Unit 7: WWII and The Cold War

• War Debt- stifling European

economies

• Treaty of Versailles – Left Germany in economic turmoil

and humiliated

– Italy lost land and economy in ruins

– Russia: now Communist USSR-

Soviet Union, lost land • RESULT: Totalitarian Governments

of Mussolini (Italy) Hitler (Germany)

and Stalin (Soviet Union) rise – Government controls every aspect of life

(socially and politically), use of

propaganda, secret police, and a belief in the

State above the Individual, eliminating

political oppositions and freedom of speech

Europe after WWI

• Japan controlled by a totalitarian, militaristic government under General Hideki Tojo (Emperor Hirohito little actual power) – GOAL: to create

a Japanese sphere of economic domination in China and Indochina (SE Asia)

Japan after WWI

1936 The Axis Powers Form

• Based on mutual desire to expand and belief in cultural superiority, Germany, Italy, and Japan form an alliance promising not to interfere with each other’s expansions

Nazi-Soviet Pact 1939

• Nazi Soviet Pact: Non-aggression pact between Soviet Union and Germany agreeing that Soviet Union would not stop German expansion in Easter Europe, agreeing to split Eastern Europe between them

APPEASING THE ENEMY

Policy of Appeasement 1936

• Appeasement: Giving

into an aggressive

power to avoid war – West did everything

from weak sanctions to

ignoring aggressive

behavior to avoid War

What does this cartoon say about Appeasement?

German Expansion

• Hitler’s goals: – Unite Germans

everywhere

– Create more living

space • 1938 Hitler breaks

Munich Pact:

promising not to

invade all of

Czechoslovakia after

being given part of

the country

• Soon to be Prime Minister of Great Britain Winston Churchill said of the decision not to react to German aggression: – “They had to chose

between war or dishonor. They chose dishonor; they will have war”

The Poland Promise

• Britain and France abandon appeasement and promised to protect Poland, – September 1939 Nazi’s

invade Poland and Britain and France honor their agreement declaring war on Germany

THE BEGINNINGS OF WWII: EARLY AXIS ACHIEVEMENTS

Nazi Blitzkrieg

• Blitzkrieg “Lightning War” – Series of Quick

surprise attacks, first by plane to overwhelm the enemy, making it impossible for them to fight back quick enough • Easily took Norway,

Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, sights set on France

The Fall of France

• British troops were evacuated

• German Attacked from the North

• Italy from the South • Outnumbered and

demoralized France Falls – June 1940 forced to

surrender in the same place Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles

– French officers including Charles de Gaulle escaped to Britain to plan liberation

– French continued guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers

Operation Sea Lion

• Battle of Britain-Failure of the Blitz – Winston Churchill: “We

shall never surrender” – August 1940: first bombs

by German planes • 57 Day campaign of

bombing London • People defiantly continued

their lives, 15,000 people lost their lives, Parliament still met, King and Queen went to bomb shelters with citizens

– May 1941 Hitler calls it a failure and calls a new strategy

– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N07darJyUrY

Hitler Attacks Russia

• June 1941 Turned sites on Soviet Union – Caught Stalin off guard

leading to the death of 2 ½ million soldiers in 6 months

– Ends Nazi-Soviet Pact, Soviet Union, Great Britain, and France become allies against Germany

Siege of Leningrad lasts 2 ½ years

Japan Invades China

• Japan Invades Manchuria in 1931 – Blew up their own

Japanese railroad line in Manchuria, China-blamed Chinese

• 1937 Japan Bombs major cities such as Beijing

Axis Powers 1940

UNITED STATES AND THE BEGINNING OF WWII

What is

the Main

Idea of

this

cartoon?

USA

• Practice what foreign

policy?

– WW 1 makes us afraid

of another war.

– Plus Great

Depression, people

want government to

worry about problems

within the country.

1935 U.S. Passes Neutrality Acts • Neutrality Acts

– US will not do the following with countries at war: • Sell arms • Loan money • Have Americans travel

on their ships (why?)

– Makes it impossible to intervene in Europe against Germany or Pacific against Japan

Main Idea?

US’s 1 Sided Neutrality • FDR first president elected to 3rd term,

• Wants to change US Policy from Isolationism to

Interventionism – 1940-Destoyers for Bases Deal: Gives Great Britain War

Destroyers (ships) in exchange for Caribbean Military bases

US’s 1 Sided Neutrality • Lend-Lease Act 1941: FDR

can lend war materials to

any country whose defense

the president thinks is vital

to keeping the US safe – Meaning who in this war?

