7 - Imperial America ('45-'75) -- WIP 3/4 Flashcards
(Post-War America & Conflict at home & abroad) (44 cards)
Domestic Legislation/Events
- Full Employment Bill ‘45 (Truman) - Declared employment to be a right, gov required to ensure that jobs were available, Raised minimum wage, Introduced farm price supports & public works programme
- Interstate Highway Act ‘56 - Boosted federal subsidies for road building, create 41k miles of road, aimed to facilitate rapid evacuation in the event of nuclear attack
- GI Bill of Rights* ‘44 - free training & higher education for veterans, also low interest loans for housing & starting buisnesses
- Truman’s ‘Fair Deal’ - raised minimum wage, housing for the poor, slum clearances
- JFK legislation
- Public Works Act ‘62 - $900M for job creation, Telstar Act ‘62 gave money to develop satalite tech
- LBJ legislation
- Spent huge money on the “War on Poverty”, e.g. Appalachian Regional Development Act ‘65 brought many in the West US out of poverty; they became consumers
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- Spent huge money on the “War on Poverty”, e.g. Appalachian Regional Development Act ‘65 brought many in the West US out of poverty; they became consumers
- Smith Act ‘40 - 11 leaders of the Communist Party were prosecuted under the Smith Act & sentenced to up to 5 years in prison, simply for believing in Communism
- The Red Scare ‘50-‘54
FP Legislation/Events ‘45-‘60
Interventionist & very anti-communist policies & presidents
* NATO ‘49
* USSR created the Warsaw Pact ‘55 to counter NATO, which it saw as an ‘aggressive alliance’
* Truman Doctrine ‘47
* Communism should be containedunism
* Marshall Aid ‘48
* sent $13.3B to 17 EU nations
* Eastern EU invited but not allowed by USSR; Stalin called in “Dollar Imperialism”
* credited for WG’s post-war ‘economic miricle’
* Domino theory results in v. interventionist FP
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Berlin Blockade ‘48-49
* WG introduce new currency (the shared one was doing very badly & Stalin sabotaged it) –> WB electricity & land access to WB cut off
* In the next 15 months, 2.4M tons of food & fuel airlifted to WB under v. fast & organised rotations
* ‘49 (May) Stalin backs down; looks like he caused the conflict (commies less popular), German-NATO attitudes became very positive after the massive effort & the West v. unified
Presidents ‘45-‘60
1.75T - Truman - ‘45-‘52 (D)
2T - Eisenhower - ‘53-‘60 (R)
(most FP is Eisenhower)
0.75T - JFK - ‘60-63 (D)
1.25T - LBJ - ‘63-68 (D)
1.5T - Nixon - ‘69-‘74 (R)
Truman ‘45-‘52 Strengths & Weaknesses
- Strong FP: Truman Doctrine ‘47 - established US policy of providing political, military & economic support to anti-communist countries (e.g. Greece & Turkey)
- Marshal Plan ‘48 - $13B programme to rebuilt Western EU
- NATO formed ‘49
- Domestic economic managment, going from war-peace time economy: gradual demobilisation, support for returning servicemen
- GI Bill ‘44 - veterans got education & housing loans, unemployment compensation, refacilitating them into civilian life
- Civil Rights initiatives
- an executive order in ‘48 desegregated the military & established the President’s Committe on Civil Rights ‘46
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- an executive order in ‘48 desegregated the military & established the President’s Committe on Civil Rights ‘46
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Korean War
- Stalemate & dismissed General MacArthur in ‘51, both of which were unpopular
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Economic Difficulties
- opposition in Congress limited his legislitive success
- Post-war labour strikes & inflation: ~3.5% until ‘47 when it shot up to 28%, but it was back under control by ‘52
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Civil Rights Limitations
- Opposition from Southern Dem.s, thus he had little ability to enact CR despite advocating for them
Eisenhower ‘53-‘60 Strengths & Weaknesses
- Strong FP approach
- Eisenhower Doctrine ‘57 - aid to Middle Eastern countries fighting communism
- Suez Crisis ‘56
- Did quite well for middle class white Americans, but not for others; times were good, but not because of him
- Economic growth, low inflation & unemployment
- Interstate Highway System ‘56 - largest public works project in US history
- “Dynamic Conservatism” executed well
- Strengthened social security programme
- Created the department of Health, Education & Welfare ‘56
