Unit 8 : 1945 - 1980 Flashcards
What is a Cold War?
- conflict between two belligerents I which neither engages in open warfare with the other
- focus on creating fear
How did US and Soviet tensions begin? What was a similarity between the US and Soviet ideals?
- since Russian Revolution in 1917, the US was against Soviet Union Communism
- mutual distrust
– Stalin did not follow agreements
– created satellite nations as buffer states
– US saw it as a violation to agreements - both Soviet Communism and US Democracy were expansionist ideologies
What did the US want? What was the Truman Doctrine? What was the Marshall Plan?
- US efforts focused on containment
TRUMAN DOCTRINE: - advocated containment of communism by lending support to any country at risk by Soviet pressure
- US gave 400 million to fend off Soviets
MARSHALL PLAN: - allocated 13 billion in financial aid to European countries to rebuild
What was the Berlin Airlift?
- US in good relations with Berlin that was located within Soviet Union
- Stalin blocked entry to Berlin
BERLIN AIRLIFT: - included 200,000 flights in US and allied airplanes to carry supplies into West Berlin
- prevented Soviets from taking over the city
What was NATO? How did the Soviets respond to the creation of NATO?
- another illustration of the US commitment to containment was the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
- Soviets created counter alliance through the WARSAW PACT
What was the role of weapon/nuclear power in the Cold War? What did it lead into?
- another key feature of the war
- nuclear proliferation
ARMS RACE: - Soviets managed to create Atomic Bomb of their own
- Truman ordered creation of the even more powerful Hydrogen Bombs
Proxy Wars:
- Korean War
– divided in half by Japan
– Soviets got North, US got South
– 1950 North invades South
What was the Red Scare? When did it occur (happened twice)?
RED SCARE:
- red refers to Soviet Communism
- fear of the spread and influence as people were worried they will get accused of supporting communism
- 2nd Red Scare during this period after WWII
– 1st was for WWI
What did the efforts of keeping Communism away from US, and the fear from Red Scare lead to within the US? What specific actions were taken by the government?
- initial efforts at keeping Communism away was through labor unions and fed gov.
- required people to pledge loyalty to the US and swear they weren’t communist
TAFT HARTLEY ACT OF 1947:
- passed in response to massive waves of labor union strikes
– made it difficult to strike
FED. EMPLOYEE LOYALTY AND SECURITY PROGRAM:
- executive order passed from Truman in same year
- fed. employees had to swear they weren’t communist/fascist
- made provisions for fed. investigations into political affiliations of fed workers
UNAMERICAN ACTIVITIES COMMITTEE (HUAC):
- began searching for communist influence in every crack of American society
- focus on Hollywood, concerned about film industry
Who were the Hollywood 10? How did McCarthyism come up? What was the Rosenburg Case?
HOLLYWOOD 10:
- 10 Hollywood directors were singled out as communist and were summoned to testify in Congress about their “obvious” communism
- they refused to go
- given short prison sentences and spot on Hollywood blacklist
– could not find work in the industry again
MCCARTHYISM:
- Senator Joseph McCarthy gave speech in 1950
- claimed to have names of 205 known communists that had infiltrated the state department
- became well known
- made everyone think America was crawling with Communists
- LATER claimed real number was 57, but damage had already been done
- RED SCARE was now referred to as MCCARTHYISM
- McCarthy never made the names public so the Senate gave McCarthy the chance to prove his claims
– he was unable to
– Senate voted to censure him
ROSENBURG CASE:
- in August 1949, Soviet Union tested first Atomic Bomb
- Americans believed Soviet couldn’t have done it without stealing scientific info from US
- Julius and Ethel Rosenburg were accused of being involved in the espionage (since they were already supported Communist party
- US gov executed them in electric chair in 1953
- research proved that Julias, not Ethel, was a Soviet spy
How was the economy after WWII? What was the Interstate Highway System? What was the GI bill? What were the results of these?
- increased productivity as a result of the war
- massive fed. spending on infrastructure
INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM OF 1956: - fast moving highways to travel between suburbs and cities
- mass migration to sun belt states
- most GI families looking for opportunities in defense industries
GI BILL (SERVICEMEN’S READJUSTMENT ACT): - gave veterans opportunity to go to college and take low interests loans to buy houses and start businesses
What happened to the political powers after WWII?
- political powers shifted to South as economy shifted South for defense in Cold War / Arms Race
What was the Baby Boom? What was the consequences? What was a Levittown?
- men returning from war
- nation is more prosperous so people could plan and afford to support growing a family
- increased demand for housing and construction in suburbs
- white middle class phenomenon
– left behind minorities and impoverish
LEVITTOWN: - large tracts of land with mass produced, low cost homes organized in identical lots
- became more popular with the Interstate Highway System
What was mass culture after 1945? What were the reasons?
- widespread homogenous set of ideas and patterns of behavior
- as McCarthyism spread, there was pressure to be a predictable kind of American
– didn’t want to look suspicious
What creations helped with the spread of mass culture? Why was there retaliation by some people?
TELEVISION:
- by 1950’s, everyone had one
- consumption of mass culture
– common language and shared values
ADVERTISING INDUSTRY:
- exploited peoples need for belonging and status and offered their products as answers to their desires
CREDIT CARDS:
- people could by more than they could afford it and pay over time
ROCK N’ ROLL:
- both black and white populations (ELVIST PRESLEY, CHUCK BERRY)
- people rebelled against the monotonocity and “ideal” that was expected by society
What was the Executive Order 9981? What did politicians fear about this whole situation?
President Truman:
- banned segregation in 1948
- didn’t enforce it until 1950
- politicians feared that if they went too far into supporting Civil Rights, they would lose the support the Southern members of democratic party
What was the Committee on Civil Rights? What was the 24th Amendment?
COMMITTEE ON CIVIL RIGHTS:
- 1946
- recommended:
– the desegregation of the armed forces
– abolishment of poll taxes
– encouragement of fed. protection from lynching
24th AMENDMENT:
- abolished poll taxes
What was the Brown v. Board of Education? How did the South manage to get around the changes?
BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION:
- Oliver Brown’s daughter had to attend school over a mile away instead of white school just around the corner
- Supreme Court decision:
– segregation in schools violated the 14th amendment
– Plessy v. Ferguson overturned unanimously
Southern Response:
- states resisted
- SOUTHERN MANIFESTO:
– supreme court was “abusing power”
– shut schools down instead of integrating mixed education
ARKANSAS GOV. ORVILLE FABUS:
- sent national guard to stop the LITTLE 9 ROCK
- President Eisenhower sent troops to protect these 9 students