– Means US has entered a

wartime economy, building

weapons before they officially

enter the war

– Germany attacks ships carrying

supplies starting an

“undeclared naval war with

Germany”

FDR convinces the US public to support the act.

• “If your neighbor’s house is on fire, you don’t sell

him a hose, you give it to him. Then, you take it

back after the fire is out. This helps your neighbor

and makes sure the fire doesn’t spread to your

house.”

US 1 Sided Neutrality

Atlantic Charter: secret meeting between Churchill and FDR- destroy Nazis, people right to chose how they are governed

– “Arsenal of democracy” lend arms to those fighting for freedom

“A Date which will remain in infamy”

• US has put an embargo on trading gas and iron to Japan (refusal to trade with them)

• Japan mad and feels threatened-General Tojo orders attacks on American Military Fleet in Pearl Harbor

• 3000 Wounded or dead • December 7, 1941 declares

war on Japan • December 11, rest of Axis

powers declare war on US • Beginning of 1942-Axis

powers at their height of control

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e6h9h7ky0E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnS1vDO-phQ

AMERICA MOBILIZES FOR WAR-THE HOME FRONT

Propaganda

– Posters, news

broadcasts,

everything showed

the evils of Japanese

and Germans,

Rationing of food

and war materials • Movies, radios,

advertisements

inspire all

Americans to make

sacrifices to the war

effort

Supplying the War • Citizens must make

sacrifices.

• Government: – Rationed resources to

businesses

– Controlled wages

– Controlled prices of goods

– Encouraged the planting of victory gardens

– Encouraged conserving resources

– Began rationing food using coupon books • Black Market (selling of goods without

the Government knowing) began but still all people sacrificing

Buy your War Bonds! • Government raised money through

selling War Bonds

• By buying bonds, citizens loaned

money to the government in return

for interest

• Thus war bond drives to promote the

purchase of such bonds became

common as advertisements, posters,

even movie stars encourage people to

buy bonds as part of their patriotic

duty

• Roughly 60 million dollars raised.

America Needs You!

• 1940 selective service act-This provided a pool from which young men were selected to serve in the armed forces (drafted)

• Once Pearl Harbor is bombed, more Americans volunteer for war effort.

Total War • Allies began Total War (meaning?) – Men drafted to war

Effect: • Women and minorities move

into war time industries – Rosie the Riveter: icon of

women working male jobs – Women provide support

positions in the military

• African Americans have to threaten to march on Washington to get Roosevelt to sign and executive order to ensure war jobs open up to African Americans

• Mexican workers replace farmers who have enlisted or drafted into the war

African Americans and WW II

• Tuskegee Airmen

• African American servicemen

• As an all black squadron of fighter pilots, they successfully protected every single bomber they escorted during the war

Unified in War Effort, Racially

Divided

• African American military units still segregated

• Northern African Americans experience the horrors of Jim Crow for the first time when sent to the South For Basic Training – Beginning calling for a

“Double V”-victory at home and abroad, ending prejudice of Hitler and American’s at home

– Will lead to the push of the Civil Right’s Movement post war

Mexican Americans and WWII • In June 1943, violence

broke out in Los Angeles when large numbers of servicemen and white citizens began attacking Mexican Americans over their “un-American clothing”

• The incident was name the “zoot suit riots”

• Fear of Japanese Americans and Residents after Pearl Harbor (are they spies? Will they side with Japan and attack US from the inside?)

• 1942: Roosevelt sings Executive Order 9066 ordering all Japanese relocated in Internment camps in the middle of the country

Unified in War Effort, Racially

Divided

Unified in War Effort, Racially

Divided

• 100,000 Japanese Americans lost their jobs, property, and rights

• Supreme Court upheld the decision saying: – Does not violate civil rights

because “the military urgency of the situation” justified it

• 1983, the US government formally recognized the injustice that had been done and authorized payments of $20,000 each to all living Japanese Americans who had suffered under this policy. However most got nothing or very little because they could not prove their losses (paperwork of property also destroyed)

Japanese Americans and WW II • Originally Japanese

Americans were not allowed to serve but this changed in 1943

• One Japanese American unit, the 442nd served so valiantly in Europe that it became the most decorated unit in US History

• The contributions of the Japanese troops were remarkable considering the racism and discrimination that many of their families were facing at home in the US

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mr97qyK

A2s

WWII Major

Turning Points

in Europe

Distrustful Allies-The Big Three

• Great Britain-Winston Churchill, USA-FDR, Joseph Stalin-USSR

• Stalin feeling the brunt of Germany’s attack : upset that Churchill and FDR delaying the beginning of a Western Ground Front against Germany (to alleviate pressure on Soviet Union). Thinks they are trying to weaken Communism

