Japanese-Americans: Fought for the US despite internment; the most highly decorated unit served in Italy.

Early Cold War: Truman Doctrine

  • Support for Non-Communist Forces: The US supported non-communist forces in Greece and Turkey.

  • Containment Policy: This policy of helping nations resist communism became known as containment.

NATO

  • Defensive Alliance: European nations convinced the US to form NATO after the Berlin crisis in 1948.

    • Included Western European countries, Canada, and the US.

  • Shift in US Foreign Policy: First entangling alliance, signaling a shift from isolation to intervention.

Berlin Airlift

  • Stalin's Attempt to Force Allies Out: In 1948, Stalin tried to force the Allies out of Berlin by cutting power.

  • US Response: The US responded by flying in supplies for almost a year to keep the city alive.

  • Moderate Option: Truman chose the moderate option, saving the city but avoiding war.

Containment

  • Policy of Intervention: Established by the Truman Doctrine and shaped US policy until Reagan.

    • The US would intervene in nations to stop the spread of communism.

    • The Marshall Plan, NATO, Korean War, and Vietnam War were all part of this strategy.

Korean War

  • Containment in Action: When North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950, the US responded by sending in troops to protect the South.

  • Chinese Intervention: The US crossed into North Korea, bringing in the Chinese and causing the war to end in a stalemate.

Red China

  • Communist Victory: In 1949, Mao won the Chinese Civil War, which was shocking to the US.

    • The world’s largest nation was now communist.

Soviets Test A-Bomb in 1949

  • End of US Monopoly: The Soviets testing their own nuclear weapon changed the world.

    • The US no longer held a monopoly on nuclear bombs, ushering in Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD).

Warsaw Pact

  • Soviet Alliance: When NATO brought in West Germany in 1955, the Soviets responded by organizing their own alliance of Western European allies.

Hydrogen Bomb

  • Escalation of Arms Race: In 1952, the US tested its first hydrogen bomb, which was 1000 times more powerful than WWII bombs.

  • Soviet Response: The Soviets tested one the following year, escalating the nuclear arms race.

Brinkmanship

  • Eisenhower's Policy: Eisenhower's policy of limiting conventional military forces for cost savings and building more bombs.

  • Risk of Nuclear War: Critics called this brinkmanship because the US was always on the brink of nuclear war.

GATT

  • General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade: Implemented in Europe after WWII.

  • Protectionist Tariffs: Designed to protect Europe from cheaper American goods while they rebuilt after the war.

Long Telegram

  • George Kennan's Analysis: Written by George Kennan in 1946.

  • Soviet Motivation: Stalin needed a scapegoat for problems in the USSR and would pick fights with the US to heighten nationalism.

  • Recommendation: Kennan recommended the US adopt a policy of containing Soviet aggression.

  • Influence on Truman Doctrine: Kennan’s ideas helped formulate the Truman Doctrine.

McCarthyism

  • Fear of Communist Infiltration: As the Cold War developed, Americans feared communist infiltration at home.

  • Exploitation of Fear: Joe McCarthy used this fear to his advantage and went after alleged communists in American society.

Gary Powers Incident

  • U2 Spy Plane Shot Down: In 1960, Gary Powers was shot down over the USSR while flying a U2 spy plane.

  • Admission of Spying: The US initially denied spying but had to admit it after Powers was captured.

Targets of the Red Scare

  • Liberal Groups and People: Many liberal leaning groups and people were targets.

  • Targeted Groups: Labor unions, Hollywood actors, civil rights activists, teachers, and college professors.

  • HUAC Investigations: HUAC questioned leaders to find out the extent of communist influence.

US Attempts to Contain Communism: Success?

  • Europe: Containment was successful with NATO, the Marshall Plan, and the Truman Doctrine.

  • Asia: Less successful. South Korea was defended, but South Vietnam fell to communism, and China had fallen in 1949.

  • Western Hemisphere: Cuba fell to communism under Fidel Castro.

Mid-Century Domestic Politics: Fair Deal

  • Truman's Domestic Program: Mostly failed. He managed to raise the minimum wage and expand Social Security payments but his proposals for universal health coverage, better housing, and guaranteed full employment were rejected.

