Chapter 36 - The Cold War Begins

Postwar Economic Activities

• Americans worried that the end of WWII would cause the United States to fall prey to another Great Depression
• ==Inflation== ==shot up and labor strikes began common==
• Congress passed the Taft-Hartley Act which outlawed “closed” shops and made unions liable for damages that were results of jurisdictional disputes
• Democratic administration sold war factories and other government installations to private businesses, cheaply

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The Long Economic Boom, 1950-1970

• The economy started booming from the 1940s to the 1060s with the middle class more than doubling
• Women repeated the benefits of the postwar economy and their roles in the workforce were placed higher in importance than their roles as housewives

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The Roots of Postwar Prosperity

• ==Postwar prosperity== ==was fueled greatly by the war and projects such as the appropriations for the Korean War, defense spending, and industries such as aerospace, electronics, and such contributed to prosperity==
• Cheap energy paralleled automobile popularity with ==grids== ==carrying the power of oil, gas, coal, and falling water into homes and factories, through the usage of electrical cables==
• The farming population shrank while production soared

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The Smiling Sunbelt

• Immigration led to a growth of 15-state region in the South, known as the Sunbelt which dramatically increased population
  • Immigrants came to the Sunbelt for more opportunities such as California’s electronics industry
• About $125 million of the federal money was poured into the Sunbelt with political power growing there as well

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The Rush to the Suburbs

• Whites in cities fled for the suburbs with them being encouraged by federal agencies whose loan guarantees made suburbs cheaper to live
  • By 1960, 1 of 4 Americans lived in the suburbs
• Innovators such as Levitt brothers built thousands of houses in projects like Levittown which left cities full of African-Americans and the poor

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The Postwar Baby Boom

• Many soldiers returned home, married, and had children after the war which created the “Baby Boom”
• The children put a strain on markets such as manufacturers of baby products, etc.

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Truman: The "Gutty" Man from Missouri

• ==Truman== ==was the president after WWII== with him the first president in a while without college education
• Truman took responsibility very seriously and worked very hard

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Yalta: Bargain or Betrayal?

• Final conference of the Big Three took place in Yalta in February of 1945
• The ==Soviet Union== ==agreed to attack Japan 3 months after the Fall of Germany with it being granted control of Manchurian railroad==

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The United States and Soviet Union

• Stalin wanted a protective sphere around Western Russia
• The United States and the USSR were very advanced and had been isolationist prior to the 20th century

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Shaping the Postwar World

• United Nations was opened on April 25, 1945 with members drawing up a charter similar to the old League of Nations
  • ==UN kept the peace in Kashmir and such which created the new Jewish state, Israel==
• The UN formed groups like UNESCO, FAO, WHO

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The Problem of Germany

• Nuremberg Trials of 1945-1946 punished 22 top culprits of the Holocaust
• Germany was divided into 4 occupational zones which were controlled by Allied Powers, without China
• The Soviets stopped their blockade of Berlin in May of 1949

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The Cold War Congeals

• ==Stalin== ==aided a rebel movement in Iraq in 1946==
• Truman requested that the containment policy be put into action which was known as the Truman Doctrine with it allowing $400 million to help Greece and Turkey from falling into communist power
  • ==Truman== ==implemented the Marshall Plan which helped form the European community==

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America Begins to Rearm

• The 1947 National Security Act created the Department of Defense
• National Security Act formed the National Security Council on matters of security and the CIA
  • U.S., France, Belgium, Britain, Netherlands, and Luxembourg all formed NATO in 1948
• The USSR formed Warsaw Pact in return

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Reconstruction and Revolution in Asia

• General MacArthur headed reconstruction in Japan which democratized Japan
• In China, the communist forces overthrew nationalist forces, led by Chiang Kaishek
• Truman announced Soviets had exploded their first atomic bomb in September of 1949 with this ending the U.S. monopoly on nuclear weapons
• ==U.S.== ==exploded hydrogen bomb in 1952==

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Ferreting out Alleged Communists

• The Loyalty Review Board was formed, with anti-red chase
• 11 communists were brought to New York jury for violating the Smith Act of 1940
• House of Representatives had, in 1938, established the Committee on Un-American Activities
• Soviet success in developing nuclear bombs was most likely due to spies

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Democratic Divisions in 1948

• Republicans got control of the House in 1946 with the Republicans nominating Dewey
  • The Democrats were disorganized leading to an early print of “Dewey Defeats Truman” but Truman won the election
• Truman outlined the “Fair Deal” program which called for improved housing, full employment, higher minimum wage, etc.

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The Korean Volcano Erupts

• When Russian and American forces withdrew from Korea, they left the place full of weapons
• ==North Korea== ==invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950 and effectively pushed them towards Pusan==
• Truman used a Soviet absence from UN to label North Korea as an aggressor

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The Military Seesaw in Korea

• General MacAruthur drove North Koreans back across the 38th parallel towards China and Yalu River
• ==MacArthur== ==wanted to blockade China and bomb Manchuria but Truman didn’t want to enlarge the war beyond necessity==

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