• USA chooses to build bombers to help Great Britain’s Royal Air Force against German air force instead

• Upsetting Stalin further, they began their attack in Northern Africa – Desire to remove German

control of Mediterranean Trade and seize control of Middle Eastern Oil Fields for the Allies

• Lead by General Dwight D. Eisenhower

• First decisive Allied victory, making both sides realize the Allies have a chance

Operation Torch: Northern Africa

• Used N Africa as their launching ground of the invasion of Italy – Italians including

Mussolini fall easily but Germany does not give up, rescuing Mussolini and keeping the allies tied up in Italy for years until 1945

Invasion of Italy

Aug 1942 Battle of Stalingrad

• 1942 Hitler still stalled outside Leningrad, switch to oil rich Stalingrad in the South – Germans surrounded city – Soviets from North

surrounded Germans – Fought street by street,

house by house • Early 1943 Germans

surrendered and were pushed out of USSR by Aug 1944

Tehran Conference

• The Big Three Meet • Stalin, FDR, Churchill • Stalin desperately

wanted the Allies to launch an invasion of France and create a second front against Hitler

• In Tehran, the reluctant British and Americans finally agreed

D-Day

• 1944 US General Eisenhower prepared to open second European Front – Bombed German factories,

cities, and aircraft to weaken army

• June 6, 1944 Paratroopers dropped into France, at dawn soldiers stormed the beaches of Normandy, France, others entered through Italy, French resisted from inside Paris

• All of France free by September 1944

D Day-

• Largest land and sea attack

• Germans were aware of

when, but not where.

• Hitting the beach at Normandy, the first soldiers ashore received heavy gunfire

• Despite heavy losses, the Allies landed and held the beaches

Hitler’s Last Stand • Battle of the Bulge Dec

1944- Battle in Ardennes Mts. Of Belgium – Last Offensive by

Germans to split the Allied army in half

– Initially successful but Allies prevailed, pushing into Germany • April 1945 Americans meet

Soviets at Elbe River Germany

• Mussolini assassinated, Hitler committed suicide, and European conflict officially over on VE Day May 8, 1945 (Victory in Europe)

WAR IN THE PACIFIC

Bataan Death March

• May 1942 Japan takes control of US Phillipines – Forced 75,000 American

soldiers and Filipino civilians on a 68 mile march to remove the enemy forces from areas around their next area of attack • Starved, beaten, tortured,

murdered,

Island Hopping Campaign • General McArthur

successful at The Battle of Midway in June 1942 – Began hopping from Island

to Island retaking Japanese controlled lands in hopes of getting close enough to Japanese Islands to stage and invasion

• British fighting in Burma and Malaya, staged from India – McArthur had vowed to return

to help Philippines, Oct 1944 kept promise

Battle of Midway • US are able to attack

Japanese air craft

carriers while soldiers

are attempt to load

bombs onto them.

• US victory forces the

Japanese to fight a

defensive war.

Gloom in the Pacific

• 1945, war in Europe over, all resources into Pacific but Japan still strong and – Japanese began Kamikaze

missions (which are?) – Japanese fought to the death

rather than surrender at Iwo Jima and Okinawa

• Success seemed far way, US knows they are risking tremendous loss of American life with an invasion of Japan

• Need more help

Iwo Jima • 1945-American marines

took Iwo Jima an island

760 miles from Tokyo

• Bloodiest battles fought as

it took more than 100,000

US forces nearly a month

to defeat 25,000 heavily

entrenched Japanese

soldiers

• This was a major victory

and was commemorated in

a very famous photograph

and sculpture

Okinawa • On April 1, US troops

move into the island of Okinawa, only about 350 miles from southern Japan

• The Americans lost 12,000 troops

• The Japanese over 100,000

• When it was over, however, the Allies had removed the last obstacle between them and the islands of Japan

Yalta Conference

• Big Three Conference – Soviet Union agree to help

invade Japan and move

quickly into Northern Korea

(controlled by Japan)

– April 1945 Create the

United Nations

(international peace

keeping organization),

replacing League of

Nations with 5 permanent

members (US, France, Great

Britain, Soviet Union, and

China) who can veto other’s

votes for military action

The Allies Choice • Planned an invasion of

Japan but fearful of Allied casualties

• July 1945 International group of scientists completed the Manhattan Project, successfully testing an atomic bomb in what State? – Explosion shattered

windows 125 miles away • President Harry Truman

(what happened to FDR?) gives Emperor Hirohito an ultimatum: surrender or face “utter and complete destruction”-Japan ignores

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

• August 6, 1945-Atomic bomb instantly kills 70,000 Japanese citizens; Japan refuses to surrender

• August 8, 1945-Soviets declare war and invade Manchuria; Japan refuses to surrender

• August 9, 1945-US bomb Nagasaki- atomic bomb instantly kills 40,000 Japanese

• August 10th, Hirohito forces Japanese military to surrender, officially ending the war in September

Studies suggest that 120,000 – 200,000 people died due to

radiation related illnesses.