Ike’s Middle Path

  • Moderate Approach: Ike was a moderate, fiscally conservative but protected New Deal policies like Social Security.

Sputnik

  • Soviet Satellite: Soviet satellite in 1957 that scared Americans into thinking the Russians were ahead in the Cold War and might arm space with nuclear weapons.

  • Response: This caused the US to spend more on STEM education and invest in AP programs.

G.I. Bill

  • Benefits for Veterans: The government gave returning veterans low-interest loans for housing or to start a small business and paid for veterans to go to college.

  • Impact: Helped push an entire generation of people into the middle class.

Federal Aid Highway Act

  • Infrastructure Project: Massive infrastructure project designed for a car crazy nation and for military purposes in the 1950s.

Levittown

  • Mass-Produced Homes: Mass produced homes built after WWII, some funded by the GI Bill, drove down housing costs and opened up opportunities for people to own their own home in the suburbs.

Feminine Mystique

  • Betty Friedan's Book: Book written by Betty Friedan that is critical of American culture holding women back from advancing in society and pursuing careers.

  • New Wave of Feminism: Book was published in 1963 and starts a new wave of feminism that pushed for equality.

HUAC

  • House Un-American Activities Committee: Investigated communist activities in the US, especially after WWII.

Sunbelt

  • Population Growth: Area in the southern part of the US from South Carolina to California that saw tremendous population growth after WWII because of better weather (air conditioning) and the expansion of government and technology jobs in those areas.

Beatniks

  • Rejection of Conformity: People in the 1950s who did not conform to the mass culture of the day, rejecting the conformity of the decade and setting the groundwork for the counterculture of the 1960s.

Taft-Hartley Act

  • Restrictions on Unions: This act passed in 1947 amended the Wagner Act by cutting back on some union activities. It banned certain types of strikes and allowed states to pass laws outlawing closed shops.

  • Anti-Communism: In the atmosphere of anti-communism, unions were again seen with some suspicion.

Impact of Television

  • Conformist Culture: TV culture was conformist, with shows like Leave it to Beaver emphasizing the nuclear family.

  • Change in Politics: Changed politics because politicians now had to campaign on TV.

  • Showman Aspect: Eisenhower was the first US Presidential candidate to use TV to get voters.

Joseph McCarthy's Anti-Communist Crusade

  • Fear of Communism: Americans felt that communism was a real threat.

  • Confirmed Fears: The Berlin Blockade, fall of China, Soviet A-bomb, and Korean War confirmed these fears.

Truman’s Domestic Programs: Success or Failure?

*See above. The country turned to the right after WWII and rejected many of Truman’s Fair Deal ideas.
*Some of that skepticism was rooted in the Cold War as Americans were skeptical of large government like you might find in socialist countries.
*Also, Americans were not desperate for help like they had been in the 1930s so government programs were not as popular.

Civil Rights Era

Martin Luther King Jr.

  • Leader of the Civil Rights Movement: King is the closest thing to a leader of the civil rights movement, believing in non-violent protest.

  • Emergence to Prominence: He emerged to prominence during the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

  • Later Radicalization: In the years before his death, he became more radical, calling for an end to the Vietnam War and starting a Poor People’s Campaign.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

  • Start and Duration: Started in 1955 after the arrest of Rosa Parks and lasted a year.

  • Outcome: The courts ruled bus segregation was unconstitutional.

  • Impact: The Boycott shattered the myth that blacks accepted segregation.

Brown v. Board

  • Supreme Court Decision: The 1954 Supreme Court decision ruled school segregation was illegal because it violated the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment.

  • Significance: This ignites the movement by overturning Plessy v. Ferguson.

Southern Manifesto

  • Pledge to Ignore Ruling: A pledge by southern representatives to ignore the Brown ruling.

  • Impact: This showed the difficulty in undoing social norms in the south.

Little Rock Central High School

  • Integration Attempt: The first large-scale attempt to integrate schools in the south.

  • Resistance: Resistance was fierce, and Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus brought in the National Guard to prevent integration.

  • Federal Intervention: Ike brought in federal troops to integrate the school.

Browder v. Gayle

  • Court Decision: Ruled public bussing segregation to be illegal, ending the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Boynton v. Virginia

  • Supreme Court Ruling: The 1960 Supreme Court ruling ruled interstate transportation segregation was illegal.

