The Cold War and the 1950s

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The Cold War and the 1950s

• I. Events leading up to the Cold War
• A. Potsdam Conference The U.S, under Truman,met
  to discuss what would happen to former Nazi
  territories. Stalin refused to allow free
  elections in these countries. These nations
  became known as satellites- countries dependent
  and dominated by the Soviet Union/Russia

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• B. The Truman Doctrine- Truman declared that the
  U.S. would support free people anywhere in the
  world who stood up to communism. Importance
  Based upon this principle, the U.S. eventually
  gets involved in Vietnam.
• C. The Marshall Plan- Most countries were poor
  and in need of economic assistance after WWII.
  The U.S. pledged over 12.5 billion to help other
  countries succeed. The plan was a tremendous
  success and helped keep communism contained.

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• D. The Berlin Airlift- After WWII, the capital of
  Germany (Berlin) was divided between the Western
  countries and the Soviet Union. Because Berlin
  was deep into Eastern German territory and
  controlled by the Soviet Union, Stalin ordered
  supplies to be cut off in an attempt to control
  the city. In response, the U.S. flew supplies
  into the city to help the city survive.
  Eventually, Stalin calls off the blockade
• Berlin Airlift Video- USAF Museum

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• E. NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
  This military alliance was designed to oppose
  communism. If a communist nation attacked a NATO
  nation, then all NATO nations would come to the
  nations rescue. NATO is still in existence
  today, even though communism is no longer a
  threat in Europe.
• http//www.nato.int/multi/map.htm

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• II. The Cold War Heats Up
• A. Communists Take Control of China
• Under Mao Zedong (Tse-Tung), the communists
  defeated Chiang Kai-Sheks army. The U.S.
  supported Chiang Kai-Sheks government with over
  2 billion in military aid. Chiang Kai-Shek was
  forced to flee to Taiwan. Importance There is
  still tension between China and the U.S. based
  upon U.S. foreign policy towards China after WWII.

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• B. The Korean War (1950-1953)
• Background After WWII, Korea was divided up
  into two parts (North and South). The North was
  controlled by the communists and the South was
  allowed to become democratic.
• 1. The war begins with the North crossing the
  38th parallel (an imaginary line that crosses
  Korea at 38 degrees north of the equator) and
  invading the South.

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• 2. The North Koreans almost push the South
  Koreans off the peninsula.
• 3. Gen. Douglas MacArthur and the United Nations
  is able to push back the North Koreans to the
  Chinese border.
• 4. The Chinese send 300,000 troops into Korea and
  push the U.N. troops back.
• 5. MacArthur wants President Truman to use
  nuclear weapons and takes his case to the press.

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• 6. Truman fires MacArthur for insubordination.
• 7. A truce is signed in July of 1951 and not
  finalized until 1953.
• Results
• -54,000 Americans die.
• -The border is virtually
• the same border before
• and after the war

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• C. Spies are caught in the U.S.
• Ethel and Julius Rosenburg were convicted of
  spying for the Soviet Union. Many believe they
  had compromised security over the atomic bomb.
• Many began to fear that communist spies were
  everywhere in the U.S.

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• D. McCarthyism
• 1. In the early 1950s, a fear of communism
  spread throughout the U.S. Senator McCarthy was
  largely responsible for encouraging this fear.
  McCarthy accused too many people and other
  senators turned on him. Question What other
  historical event does this sound like.

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• E. The H-Bomb (Hydrogen Bomb)
• In 1952, the U.S. exploded the first H-bomb which
  was followed by the Russians a year later. The
  H-bomb was 100 to 1000 times more powerful.
• http//www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/experience/th
  e.bomb/history.science/fusion.html

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• F. The U.S. Develops the Policy of Brinkmanship
• After Russia developed the H-bomb, the U.S.
  decided to respond by developing more nuclear
  warheads or massive retaliation and taking the
  U.S. to the brink of disaster.
• http//www.atomicarchive.com/Movies/Movie8.shtml

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• G. The Cold War in the Skies
• 1. Sputnik (1957)-The Soviet Union shocked the
  world by launching the first satellite into
  space. The launch was important for two reasons
• a. The U.S. changed its educational focus to
  science, math and how they could be applied to
  technology.
• b. The U.S. began to compete with Soviets and
  were eventually able to send a man to the moon.

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• 2. U-2 Spy Plane is Shot Down over Russia
• a. In 1960, a U.S. spy plane was shot down
  over Russia. The pilot, Gary Powers, survives.
  The U.S. tells the world that it was a
  weather plane, but Powers confesses to the
  incident. Importance 1) The U.S. is
  embarrassed in front of its own people 2) The
  U.S. was supposed to attend a peace conference,
  but the Soviets cancelled as a protest.

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• III. American culture during the 1950s
• A. The Postwar Boom
• 1. The G.I. Bill-This act of congress allowed
  former soldier to go to college.
• 2. People began to live out in suburbs where they
  could buy a house. William Levitt turned out
  houses like an assembly line. His first
  development was called Levittown.

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• 3. The Baby Boom Between 1946-1964, over 4
  million babies were born. This was a resulted
  because of the following factors
• a. Reunion of families after the war.
• b. Decreasing marriage age.
• c. Desirability for large families.
• d. Confidence in continued economic prosperity.
• e. Advances in medicine (i.e. Dr. Salks
  discovery of the Polio virus vaccine).

Dr. Salk
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• 4. The role of women- Most women lived a very
  traditional lifestyle, in which they stayed at
  home and took care of the kids while their
  husbands worked. In the 1960s, the National
  Organization for Women (NOW) began to stand up
  for various rights.
• http//www.search.eb.com/women/video/ofriedn001v4.
  mov

Betty Friedan has been one of the most outspoken
advocates of womens liberation issues.
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• 5. The Automobile Changes America
• a. In 1956, Eisenhower signs the Interstate
  Highway Act which connected the country with more
  roads and highways. From 1950 to 1960 nearly 20
  million new cars were bought.

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• 6. Consumerism (the buying of material goods)
• Americans began to buy new goods for the
  following reasons 1) People had saved money
  during WWII and now could spend it 2) New
  products were being produced daily

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Cites/Resources

• http//www.trumanlibrary.org/photos/big3b.jpg
• http//www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/history/coldwar/bal
  /bal7.htm
• http//www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/archive/p
  hotos/35percentdmg7_24.htm
• http//lcweb.loc.gov/exhibits/marshall/bearwtext.j
  pg
• http//www.stratnet.ucalgary.ca/outreach/Module1/R
  eadings/1949-1989/NATO_History/1950s.html
• http//www.planio.it/linearossa/lrengmao.htm
• http//www.kmike.com/armistic.htm
• http//www.apl.org/history/mccarthy/cohn.html
• http//www.geocities.com/siafdu/powers.html
• http//www.newsday.com/extras/lihistory/
• http//www.unicover.com/EA6AAC5Q.HTM
• http//www.eclipse.co.uk/mikey/mono.html