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Didn’t like dealing w/ racial issues
- Brown vs Board of Education ‘54 - public schools segregation ruled unlawful. Eisenhower stayed true to the ruling by getting the army to protect the Little Rock 9 ‘57
- In a highly publicised address, he said the way the LR9 were treated was damaging US image; still not ultimately helpful to the AA population
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FP/CIA controversies
- Approved coups in Iran ‘53 & Guatemala ‘54, & organised Bay of Pigs, carried out under JFK, all of which created long term regional instability
- Eisenhower was primarily focused on defence & infastructure, so had limited social priority
JFK ‘60-‘63 Strengths & Weaknesses
- Managed Crises
- Cuban Missile Crisis ‘62 & Berlin Crisis ‘62
- Civil Rights
- Advocated for Civil Rights but only introduced legislation in ‘63, which would become the Civil Rights Act ‘64; his effort made this legislation possible
- Economic Growth
- GDP grew from ‘61-‘63 by 5.5%, industrial production rose by 15%
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- GDP grew from ‘61-‘63 by 5.5%, industrial production rose by 15%
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Bay of Pigs invasion ‘61
- Humiliated the US most importantly infront of Castro & Khrushchev
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Escalation in Vietnam
- Escalated US involvment by sending in 16k US military advisers
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Limited Domestic Legislative success
- Most of the legislation he advocated for only came in under LBJ
LBJ ‘63-‘68 Strengths & Weaknesses
Bad person, good president (except for Vietnam)
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* Significant Civil RIghts progress made, but AAs were still seriously disadvantaged & discriminated against
* Civil Rights Act ‘64 - outlawed segregation & Voting Rights Act ‘65
* Great Society & War on Poverty
* War on Poverty success until Vietnam started draining its funds, as Vietnam cost $80B/year
* Appalachan Regional Development Act ‘65, Head Start, Elementary & Secondary Education Act ‘65 (funding so disadvantaged people can get a better education)
* Passed lots of legislation
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* Vietnam War
* US troops in Vietnam ‘63-‘68: 16k-500k
* Domestic unrest; approval ratings dropped ‘65-‘67: 70%-40%
* Failed to negotiate a peace in Vietnam during his presidency
* When he announced he wasn’t running in ‘68, the Dem party panicked, & Kennedy (JFK’s brother) was assassinated on the night he won the California primaries
Nixon ‘69-‘74 Strengths & Weaknesses
- Detente
- Nixon’s visit to China in ‘72 vastly improved relations
- SALT 1 & overall cooling down of the Cold War
- Environmental Initiatives
- Environmental Protection Agency ‘70 - oversaw environmental protection efforts
- Some strong domestic policies
- Equal Pay Act ‘73 - same pay for the same job regardless of gender, but did nothing about hiring discrimination
- Family Assistance Plan (FAP) would have given direct grant of $1.6k/year to families of 4 in poverty (benefiting AAs especially), but Congress blocked it
- Devalued the $ in ‘71 & ‘73; first time created an economic boom, thus winning him the ‘72 election, but economy was bad otherwise
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Very limited Domestic policy achievement; Dem congress
- Family Assistance Plan ‘69 blocked
- Watergate led to widespread public distrust resigned in ‘74 to avoid impeachment
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Economic Challenges
- “New Great Depression” - by ‘74 inflation was 12%, unemployment 9%, production down by 15%
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Vietnam Policy weaknesses
- ‘69-‘71 Nixon expanded the war into Laos & Cambodia
- “Vietnamisation” of the war, but led to the fall of Saigon in ‘75
Changing Domestic US life overview
Gender roles were beginning to shift slightly
* Women in the labour force: 34%-38% across the ’50s
* Married women in work: 36%-60% from ‘40-‘60
* Women in uni: 721k-1.3M from ‘50-‘60
* Career women blamed for many social problems such as teenage drinking
* TV reinforced stereotypes
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Baby Boom
* 4M babies/year from ‘54-‘64
* By ‘64, only 40% of the population had been born pre-‘46
* Most women were pregnant after on average 7 months after marriage