  • Result: Activists organized the Freedom Rides.

Freedom Rides

  • Purpose: Organized to force the federal government to enforce the Court decision in Boynton.

  • Challenges: Buses were bombed, riders were beaten, but the Kennedy administration stepped in to protect the riders.

Sit-In Movement

  • Orchestration: Orchestrated by college students in Greensboro, NC, to desegregate lunch counters.

  • Expansion: Led to other protests like read-ins at libraries and wade-ins at beaches.

  • Resistance: Resistance was more fierce in the deep South, where it took the Civil Rights Act to undo segregation.

Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

  • Formation: Formed by young people, with the help of MLK, they organized nonviolent protests, marches and sit-ins.

  • Evolution: Later in the 1960s, they dropped the N from their name and adopted the ideas of Black Power.

Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

  • Foundation: Civil Rights organization founded by King after Montgomery to organize black churches and religious leaders to fight for civil rights.

Birmingham Campaign

  • Protests: In 1963, King organized protests in Birmingham, known as the most segregated city in the South.

  • Police Response: Police commissioner Bull Connor responded with violence that included dogs and fire hoses.

  • Impact: The response and the violence perpetrated against blacks led JFK to introduce the Civil Rights Bill to Congress.

March on Washington

  • Purpose: In response to Kennedy’s proposed bill, civil rights activists organized this to pressure Congress to pass the law.

  • MLK’s Speech: MLK gave his famous “I have a dream” speech.

Selma Marches

  • Voting Rights Focus: After the passage of the CR Act in 1964, King and others turned to voting rights in the South.

  • Violence: They planned a march from Selma to Montgomery, AL, but were attacked by police on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

  • Impact: This violence got the attention of President Johnson, who proposed the Voting Rights Act.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

  • Prohibition: Forbids discrimination in public places based on race, gender, and religion.

  • Significance: The most sweeping CR Act in US history, banning all de jure segregation in public places.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

  • Banned Discrimination: Banned racial discrimination in voting and allowed the federal government to monitor election practices in southern states.

  • Result: Black voter registration surged.

Black Power

  • Definition: A term coined by SNCC leader Stokely Carmichael, combining the rhetoric of Malcolm X with the direct action of King.

  • Advocacy: Advocated for blacks to defend themselves instead of blind obedience to nonviolence.

  • Impact: This more violent approach led to more militant clashes with authority and slowly eroded support for the movement.

  • Prevalence: More prevalent in northern cities where de facto segregation offered little redress for issues of poverty and lack of jobs.

Malcolm X

  • Black Militant: Convert to the Nation of Islam, he became the most visible black militant of the period.

  • Beliefs: Encouraging black nationalism, self defense, and a separation of the races because he believed that racism was too deeply imbedded in US society.

Elijah Muhammed

  • Founder of Nation of Islam: Founder of the Nation of Islam, an American Muslim church.

  • Beliefs: Believed in separation of the races and direct confrontation with racism.

Black Panthers

  • Formation: Organization formed in Oakland in 1966, they adopted the rhetoric of Malcolm X and represented a changing, and more militant shift in the civil rights movement.

14th Amendment

  • Equal Protection Clause: Reconstruction era amendment, the equal protection clause was used by the Courts to overturn many southern laws that upheld segregation.

King’s Tactics

  • King Used nonviolence always and never compromised on that principle.

  • Using Nonviolence sought to show the hypocrisy of his oppressors and sow sympathy for the movement.

  • Support At its peak, the civil rights movement had broad support that included the federal government and white moderates from the north.

Civil Rights support loss in the 1960's

  • Loss of Support: By the mid 1960s the movement was becoming more radical.

  • Radicalism The ideas of self defense and Black Power were make the movement prone to more violence.

  • Vietnam People also spoke out against the war in Vietnam because it disproportionately impacted minorities and others from the lower classes.

  • Affirmative Action The movement also advocated for affirmative action programs that gave racial preferences to minorities.

Turbulent 1960s: New Frontier

  • JFK’s Domestic Agenda: JFK’s domestic agenda proposed increasing the minimum wage and social security benefits as well as programs to clear slums and redevelop failing neighborhoods.