Costs of War • The United States spent

$288 billion dollars

• Great Britain $117 billion

• France $111 billion

• USSR $93 billion

• Germany $212 billion

• Japan $41 billion

• Total spent $674 billion

dollars

• Deaths of Soldiers

• United States 292,131

dead

• Great Britain 272,311

dead

• France 205,707 dead

• Soviet Union

13,600,000 dead

• Germany 3,300,000

dead

• Japan 1,140,429 dead

• Total 18,565,578 dead

Costs of War

• Civilian Death Total

• United States less than 100

• Great Britain 60,595 dead

• France 173,260 dead

• Soviet Union 7,720,000

dead

• Germany 2,893,000 dead

• Japan 953,000 dead

• Total 11,799,847 dead

THE HOLOCAUST

• Published Mein Kampf “My

Struggle” 1925 – Outlines Nazi ideology and goals

• Extreme Nationalism

• Superiority of the Germans: Throw off the

chains of the Treaty of Versailles and create

a world dominated by the superior German

Aryan Race

• Anti-Semitism (what is it?) –Belief Jews

were conspiring to overthrow the

government, states that the gassing of

thousands of Jews would mean that the

sacrifice of millions of soldiers will not be

in vain

Mein Kampf

Nuremberg Laws 1935

• Laws stated Jewish people could NOT:

• Marry non Jews • Attend or teach in German schools • Hold Government positions • Practice Law or Medicine • Publish Books

• Urged the unprovoked beatings of Jewish people in public

– Effect: many German Jews like Albert Einstein fled

Night of the Broken Glass “Kristallnacht”

• November 7, 1938 a young Jew who had watched his parents be mistreated in Germany, shot a German diplomat in Paris

• Hitler reacted by attacking Jewish communities – Destroyed buildings,

burned synagogues and dragged Jewish people into the street for public beatings

M. I. Libau from Never to Forget: The Jews of the

Holocaust • “All the things for which my parents worked for

eighteen long years were destroyed in less than ten

minutes. Piles of valuable glasses, expensive furniture,

linens- in short, everything was destroyed…The Nazis

left us, yelling, “don’t try to leave this house! We’ll

soon be back again and take you to a concentration

camp to be shot.”

World Reaction

• Hitler’s response: – Make the Jewish people

pay for the damage – Increase his campaign

by forcing them into concentration camps (what are these?)

– Began plotting his “final solution” (which was?)

• World has little reaction, none loosen immigration laws to give Jews asylum

• Only horrified once they begin liberating the death camps

“Work makes one Free”

Life in the Camps • Guards severely beat or

killed their prisoners for

not working fast enough

• With meals of thin soup, a

scrap of bread, and potato

peelings, most prisoners

lost 50 pounds in the first

few months

• “Hunger was so intense that if a bit of soup spilled over, prisoners would dig their spoons into the mud and stuff the mess into their mouths”

The Final Stages

• 1942- The Final

Solution reaches its

final stages.

• Concentration camps

are now equipped

with huge gas

chambers that could

kill as many as 6000 a

day.

Auschwitz

• When prisoners arrived at Auschwitz they were forced to

parade in front of a team of Nazi doctors

• With the wave of a hand, these doctors separated the strong

– mostly men- from the weak- mostly women, children, the

elderly and the sick

• Those labeled as weak would die that day

• They were told to undress for a shower

• Then they were led into a chamber with fake showerheads

• After the doors were closed, cyanide gas poured from the

showerheads

• Everyone died within a matter of minutes

• “The Nazis came first for the Communists. But I wasn’t

Communist, so I didn’t speak up. Then they came for the Jews,

but I wasn’t a Jew, so I didn’t speak up…Then they came for the

unionists, but I was a Protestant so I didn’t speak up. Then they

came for me. By that time, there was no one left to speak up.” – Lutheran Minister Martin Niemoller

• What lesson can be learned from this?

