US History

Cold War Era / 1950s Notes

Cold War Origins

Wartime Diplomacy

o In February 1945, the “     ” Allied leaders – Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston

Churchill, and Joseph Stalin – met at      , a Soviet port on the Black Sea.

o They came to discuss issues affecting the postwar world. Out of this meeting came the

Yalta agreement, in which the Soviet Union agreed to enter the war against      .

o In return, the Soviets received some territories in      .

o Agreeing on other arrangements proved more difficult. Roosevelt and Churchill feared

the spread of       and Soviet control in Eastern Europe.

o      , on the other hand, wanted this area as a shield to protect the Soviet Union from

the West. Germany was a special problem. The Allies finally agreed to divide Germany

into four zones, with each zone run by an Allied power.

o Stalin agreed to free       in Soviet-occupied Eastern Europe and to help in planning a

new international organization.

o Roosevelt and Churchill felt encouraged about a peaceful postwar world. Their hopes

went unfulfilled.

o President Roosevelt died suddenly on April 12, 1945. Vice President       succeeded

him.

o Facing the enormous tasks of the presidency, Truman told reporters, “When they told me,

I felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me.”

o Truman decided to go ahead with the formation of the new international organization

discussed at Yalta. On June 26, in San Francisco, California, 50 nations signed the charter
 creating the       (UN). They hoped the UN could settle international disputes and

prevent future wars.

Soviet Expansion in Europe

o Distrust soon arose between the West and the      . Stalin set up Communist

governments and kept Soviet forces in Eastern Europe. Europe eventually split into two

armed camps – Communist Eastern Europe and democratic Western Europe.

o Winston Churchill believed that the division between East and West was permanent. In

1946 he stated in a speech in Fulton, Missouri, that an “     ” had descended on Europe.

o Churchill meant that the Soviets had cut off Eastern Europe from the West. He warned

that the Soviets would eventually try to gain control of other parts of the world.

o To halt Soviet expansion, Truman turned to George F. Kennan, an American      .

Kennan believed that the United States and the Soviet Union could not cooperate.

Therefore, the United States had to be firm.

o Kennan’s policy, called      , stated that the United States had to ‘contain,’ or hold

back, the Soviets, using military as well as nonmilitary ways.

o The policy of containment soon went into effect. Civil war raged in      , as

Communists attempted to overthrow the country’s pro-Western government.

o At the same time, the Soviets pressured       to give them naval bases on the straits

leading to the Mediterranean Sea.

o In March 1947, Truman asked Congress for money to help Greece and Turkey. The

     , as it came to be called, provided immediate aid to the Greek and the Turks.

o In the long run, the doctrine pledged that the United States would fight the spread of

      worldwide.
 o In June 1947, George Marshall, the U.S. secretary of state, proposed that the United

States give massive       aid to Western European counties.

o Their economies were in ruins, and people were starving. After Communists took over

the Eastern European country of       in 1948, Congress approved the plan.

o From 1948 to 1951, the       pumped $13 billion worth of supplies, machinery, and

food into Western Europe. The economic recovery that followed weakened the appeal of

communism.

Crisis in Berlin

o The Allied leaders at Yalta divided Germany into four occupation zones. The Soviet

Union controlled the       part of the country, while the United States, Britain, and

France held zones in the western part.

o The German capital of      , located deep within Soviet-controlled East Germany, also

was divided among the four nations.

o President Truman believed that a       Germany was essential to the future of Europe.

Stalin, on the other hand, feared that a reunited Germany would once again pose a threat

to the Soviet Union.

o He sought to maintain Soviet influence in a divided Germany. Tensions over the German

issue led to a serious crisis in      .

o On June 7, 1948, the United States, Britain, and France stated their plan to unite their

zones to form a new West German      . Each nation’s section of Berlin would be

included in this republic as well, even though the city of Berlin lay within Soviet-held

East Germany.
 o The Berlin       was Stalin’s answer to the West’s plans. On June 24, 1948, Soviet

troops rushed into position around the edge of West Berlin.

o Almost overnight they created a blockade, stopping traffic on all highway, rail, and water

routes through East Germany to      .

o As a result, West Berlin’s 2.2 million citizens were cut off from needed      . The

Soviets hoped this blockade would force the Americans, British, and French to reconsider

their plan.

o Believing that the Soviets wanted the West our of the city, President Truman made U.S.

intentions clear: “We stay in Berlin, period.”

o The president, however, did not want to risk war by using military force to end the

blockade. Instead he organized a large       to save the city. American and British

planes began flying food, fuel, and other supplies into West Berlin.

o The airlift continued day and night for more than      , delivering supplies to West

Berlin. In May 1949, Stalin finally ended the blockade, realizing that the West was still

intent on uniting their zones.

o Despite the airlift’s success, Berlin and Germany remained divided. By the end of 1949,

there were       German states – the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany),

allied with the United States, and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), a

Communist state tied to the Soviet Union.