  • Peace Corps: He also proposed the Peace Corps to send Americans overseas to work in poverty-stricken areas in order to curb the appeal of communism.

Cuban Missile Crisis

  • Castro's Rise: Fidel Castro came to power in 1959 in Cuba.

  • Soviet Missiles: In 1962, the Soviets were putting nuclear weapons in Cuba, 90 miles from the US, in violation of the long held Monroe Doctrine.

  • JFK’s Response: JFK responded with a naval quarantine, which saw the Soviets back down, saving the world from potential nuclear annihilation.

Berlin Wall

  • Stopping Emigration: By 1961, many of the educated and elite were leaving the eastern bloc nations through West Berlin.

  • Construction: The Soviets constructed the Berlin Wall to stop the movement of people between east and west.

Great Society

  • LBJ’s Agenda: LBJ pushed through dozens of new laws in his first year in office to battle poverty and racial injustice.

  • Legislative Achievements: The Elementary and Secondary Education Act spent money on public schools; the Immigration Act of 1965 got rid of the quota system and encouraged immigration from Asia; and Medicare and Medicaid were proposed to help ease healthcare costs for the elderly and poor.

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)

  • Anti-War Movement: Founded in the early 1960s to fight against racism and the Military-Industrial complex, they became the leader of the anti-war movement during the Vietnam War.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

  • Authorization for War: After an incident off the coast of North Vietnam, Congress authorized the President to take any necessary steps to protect US interests in Vietnam.

Americanization of Vietnam

  • Troop Deployment: America already had advisors in Vietnam, but in 1965 LBJ introduced combat troops, with their numbers growing to over 500,000 in 1969.

  • War of Attrition: America was never able to subdue Vietnam, and the war turned into a war of attrition.

Geneva Accords

  • Division of Vietnam: In 1956, the US, French, and Vietnamese agreed on these, which called for a temporary division of Vietnam between North & South and an election the following year to unify the nation.

  • Undermined Election: South Vietnam, with the backing of the US, refused to allow the election because the North was essentially a totalitarian state by 1956.

  • Communistic Blame: This allow the communists to blame the democratic forces for undermining an election.

Tet Offensive

  • North Vietnamese Offensive: Was a massive offensive launched against the US in Vietnam in January of 1968.

  • Undermined US Government: At a time when the government told the American people that we were winning, this proved to many Americans that the war was not almost over.

  • Antiwar Sentiments: This increases antiwar sentiment in the US and creates a growing sense of the Credibility Gap.

Counter-Culture

  • Youth Rebellion: Young people in the 1960s opposed the conformity of the older generations.

  • Values: They advocated doing what made you feel good, which led to increased drug use, sexual freedom, and less conventional hair and clothing styles.

  • New Left Affiliation: Part of the New Left, they were against the war and many things that Americans had embraced.

Chicago Democratic Convention

  • Fractured Party: In 1968, Democrats argued about an antiwar provision in their platform.

  • Protests and Violence: Protesters arrived to pressure the party to end the war but were met by police. The violence showed how divided America was and how fractured the Democratic Party had become, helping Nixon to victory.

American Indian Movement (AIM)

  • Formation: Initially formed in 1968 to help deal with urban poverty for Native Americans.

  • Expansion: Expanded to fight for tribal and treaty rights for Native people in the US.

National Organization for Women

  • Founding and Goals: Founded by Betty Friedan and other feminists in 1966.

  • Advocacy: They pushed for the Equal Rights Amendment, banning sex discrimination in the workplace, abortion rights, and equal opportunities in education and child care.

New Left

  • Campaigning The New Left was a broad political movement mainly in the 1960s and 1970s consisting of activists in the Western world who campaigned for a broad range of social issues such as civil and political rights, feminism, gay rights, abortion-rights, gender roles and drug policy reforms.

Equal Rights Amendment

  • Failure to Pass: Originally proposed in the 1920s, it failed to pass but was reintroduced in the 1970s, failing to pass by the votes of a few states.

  • Opposition: Many women opposed the amendment because it would take away the distinctions between men and women under the law (for instance, the military draft).

Credibility Gap

  • Definition: The Vietnam War widened this as Americans increasingly did not trust their government.