Holocaust Facts

• 6 million Jews 4 million more gypsies, Slavic peoples, homosexuals, or physically handicapped systematically killed

• Millions more enslaved in work camps, used for medical experiments

• Jews and others fought back – Destroyed gas

chambers – Hid Jewish people – Denmark and Bulgaria

managed to save almost their entire Jewish population

Denmark’s Jews

• Niels Bohr (Danish physicist contracted to work on The Manhattan Project in US) snuck out of Denmark to Neutral Sweden for safe passage to US when arrived in Sweden refused to leave to the US until they agreed to offer asylum to all the Danish Jews. All Jews were quietly snuck out of Denmark with the help of the failing Danish government and ordinary citizens who had been hiding them during the German occupation.

Nuremberg Trials

• Nuremberg Trials – Axis powers tried for

Crimes against humanity • 142 Germans, Austrians,

and Japanese (many Nazi leaders) tried and sentenced to death for their associations with the Holocaust and atrocities in the Pacific

– Served to show military could be held responsible for their actions whether or not they were “ordered”, exposed the horrors of fascists and dictators, hoping to secure a place for democracy

Creation of Israel • Horrified and Guilt stricken

over the atrocities of WWII against the Jewish community, the United Nations votes to create the country of Israel (the former Jewish homeland) in the Middle East as a homeland for the Jewish people

• Continues to be one of America’s greatest Middle Eastern allies but a country of continues war between the Muslim Palestinians who were living their before the creation of Israel and the new Jewish state

THE COLD WAR

WWII Leads to Cold War Tensions

Uneasy Friendship during WWII • US and USSR only allies

during WWII because of common enemy-Who?

• Tensions persist over economic and political differences – Communism vs Democracy

• Soviet Union upset: US had sent troops to The Soviet Union after WWI to battle the Bolsheviks (communists)

• US nervous of Communism leading to the ________ Scare in the United States.

Tensions Mount after WWII • After WWII Stalin (leader of what

country?) still upset the US and Great Britain did not open a Western Front against Germany earlier, causing catastrophic loss of life in the Soviet Union

• Also, areas occupied by Soviet Union at the end of WWII will become areas influenced by communism: Eastern Europe and North Korea

• US refuses to share atomic bomb information with the Soviet Union, increasing distrust and leading to an arms race for the best weapons

Post WWII Goals of the US and Soviet Union

Unites States Goals

• Learned from WWI – Did not want to occupy

territories conquered

during WWII –want all

of Europe once under

the Axis powers to hold

free elections (especially

Eastern Europe which

was currently still being

occupied by Soviet

troops)

Soviet Union’s Goals

• Soviets had suffered the

greatest losses (life and

property) – Wanted Germany to pay

for their damages (did not

allow Eastern Germany to

be rebuilt as a democracy)

– Wanted to prevent another

invasion by creating a

Buffer Zone in Eastern

Europe of friendly

Communist States

An Iron Curtain Falls over

Eastern Europe

• Stalin ignored his pledge to give Eastern Europe free elections, having his Red Army wipe out all opposing political parties, assassinating head political figures, and creating “puppet” satellite communist governments loyal to the Soviet Union

• 1946- Publically recognize the tension between United States and Soviet Union with what Churchill calls “The Iron Curtain”-Line dividing Eastern Communist countries backed by the Soviets and the Western European Democratic countries backed by the United States

Truman Doctrine

• Post WWII President Truman outlined US Policy towards Communism – Containment Policy: Limit

the spread of communism to areas already controlled by the Soviet Union:

– Based on the idea of the Domino Theory: If one country fell to communism others around it may as well

– Intervene in any area where the threat for the spread of communism may occur

• Seen as Good vs Evil

First Interventions under the Truman Doctrine

• Financial and Military

Resources sent to Greece and

Turkey to resist Communist

Rebels

• Marshall Plan-provided

Europe with much needed

financial support from the

US, to spark an economic

recovery and prosperity

preventing them from

electing Socialist or

Communist Governments

Why-The Marshall Plan • Communist revolutions

often started due to economic hardships within a society

• The Marshall Plan went a long way towards preventing Soviet takeovers in Western Europe

• Highpoint of containment policy.

• Secretary of State Marshall received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953

The Question of Germany

The State of Germany

• West Germany

united into a

democratic country

• East Germany

Communist

government

controlled by Soviets

A Divided Germany

• Capitol of Germany =

Berlin

– Eastern part of the city

controlled by Communist

USSR

– Western part of the city

controlled by United

States and other Western

European allies even

though it lies completely

within Communist East

Germany

The Soviet Response

• Thousands in Berlin, try to escape Communism, and flew to Western half

• Stalin hopes to force the West to give up their portion of Berlin

• Stalin sets up a blockade around Western Berlin, not allowing supplies into this portion of the city

The Western Response

• Truman cannot back down, but cannot go to war.