Two Armed Camps

o The Berlin crisis showed that the United States and the Soviet Union were locked in a

      – a war in which the two enemies did not actually fight each other.

o Instead each side began building up its military forces and arms to       the other.
o The United States and other Western democracies agreed that military       was the best

way to contain the Soviets. In 1949 the United States, Canada, and 10 Western European

nations formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

o Member states agreed to aid any member that was      . Six years later, West Germany

was allowed to form an army and join NATO.

o In response, the Soviets in 1955 set up a military alliance – the       – with the

Communist governments of Eastern Europe. The formation of NATO and the Warsaw

Pact divided Europe into two armed camps.

o After World War II, some of President Truman’s foreign policy advisers in the National

Security Council (NSC) argued that America could not rely on other nations to contain

the Soviets. Unlike the supporters of the containment policy, these NSC advisers believed

the United States needed to take a more       stand against communism everywhere –

not just in strategic locations.

o In 1950 the NSC released a report, known as      , which said that the United States

must actively “foster the seeds of destruction within the Soviet Union” and fight

Communist movements wherever they arose. The United States vowed to combat

communist expansion everywhere in the world.

o As the Cold War deepened, many nations experienced dramatic change. Many areas

broke free of colonial rule and became independent. The       gained independence

from the United States in 1946.

o For years afterward, Filipinos struggled with poverty, government corruption, and civil

war. In the late 1940s, the South Asian countries of India, Pakistan, and Burma won

freedom from       rule.

 o During the 1950s and 1960s, more than       African nations gained independence from

European powers. The path to freedom in Africa was often bloody.

o New nations faced the difficult task of building       societies.

o In the Middle East, Jews and Arabs both claimed      , an area the British had

controlled. In 1947 the United Nations divided Palestine into independent Jewish and

Arab states. The Jews accepted the plan, but eh Arabs did not.

o After declaring their independence, the Jewish state of       was attacked by the armies

of neighboring Arab countries in the first of six major wars between the Arabs and

Israelis.

o Meanwhile, significant change came to China, Asia’s largest country. In 1949

Communist forces under       defeated armies led by China’s leader Chiang Kai-shek.

o Mao Zedong formed a new communist state, the      . Chiang Kai-shek retreated with

his forces to the island of Taiwan off the south-eastern coast of China.

o The United States recognized the government in Taiwan as the legitimate government of

all China. With Communists ruling mainland China, the Soviet Union had a powerful ally

in Asia. It appeared to many people that the entire continent of Asia was in danger of

falling to      .

Cold War Fears

o The Cold War increased American’s fears of communist subversion, or sabotage. Many

Americans worried that Communists – “     ” – had penetrated all levels of American

society and were weakening the government.

o This       led to a massive hunt to uncover Communists. In 1947 President Truman

ordered an investigation into the loyalty of all federal employees. Although little

evidence of espionage was found, many federal workers lost their jobs.

o During the Red Scare, both houses of Congress set up investigation committees. In 1947

the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) held hearings on      , or

suspected, Communist influence in the entertainment industry.

o As a result, several screenwriters and film directors – the “     ” – went to jail for

refusing to answer questions about their political beliefs or those of their colleagues.

Reacting to pressure, film companies created       – lists of individuals whose loyalty

was suspect – that kept people from working in films.

o In 1950 Congress passed the      , which required all Communist groups to register

with the government and to provide lists of members. Truman vetoed the act. “In a free

country, we punish men for crimes they commit,” he said, “but never for the opinions

they hold.” Congress overrode his veto.

o Meanwhile, stories of spies gripped the country. In 1948 Whittaker Chambers, a

magazine editor, told the HUAC that he had spied for the Soviets in the 1930s. He

accused      , a former government official of giving him secret documents to pass on

to the Soviets.

o To support his claim, Chambers showed copies of secret information that he said came

from Hiss. Investigators could not prosecute Hiss for spying because too much time had

passed since the events occurred. He was found guilty, however, of      , or lying under

oath, and sent to prison.

 o The most dramatic spy case involved the      , which the Soviets had acquired by 1949.

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, a New York couple who were Communist Party members,

were accused of passing secrets about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union.

o The Rosenbergs denied the charges but were sentenced to       for spying. Many people

believed that the Rosenbergs were not spies but victims caught up in the Red Scare.

