6. The Second World War (1941-1945) and the Cold War (1845-1989) Flashcards
America First
US initially remain neutral during WWII
Much like in World War I: isolationist impulse*, harnessed by populist politicians
> America First Committee: 800k members, from range of political background
- Some of its prominents (including Lindbergh): pro-fascist, antisemitic
- It starts out as being isolationist and increasingly it’s taken over by people who are pro-fascists (they’re staying out of the war and that’s their way of supporting Hitler)
* - The America First Movement gets taken over by antisemitic people (e.g. Ford)
^causes huge debate: Isolationism co-opted by fascist opinion vs America First **
isolationism
= a policy of remaining apart from the affairs or interests of other groups, especially the political affairs of other countries
Today isolationist impulse: Trump wants to get the US out of NATO
Truman Doctrine
1947
US must align with democracies, against authoritarian states
- US resists Russian-Communist influence in Europe, Asia and Africa: practical, territorial matter as well as profound ideological question
- Globe splits into 2 (countries affiliated w the US (values, interest) and countries aligned with communist ideas and values)
Warsaw Pact
1955
= soviet alternative to NATO
NATO
- Formation of NATO (1949)
- Collective defence: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was founded in 1949 and is a group of 32 countries from Europe and North America that exists to protect the people and territory of its members
McCarthyism
- Explosion of anxieties regarding Communist threat
- Joseph McCarthy (and J. Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI) leads a ferocious battle against (perceived) Communists
- Explosion of people accusing one another of being communist = a danger to the state = expanding persecution of alleged communists
- Show Trials = no executions, but people were fired and heaved out of their community
- Senate hearings = asking “are you a member of the communist party”
- Hollywood blacklisting (e.g. Charlie Chaplin)
- Lavender Scare = fear that because being gay is considered immoral, you would be blackmailed by communists into spying on your country - Popular support collapses at end of 50s as movement grows hysterical and consumes itself
- McCarthy will himself be accused of being gay during a senate hearing = his undoing
Lavender Scare
fear that because being gay is considered immoral, you would be blackmailed by communists into spying on your country
First and Second Red Scare
First
The First Red Scare, which occurred immediately after World War I, revolved around a perceived threat from the American labor movement, anarchist revolution, and political radicalism that followed revolutionary socialist movements in Germany and Russia during the 19th–early 20th century.
Second
Following Second World War, another victor
- USSR seeks to expand its influence
- Ideological battle with Communism and attempts to contain Communism
- Result of split (e.g. Western vs Eastern Europe):
McCarthyism
Ronald Reagan
1981-89
- Redefines political status quo: Rs embrace conservative, Christian values + economic policies focused on reversing New Deal
- Slogan: “Let’s make America great again“
- “American version of the iron lady, Margaret thatcher”
- Breaking unions and benefits system and redefining social order
- Credited with breaking communism (1989 fall of Berlin Wall)
MLK
Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister, activist, and political philosopher who was one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968
Key moment: MLK’s (1928–1968) March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (“I have a dream” speech)
- MLK was a preacher
- the Civil Rights Movement is lead in large part by religious leaders — why today a number of civil rights leaders are reverends