• Berlin Airlift

– 15 months the US and England air drop supplies

– 200,000 flights providing 13,000 tons of food daily to Berlin

Birth of the Cold War

• Berlin Airlift = 1st major

event of the Cold War

• US is successful, leading to

the end of the Blockade

• 1961 Soviets build a wall

between East and West

Berlin to keep East Berliners

from fleeing into West

Berlin

• Becomes a symbol of

Communist failure

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

• In 1949, during the midst of

the Berlin Airlift

• The United States signed a

treaty with several European

nations

• The North Atlantic Treaty

allied Western Europe with

US and Canada with one

another and stated that each

country would come to the

defense of any others if they

were attacked, especially

against the USSR

Warsaw Pact • The Soviet Union saw NATO as a threat and formed its own alliance in 1955

• It was called the Warsaw Pact

• It included the Soviet Union, East Germany, and other Eastern European Countries

• Goal was to be the Buffer between Soviet Union and the NATO countries

Competition Continues

Arms Race • Arms Race continued into the

1970s – US developed the hydrogen

Bomb and Soviets race for the

best Nuclear arms

– Leads to creation of bomb

shelters

• Era of Detente (1970s) – Two agreed to disarm and

reduce their stockpiles of nuclear

weapons…ended with Soviet

Invasion of Afghanistan in

1979 (which we would then help

the Taliban and Osama bin Laden

push the Soviets out)

• Besides weapons both fought to be technologically advanced in all sciences and mathematics – USSR first to be

successful with the launch of the Space Satellite Sputnik in 1957

– US fearful of falling behind the Soviets

Space Race

• National Defense and Education Act – Promoted

sciences and mathematics in US Schools to increase US competitiveness in these fields

– US Will lead the race with the Moon Landing

Space Race

Nuclear Threat and a New Red Scare

• Schools practice

nuclear attack drills,

students are to duck

and cover

• Bomb shelters are

sold to average

families.

Anti-Soviet Propaganda in the United States

McCarthyism • Republican Senator Joseph

McCarthy states Democrats had

been “soft on communism”

• Begins a second Red Scare

meaning:

• Mostly accused democratic

candidates, artists, diplomats of

communism by using very load

smear campaigns

• Turns out to all be a BIG LIE,

repeated untrue accusations that

ended with McCarthy being

publically tried and rejected by

the public

Dominos Fall

First Domino Falls • China Falls to Communism

in 1949-Creating the People’s Republic of China despite aid to former leader Chian Kai-Shek – Communist Leader: Mao

Tse-Tung (Mao Zedong) receives aid from Soviets

– Mirrored Stalin’s 5 year plan: Heavy Industry • Farm Collectives • Secret Police-deaths and

disappearances of millions – Women gained equality – Down turn in the economy

would lead the next ruler Deng Xiaoping to moderate economy

Two Chinas

• The US backed Chiang’s Nationalists on island of Taiwan and claimed that it was the true government of China

• Although the Communists now clearly ruled China, the US used its veto power to prevent the UN from formally recognizing Mao’s government

Korea

• Korea was among the

countries liberated from the

Japanese during World War II

• Soviets and the US played a

role in its liberation, the

nation was divided along

the 38th parallel

• Northern half established a

communist government

• Southern half – pro US

democracy

Korean War • 1950-North Korean forces

crossed the 38th parallel

• The United Nations elected

to come to South Korea’s

aid and President Truman

chose General Douglas

MacArthur, a WWII hero

who had liberated the

Philippines, to lead the UN

forces

• Technically, the conflict was

never a declared war, but

rather a UN police action

China Joins the Korean War • Attacking the overextended

North Korean supply lines, MacArthur’s forces pushed their enemy back across the 38th parallel

• Continuing to advance north, the UN forces moved ever closer to the Chinese border

• China gets worried, and wants to maintain Communism in China and North Korea

• China sends over 300,000 troops.