Public appeals for mercy failed, however, and the couple was executed in June 1953.

o From 1950 to 1954, the hunt for Communists was led by Republican Senator       of

Wisconsin. McCarthy claimed that a vast Communist network existed within the

government. He called government employees to defend themselves before his

committee.

o His unfounded charges ruined the careers of many innocent Americans. The word

“     ” emerged to describe “the use of unproven charges to discredit people.”

o Millions of Americans, however, believed McCarthy. As a result, even the most powerful

government officials hesitated to oppose him. In 1954 McCarthy made claims that

Communists had infiltrated the U.S.      .

o In a series of televised hearings, McCarthy hurled wild accusations at highly respected

arm officials. Toward the end of the hearings, Joseph Welch, an attorney for the army,

said to McCarthy: “Until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty

or your recklessness…Have you left no sense of decency?”

o Many Americans now came to view McCarthy as a cruel       who had little basis for

his accusations. Congress also turned against McCarthy. In December 1954, the Senate

voted to      , or formally criticize, him for “conduct unbecoming a senator.”

The Korean War

Conflict in Korea

o At the end of World War II, the Americans and the Soviets divided the east Asian

country of Korea at the       parallel of latitude.

o The Communists set up a government in       Korea, and an American-backed

government took over       Korea.

o On June 25, 1950, North Korean troops invaded South Korea in an attempt to take over

that country. Poorly armed, the South Koreans were no match for the North.

o By September, the Communist forces gained control over much of South Korea,

including      , the capital city. Only a small area in the southeast around the port city

of Pusan was still held by the South Korean army.

o President Truman reacted quickly to the Korean invasion, which he believed was

supported by the Soviet Union. Without asking       to declare war, Truman ordered the

use of limited American air and armed forces in Korea.

o Truman said, “Korea is the Greece of the Far East. If we are tough enough now, if we

stand up to them like we did in Greece three years ago, they won’t take any next steps.”

o Truman persuaded the United Nations to send troops. Most of these UN troops were

American and under the command of U.S. general      , a hero of World War II.

o General MacArthur and the UN forces made a daring landing in the middle of the Korean

Peninsula near the port on      . They took that strategic city and then moved north to

push the North Koreans back across the 38th parallel. South Korea now came under

control of UN forces.
 o Encouraged by this success, General MacArthur urged President Truman to order the

invasion of      . He assured Truman that neither China nor the Soviet Union would

enter the war, and he pledged that he would have troops “home by Christmas.”

o Truman sought UN approval for an invasion of the North to create a       and

democratic Korea.

o After receiving these new orders, MacArthur moved into North Korea and advanced

toward the Chinese border. The Chinese Communists saw the advancing troops as a

threat. Hundreds of thousands of       troops crossed the border and drove the UN

forces back to South Korea

o Within weeks, the Communists held Seoul, South Korea’s capital.

American Leadership Divided

o By January 1951, United Nations forces managed to stop their retreat. Launching a

     , they retook Seoul and pushed the Communists back across the 38th parallel. The

war now became a stalemate, a situation in which neither side is able to gain much

ground or achieve a decisive victory.

o The       lasted for almost two years, with much bitter fighting along the 38th parallel.

o As the stalemate continued, Truman thought about       an end to the fighting.

MacArthur, however, argued that dropping atomic bombs on Chinese bases and supply

lines would bring a quick victory.

o Truman opposed MacArthur’s plan, fearing that it would lead to a larger war with China

or develop into another      .

o MacArthur publicly criticized the president. In a letter to a member of Congress,

MacArthur complained that he was being kept form doing his job. “We must win,” he

wrote. “There is no substitute for victory.”

o On April 11, 1951, President Truman       General MacArthur of his command in

Korea. He concluded that it was the only action he could take and “still be president of

the United States.” Truman wrote: “If I allowed him to defy the civil authorities in this

manner, I myself would be violating my oath to uphold and defend the Constitution.”

o MacArthur’s       created a storm of protest in the United States. The general was

popular, and polls showed that most Americans supported him against the president.

Moreover, MacArthur did not go quietly. He returned home to a hero’s welcome.

o MacArthur also delivered a farewell speech before Congress. “Old soldiers never die,” he

said, “they just      .”

o The two sides in the Korean War began talks in July 1951. A       agreement ending

the fighting was finally signed in July 1953 during the presidency of Dwight D.

