CHAPTER 26 Cold War Politics in the Truman Years, The American Promise A History of the United States Fifth Edition

Following the war…. Allies fought over the future of Germany…. Both US and Soviet Union wanted to demilitarize Germany… US wanted rapid industrial revival in Germany.. This would foster European economic recovery and therefore, help America’s long term prosperity. However, the Soviet Union wanted Germany to be weak both militarily and economically…and Stalin demanded heavy reparations from Germany to help rebuild the devastated soviet economy….

From the Grand Alliance to Containment The Domino Theory—Crises in Greece and Turkey triggered the implementation of containment through U.S. military and economic aid; outlining what would later be called the domino theory,…If Greece and Turkey fall to ‘rebels’…all would follow The Truman Doctrine—According to what came to be called the Truman Doctrine, the United States would not only resist Soviet military power but also “support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures”; would aid any kind of government if the only alternative appeared to be communism.

In 1947…US began to implement the doctrine of containment…Americans wanted to take a hard line against the soviet union but also wanted to keep both their tax dollars and their men at home.. Truman had to convince a Republican-controlled Congress to help Greece and Turkey that now needed aid. He was afraid that if Greece and Turkey fell to communism then communism would soon consume ¾ of the world..take over. Truman warned that if Greece fell into the hands of leftist rebels, “confusion and disorder” would spread throughout the entire Middle East and eventually would threaten Europe. Republican foreign policy leader, Arthur Vandenberg told Truman that to get approval, he would have to “scare hell out of the country”… So that’s what Truman did.

The Berlin Airlift In February 1948, the Soviets staged a brutal coup against the government of Czechoslovakia, installing a Communist regime; then staged a blockade of Berlin; the United States circumvented the blockade by airlifting goods to West Berliners for nearly a year; Berlin was divided into East Berlin, under Soviet control, and West Berlin, which became part of West Germany; the Soviet abandonment of the blockade lent credence to the containment policy.

Developing atomic weapons : Advocates of the new policy of containment quickly developed a defense strategy to back it up; after learning that the Soviets had successfully detonated an atomic bomb, thus ending the U.S. monopoly on nuclear weapons, Truman approved development of an even deadlier weapon, a hydrogen bomb; the Soviets soon followed with their own hydrogen bomb; from the 1950s to the 1980s, deterrence formed the basis of American nuclear strategy; created an ever-escalating arms race.

Forging Military Alliances with Other Nations—Marked a reversal of the nation’s traditional foreign policy; in 1949, the United States joined its first peacetime military alliance, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO); For the first time in its history the United States pledged to go to war if one of its allies was attacked.-wow!

Establishing a Secret Spy Network to Subvert Communist Expansion— The government improved espionage capabilities; created the Central Intelligence Agency to gather intelligence and perform sabotage, propaganda, and other anti-Communist activities; would topple legitimate foreign governments and violate the rights of U.S. citizens. Capturing Hearts and Minds—Lastly, the government intensified propaganda efforts to win hearts and minds throughout the world.

Adopting Communist Ideas —Leaders of many liberation movements, impressed with the rapid economic growth of Russia, adopted socialist or Communist ideas; few had formal ties with the Soviet Union, but American leaders saw them as a threatening extension of Soviet power.

Inflation —Inflation, not unemployment, turned out to be the most severe problem in the early postwar years; shortages and consumer demand drove up prices until industry could convert fully to civilian production.

4. Women Workers—As many as 68 to 85 percent of women wanted to keep their wartime jobs, but most who remained in the workforce had to settle for relatively low-paying jobs in light industry or the service sector. 5. A Stabilized Economy—By 1947, the nation had survived the strains of reconversion and avoided a postwar depression; economic boom lasted through the 1960s. 6. The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act—The GI Bill was the only large welfare measure passed after the New Deal; offered 16 million veterans job training and education; unemployment; and low-interest loans; sparked a boom in higher education; but the GI Bill discriminated against women because they filled just a small number of military spots; discriminated against blacks because the funds were administered at the state and local levels.

A Renewed Determination to Combat Racial Injustices—Black veterans as well as civilians resolved that the return to peace would not be a return to the racial injustices of prewar America; in the postwar years, individual African Americans broke through the color barrier, achieving several “firsts”; in most respects, however, little had changed, especially in the South where violence greeted African Americans’ attempts to assert their rights. America’s Racist Reputation—The Cold War heightened American leaders’ sensitivity to racial issues, as the United States and Soviet Union competed for the allegiance of newly independent nations with nonwhite populations; the United States was concerned that segregation and discrimination damaged its reputation in the third world.