  • Events: The Tet Offensive and later the Pentagon Papers, which outlined the deception the government had used to expand the war, undermined confidence in America’s leaders.

  • Watergate Scandal: The Watergate scandal was the perfect topper to the expansion of the Credibility Gap.

Silent Majority

  • Blue collar workers and southern whites, and really anybody that was a tax paying, hard working, patriotic American, was what Nixon called the Silent Majority.

  • They were the key to Nixon’s victory and helped the Republican Party chisel away at the old Democratic New Deal Coalition.

  • The Hard Hat Riots in NY in 1970 are a great example of the Silent Majority.

Civil Rights movement

  • The Civil Rights movement in the US had taught groups that perceived oppression how to fight and win concessions.

  • Through nonviolence and direct action, groups for women’s rights, Latino rights, gay rights and Native American rights, etc. fought for change in American society.

Great Society Spending

  • The Great Society programs were massively expensive, but so was the war in Vietnam.

  • Although LBJ hoped to end poverty with these programs, some of the spending was limited because of the war in Vietnam, causing Johnson to label the war his “bitch” .

The 1970s: Watergate

  • Nixon's Scandal: The Nixon White House was caught trying to spy on Democratic headquarters in the 1972 election.

  • Resignation: After an extensive investigation, Nixon was forced to resign for his complicity in the break-ins.

  • Impact: The tapes from the White House were the smoking gun that forced his resignation, fueling the credibility gap from the Vietnam War.

Vietnamization

  • Nixon's Policy: Nixon promised to end the war in Vietnam, removing US troops but continuing to fund and train the South Vietnamese army.

  • Failure of S. Vietnamese: The S. Vietnamese army was too corrupt and inefficient to defend itself without US intervention.

Cambodian Incursion

  • Nixon's Decision: In 1970, Nixon allowed the military in Vietnam to cross into Cambodia to destroy enemy sanctuaries.

  • Protests and Kent State: Protests erupted on campuses, highlighted by the shootings at Kent State.

  • War Powers Act: Nixon’s subsequent bombing of Cambodia was the impetus for the passing of the War Powers Act.

Fall of Vietnam

  • North Takes Over: After US troops withdrew, the war started again, and in 1975, the North overtook the South.

  • US Refusal to Intervene: Congress refused to intervene this time.

1973 Oil Embargo

  • OPEC Action: The US and many of our allies supported Israel in a war against their Arab neighbors in 1973, causing OPEC to put an embargo on oil shipments.

  • Impact: Limited the supply of oil, created higher gasoline prices, and ushered in a period of high inflation.

Stagflation

  • Economic Stagnation: The US economy began to stagnate in the 1970s because oil and energy prices skyrocketed.

  • Factors: Inflation caused by energy prices, increases in social security payments, and the war in Vietnam made the US economy less competitive.

Detente

  • Policy of Cooperation: By the 1970s, there was a belief that the US & USSR should learn to get along and cooperate.

  • Motivations: Hostility had led to a dangerous world, and communism and capitalism were just two different systems.

  • Outcomes: Increased cooperation with things like the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaties.

Camp David Accords

  • Agreement: An agreement reached between Egypt and Israel in which Israel ceded land back to Egypt in exchange for Egypt recognizing Israel’s right to exist.

  • Carter's Victory: This was a foreign policy victory for Jimmy Carter.

Oil Shocks

  • Iranian Revolution: As a result of the Iranian Revolution, oil prices again skyrocketed, causing gas shortages and running up inflation again.

Crisis of Confidence

  • Carter's Speech: Speech given by Jimmy Carter in which he implores Americans to believe in themselves again.

  • Malaise Speech: This would become known as his malaise speech and would eventually solidify his defeat in 1980.

Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan

  • Communism on the March: Many people believed that communism was on the march in 1979.

  • US Support for Rebels: The US would eventually support Afghan rebels and bog the Soviets down in a war they could not afford to fight.

Iranian Revolution

  • Islamic Fundamentalists: Islamic Fundamentalists overthrew the US-backed government of Iran and took American hostages.

  • Hostage Crisis: For over a year, the hostages reminded us of Carter’s incompetence.

