Ch. 23 The US and the Cold War

"Containment"

"Containment," in this time, was the prevention of expansion of Soviet power. US committed to this after George Kennan advised the Truman administration that the Soviets could not be dealt with as normal government.

What were the major initiatives of Truman's domestic policies?

After WWII, President Truman's first domestic task was to help the nation transition from wartime to a peaceful economy. There was a lot of shifts post-war in response to troops coming back in and regaining the jobs the women had during war. Truman hoped to pick momentum back up of the New Deal, so he enacted the Fair Deal to improve the standard of living. His goal was to raise minimum wage, enact national health insurance, and expand education. Truman reached out to the black community, and later, several states established fair employment practices and public accommodations. Truman also attempted to insure federal civil rights laws, but Congress approved none of his proposals. Truman did, however, issue an executive order to desegregate the armed forces, making it the largest institution in America promoting racial integration.

Loyalty Review System

After announcing the Truman Doctrine, President Truman established a loyalty review system in which government employees were required to demonstrate their patriotism without knowledge of the charges against them. This system mostly questioned those who were suspected of disloyalty to the US, but also homosexuals who worked for the government. This system failed to uncover any cases of espionage, but the government did dismiss many people from their jobs.

Why did the US not support movements for colonial independence around the world during the Cold War?

As there was an increased awareness of the problem of imperialism, many countries pushed for colonial independence much like the US did in the American Declaration of Independence. Liberals and black leaders urged the Truman administration to promote worldwide decolonization, insisting a free world means free of colonization. However, as the Cold War developed, the US stopped pressuring Europe to grant self-government to their colonies because the US defined countries as members of the Free World as long as they jointed the anticommunist alliance.

How have the Japanese created popular cultural interpretations of the bombings to cope with what they experienced? For instance, Barefoot Glen.

Barefoot Glen is one depiction of the bombings as a Japanese anime cartoon. The film is very terrifying. It was written by a peace activist that hoped people would empathize with the Japanese, even though it only reveals part of the story (not the part where Japanese were aggressors). Other atomic bomb survivors struggled to put into visual images what they experienced. It took them years to talk about and visualize their experience. There were depictions of mothers with children and brutal bombing images. It is a sense of reflection for the survivors, many years after the event happened.

"Totalitarianism"

During the Cold War, the idea of "totalitarianism" referred to countries that had aggressive government control of private life where there were no individual rights. This term often was used to describe fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. This redefined the idea of American freedom by saying that freedom was the opposite of what Moscow describe as freedom.

Long Telegram

George Kennan sent the famous Long Telegram from Moscow to America to advise the Truman administration that Soviets could not be dealt with as normal government. It laid the foundation for containment, which the US committed to preventing expansion of Soviet power.

How did the Cold War reshape ideas of American freedom?

Ideas of American freedom were shaped from many events in history, including the Great Depression and both World Wars. The Cold War had a big impact on the concept of human rights. An assembly of the UN approved of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that covered a broad range of right that people should enjoy everywhere. This included freedom of speech, religious toleration, and protection against the government. People were also entitled to an adequate standard of living and access to housing, education, and medical care. On top of this new standard, the Cold War also led a lot of people to think that freedom was the opposite of whatever Moscow defined as freedom. So anything that was "socialized" was the opposite of freedom.

Hollywood Ten

In 1947, it was launched that well-known actors and directors had to appear before a committee because the movie industry was thought to harbor many communists. The Hollywood Ten were ten unfriendly witnesses who refused to answer questions about their political beliefs. None would answer questions on their political beliefs, so they were charged to serve time in jail.

Army-McCarthy Hearings

Joseph McCarthy was a man who accused many people of disloyalty and charged many individuals and government agencies. The Army-McCarthy Hearings revealed the McCarthy was a bully who made terrible accusations with no basis in fact. "McCarthyism" became known as a term for character assassination and power in the name of anticommunism.

