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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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