The Cold War Era Ariana Fuller Chapter 26 AMSCO April 2007

Post WWII  America became a military superpower because of WWII  Soldiers wanted to come home to white picket fences  Cold War conflict with the Soviet Union dampened this dream

GI Bill of Rights  Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944  Free college education  Low-interest loans Bought homes Started businesses  Roosevelt signing the bill

Employment Act of 1946  Truman tried to pass this act through Congress National health insurance Increase in minimum wage Commit government to maintaining full employment  Less effective bill passed Council of Economic Affairs created

Civil Rights  Committee on Civil Rights established in 1946  Tried to end segregation in schools  End of racial discrimination in federal government and in the armed forces.

Twenty-Second Amendment 1951  Limited a president to a maximum of two full terms in office

Taft-Hartley Act 1947  Restrictions on unions  Outlawed the “closed shop”  States could pass “right to work” laws Outlawed the union shop  Outlawed “secondary boycotts”  80-day cooling off period before a strike could be called

Fair Deal  Reform program Enact national health care insurance Federal aid to education Civil rights legislation Funds for public housing  Most Fair Deal bills were defeated

Postwar Cooperation  The US and the Soviet Union had an alliance of “mutual convenience”  After WWII, positive relations diminished United Nations was founded to maintain international peace The Soviet Union rejected a plan to eliminate atomic weaponry

Satellite States  Soviet forces occupied countries of Central and Eastern Europe  Democratic elections were manipulated  “Iron Curtain”  Separating Communist countries from non-Communist countries.

Truman Doctrine  Policy of Containment  Communist uprising in Greece and Soviet demand for Turkey’s Dardanelles  $400 million in economic and military aid to assist them

The Marshall Plan  $17 billion European Recovery Program helped Western Europe achieve self- sustaining growth  Ended threat of Communism in that region  Deepened right between Communists and non-Communists

Berlin Airlift  Soviets cut off all access by land to Berlin  Truman flew in supplies to West Berlin for 11 months  Two Germanys:  Federal Republic of Germany  German Democratic Republic

NATO & National Security  North Atlantic Treaty Organization was a military alliance.  National Security Act Department of Defense National Security Council Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

NSC-68  Secret report about fighting the Cold War Quadruple US government defense spending Form alliances with non-Communist countries Convince American public that a costly arms build-up was imperative for the nation’s defense.  Defense build-up intensified Russian fears and started unnecessary arms race

Japan  General MacArthur instituted new constitution in US- occupied Japan  Parliamentary democracy  Renounced war, limited military capability Japan depended on US protection

US-Japanese Security Treaty  Occupation of Japan ended in 1951  Japan surrendered Korea and Pacific Islands  US troops remained in military bases in Japan

China  Nationalists led by Chiang Kai-shek since 1920s  Chinese Communists led by Mao Zedong instigated Civil War  Congress voted to give the Nationalists $400 million  80% of that went to Communists because of corruption By 1949, mainland China fell to Communists  Chiang’s government moved to Taiwan (the only Chinese government recognized by the US until the ‘70s)

Korea  Korea was divided at 38th parallel  Soviets occupied the North  US occupied the South with By 1949, Soviets left power to Communist leader Kim Sung II  US left power to conservative Nationalist Syngman Rhee

Korean War  In 1950, the North invaded the South  Truman called the UN Security Council to authorize a UN force to defend South Korea  MacArthur stabilized fighting at 38th parallel, pushed for intensified assault at mainland China  Truman recalled MacArthur for insubordination Armistice signed in 1953 after 54,000 US dead

Second Red Scare  Loyalty Review Board: investigated federal employees’ backgrounds  Thousands lost their jobs Smith Act: illegal to advocate the overthrow of the government Dennis et al. v United States: Supreme Court upheld constitutionality of the Smith Act

Second Red Scare  McCarran Internal Security Act Made it unlawful to support totalitarianism Restricted rights of people belonging to communist organizations Authorized creation of detention camps for subversives  House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) Reactivated in postwar years to find and alienate Communists

Espionage Cases  Alger Hiss was accused of leaking secret documents to Communists Proclaimed innocence, sent to prison  Julius and Ethel Rosenburg were executed for giving atomic bomb secrets to the Soviets  Anticommunist hysteria added to extreme accusations

Joseph McCarthy  Senator McCarthy used unsupported accusations about Communists in the government to feed his hunger for power  His ruthless tactics and reckless cruelty was exposed on television in 1954  Viewers saw him as a bully  “McCarthyism” ended in 1954 when the Senate censured him.