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Labour saving devices
* By ‘51, 90% of US families had a fridge & 75% had washing machines & telephones
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Leisure time & Disposable Income
* By ‘60, there were over 50M TVs in the US
* American Express was established ‘58
* By ‘53, average families annual income was $4k
* Disposable income rose by 17%
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Rise in Consumption (food)
* Early ’50s, the US consumed 33% of all world goods and controlled 66% of the world’s productive capacity
* 2B hot dogs were consumed in ‘60
* Average yearly family consumption included 300lb beef, 31 chickens and 8.5 gallons of icecream
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Levittowns (Other flashcard)
Levittowns
- A home was built every 16mins
- Pre-war = 5 homes/year per builder; Levitt produced 2,000
- ‘45-‘55, 15M houses were built
- Home owning Americans from: 50%-60% from ‘45-‘60
- No. of ppl living in suburbs: 17%-33% from ‘20-‘60
- By late ‘50s there were over 4k shopping malls
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Derelict inner cities suffered due to the ‘flight of the middle classes’ and & of investment
___ - Levitt had made a booming buisness of mass-produced homes, & it became a staple of the AmDr; an opportunity to live in a “modern home” (e.g. a built-in TV) for city-dwellers who could afford it
- Affordable becuase of the ‘48 Housing Bill, which loosened $Billions in credit
- Called themselves manufacturers rather than builders
- First began in ‘47, sold for $8k
- Entirely White population; prosperity/affluence still unattainable for AAs
Causes of the Age of Affluence
Consumerism
* Car industry sales rose 70k-6.7M from ‘45-‘50
* In ‘58, more cars in LA than Asia
* Advertising, e.g. Levittowns highliting the AmDr
* Spending on household appliances rose by 500%
* Hire-purchase schemes; ppl took on debt to buy stuff
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Presidential Policies
* GI Bill of Rights ‘44 - free training & higher education for veterans, also low interest loans for housing & starting buisnesses
* Truman’s ‘Fair Deal’ - raised minimum wage, housing for the poor, slum clearances
* Eis. strengthened the Social Security programme, increased the minimum wage from 75 cent-$1
* Interstate Highway Act ‘56 - 41k miles of road to be constructed; Millions of jobs
* JFK
* Public Works Act ‘62 - $900M for job creation, Telstar Act ‘62 gave money to develop satalite tech
* LBJ
* Spent huge money on the “War on Poverty”, e.g. Appalachian Regional Development Act ‘65 brought many in the West US out of poverty; they became consumers (Consumerism main reason)
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The Cold War
* Marshall Aid helped to rebuild EU trade
* Arm race stimulated industries; high tech industries e.g. Bowing (also caused by higher gov. spending)
* Vietnam kept spending on war industries high
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Baby Boom
* Pop. growth: 152M-180M from ‘50-‘60
* Within ave. 7 months of marriage, women were pregnant
* Encouraged spending on homes, labour saving devices, children’s clothes & toys
Effects of the Age of Affluence
Consumerism
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Prosperity for some
* Per capita income was at $1,450; almost 2x the UK
* 7% of global pop., 42% of global income
* GDP 3x from ‘40-‘60
* 87% of families own a TV & 75% owned a car
* Home ownership ‘50-‘60: 55%-62%
* Poverty sharply declined ‘60-‘66; 21.1%-15%; “the New Fronteer” & “War on Poverty” especially helped older ppl
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Federal government spending:
* ‘39, $9.4B
* ‘45, $92.2B
* ‘48, $36.5B
Limitations of the Age of Affluence
A significant minority of Americans continued to live in poverty
* Poverty in ‘47: 60% of AA families, 23% of White families
* Poverty in ‘64: 23% of AA families, 9% of white families
* Older Americans didn’t benifit as much from the post war economic boom
* There was a recession ‘60-‘61, JFK had to promise to ‘‘get America moving again”
* Particular poverty in the south & cities
* In ‘47, 33% of US homes lacked running water & 40% didn’t have flushing toilets
Causes of McCarthyism
- ‘49 fall of China blamed on insufficient state departments
- Cold War developed in Europe
- ‘49 US lost its Nuclear Monopoly; scientists from the Manhattan Project gave info to help USSR catch up to US
