Postwar%20America

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Postwar America

• Returning to a
• Normal Life

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Troubles Trials

• Soldiers returning from war found a different
  America than the one they left.
• Men women who returned from the war found
  housing jobs in short supply.
• The troubled transition period, though turbulent,
  would be short-lived.
• During the war, the manufacturing sector of the
  country was working overtime to produce supplies
  for the war.

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• With the end of the war, those supplies would no
  longer be needed many experts predicted serious
  economic trouble.
• 12 million men women who served in the war
  would return to civilian life, looking for jobs
  that were no longer there.
• Women workers were forced to leave their jobs so
  male veterans could take their places.
• Many employees turned to labor unions to help
  them against the big businesses some unfair
  government regulations.

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• During the war, the government had sought to
  prevent labor disputes (could slow down
  production.)
• After the war, labor unions wanted increases in
  wages which had been limited in the war.
• In 1946, the number of strikes rose sharply
  then in 1947 Congress passed the Taft-Hartley Act
  over President Trumans veto.
• The Taft-Hartley Act greatly reduced the power of
  the unions.
• It also gave the president the power to stop
  strikes when the national interest was at stake.

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• The positive side of this rather dreary picture
  was that most Americans that had delayed
  purchasing things during the war decided that it
  was time to start buying.
• Congress also eased the pressure on the job
  market by passing the GI Bill.
• The GI Bill (AKA Servicemens Readjustment Act
  of 1944) included several features aimed at
  helping veterans make a smooth entry into
  civilian life.

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GI Bill

• Money for veterans to attend college or receive
  advanced job training.
• Loans for those wishing to buy a home, farm, or
  business.
• Provided help in finding work
• Years worth of unemployment for those who
  couldnt find work.
• Veterans didnt get cash bonuses, but they were
  receiving benefits from the government.

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• The GI Bill helped many veterans transition from
  war to civilian life.
• Thousands of veterans went to college, bought
  houses, married started having children (the
  Baby Boom.)
• The Baby Boom was a dramatic increase in the
  birth rate the two decades following the war.
• What most experts had predicted didnt come true
  for the country.
• By 1950, peace prosperity had returned to the
  US.

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Politics in Postwar America

• Harry Trumans Presidency

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• Truman was not real popular with Democrats
  because he wasnt their hero, FDR.
• Republicans saw Truman as easy to defeat since he
  was relatively unknown.
• Truman was intelligent well-read, hardworking,
  honest.
• Problems in his government though showed him to
  be confused, inconsistent, ineffective.
• Poor choice of advisors
• Quick temper
• Blunt speech
• Poor relationship with Congress (labeled it the
  Do Nothing Congress.)

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• Truman, however, was on the side of the average
  Americanhis veto of the Taft-Hartley Act gave
  him support from the working people of the
  country
• Truman also took bold stands against racism
  discrimination in the country.
• He issued Executive Order 9981 which ended
  segregation in the U.S. armed serves.
• Congress would not approve legislation to end
  segregation, so Truman did it with the executive
  order.

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• He pushed for other civil rights legislation but
  Congress was controlled by conservatives who
  wanted to maintain the status quo.
• Trumans civil rights legislation would have
  included
• Voting rights protections
• Anti-lynching protections
• Commission on Civil Rights (federal level)
• Federal Employment Protection Commission.
• He also wanted to end discrimination in the
  federal civil service.

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Trumans Plan

• Truman had big plans for using the government to
  meet the needs of postwar America.
• He had the 21 Point Program.
• Raise minimum wage
• Expand Social Security
• Price wage controls
• Clear slums
• Federal money to education
• Congress was controlled by conservatives who
  didnt want to increase the size of the
  government.

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• Conservatives in Congress included a number of
  Southerners called the Dixiecrats for their
  continued support of segregation.
• And after the 1946 Election, the Republicans won
  a majority of both houses of Congress.
• The Republicans used their new power to fight
  against Truman his programs.
• About the only real successes were the GI Bill,
  the Marshall Plan, his handling of the Berlin
  Crisis, his Truman Doctrine.

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The Marshall Plan

• People in Europe continued to suffer after the
  fighting stopped.
• George C. Marshall, Secretary of State, called
  for a massive American program of aid to help
  Europe rebuild restart its economy.
• Between 1948 1951 the US government spent over
  13 billion in 17 different countries.
• Food, farm equipment, factories, homes,
  railroads, all benefited from the money sent to
  Europe.

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• Soon Europe was feeding its people providing
  jobs for its workers.
• They in turn could now afford new American made
  products which helped our economy.
• The Marshall Plan was open to the Soviet Union
  its allies but Stalin refused the help.
• The Marshall Plan would also help the US have
  stronger ties with Western Europe which we would
  need during the Cold War.
• Congress acted quickly because of the Communist
  seizure of power in Czechoslovakia.
• The Cold War would begin not long after the end
  of WW II.

