AP Chapter 26 The Cold War

Financing the Future  International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank were created towards the end of the war  Allowed the U.S. to rebuild the world’s economy after the war

Potsdam Conference Potsdam Conference  Germany disarmed & divided into 4 zones  War criminals put on trial  Disagreements between the U.S. and USSR continued after the war  December 1946 GB/US/France merged their districts

United Nations  Goal was to be a peace keeping organization and prevent another world war  General Assembly consisted of all member nations  Security Council had 15 members with 5 being permanent and had veto power  UN also dedicated itself to protecting human rights

Containment Efforts  Truman Doctrine- gave $400 million to Greece and Turkey to crush a communist uprising  Marshall Plan- $12 billion was given to rebuild Europe  General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)- reduced trade barriers in W. Europe  Berlin Blockade/Airlift- US spent 11 months airlift goods in W. Berlin until the USSR gave up

 NATO- US first peace time alliance and preached “collective security”  U.S. began to stockpile atomic weapons  1949 Soviets had nuclear weapons and the arms race was on

Harry S. Truman  Truman became president after FDR died in 1945 and faced many challenges  Following the war inflation rose by almost 25% and the effects of demobilizing hurt the economy  May 1946 he threatened to draft RR workers into the army but never happened

 Council of Economic Affairs- board of economists that guided the president on economic issues  Republicans controlled Congress in 1946 and Truman battled with them  Taft Hartley Act- limited unions by banning 2 nd Boycotts, closed shop and all union officials had to swear that they weren't communists

Election of 1948  Truman (D) defeated Thomas Dewey (R) and Strom Thurmond (Dixiecrat) for the presidency  1948 Truman integrated the federal workforce  Fair Deal- similar to the New Deal led to aid for housing, raised the min. wage, and expanded Social Security

Cold War at Home  National Security Council- group that focused on national defense  CIA created and analyzes information  Loyalty Checks- FBI began to check the loyalty of federal employees 500 lost their jobs and 6,000 resigned  McCarran Act- made Communist organizations register with the govt.  Smith Act- illegal to join the Communist party

House of un-American Activities Committee  Investigated those thought to be disloyal to the U.S.  Congressional hearings held to uncover those that were disloyal many were blacklisted  Actors and union leaders were questioned

 Hiss Case- accused of being a Communist with very little evidence sent to jail for 2 years “Pumpkin Papers”  Rosenberg Case- Ethel & Julius were sentenced and executed for giving nuclear secrets to the Soviets both proclaimed their innocence but executed in 1953  Oppenheimer Case- helped create the Atomic Bomb but opposed the creation of the Hydrogen Bomb and eventually lost his security clearance

Hiss Denies Charges and the Red Scare

McCarthyism  Joseph McCarthy- U.S. Senator claimed to have a list of 205 Communists that worked for the U.S. State Dept.  No evidence to support him but gained attention  McCarthy gave speeches and gained a lot of support from the people

 He led a committee to investigate “Communist Sympathizers”  Many were black listed (refuse to hire)  McCarthy even accused the Army and Eisenhower  He lost a lot of support when he bullied people on a TV debate

 McCarthyism- the use of reckless and unfair accusations in the name of suppressing political disloyalty.  McCarthy was eventually censored by the Senate and died in 1957  Investigation of homosexuals was common as well

Joseph McCarthy

The Iron Curtain  USSR refused to allow E. Europeans to travel to W. Europe  Churchill said “an iron curtain had descended across Europe”

Origins of the Cold War  US & USSR are the two super powers  Both feared each other  Arms race begins  Both give military aid to govt.’s that supported their ideas

Cold War Culture  Arthur Miller’s play A Death of a Salesman was popular  J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye looked at the struggles of teenage boys  Movies focused on Cold War events and UFO’s  Families and homes grew

Baby Boom  Post war boom in births from 1946 to 1964 over 50 million babies were born  This led to a huge demand on consumer goods  Dr. Spocks Baby and Child Care encouraged women to be stay at home moms  GI Bill- eased the return of soldiers by giving them education and employment benefits

Military Industrial Communities  Large communities rose up in the west to support the military  Los Alamos, NM was the center of nuclear research  Military bases popped up all over the place

Loss of China and the Korean War  Following WWII China faced a 4 year civil war and Mao Zedong won and China became communist in 1949  June 1950 N. Korea invaded S. Korea and the UN Security Council sent in troops led by Gen. MacArthur  MacArthur attacked and drove the Koreans back to the Chinese border

 Chinese entered the war and drove the US back to the 38 th parallel  MacArthur wanted to use atomic weapons and attack China but Truman refused and was forced to remove MacArthur from command  Korea was never a declared war but Truman had the right in NSC 68 to resist Communism  The war entered a stalemate and over 54,000 Americans died

Election of 1952  Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) defeated Adlai Stevenson (D)  Ike promised to end the Korean War  VP Nixon was accused of accepting improper gifts of a puppy named Checkers  Ike easily won

Conclusion  The Cold War divided the world between the US and USSR  Truman Doctrine, NATO and Marshall Plan all tried to contain communism  Truman was a good president but not well liked  McCarthyism played on the fears of Communism