What was the point? • By 1953 stalemate, both

sides agreed to a truce

• The agreement left the country divided at almost the exact same point as before the war ever began

• Communism Contained by at the cost of 10,000 American lives

Aftermath of Korean War • After the war, Korea

remained divided

• A demilitarized zone separated the two countries

• In North Korea, Communist dictator, Kim Il Sung, established collective farms, developed heavy industry, and built up the military

• At Kim’s death in 1994, his son Kim Jon Il took power, then his son Kim Jon Un is now in control since Kim Jon Il’s death in 2011

Cuba • 1959-Communist Fidel Castro overthrows Cuban government

– Executed more than 700 of his opponents and jailed many more

• “Nationalized” or took over US owned businesses

• Established a strong relationship with the Soviet Union

The CIA in Cuba

• President Eisenhower

authorized the CIA to

begin training anti-

Castro, Cuban exiles

living in the United

States for an invasion of

Cuba

• When John F. Kennedy

succeeded or became the

president after

Eisenhower, he

approved the operation

The Bay of Pigs • The invasion landed at the

Bay of Pigs on April 17,

1961

• Terrible failure and a huge

embarrassment for the

Kennedy administration

• Left many people around the

world wondering if the

young president was up to

the task of defending

democracy against

communism

Bay of Pigs Aftermath

• JFK- really

embarrassed by the

Bay of Pigs

• Also concerned that

Khrushchev, new

Kremlin or ruler of

the Soviet Union,

would interpret the

incident as a sign of

weakness

Cuban Missile Crisis • Although the Bay

of Pigs had been a

failure, Castro still

feared a future

invasion by US

forces

• Castro allowed the

Soviets to secretly

put nuclear

missiles in Cuba

• Just 90 miles off

the coast of Florida

Cuban Missile Crisis

• 1962 US spy planes spotted these missiles

• Kennedy responded by authorizing a naval blockade off the coast of Cuba

• For 13 days the world watched as the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the world’s two superpowers to the brink of nuclear war. (closest the 2 get to direct conflict)

Khrushchev Blinked

• Khrushchev agreed to

remove the missiles in

exchange for a US pledge

not to invade Cuba and

recognize them as a

country

• The 2 pass a nuclear test

ban-treaty and set up a

hotline (direct phone line

between the White House

and Kremlin)

– Prevent an accidental war by

discussing problems directly

in an emergency

Containment in the Middle East

• Dwight Eisenhower

(WWII Hero) elected

President in 1952

• Devoted to containing

communism

Eisenhower Doctrine

• Eisenhower Doctrine -the United States would not hesitate to aid any country in the Middle East that asked for help resisting communist aggression

• Leads to US intervening in the Suez Crisis in support of peace between Israel’s invasion of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula

• Will be continued in the 1970’s when the US supports groups such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda in order to keep The Soviet Union out of invading Afghanistan

The CIA in Iran

• In 1953, Eisenhower

saw to it that the CIA

organized an

overthrow of Iran's

pro-Communist

leader

• They then restored to

power a pro-US Shah

(king)

Iran Hostage Crisis • Shah’s government

oppressive but supported by the US to create a Pro-US Buffer in the Middle East over the USSR

• Leads to a fundamentalist Islamic group overthrowing the Shah in the 1970’s and them taking 150 American Embassy personal hostage for over a year because of hatred of US intervention in the area

Cold War Ends

• Economy slumped – Factories became

inefficient and pollutant

without private enterprise

working to improve

conditions

– Central government in

Moscow could not dictate

the correct needs of local

communities leading to

under or over production

– Collectives continued to

under produce leading to

high importation of food

or continued famines

Failure of Communism

1980’s Gorbachev Reform • Mikhail Gorbachev came to

power in 1985 in the Soviet Union dedicated to reform – Internationally: increased

positive relations with the West

– Internally: Glasnost (openness) ; and Perestroika (restructuring economy) • Actually hurt economy and

openness encouraged Soviet Satellites to seek and win independence

• Would end with Gorbachev resigning in 1991 and the Soviet Union would die as well

Post War Prosperity in America

Truman Shocks the Nation

• Election of 1948-

Harry Truman defeats

Thomas Dewey.

• Most believed

Truman would not

win, some news

papers already made

headlines before the

results came in.

Truman • Inaugural addresses,

announced the Fair

Deal

• Fair Deal- vast social

reforms

• Fair Deal- extends

social security

benefits, increases in

minimum wage, and

funds for construction

of low income

housing.

The GI Bill • Intended to help war

vets readjust to life

back home

• GI Bill or Servicemen’s

Adjustment Act

• Provides vets with

job priorities, money

for school, job

training, and loans

for purchasing

homes and property.