Truman’s Civil Rights Program—Despite his need for southern white votes, Truman acted more boldly on civil rights than any previous president, thus appealing more to northern black and liberal voters; created the President’s Commission on Civil Rights and became the first president to address the NAACP. Lack of Implementation—As with much of his domestic program, the president failed to follow up aggressively on his bold words that all Americans should have equal rights to housing, education, employment, and the ballot; but he did desegregate the armed forces in 1950; Truman broke sharply with the past and used his office to set a moral agenda for the nation’s longest unfulfilled promise. Mexican Americans—Mexican Americans endured similar injustices, such as the routine segregation of children in the public schools, and they too raised their voices after World War II; formed the American GI Forum to battle discrimination against Latinos.

The Domestic Chill: McCarthyism 1.The Second Red Scare—Truman’s domestic program also suffered from a wave of anti-Communist hysteria that weakened both left and liberal forces; Republicans who had attacked the New Deal as a plot of radicals now jumped on revelations of Soviet espionage and Cold War setbacks, such as the Communist triumph in China, to accuse Democrats of fostering internal subversion. 2. Joseph McCarthy—Senator Joseph McCarthy argued that Communists within the United States were more dangerous than those abroad; got press coverage in spite of his reckless and often ludicrous accusations; influence was so great that McCarthyism became a term synonymous with the anti- Communist crusade. 3. Revelations of Espionage—Revelations of Soviet espionage gave some credibility to fears of internal communism, but most individuals hunted down in the Red Scare had done nothing more than join the Communist Party at one time, associate with Communists, or support radical causes; most of these activities had already taken place before the Cold War made the Soviet Union an enemy.

4. Identifying Communists—Hunt for Communists conducted by both the executive branch and Congress; in 1947, Truman issued Executive Order 9835, establishing loyalty review boards to investigate federal employees; hundreds of employees were fired or resigned over accusations of disloyalty or “sexual perversion”; the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) investigated government employees and the movie industry; targets of the investigations often lost their jobs and suffered public ostracism. 5. The Smith Act—The administration also went directly after the Communist Party; prosecuted its leaders under the Smith Act, passed in 1940, which made it a crime to “advocate the overthrow and destruction of the Government of the United States by force and violence”; Supreme Court agreed that the Communist threat overrode constitutional guarantees. 6. Beyond Washington—The domestic Cold War spread beyond the nation’s capital to state and local governments, which investigated citizens, demanded loyalty oaths, fired individuals suspected of disloyalty, banned books from public libraries, and more; overall, McCarthyism caused untold economic and psychological harm to individuals innocent of breaking any law.

Korea and the Military Implementation of Containment Korea Divided—After World War II, Korea was divided into two occupation zones at the thirty-eighth parallel: North Korea, supported by the Soviet Union, and South Korea, supported by the United States. North Invades South—Skirmishes between North and South Korean troops had occurred since 1948; in June 1950, however, 90,000 North Koreans swept into South Korea.

Committing Troops —Truman assumed that the Soviet Union and/or China had instigated the attack; obtained UN sponsorship of a collective effort to repel the attacks; named Douglas MacArthur as commander of UN force; sixteen nations, including many NATO allies, sent troops to Korea, but the United States furnished most of the personnel and weapons, deploying almost 1.8 million troops and dictating military strategy. By mid-October, UN forces had pushed the North Koreans back to the thirty-eighth parallel; the United States was faced with the momentous decision of whether to invade North Korea and seek to unify the country.

Crossing the Thirty-Eighth Parallel— Transforming the military objective from containment to elimination of the enemy and unification of Korea enjoyed popular and official support; with UN approval, U.S. forces moved beyond the thirty-eighth parallel; MacArthur sent UN forces to within forty miles of China, disregarding Truman’s orders; 300,000 Chinese soldiers crossed the Yalu River and helped the North Koreans recapture Seoul by December MacArthur Relieved—After three months, UN forces fought their way back to the thirty-eighth parallel; Truman favored a negotiated settlement, but General Douglas MacArthur, commander of the UN forces, challenged this plan; MacArthur took his case to the public; fed up with MacArthur’s insubordination, Truman fired him in April 1951; but many people sided with MacArthur, reflecting American frustration with containment.

Korea, Communism, and the 1952 Election 1. Eisenhower for president 2. The “Checkers speech” saves Nixon 3. Republican victory

An Armistice and the War’s Costs 1. The war ends 2. A success for containment 3. NSC U.S. involvement in Asia