Cold War Begins

Pearl Harbor

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto

Pearl Harbor from the Cockpit of a Japanese Plane

A date which will live in infamy! Pearl Harbor – Dec. 7, 1941 A date which will live in infamy!

FDR Signs the War Declaration

USS Arizona, Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor Memorial 2,887 Americans Dead!

Pacific Theater of Operations

“Lend-Lease” Act (1941) Great Britain.........................$31 billion Soviet Union...........................$11 billion France......................................$ 3 billion China.......................................$1.5 billion Other European.................$500 million South America...................$400 million The amount totaled: $48,601,365,000

Yalta Conference (1945) Winston Churchill (Great Britain), Franklin Roosevelt (USA) and Josef Stalin (USSR) meet in Russia in February 1945 to discuss how these three nations would take Europe back from Hitler and the Nazis. Emphasis of discussion was on post WWII. It was decided that Eastern European nations liberated by Russia would hold free elections. Stalin does not hold true to this.

Post WWII Hope vs Reality An “open world”, decolonized, demilitarized, democratic Spheres of Influence: USA and USSR surround themselves with “Friendly” nations resulting in a 40 year long “Cold War”

Harry Truman 33rd President of the United States (1945-1953) Missouri Senator (D) Rejected by West Point (eye sight)

Truman Quotes On taking office after FDR’s death: “Boys, if you ever pray, pray for me now. I don't know if you fellas ever had a load of hay fall on you, but when they told me what happened yesterday, I felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me.” On using the Atomic Bomb: “It was done to save 125,000 youngsters on the American side and 125,000 on the Japanese side from getting killed and that is what it did. It probably also saved a half million youngsters on both sides from being maimed for life.“ Miscellaneous: “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen”

Cold War intensifies In 1945 The US pulled back the Lend-Lease aid from Russia. Russia asked for a $6B reconstruction loan. Truman refused. Stalin sent troops into Northern Iran seeking oil reserves; this established the beginning of containment and the Truman Doctrine. Truman Doctrine: United States will aid any country resisting communist aggression ($13B to Greece and Turkey as part of the Marshall Plan)

Korean War June 25, 1950: North Korea invades South Korea. September 1950: General MacArthur leads UN forces north of the 38th parallel November: Chinese soldiers help the N. Koreans fight back to the 38th parallel 1951: Truce talks begin

Truman Domestic Policy GI Bill: made money available to send former WWII soldiers to school. This bill raised educational levels and stimulated the construction industry; this helped to create the economic expansion that started in the late 1940s. 1947: Congress passed the National Security Act, creating the Department of Defense.  The department was headed by a new cabinet officer, the secretary of defense. The heads of each branch of the military were brought together as the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to coordinate the government's foreign fact-gathering. 1948: Southern Democrats opposed Truman due to his support for Civil Rights. 1949: Fair Deal: called for improved housing, full employment, a higher minimum wage, better farm price supports, new TVAs, and an extension of Social Security.  Congress only passed parts of the program: raises to the minimum wage; creation of public housing in the Housing Act of 1949; extension of old-age insurance to many more beneficiaries in the Social Security Act of 1950.

Post WWII Society

1957  1 baby born every 7 seconds Baby Boom It seems to me that every other young housewife I see is pregnant. -- British visitor to America, 1958 1957  1 baby born every 7 seconds

$7,990 or $60/month with no down payment. Suburban Living Levittown, L. I.: “The American Dream” 1949  William Levitt produced 150 houses per week. $7,990 or $60/month with no down payment.

SHIFTS IN POPULATION DISTRIBUTION, 1940-1970 Suburban Living SHIFTS IN POPULATION DISTRIBUTION, 1940-1970 1940 1950 1960 1970 Central Cities 31.6% 32.3% 32.6% 32.0% Suburbs 19.5% 23.8% 30.7% 41.6% Rural Areas/ 48.9% 43.9% 36.7% 26.4% Small Towns U. S. Bureau of the Census.

Suburban Living: The Typical TV Suburban Families The Donna Reed Show 1958-1966 Leave It to Beaver 1957-1963 Father Knows Best 1954-1958 The Ozzie & Harriet Show 1952-1966

Population Shifts “White Flight”: Following WWII many families moved from the cities to the suburbs, leaving inner cities poverty stricken. “Second Great Migration”: Many African American families move to the cities looking to get away from politics of the south and to find jobs. “Sunbelt”: Many move to the southern states seeking lower state taxes, jobs and warmer climate.

Fear of Communism China becoming communist meant that ¼ of the world had fallen to communism. This leads to much fear and suspicion. 1947: Truman launches Loyalty Review Board to investigate the possibility of communist spies in the government 1949: 11 communists were sent to prison for violating the Smith Act of 1940 (first peacetime anti-sedition law since 1798) in supporting the overthrow of the American government.  The ruling was upheld in Dennis v. United States (1951). 1951: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted and sentenced to death for stealing American atomic bomb plans and selling them to the Soviet Union.  They were the only people in history to be sentenced to death for espionage.

Summary Best of Times Worst of Times The time following WWII was a best of times, worst of times period in American History. Choose what you think was good and what was bad. Best of Times Worst of Times