Decolonization

Liberal Democrats and black leaders urged the promotion of worldwide decolonization. Decolonization insisted that a Free World meant that dependent countries should be given their independence and should be free of control from an empire.

How did the Cold War affect civil liberties in the US?

Many black organizations used the Cold War as rhetoric for their own purposes. With new ideas of freedom from the war, this called for greater attention of civil rights. President Truman had called for more attention to civil rights. However, the Cold War did not prove to help the imperfections in US society. There were laws banning discrimination, however, most went unenforced. Society eventually began to boom after the war, but there was declining opportunities for minorities in America.

How did the government attempt to shape public opinion during the Cold War?

National security agencies encouraged Hollywood to produce anticommunist movies. They wanted movies depicted with the better parts of American history and censorship of the negative parts. For example, they urged the film industry to remove references to Indian removal and racial discrimination. Also, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) funded overseas publications, conferences, concerts, and art exhibits. These were all an attempt to improve the international image of American race relations. For example, the government sent jazz musicians and other black performed to Africa and Asia to try and seize support and to appear friendly.

President Truman referred to the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan as "two halves of the same walnut." Explain the similarities and differences between these two aspects of containment.

President Truman announced in the Truman Doctrine that the US should embrace the Cold War as the foundation of American foreign policy and that the Cold War is the beginning of the worldwide struggle over freedom. One of the main focuses of this doctrine was the policy of "containment," meaning containing communism from expanding. America had the duty to expand and defend freedom wherever there was the threat of communism. The Marshall Plan was built on the policy of containment from the Truman Doctrine and sought to enforce the doctrine. The Marshall Plan was all about providing aid to allies and aid Europe in rebuilding.

Truman Doctrine

President Truman announced the Truman Doctrine, in which he officially embraced the Cold War as a foundation for American foreign policy. This program served to give aid to foreign countries (Greece, Turkey) that were threatened by Communism.

What were the major components of Truman's Fair Deal? Which ones were implemented and which ones were not?

President Truman's Fair Deal was focused on raising the standard of living in America by increasing the minimum wage, enacting national health care, expanding public housing, expanding Social Security, and giving more aid to education. Congress turned aside his program. The Fair Deal enacted tax cuts for wealthy Americans. It also led to the passing of the Taft-Hartley Act, which reversed gains made by organized labor. It prevented strikes and boycotts and outlawed the requirement for a worker to be a union member. During Truman's presidency, though, many states outlawed work discrimination and more civil rights movements were made.

Dixiecrats

The Dixiecrats were a group of Southern Democrats who protested the party's support for civil rights legislation. They nominated for president Governor Strom Thurmond of South Carolina and his platform called for complete segregation of the races. Thurmond's supporters consisted of those alarmed by Truman's civil rights initiatives.

Fair Deal

The Fair Deal was President Truman's program after WWII. This Fair Deal focused on improving the standard of living for Americans. He called on Congress to increase the minimum wage, enact national health insurance, and give aid to education.

Marshall Plan

The Marshall Plan was one of the most successful foreign aid programs in history. This program for reconstruction of Europe after WWII gave a lot of aid to allies and former enemy nations. The Marshall Plan caused Western Europe production to become very successful and lead to a mass-consumption society. However, the Soviets would not participate, which put a clear division on the continent.

McCarran-Walter Act

The McCarran-Walter Act was immigration legislation that called for the deportation of immigrants identified as communists, even if they had become citizens. This act also replaced national quotes with the system taking into account family reunion, labor needs, and politics with immigration.

NSC-68

The NSC-68 was a manifesto that described the Cold War as a struggle between "the idea of freedom" and the "idea of slavery under the grim oligarchy of the Kremlin." This led to a dramatic increase in military spending and was part of the global crusade against communism.

National Security Council

The National Security Council (as well as the Central Intelligence Agency, CIA) was established in response to the Truman administration saying the US had a responsibility to stop communism and protect freedom. This Council served to gather intelligence and conduct military operations abroad.

