Post-War Tensions and the Cold War (1945-1952)

Overview

World War II ended the Great Depression and American isolationism.
The U.S. emerged strong, but faced the threat of Soviet communism, leading to the Cold War (1945-1991).
Post-war prosperity increased national confidence and expectations.
The Democratic Party dominated, except for Eisenhower's presidency in the 1950s.
Faith in government waned in the 1960s due to the Vietnam War.
The 1970s brought economic stagnation and social tensions.
Second-wave feminism emerged, advocating for women's rights.
Conservative Republicans gained power after 1968, with exceptions like Carter and Clinton.
McCarthyism exemplified the fear of communism at home.
The U.S. fought in Korea and Vietnam, the latter leading to disillusionment.
A large military establishment was built during the Cold War.
The end of the Cold War and new technologies reshaped the American economy.

Postwar Economic Anxieties

The Great Depression left lasting scars, including unemployment and decreased marriage/birth rates.
There were fears of a return to hard times after the war.
Real GNP slumped in 1946-1947, and prices rose by 33%.
Many strikes occurred in 1946, involving 4.6 million laborers.
The Taft-Hartley Act (1947) limited labor's power, outlawing closed shops and requiring noncommunist oaths for union leaders.
"Operation Dixie" aimed to unionize the South but failed.
The service sector was hard to organize compared to manufacturing.
Union membership peaked in the 1950s and then declined.
The government sold war factories at low prices and passed the Employment Act of 1946, promoting maximum employment.
The GI Bill of Rights (1944) provided education and loans to veterans, costing $14.5 billion for education and guaranteeing $16 billion in loans.
- Approximately 8 million veterans pursued education, with over 2 million attending colleges and universities.

The Long Economic Boom (1950-1970)

The American economy experienced sustained growth for two decades, becoming the envy of the world.
National income nearly doubled in the 1950s and 1960s exceeding to reach $1 trillion$ in 1973.
Americans, 6% of the world's population, enjoyed 40% of the planet's wealth.
This affluence transformed lives and shaped politics.
It promoted social mobility, funded civil rights, expanded welfare programs like Medicare, and enabled international leadership during the Cold War.
The middle class expanded significantly.
Most families owned cars, washing machines, and televisions.
Homeownership increased to almost 60% by 1960.
Women benefited from increased job opportunities.
Most new jobs went to women, especially in the service sector.
Despite this, popular culture emphasized traditional roles, leading to feminist revolt in the 1960s.

Roots of Postwar Prosperity

WWII stimulated the economy as the US factories were rebuilt to dominate the postwar period.
Military budgets supported high-tech industries and scientific research.
Defense spending accounted for about 10% of the GNP during the 1950s.
Cheap energy, especially oil from the Middle East, contributed to the boom.
Americans doubled their oil consumption after the war.
Highway construction and increased electricity-generating capacity occurred.
Productivity increased due to harnessed natural forces and a better-educated workforce.
Productivity growth averaged over 3% per year after the Korean War.
By 1970, nearly 90% of school-age population was enrolled in educational institutions.
Rising productivity doubled the average American’s standard of living.
The shift of the workforce out of agriculture also helped, with one farmworker feeding over fifty people by the century’s end, compared to fifteen in the 1940s.

The Smiling Sunbelt

Population redistribution was amplified after World War II.
Americans were highly mobile, with 30 million changing residences annually.
The Sunbelt (Virginia to California) grew rapidly due to jobs, climate, and lower taxes.
California's population increased significantly.
Federal dollars supported the Sunbelt's prosperity.
The South and West received $125 billion$ more in federal funds than the Northeast and Midwest by the 1990s.
This shifted political power away from the North.
Every president since 1964 has come from the Sunbelt.