The Effects of the GI Bill • GI Bill- helps start a social

revolution

• “Common” people can now afford houses

• Developers start create communities of houses

• The will result in an increase in suburban housing

• As Vets go to college, there is a large amount of educated skilled labor promoting economic growth (high paying jobs)

The Baby Boom • Population explosion

known as the Baby

Boom

• Baby Boomers-

members of the

generation born within

the first few years after

WWII

• Result of end of the

War, End of the Great

Depression, and

Increasing Economic

Prosperity

Education • Prior to the war- working class people

did not go to college

• GI Bill- allows war vets

• US population is now more educated

• Middle class grows

• College degrees allow for high paying

“ White Collar Jobs”-clerical,

professional, management, sales,

advertising, insurance jobs

• Decline in “Blue Collar Jobs”

manufacturing

• High paying jobs allow families to put

their kids into college furthering this

economic development-Both Boys

and Girls are going to College

Exclusion for African

Americans

• African Americans do

not get advances in

education.

• Colleges still segregated

• Limited number of

spaces means African

American war vets didn’t

get to go to college.

• Many also lacked formal

education prior to war,

which hurt their chances

Cold War’s Impact on Education

• 1958-National Defense

Act

• Aid for education and

was geared towards

boosting the study of

science, math, and

foreign languages.

• Intended to help the US

get ahead of Soviets in

the space race and

nuclear arms race.

Eisenhower preparing for possible war

• 1951- Selective Service Act- government can draft men ages 18-26

• National Highway Act of 1956

• Called for the construction of the interstate highway system

Interstate Highway System

• Improves mobility for citizens

• Also has military purpose.

• Improved roads allow military troops and personnel quicker, cities can be evacuated incase of nuclear attacks.

Unintended Effect of the Interstate

Highway Act

• Highways made places outside the city easy to get to

• And New wealth means more people could buy automobiles

• Same time Baby Boom meant lost of kids and people looking for better, newer schools, yards, and crime-free neighborhoods

• Leads to SKYROCKETING SUBURBANIZATION

Effects of Suburbanization

• Rise of Shopping Malls

• Motels

• Fast Food

• Drive Ins

• Any place you drove to

instead of walking to.

African Americans

Migrate North

• More and more African Americans move Northward to escape poverty and racism in the South

• With the rise of Suburbs, and the movement of African American’s Northward “White Flight” begins: whites in the cities moved out of the neighborhoods where African Americans moved into and into homogenous white suburbs

The Rise of Urban Ghettos

• Many businesses followed the

upper class whites to the

Suburbs leaving cities with less

jobs and less services (police

etc)

• Businesses continued to

discriminate when hiring African

Americans, paying them less

• Slum lords refused to fix up

rental properties housed by

African Americans

• Overtime these neighborhoods

became poverty and full of

crime with rundown housing

(Ghettos)

Women of the 1950s

• Despite the expanded role

of women during WWII

and a small women’s

rights movement post war,

women lost jobs to

returning Vets

• 1940-50’s back to

traditional role of stay

at home Wife, Mother,

and chief household

consumer

– Glorified in advertising

and television

Women of 1950s

• Books publish “scientific” evidence that women can only achieve happiness through the role of wife and mother.

• Felt isolated and unfulfilled in the Suburbs with fewer people close for socialization.

• By the 1960’s 40% were working outside the home in traditional women’s working roles but few given promotions and still paid less

• With increasing college education of women, by the 1960’s women will then launch the modern women’s right’s movement with the

Consumerism • Great Depression had hurt

purchasing power

• Rationing during WWII

caused many to have to save

money rather than spend it

• Make up for lost time

post-war

• Rise in demand for family

oriented products (cars,

TVs, movies, etc)

• This lead to more jobs as

production increased and

retail jobs increased

New Invention

• 1950’s the TV becomes

popular creating a

national consumer

• Refined “buy now pay

later” system with credit

cards, leading debt to

rise again

Advertisements

• Now bombarded with

advertisements of

products on TV,

Highway Billboards,

Radio, Magazines,

• By the end of the

1950’s US had the

highest standard of

living in the world

Cold War Increases Economic Boom

• 1947 National Security

Act created a

Department of

Defense and a

Secretary of Defense,

increasing defense

industries: jobs in

government, building

weapons, – CIA created

– NASA created

Medical Technology Increases

• More vaccines created (polio etc)

• Better heart surgeries

• Leads to lower infant mortality rates and rising

life expectancies

Farm Technology Increases • Green Revolution: new hybrid

plants, pesticides, and fertilizers lead to an increase in food supply and nutrition

• Eventually Agribusinesses rise: large commercial farms replace small family farms who cannot afford the new technology and agricultural pollution increases causing the Environment to become a big issue into the 1970’s and continuing today