1. Cold War

2. Brinkmanship
During the 1950’s, the policy of brinkmanship greatly increased world tensions. Brinkmanship means that we were at the “brink of war” with the Soviet Union.

3. United Nations Plans made at Yalta…
U.S., GB, Soviet Union, China, and France.
Accomplishments fighting hunger and disease.
Headquarters in NYC.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights- Eleanor Roosevelt

4. Containment
The Soviet Union moved troops into Eastern Europe and actively supported Communist governments there.
Containment- limiting Communist expansion.
Containment policies increased presidential power.

5. Churchill’s Iron Curtain Speech
Cautioned the world
about Communist expansion

6. Containment Foreign Policy
Truman Doctrine- Provided $400 million in aid to Turkey and Greece.
Marshall Plan- $13 billion in economic aid for rebuilding in Europe. (most $ going to GB, France, Italy, and West Germany.)
Point Four Program- $400 million to Latin America, Asia, and Africa.

7. Germany 1948- 1949 After WWII, Germany was divided
into four occupation zones
by Great Britain, France,
the Soviet Union, and the
United States.
Berlin although in the
Soviet zone, was divided
into 4 also.
Conflict over these
territories marked the
beginning of the Cold War.

8. Berlin
Berlin Blockade- The three western powers unified their zones (Soviets opposed).
Soviets cut off all access to West Berlin hoping to force western forces out of Berlin.
Berlin Airlift- Western powers airlifted food, clothing, coal, medicine, etc. to the city.

9. Opposing Alliances
NATO- Acting together for a common defense. (U.S. and 11 western nations)
Warsaw Pact- Soviets and seven other Eastern European nations.

10. Cold War At Home
HUAC- Investigative unit to look into Communist activity.
Probed the movie industry which led to the blacklisting of many, actors, directors, and writers.
Smith Act- Made it illegal for anyone to advocate “overthrowing… any government in the United States by force” or to affiliate with such groups.
-Upheld by Dennis vs. U.S.

11. Cold War at Home Continued
Loyalty Program- Truman ordered a Loyalty review board to conduct security checks on thousands of government employees.
Alger Hiss- A former adviser to the President Roosevelt was charged as a Communist spy.

12. McCarthyism
Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin began a hunt for Communists.
Charged many people and government agencies of being corrupted by Communism.
Made bold accusations without evidence.
Censured by the Senate in 1954 resulting in the fall of McCarthy ending the Red Scare.

13. The Rosenberg Case
In 1950, Ethel and Julius Roseberg and Morton Sobell were charged with giving atomic secrets to the Soviets.
They were convicted of espionage and the Rosenbergs were executed in 1953 (Sobell went to prison).

14. The Domino Theory
Eisenhower stated that the United States must resist further aggression in Asia by Communist forces. In his domino theory Eisenhower stated that the nations of Asia were like a row of dominoes standing on end, if one fell the rest were sure to follow.

15. Arms Race
The United States and Soviet Union began an arms race, stockpiling nuclear and non-nuclear weapons.
In 1957, the Soviets launched a satellite Sputnik into orbit around the earth. The arms race then became a space race as the United States rushed to launch its own satellites.

16. The Eisenhower Doctrine
Troubles in the Middle East led Congress to adopt the Eisenhower Doctrine in The doctrine pledged to help any Middle Eastern nation resist communist aggression.

17. New Soviet Leadership
In 1953, Joseph Stalin died and Nikita Khrushchev took over as head of the Soviet government. This change marked a temporary easing of tensions as the Soviets began to focus on improving conditions within their nation.

18. Peaceful Coexistence
Relations between the two superpowers gradually improved and in 1955 leaders of the United States, Soviet Union, Great Britain, and France held the first summit meeting since WWII in Geneva, Switzerland. The superpowers began talks on disarmament and suspension of nuclear testing.

19. The U-2 incident
The U-2 incident involved the shooting down of an American U-2 aircraft deep in Soviet territory. The American pilot admitted that he had been spying on Soviet military bases.
Eisenhower said that he approved the U-2 flights and promised to suspend them. Khrushchev denounced the U.S. and demanded an apology, Eisenhower refused and tensions rose again.

20. Post-War United States
The end of WWII resulted in a growth of family size, the accumulation of capital and an increase in home building.
Much of the new home building was done in the areas surrounding major cities called the suburbs. By the 1960’s almost a third of all Americans lived in the suburbs.

21. Decline of Cities by Suburbanization
The growth of suburbs contributed to the decline of many cities. As people moved out of the cities to the suburbs, fewer tax payers remained to help pay for essential services. At the same time, a greater concentration of poorer people in the cities increased the demand for many social services.

22. Automobiles
Cars made the growth of the suburbs possible and suburbs increased the demand for cars. Increased demand for cars helped our nations economy as factories turned out the steel, glass, and rubber that went in to new cars while refineries produced oil and gas that powered them. During this time the Federal Govt. established a 44,000-mile network of interstate highways.

23. Television
National television broadcasts began in 1946 and the television became the leading form of popular entertainment which has continued through present day.