The Rush to the Suburbs

White Americans migrated from cities to suburbs, encouraged by government policies.
FHA and VA home-loan guarantees and tax deductions made suburban homeownership attractive.
Government-built highways facilitated commuting.
By 1960, 25% of Americans lived in suburbia, increasing to over 50% by the end of the century.
The construction industry boomed, with innovators like the Levitt brothers using mass-production techniques.
"White flight" led to inner cities becoming predominantly black and brown.
Blacks migrated from the South, bringing poverty to northern cities.
Businesses moved to suburban shopping malls.
FHA policies and public housing programs contributed to residential segregation, limiting black mobility.

The Postwar Baby Boom

There was a huge increase in the birthrate after 1945.
Over 50 million babies were added to the population by the end of the 1950s.
The birthrate peaked in 1957, followed by a decline.
The baby boom created a bulge in the population curve.
It impacted markets for baby products, youth culture, and later, the job market.
In the 1990s, the baby boomers entered middle age and had a "secondary boom" of children.
The effects of the baby boom will continue into the 21st century, straining Social Security.

Truman: The “Gutty” Man from Missouri

Harry S Truman became president after Roosevelt's death.
He was considered an average man, without a college education.
Truman evolved from humble to confident.
He valued loyalty and had integrity.
Truman placed a sign on his White House desk that read, “The buck stops here.”

Yalta: Bargain or Betrayal?

The Yalta Conference (February 1945) involved Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt.
Plans were made to defeat Germany.
Stalin agreed to free elections in Poland, Bulgaria, and Romania, but later broke these promises.
Plans were made for the United Nations.
Stalin agreed to attack Japan after Germany's collapse, receiving Sakhalin Island, the Kurile Islands, and control over Manchurian railroads/ports in return.
Critics charged Roosevelt with selling out Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-shek) and Eastern Europe.
Defenders argued that Stalin's ambitions were limited.
The Big Three were sketching general intentions, not drafting a peace settlement.
The Yalta agreement was elastic, allowing the Russians to stretch it.

The United States and the Soviet Union

Mutual suspicions existed between the US and the Soviet Union.
Communism and capitalism were historically hostile ideologies.
The US did not recognize the Bolshevik government until 1933.
Soviet skepticism was fueled by delays in opening a second front and exclusion from atomic weapon development.
The US terminated lend-lease aid to the USSR and spurned a $6 billion loan request.
Stalin wanted friendly governments on the Soviet western border, creating a sphere of influence.
Americans viewed this sphere as an ill-gained empire, conflicting with Roosevelt’s vision of an open world.
Both countries had missionary diplomacy and believed in the universal applicability of their ideologies.
Confrontation was nearly unavoidable.
The Cold War shaped Soviet-American relations and the postwar international order.

Shaping the Postwar World

The US established the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to promote world trade and economic growth.
The Soviets declined to participate.
The United Nations Conference opened in April 1945 and established a charter resembling the League of Nations Covenant.
The Security Council was dominated by the Big Five powers, each with veto power.
The Senate overwhelmingly approved the UN.
The UN helped preserve peace in various areas and guided colonies to independence.
There was a failure to control atomic technology.
Baruch Plan (1946) was not approved after Soviet rejection.

The Problem of Germany

The Allies agreed to eliminate Nazism, trying Nazi leaders at Nuremberg (1945-1946).
Twelve Nazis were hanged and seven sentenced to long jail terms.
There was little agreement beyond punishing Nazis as some desired dismantling German factories.
The Soviets wanted reparations from Germany.
Germany was divided into four military occupation zones.
The Western Allies did not allow Moscow to take reparations from their zones and promoted a reunited Germany.
Germany remained divided.
West Germany became independent and aligned with the West.
East Germany became a Soviet satellite state.
Eastern Europe was behind the "iron curtain."
Berlin, within the Soviet zone, was also divided.
The Soviets blockaded Berlin in 1948, but the Americans organized an airlift.
The blockade was lifted in 1949, and two German governments were established.