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United Nations

• August-October, 1944 US, Great Britain, USSR,
  China met in Georgetown to sketch out plans for a
  new world body similar to the League of Nations
  (see Woodrow Wilson.)
• The wartime allies, plus France, would constitute
  a peacekeeping council (AKA Security Council.)
• Other nations would play only secondary roles
  even though they would be granted representative
  roles.

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• San Francisco Conference (late 1944)-United
  Nations Charter was drawn up ratified by 50
  nations (October 24, 1945.)
• United Nations became a reality.
• The goal to stop destructive warfare among
  nations promote human rights among the nations.
• AND to deal with a host of problems that would be
  brought on by postwar conditions.

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The Cold War

• U.S. the Soviet Union

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President Harry Truman
Nikita Khrushchev Soviet Premier
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• Cold war refers to the postwar strategic
  political struggle between the US ( its Western
  European allies) the Soviet Union ( other
  Communist countries.)
• The chronic state of hostility, the Cold War was
  associated with 2 major hot wars (Korea
  Vietnam) it spawned various brushfire wars
  (small-scale conflicts.)
• It was NOT itself a shooting war.
• Cold War ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall

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• The US Soviets disagreed about the future of
  postwar Europe.
• US wanted self-determination.
• Soviets wanted to exploit control the areas
  they had conquered during WWII.
• The Soviets were committed to a world under
  communist domination.
• Stalin was determined to rule a global empire.
• Churchill called the Soviet Unions domination of
  eastern Europe the iron curtain.

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• Cold War leaders were Truman, US President,
  Stalin in the USSR to be followed by Nikita
  Khrushchev a series of British Prime Ministers
• The Soviet Union would threaten many other
  countries with insurgencies Greece Turkey were
  the first ones.
• Trumans response to the SU was his Doctrine.

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The Truman Doctrine

• The main idea behind the doctrine was
  containment.
• Containment meant steady firm resistance to
  communism.
• The TD only applied to Greece Turkey some
  countries in Eastern Europe.
• Eventually it was expanded to include the whole
  globe.

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• The Truman Doctrine was formulated with the help
  of George C. Marshall (The Marshall Plan,) George
  F. Kennan, Dean Acheson.
• These men would be responsible for American
  involvement fighting communism in other
  countries.
• When the Communists fueled insurgencies in Greece
  Turkey, Truman requested 400 million for
  Turkey to help defend the Turkish straits.
• The Soviets wanted joint sovereignty over the
  straits but our intervention kept them under
  Turkish control.

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• Effect of the Truman Doctrine the US became the
  defender of democracy against communism
  throughout the world.
• The Cold War was responsible for the creation of
  NATO the National Security Act of 1947.

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Changes at home abroad

• National security becomes an issue.

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National Security Act of 1947

• This act created the NEW Department of Defense,
  National Security Council Central Intelligence
  Agency
• Secretary of Defense becomes a civilian post with
  cabinet level rank this person supervises all
  military operations.
• National Security Council includes the Secretary
  of State Secretary of Defense this council
  advises the president on national security
  matters.

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• The Department of Defense took the place of the
  War Department.
• All the Armed Forces were unified the US Air
  Force was created.
• The CIA gathered covert intelligence on an
  international level it is forbidden by law to
  conduct domestic espionage or counter-espionage.

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NATO

• North Atlantic Treaty Organization
• 10 European nations, Canada, the US joined to
  counter the threat of a Soviet attack.
• An armed attack against one or more shall be
  considered an attack against them all.
• First major attempt at globalization.
• Eisenhower is sent as the supreme commander of
  NATO.

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• Greece Turkey joined NATO in 1952 West Germany
  in 1955.
• The Soviet Union its satellite nations formed
  their own alliance called the Warsaw Pact in
  response to NATO.
• The satellite nations were forced to join since
  they were under Soviet domination.
• NATO was formed in response to the Berlin Crisis.

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The Berlin Crisis

• Recall Germany Berlin were divided into 4
  zones of occupation (Yalta Conference.)
• The Soviets planned to keep their zone under
  Communist control.
• US, British, French combined their zones into a
  free, democratic country (Federal Republic of
  Germany West Germany.)
• US, British, French also took steps to create a
  free, democratic government in West Berlin.

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• Setting up a free, democratic government inside
  the Soviet zone of occupation angered Stalin
  the other Communist hierarchy.
• June, 1948 the Soviets announced that they would
  block any road, rail, or river traffic into West
  Berlin (free Berlin.)
• West Berlins 2.1 million residents were cut off
  from sources of food, coal, other basic
  necessities.
• The city did have airstrips which the Western
  powers could use to ship in supplies.
• Negative points some didnt think it possible to
  supply all the needs for entire city or Soviets
  could shoot down the planes start a new war.