Eisenhower.

o It set up a       – a region barring military forces – between the two Koreas. The zone

stretched along the border near the 38th parallel.

o The Korean War ended with       victory for either side and almost no change in

territory. More than 36,000 Americans died, and another 103,000 were wounded. Nearly

two million Koreans and Chinese were killed.

o By fighting in Korea, the United States showed the Soviets that it was willing to use

force, if necessary, to block the spread of communism. At the same time, the lack of a

clear victory led to uncertainty at home about America’s       policy.

America in the 1950s

The Eisenhower Years

o In November 1952, Americans elected Dwight D. Eisenhower to the presidency in a

landslide victory – the first       to win the White House since 1928. Eisenhower

collected more than 6 million popular votes over Illinois Governor Adlai E. Stevenson,

his Democratic opponent, and carried the electoral college 442 to 89.

o The Republicans also won control of      .

o Born in Texas and raised in rural Kansas, Dwight D. Eisenhower rose steadily through

the army to become supreme commander of the Allied forces in Europe during World

War II.

o People called him “     ” – and voters trusted him. He won wide support with his

pledge to bring the Korean War to an “early and honorable end.”

o During his two terms in office, Eisenhower followed a      , or middle-of-the-road,

approach to domestic policy. He avoided ambitious new government programs but

resisted the pressure to end popular older ones, and sometimes he even expanded them.

o As he once told reporters: “I feel pretty good when I’m attacked from both sides. It

makes me more certain I’m on the right track.”

o President Eisenhower wanted to make the federal government “      rather than

bigger.” He backed free enterprise, shifted some financial powers to the states, and cut

federal spending.

o When Eisenhower completed his second term in 1961, the federal budget had a      , or

excess, of $300 million.

o The greatest domestic program of the Eisenhower years involved building a network of

interstate highways. In 1956 Congress passed the      . The Law funded the building of

more than 40,000 miles of highways that tied the nation together.

o The highway program spurred economic growth, especially in the automobile and oil

industries, while improving       mobility in case of an attack.

o During the 1950s, the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in a       arms race.

Both sides built more and more nuclear warheads and guided missiles that could destroy

the other side many times over.

o With the threat of nuclear destruction so great, the United States and the Soviet Union

had to act carefully. A crisis, badly managed, could lead to all-out war.

o In 1956 two crises tested the superpowers. First, trouble arose in the Middle East when

Egypt’s president Gamal Abdel Nasser seized the       from its European owners.

o In October, Britain and France joined       in invading Egypt. Britain and France hoped

to get rid of Nasser, and Israel wanted to end Egypt’s military threat. American and

Soviet opposition finally forced the three nations to pull out of Egypt

o The second crisis erupted in      , when students and workers demonstrated to demand

changes in the government. A new government called for Soviet troops to withdraw.

o In early November 1956, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev ordered Soviet forces to crush

the revolt. President Eisenhower condemned the Soviet crackdown but did not intervene.

o By the mid-1950s, the superpowers were interested in easing Cold War tensions. In July

1955, Eisenhower, NATO leaders, and Soviet officials met at a       conference in

Geneva, Switzerland. A summit is a meeting of heads of government.

o The leaders discussed major issues, raising hopes for peace.

 o After the Geneva summit, a policy of peaceful       emerged. This meant the two

superpowers would compete but avoid war. For example, the U.S. and the Soviet Union

began competing in a space race.

o In October 1957, the Soviets sent into space the world’s first artificial satellite, called

     . The United States set up its own space program headed by the National

Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Prosperity and Change

o During the 1950s, the American       grew rapidly. Americans earned higher wages and

bought more consumer goods than ever before. As a result, factory production soared. A

‘     ,’ or increased birthrate, promised even more economic growth in the future.

o Many women left the workforce to stay home and raise children. The demand for baby

products and services grew.       enrollment soared as the ‘baby boomers’ reached

school age, putting a strain on the educational system.

o Americans of the 1950s went on a buying spree.      , the growing variety and quantity

of products available, and expanded advertising all played a role in the increased demand

for consumer goods.

o Buying goods became easier, too. Many Americans used      , charge accounts, and

easy-payment plans to purchase goods.

o Consumers sought the latest products – dishwashers, washing machines, television sets,

stereos, and cloths made from synthetic fabrics. The growing market for       prompted

automakers to outdo one another by manufacturing bigger, faster, and flashier cars. New

models added stylish features such as chrome-plated bumpers and sailing tail fins.
o The       and marketing of products on television, on radio, and in magazines created

consumer fads and crazes that swept the nation.

o In the late 1950s, Americans bought millions of hula hoops. Other popular fads included

crew cuts for boys, poodle skirts for girls, and a new snack –      .

o By 1949 more than       American households had television sets. The sets, in large

wooden cabinets, had small screens that displayed grainy black-and-white images.