Effects of McCarthyism
- ‘49 Truman sets up the ‘Loyalty Review Board
- within 4yrs, 1.2K Gov. employees dismissed, 6k resigned
- over 150 organisations banned & 11 leaders of the Communist Party were prosecuted & sentenced to 5yrs in prison
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Alger Kiss trial - president of the Carnegie Institute put on trial
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- ‘50 McCarthy made speech declaring he had a list of spies in Gov. (never released)
- ‘53 McCarthy given control of Senate Committee on Government Operations
- One of the most popular men in US in early ‘50s
- Persecuted & ruined the lives of thousands of innocent people
- The inflence of communism was definetly present, but far overblown, causing sig. less harm than McCarthyism did
___ - ‘54 TV exposed his bullying tactics, lack of evidence & drunkenness
- ‘54 McCarthy accussed the army & lost public support
FP in Europe ‘45-‘60 (Eisenhower)
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Hungary
- In ‘56 Khrushchev began relaxing Stalinist control over E.Europe until moderate communists threatened to leave the Warsaw Pact - he sent in tanks & had their leader shot
- The rebels had asked for US intervention, but it was considered too risky
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Berlin
- The West initially refused to recognise EG –> Khrushchev threatened ‘dire consequences’ by ‘59, he backed down
- First Eisenhower-Khrushchev summit in ‘59, but no progress made on Berlin, & ‘60 summit failed after USSR found & shot down US spy plane over USSR
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Austria
- Eisenhower was involved in the Austrian State Treaty of ‘55, ending Austria’s Occupation after 8yrs of East-West negotiations
- Eisenhower worried Austrian neutrality could lead to WG neutrality & threaten American security
- Occupation forces to withdrawn & established Austria’s neutral status, creating a barrier of neutral countries seperating W.Europe
- Austria becomes a stable & prosperous country
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- Eisenhower also met with British, French, & USSR leaders in Geneva ‘55, Eisenhower proposed the US & USSR exchange military establishment blueprints
- Khrushchev - leader from ‘55 - threatened the West less militarily but more diplomatically, seeking allies in the Middle East & stirring up W.Europeans to stop German rearmament
FP in Suez (Eisenhower)
- ‘56 Nassar (Eygpt leader) took control of Suez Canal from Britain & France, who invaded the Canal Zone with Israel w/out US support
- US forced them to back down w/ financial sanctions
- Britain & France clearly no longer superpowers, unable to act w/out US support
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- Britain & France clearly no longer superpowers, unable to act w/out US support
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The Eisenhower Doctrine ‘57 - offered military aid to any Arab country who needed it; Eisenhower believed relationships with East were needed for oil & to protect against the Communist bloc
- Eygpt & Syria were already moving towards the USSR due to the US’s familiar Western ‘colonial’ mentality
FP in Asia outside of China ‘45-‘60
Korean War ‘50-‘53
* North invaded South in ‘50, almost won until US troops got backup & w/ UN troops almost won, then stalemate in middle until ‘53
* Both sides saw it as a sign of aggression from the other
Japan
* To become satalite state & independant from commie North
* Japan gov. system completely reformed; no imperialism, free market, Emperor just a figurehead; set up Japan’s economic boom; thus preventing communism in Japan
* Defensive perimeter
FP w/ China ‘45-‘60
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Chinese Civil War
- US gave $4B of aid to Chiang Kai-shek/Nationalists
- ‘49, Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan
- US refused to acknowledge the P.R.China & instead only had diplomatic relations w/ the R.O.China government in Taiwan
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Tensions w/ the P.R.China
- Capitalist-Communist hatred for eachother
- both saw the Korean war as a sign of aggression
- US-Taiwan defence treaty ‘54 - US military bases established in Taiwan
- US put trade embargo on China ‘49
- China excluded from the UN
- ‘55 & ‘58 China shelled Taiwanese islands (Queymoy & Matsu). Eisenhower hinted at using a Nuclear bomb/military action & China stepped down.