  • Impact: The revolution also sent oil prices skyrocketing, helping Reagan win in 1980.

Stagflation and Economic Malaise

  • See above
    *Inflation caused by energy prices, increases in social security payments, and the war in Vietnam, made the US economy less competitive as production fell and prices rose.
    *This caused many US factories to close or move overseas to more competitive markets causing a decay in old industrial centers of the Midwest called the Rust Belt.
    *After WW2 the US helped rebuild and defend nations like South Korea, Taiwan and Japan, which became America’s biggest economic rivals.

Decline of the New Deal Coalition

  • Increasing Radicalism: The increasing radicalism of the Democratic Party in the 1960s and the mainstreaming of counterculture ideas in the 1970s caused many traditional Democrats to leave the party.

  • Lost Voters: Many blue collar workers, southern whites, suburban voters, and rural Americans left the Democratic Party, undermining their claim as the majority party in the US.

The Reagan Revolution (1980s): Reaganomics

  • Supply-Side Economics: Supply side or Trickle Down as critics called it, the philosophy called for deregulation of the economy with tax cuts.

  • Theory: By putting more money into peoples pockets you would create more taxable economic activity that would grow the economy.
    *Workers would then get jobs, pay taxes, have pensions and health care.
    *Therefore, the tax cuts may go to the rich, but the benefits would trickle down to workers.

Reagan Doctrine

  • Backing Anti-Communist Forces: The policy of backing anti-communist forces in third world countries in order to undermine communism everywhere.

  • Rollback Policy: Technically this is part of Reagan’s policy of Rollback and led to the funding of anti-communist groups like the Contras in Nicaragua.

Brezhnev Doctrine

*Communism by force in Eastern Europe. Anytime there was political unrest in Eastern Europe the Soviets sent in the tanks like they did in Czechoslovakia in 1968.
*Fear of Soviet invasion kept most Eastern bloc countries in line.
*But when it became clear by the late 1980s that the Doctrine no longer applied, the Berlin Wall fell.

Iran-Contra Scandal

  • Arms for Hostages: The Reagan administration sold arms to Iran illegally and funneled the proceeds to the Contras, who were fighting the communist government of Nicaragua.

  • Almost Impeached Reagan was almost impeached over this scandal but aids took the fall instead.

New Right

  • Alliance of Conservatives: Alliance of social (anti-abortion, anti-drug, anti-counterculture) and economic conservatives (tax cuts and deregulation) that helped Reagan win elections and remake the Republican Party.

Able Archer

  • Nearly starting a nuclear war Reagan’s open hostility toward the USSR and communism in general made the Soviets uneasy.

  • Nuclear simulations When NATO ran high level invasion simulations of Eastern Europe the Soviets mistook this as an actual invasion and almost launched nuclear weapons.

  • Reagan adjusts. This causes Reagan to change his tone a bit as nuclear war was his worst nightmare.

Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)

*Reagan’s plan to put satellites into space that would eventually be able to shoot down incoming missiles, essentially forming a shield for the US.
*Reagan abhorred Mutually Assured Destruction but the SDI scared the Russians because MAD gave them equal power in the Cold War and provided stability.

Tiananmen Square

  • After the unrest in Eastern Europe, many thought China would be next to fall and students took to the streets protesting for democracy.

  • Eventually the Chinese government violently put down the protests, killing hundreds.

Reagan Democrats

  • Demographics of people, mostly blue collar workers, who had traditionally been Democrats and part of FDRs old New Deal coalition, they voted for Reagan in the 1980s because of his patriotism, optimism & his stance on social issues.
    *These people were similar in many ways to the “Silent Majority” of Nixon.

Robert Bork

  • Appointed to the Supreme Court by Reagan, Democrats blocked his nomination because they considered him too extreme to the right.

  • As the Court became more conservative in the 1980s, Democrats feared that the Court would overturn liberal gains like abortion from previous decisions so they began to more thoroughly examine not just judicial qualifications, but ideological ones as well.

Gorbachev

  • Became leader of the USSR in 1985

  • Young and first college educated leader since Lenin

  • He recognized the USSR was in trouble economically so he sought out to reform the system with programs with programs like Glasnost and Perestroika, which gave limited free speech and integrated some capitalism into the system