o During the 1950s, an average of       sets were produced annually. By the end of

decade, most American families had television.

o Television changed American life. It became the main form of entertainment as well as

an important source of news and information. Millions of Americans gathered to watch

weekly episodes of programs such as       and Father Knows Best. The images shown

in many programs – of happy families in neat, middle-class homes – helped shape

American’s expectations for their own lives.

o A new form of music –       – achieved great popularity among teenagers. Rock ‘n’ roll

grew from the rhythm and blues music that African American musicians created years

before. It often had some elements of country music.

o In rock ‘n’ roll, the tempo was quicker, and electrically amplified instruments – mostly

      – were used.

o One of the first rock hits, reaching number one in 1955, was       and the Comet’s Rock

Around the Clock.

o Adapting the style of African American performers such as Chuck Berry and Little

Richard,       burst on the national scene in 1956. Presley quickly became an idol to
 millions of young Americans. Many young men copied his ducktail haircut and

swaggering mannerisms.

o For teenagers, the shared experience of listening to music helped forge a common

identity. The differing attitudes of the older and younger generations toward music and

other forms of popular culture later came to be known as the      .

Problems in a Time of Plenty

o In the 1950s, more than      % of Americans lived in poverty. Millions more struggled

to survive on incomes that were only slightly above the poverty level. Such poverty

marred the landscape of the affluent society.

o Many       did not share in the prosperity of the 1950s. Business enterprises created

large profitable farms that used new technology to produce an abundance of food for

American and foreign consumers.

o Small farms, however, could not compete with large farms, so many small-farm families

sold their land and migrated to urban areas. Small farmers who continued to farm

struggled.

o Rural poverty did not always come from agricultural problems. In       – a region

stretching along the Appalachian Mountains – the decline of the coal industry plunged

thousands of rural mountain people into desperate poverty. During the 1950s, about 1.5

million people abandoned Appalachia to seek a better life in the nation’s cities.

o As increasing numbers of middle-class Americans moved to the       in the 1950s, they

left the poor behind. The inner cities became islands of poverty.

o Still, people came to cities looking for work. Continuing their migration from rural areas

of the South, more than       million African Americans moved to cities in the North
 and the Midwest between 1940 and 1960. For many however, life proved to be little

better in Northern cities.

o Many poor       – Puerto Ricans in the East and Mexicans in the Southwest and West –

also moved to American cities.

o The migration of poor African Americans and Latinos to Northern cities hastened the

departure of whites to the suburbs. This ”     ” turned some areas of cities into ghettos

– neighborhoods that were inhabited mainly by poor minority groups.

o Few good job opportunities existed for the urban poor. Many factories and businesses

relocated to suburban areas. In addition,       – producing goods using mechanical and

electronic devices – reduced jobs in the industries that remained.

o It became more and more difficult for the urban poor to rise from poverty and improve

their lives. The urban poor struggled not only with poverty but also with racial       in

employment, housing, and education.

o Crime and violence often grew out of inner-city poverty, especially among young people

who saw no hope for escape from life in the      .

o Changes in American society in the 1950s caused some people to question the values that

were emerging. Some critics charged that the sameness of corporate and suburban life

had a cost – the loss of      . Others condemned American materialism – a focus on

accumulating money and possessions rather than an interest in personal and spiritual

matters.

o Leading social critics examined the complexity of modern society. Many wrote about its

effect on individual behavior. William H. Whyte, Jr., studied American business life in

The Organization Man. He drew a picture of young executives as “organization men”

 who “have left home spiritually as well as physically.” He concluded that businesses

discouraged       thinking and considered the person with new ideas “a threat.”

o Young executives who abandoned their own views were the ones most likely to fit in.

o In his book, The Affluent Society, economist John Kenneth Galbraith wrote of the

prosperous American society of the 1950s. However, not all Americans shared in this

     . Galbraith described a suburban family, comfortably installed in an “air-

conditioned, power-steered and power-braked automobile, driven through cities that are

badly paved, made hideous by litter, blighted buildings, and billboards.”

o Prosperous Americans, Galbraith claimed, often       the hardships faced by the rural

and urban poor.

o A group of writers called the       had even sharper criticism of American society. The

term “Beat,” said novelist Jack Kerouac, meant “weariness with all forms of the modern

industrial state.” Many young Americans read the works of Kerouac, poet Allen

Ginsberg, and other Beat writers.

o Some adopted Beat attitudes of       against middle-class America.

o With American society changing, women and African Americans began questioning their

roles. They became increasingly impatient for change and less willing to accept their

status as second-class citizens. In the 1950s both groups launched efforts to gain greater

freedom and      .