Berlin Wall Crisis ‘61 & ‘62
Overview of Rising Tensions ‘60-‘62
* Berlin Crisis & Cuban Missile Crisis showed that conflict between the Superpowers would clash
* BUT that they could and had the willingness to negotiate out of formal conflict
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Berlin Wall built in ‘62
* JFK said “Ich bin ein Berliner” & “A wall is a hell of a lot better than a war”
* Stand-off at Checkpoint Charlie for 16 hours
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* American U2 spy plane incident - Powers admitted to spying, became unpopular
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USSR is tightening control over its Satellite states
* ‘56 USSR crushes Hungarian uprising
* Khrushchev denounced Stalinism in ‘56, but after Hungarian Uprising being a reaction to this loosening of their grip, he tightens Soviet control again
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Much more on paper sheets; to be converted
Causes of the Cuban Missile Crisis ‘62
- ‘59 - Castro takes power in Cuba, ejects all US businessmen & investment. In retaliation, US refused to buy Cuban sugar - its biggest export.
- Khrushchev was keen to outmanoeuvre the inexperienced JFK & expand Soviet influence to the Caribbean
___ - In ‘61 JFK sanctioned an invasion by Cuban exiles who would allow for a popular revolution against Castro; the Bay of Pigs Invasion
- The invasion was a disaster:
- Over in 2 days w/ 100 killed & 1.2k surrendered
- US air support was restricted
- Castro was already popular & his position strengthened, he grew closer ties to the USSR, & announced his conversion to Communism in ‘61
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‘62 - Cuba starts to construct Soviet Ballistic missiles, & a US U2 spy plane over Cuba reveals this, causing panic, as most major US cities were now in range of a Nuclear strike.
- JFK’s advisors were split between Hawks, who wanted aggression/war, & Doves, who wanted diplomacy
- The US imposed naval blockade on Cuba, which the USSR threatened to break, though they retreated & threatened nuclear war
- JFK asked for Khrushchev to remove missiles from Cuba, & Khrushchev said he would if the US agreed to not invade Cuba & remove missiles from Turkey
- The deal went through & missiles were removed from Turkey & Italy in secret
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Vasily Arkhipov stops a submarine from starting WWIII; Global tension was so fragile that a single decision of one man was the difference between peace and war
Results of the Cuban Missile Crisis ‘62
- JFK appeared stronger than Khrushchev, as to the West it appeared like Khrushchev had backed down
- Missile withdrawal from Turkey & Italy was kept secret
- US overconfidence following their perceived victory –> Vietnam
- USSR determined to not back down again, and achieved nuclear parity by the end of the decade
- Soviet missiles were never finished in Cuba, and so overall the US lost their advantage instead of the Soviets gaining one
- Arguably a Soviet victory
- ‘63 - Hotline agreement, so that the White House & the Kremlin could directly call each other to prevent influence in their own governments excacerbating things
- Partial Test Ban Treaty ‘63 - US & USSR agreed to stop testing nukes in the atmosphere (underground still legal)
Détente Overview
Sino-Soviet split important to Detente
* Clashes between the two on interpretations on application of communism on their two societies
* ‘Triangular Diplomacy’ (exploit teh split)
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Reasons for improved relations w/ China
* ‘71 - US lifted its 21 year long trade embargo w/ China
* China denounced Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia ‘68
* Nixon & Kissenger wanted to exploit the Sino-Soviet split to force the USSR into Détente
* Closer US-China relations may help end Vietnam War
* Policy of linkage
* Mao believed China needed Detente - stimulus for Chinese trade & industry
* Mao also thought Nixon could withdraw US troops from Asia - esp. Vietnam - so US less of a threat than the USSR
* Nixon was very anti commie; thought he could not be swayed by commies so he visited China
* Ping-Pong diplomacy
* Vietnam - helped end it
* Cuba crisis & the creation of the US-USSR Hotline
Nixon’s visit to China in ‘71
- Needed an end to Vietnam war
- Domestic tension
- Some troop standoff on USSR-China border
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Nixon visits China - Shook hands and joked; broke the ice; Postpones their deep problems; 1 China policy
- Led to SALT I agreements, which saw both US & USSR limited to their amount of missile silos in ‘69
- Nixon-Kissenger strategy was VERY SUCCESSFUL
- Opened relations w/ China
- Arms control & Detente w/ USSR
- Greatly helped to end Vietnam War & brought US POWs home