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• Western leaders felt the risk was worth it to
  airlift supplies to the people of West Berlin.
• British American airplane began making
  deliveries to the people of West Berlin.
• 7,000 tons of supplies were flown in EVERY DAY to
  help the citizens of West Berlin.
• The Berlin Airlift continued week after week
  while the Soviets could nothing about it.
• The planes flew round-the-clock for over 321
  days.
• Total number of flights was 277,569 supplying
  West Berlin with over 1.3 million tons of food
  other supplies.

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• Even though it was a political logistical
  triumph, there were casualties.
• Josef Stalin eventually backed-down the Soviet
  Union was forced to lift the blockade.
• This was the first win for the West in the Cold
  War.
• For the next 40 years, the Soviet Union the US
  would continue this back-and-forth struggle over
  which country had the best political economic
  system.

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Review Information
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Part I Matching

• Harry S. Truman 6. Baby Boom
• Nikita Khrushchev 7. Iron Curtain
• GI Bill 8. Marshall Plan
• Containment 9. Taft-Hartley Act
• Cold War 10. CIA

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Part II Multiple Choice

1. Why were the Truman Doctrine the Marshall Plan
   essential parts of post-war foreign policy?
2. How did the Soviet Union respond to the creation
   of West Germany?
3. What was the outcome of the Yalta Conference?
4. What was the result(s) of the Truman Doctrine?

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• 5. What was the purpose(s) of the Marshall Plan?
• 6. Why was NATO formed?
• 7. What US foreign policy program supplied aid to
  Greece Turkey after World War II?
• 8. Explain the statement, Armed aggression
  against any one member will be considered an
  attack on all.
• 9. What idea states that if one nation falls to
  communism, then all neighboring nations will
  follow?
• 10. After WWII, what was the US policy of
  containment attempting to stop?

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• 11. What 2 nations represented opposing sides in
  the Cold War?
• 12. What happened to the nations of Eastern
  Europe following WWII?
• 13. What incident forced Congress to pass the
  Marshall Plan? (Czechoslovakia)
• 14. What foreign policy did many American
  political leaders focus on between 1945 1989?
• 15. What foreign policy would this statement
  relate to I believe that it must be the policy
  of the US to support free peoples who are
  resisting communist aggression.

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• 16. What was the cause of the Berlin blockade
  airlift?
• What was the purpose of the Taft-Hartley Act?
• The terms containment coexistence are
  related to what foreign policy situation?
• What post-WWII program was established for war
  veterans?
• Which program provided 13 billion to help
  rebuild Europe after WWII?
• Why did the Soviets blockade Berlin in 1948?
• What was the purpose of the Truman Doctrine?

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• 23. Why was NATO formed?
• 24. What did Truman do to promote civil rights
  during his administration?
• 25. What foreign policy was developed by the
  Truman administration to help rebuild the
  economies of Europe after WWII?
• 26. What 1947 law limited the powers of labor
  unions?
• 27. Why would it be necessary for the US to
  become involved in European Southeast Asian
  politics after WWII?
• 28. How did World Wars I II help change the
  roles of women?

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• 29. Why was Truman one of Americas most
  controversial presidents?
• 30. What did Churchill mean when he said the
  nations of Eastern Europe had fallen under an
  iron curtain?
• 31. What would become the commonly held view of
  the role of women in the 1950s?
• 32. Since WWII, why have nations become more
  concerned with trying to prevent war?
• 33. What label was given to the boundary between
  Soviet-dominated nations the pro-US Western
  democracies?

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• 34. After joining NATO, in what manner did the US
  promise to help the European nations?
• 35. What term best describes the period of
  population growth in the 1950s?
• 36. What military alliance was created to stop
  Soviet aggression in Europe?
• 37. What was the aim of the Berlin Airlift?
• 38. How did President Trumans administration
  help foreign nations resist communism?
• 39. What program change American foreign policy
  by involving the US in the affairs of Western
  Europe?

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• 40. What kind of laws required blacks to sit in
  separate sections on public buses?
• 41. What nation occupied Japan after WWII?
• 42. What benefits did the GI Bill provide for
  returning servicemen?
• 43. What was one of the results of the baby boom?
• 44. What term best describes the relationship
  between the US the Soviet Union after WW II?
• 45. Since 1900, which occupation has been in
  decline in the US?

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Short Answer QuestionsEach response is worth 3
points

1. What did many experts predict would happen to
   the US economy when WWII ended?
2. How did the GI Bill help change American society?
3. Why did Truman issue Executive Order 9981?
4. Why was Truman not popular with many people
   during his administrations?

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Discussion

• How did the National Security Act of 1947 change
  the defense system of the US?
• (8 points)