Postwar Period, Cold War, and Korean War

1
Chapter 30

• Postwar Period, Cold War, and Korean War

2
President Truman

• Never went to college
• Failed at running a mens clothing store
• Direct and down to earth
• Strong memory
• The Buck Stops Here

3
War time to Peace time

• By the summer of 1946, 10 million servicemen were
  released from active duty
• GI Bill veterans attending college would have
  their tuition paid for and would receive a small
  monthly income.
• Loans would be granted to buy houses, farms, or
  start businesses
• B/N 1944 and 1956, 7.8 million veterans took
  advantage of the GI Bill

4
Reorganizing the Military

• National Security Act
• The army, navy, and the air force were put under
  the Department of Defense
• The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is set up
• They had the power to carry out covert operations
  in support of foreign policy

5
Wartime Economy

• Boom Time!
• People saved their money during the depression
  and the war
• They wanted to spend it
• Over 135 Billion was saved
• The shopping spree increased production and that
  increases _______
• Inflation rises sharply as supply catches up
  with demand
• People spend their money on sports, movies, and
  theater

6
Labor Unrest

• Prices went up, but high paying war jobs went
  away
• 750,000 steel workers in January 1946
• 400,000 coal workers soon followed
• Truman seized the mines and fined the union 3.5
  million
• Truman threatened to announce a direct appeal
  over radio to the workers to get them to work
• John L. Lewis, Union Chief, told union member to
  get back to work

7
Taft-Hartley Act

• The law prohibited the closed shop
• Union officials had to take a loyalty oath to the
  US
• Union funds could not be used for politics
• If strike threatened the nations well-being, the
  President could ask for an 80-day injunction
• Labor leaders were furious

8
Other Legislation

• Employment Act of 1946
• The government committed itself to maximum
  employment.
• Established the Council of Economic Advisors
• Atomic Energy Commission
• Promote research into peacetime uses of atomic
  energy
• Atomic energy was placed under the control of
  civilians and not the military

9
1948 election

• Dixiecrats Southern democrats against a civil
  rights platform
• Strom Thurmond Presidential candidate
• Republican candidate
• Thomas E. Dewey
• Truman worked hard and defeated the favored
  Dewey
• Dewey became cocky and arrogant, and that turned
  away voters

10
The Fair Deal

• Trumans Fair Deal
• Nation wide health insurance
• Steady income for farmers to replace price
  supports
• Congress rejected both ideas
• Increased minimum wage to 75 cents/hour
• Extended Social Security coverage to 10 mill.
• More flood control and irrigation projects
• Financial support to cities to clear slums and
  build housing developments
• These measures were passed by Congress

11
The USSR

• The Soviet Union refused to allow free elections
  in Eastern Europe
• They were still committed to the downfall of
  capitalist countries everywhere
• They claimed they needed surrounding communist
  countries to protect itself from future attacks
• Churchill said, An iron curtain has descended
  across the Continent

12
A Cold War

• Cold War A state of hostility b/n 2 nations
  without actual fighting
• Truman Doctrine It was the job of the United
  States to stop the spread of Communism to
  countries where it does not already exist.
• Turkey and Greece
• The US sent aid to them to keep their governments
  functioning without Communism

13
The Marshall Plan

• Most of Europe was in economic chaos
• Secretary of State Marshall had a plan
• Give aid to all countries that needed it.
• In return, they had to remove trade barriers and
  cooperate economically with each other
• The USSR did not want help.
• February 1948, Soviet tanks roll in to
  Czechoslovakia and install a Communist regime
• In response, Congress approves the Marshall Plan
• The plan was a economic and political success
• Western Europe flourished and Communist parties
  were weakened

14
Germany

• The Soviet Union wanted Germany divided
• Allies believed that a unified Germany would be
  better for Europe
• The Allies combine all 3 western zones of Germany
• USSR responds by cutting off all traffic to
  Western Berlin

15
Berlin Blockade

• West Berlin only had enough food for a month
• The Allies responded by starting an airlift
• 327 days, 277,000 flights, 2.5 million tons of
  supplies
• May 1949, the Soviets lift the blockade because
  it was ineffective
• The Federal Republic of Germany is formed (West
  Germany)
• German Democratic Republic is formed (East
  Germany)

16
NATO

• A defensive military alliance was formed
• An attack on one of the countries, meant an
  attack on all of the countries
• The Soviets formed their own group
• The Warsaw Pact
• Albania, East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia,
  etc.
• September 23, 1949
• The Soviets successfully explode an atomic bomb

17
A Nation Freaks Out

• Truman sets up the Loyalty Review Board after
  word got out about Soviet spies working in Canada
• 1947-1951, 3.2 million government employees were
  investigated
• 212 were fired as security risks
• 2,900 resigned because they did not want to be
  investigated
• Witness were not allowed to see the evidence
  against them, or know who accused them
• McCarran Internal Security Act
• It is illegal to plan set up a totalitarian
  government in the US
• Truman vetoed the bill
• Congress passed it over his veto

18
Spies

• Alger Hiss
• He was accused of passing classified documents to
  the Communist party
• He was convicted of perjury and sentenced to jail
• Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
• British physicist Klaus Fuchs admitted to giving
  the Soviets information on the Atomic bomb
• Fuchs implicated the Rosenbergs
• Julius and Ethel were executed after being
  convicted of espionage

19
McCarthyism

• Senator Joseph McCarthy from Wisconsin was facing
  re-election in 1950
• He started to make claims that he had information
  on Communists in the State Department
• He accused the Democratic party of 20 years of
  treason

20
McCarthyism

• He never had any evidence and made more
  accusations when questioned
• When Eisenhower got elected, McCarthy turned his
  attention to the Republican party
• 20 million people watched a 36 day hearing on
  Communism in the US government
• McCarthy made one empty charge after another
• He soon lost all of his support and was condemned
  by Congress
• McCarthy started the Red Scare