Crystallizing the Cold War

Stalin also probed the West's resolve in Iran, seeking oil concessions but backing down after a protest from Truman.
Truman's responses to Soviet challenges took form in the "containment doctrine" (1947), advocating for firm and vigilant containment of Soviet power.
Truman adopted a get-tough-with-Russia policy.
The Truman Doctrine supported free peoples resisting subjugation, providing $400 million to Greece and Turkey.
Critics argued Truman overreacted.
The Marshall Plan (1947) offered economic assistance to Europe, inviting them to create a joint plan (European Community).
$12.5 billion was spent over four years.
The Soviets and their allies denounced the Marshall Plan and did not take part.
It was a success, improving Western European economies and stopping the westward expansion thrust of communism.
Truman officially recognized the state of Israel on May 14, 1948 against the wishes of the Arab oil countries.

America Begins to Rearm

The Soviet menace spurred the unification of armed services and the creation of a national security apparatus.
The National Security Act (1947) created the Department of Defense, the National Security Council (NSC), and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
The "Voice of America" began broadcasts behind the iron curtain.
Congress resurrected the military draft.
Western European countries signed a defensive alliance at Brussels (1948) and invited the United States to join them.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was formed in 1949.
Twelve original signatories pledged to regard an attack on one as an attack on all.
It marked a turning point in American diplomatic history.

Reconstruction and Revolution in Asia

Reconstruction in Japan was led by General Douglas MacArthur.
Japanese "war criminals" were tried in Tokyo (1946-1948).
A MacArthur-dictated constitution was adopted in 1946, renouncing militarism and introducing democratic government.
The Nationalist government of Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-shek) in China was failing.
Communist armies swept south, and Jiang fled to Formosa (Taiwan) in 1949.
The fall of China increased partisan tensions in the United States.

The Cold War at Home

The anti-communist fervor spread to the US.
In 1947 Truman launched a massive "loyalty" program.
The attorney general drew up a list of supposedly disloyal organizations.
The Loyalty Review Board investigated more than 3 million federal employees.
Loyalty oaths were demanded of employees.
In 1949 eleven communists were brought before a New York jury for violating the Smith Act of 1940, the first peacetime antisedition law since 1798, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in Dennis v. United States (1951).
The House of Representatives in 1938 had established the Committee on Un-American Activities to investigate “subversion”.
Richard M. Nixon led the chase after Alger Hiss, who was convicted of perjury in 1950.
Truman vetoed the McCarran Internal Security Bill (1950), but Congress enacted it over his veto.
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of espionage for allegedly leaking atomic data to Moscow and were executed in 1953.

Democratic Divisions in 1948

The Republicans had won control of Congress in the congressional elections of 1946.
The Democrats were divided for the presidential election of 1948.
Southern Democrats nominated Governor J. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina on a States’ Rights party ticket.
Former vice president Henry A. Wallace was nominated by the Progressive party, which criticized Uncle Sam’s “dollar imperialism”.
Truman won against Dewey and the Democrats regained control of Congress.
Truman’s victory rested farmers, workers, and blacks.
Truman outlined a sweeping “Fair Deal” program in his 1949 message to Congress.
Critics gloried by the fact that the “New Deal is kaput”

The Korean Volcano Erupts (1950)

Korea was divided along the thirty-eighth parallel, with rival regimes set up by the Soviets and Americans.
North Korean army columns rumbled across the thirty-eighth parallel on June 25, 1950.
Invasion lead to an expansion of the American military.
Known as National Security Council Memorandum Number 68, or NSC-68 that the United States should quadruple its defense spending.
President Truman ordered American military units to support South Korea.
The United States helped in participating in a United Nations “police action”.

The Military Seesaw in Korea

MacArthur launched an attack at Inchon on September 15, 1950.
The U.N. Assembly authorized a crossing by MacArthur into North Korea, provided that there was no intervention in force by the Chinese or Soviets.
There was an intervention by the Chinese on November 1950.
The fighting now sank into a stalemate on the icy terrain near the thirty-eighth parallel.
On April 11, 1951, Truman removed General insubordinate MacArthur from command.
Truce negotiations began in July 1951 but dragged on for nearly two years because of the issue of prisoner exchange.