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was established by ten European nations, the US, and Canada. This organization pledged mutual defense against any future Soviet attack. This was the first long-term military alliance since the joining of the US and France during the American Revolution.

Taft-Hartley Act

The Taft-Hartley Act contained provisions seeking to weaken labor unions and ban boycotts. It outlawed the closed shop, which required a worker to be a union member and authorized states to pass laws that prohibited other forms of compulsory union membership.

Explain the differences between the US' and the Soviet Unions' application of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights was drafted and identified a broad range of rights that all people should enjoy including freedom of speech and religious tolerance. There was a big lack of enforcement of this policy because the US and Soviet Union wanted to conduct the policy as they desired. Both the US and Soviet Union placed emphasis on certain provisions in the Declaration. The Soviets provided social and economic rights, but violated civil liberties. As such, many American's condemned these nonpolitical rights as a path to socialism. There were a lot of ambiguities in human rights following this Declaration.

In the post-war period, how did the US engage with Japan?

The US occupation of Japan was very successful because they spared the Japanese emperor to keep the Japanese population unified and stable. ??

What effects did the anticommunism of the Cold War have on American politics and culture?

The anticommunism crusade affected America because there were issues with disloyalty. President Truman announced a loyalty review system in which government employees were required to demonstrate patriotism. The government also targeted homosexuals who worked for the government because they were deemed susceptible to blackmail by Soviets and supposedly lacked qualities needed to help fight communism. The government failed to uncover any cases of espionage, but the federal government dismissed hundreds of people from their jobs. There was also a target on people in Hollywood. Celebrities had to testify and "name names" over who might be disloyal. The Hollywood Ten were tried because they refused to speak up, believing it violated their First Amendment rights. Many states required loyalty oaths by people of many professions and banned communists from holding a driver's license. People that did not give up political views often lost their jobs. Libraries had to removed books that were "un-American" and universities refused to have left-wing speakers and fired teachers who did not take the loyalty oath. President Truman did, however, see the crusade was getting out of control and passed the McCarran-Walter Act to have a more flexible immigration system. It did keep quotas and called for deportation of communists, but it took into consideration labor needs and family reunion.

"Iron Curtain" Speech

Winston Churchill gave an "Iron Curtain" speech that declared that there was this "iron curtain" across Europe. Europe was partitioned into the free West and the communist East.

How did the anticommunist crusade affect organized labor in the postwar period?

With this communist fear in the US, there were loyalty oaths and patriotic questioning throughout the country. States required loyalty oaths of teachers, pharmacists, and members of other professions. Those who failed to testify about their political beliefs and inform of possible communists often lost their jobs. The Cold War fueled economic growth and job opportunities, but started a deep look at loyalty and disloyalty that extended to the workplace.

What series of events and ideological conflict prompted the Cold War? & What major ideological conflicts, security interests, and events brought about the Cold War?

• The alliance the US and the Soviet Union had in WWII began to unravel almost immediately after the war. The first confrontation was as the Soviets began installing procommunist governments in countries throughout Europe. Through the Long Telegram, the Truman administration was advised that the Soviets must be dealt with, and so the policy of "containment" was founded in which the US committed to preventing expansion of Soviet Power. Later, Truman announced the Truman Doctrine, which described the worldwide struggle over the future of freedom. This served to provide aid to countries threatened by communism all in the name of freedom. Tension grew as the Soviets tested their first atomic bomb and later, the US, Canada, and several European nations established the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to defend against Soviet attacks. From the US perspective, this conflict was all about leading the world towards international freedom and the promotion of anti-imperialism. • Summary: There was a big conflict with the Soviets wanting to rise to power and spread communism, but the US promotes freedom and wants to stop communism. In doing so, the US tried to "contain" it. The US got word of this through the Long Telegram, and therefore established programs to stop it (NATO, Truman Doctrine). Also, there was a scare from the Soviets testing atomic bombs.