7 - Imperial America ('45-'75) -- WIP Flashcards
(Post-War America & Conflict at home & abroad)
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
___
- 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
___
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
Overall
*
___
Social
*
___
Political
*
___
Economic
*
Eisenhower ‘53-‘60 Strengths & Weaknesses
Overall
* Did quite well for middle class white Americans, but not for others
* Times were good, but not because of him
* “Dynamic Conservatism” executed well
Social
* Strengthened social security programme
* 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
In a highly publicised adress, he said the way the LR9 were treated was damaging US image; still not ultimately helpful to the AA population
___
Political
* Created the department of Health, Education & Welfare ‘56
* Too pro-BB, as his cabinet was mostly made up of millionaire buisnessmen
___
Economic
*
JFK ‘60-‘63 Strengths & Weaknesses
Overall
*
___
Social
*
___
Political
*
___
Economic
*
LBJ ‘63-‘68 Strengths & Weaknesses
Overall
* Bad person, good president (except for Vietnam)
___
Social
* Significant Civil RIghts progress made, but AAs were still seriously disadvantaged & discriminated against
* War on Poverty success until Vietnam started draining its funds, as Vietnam cost $80B/year
___
Political
* 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
___
Economic
* .
Nixon ‘69-‘74 Strengths & Weaknesses
Overall
* Very limited Domestic policy achievement; Dem congress
* Watergate
___
Social
* 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
___
Political
* Watergate coverup
* Disagreements w/ Dem Congress
___
Economic
* Devalued the $ in ‘71 & ‘73; first time created an economic boom, thus winning him the ‘72 election, but economy was bad otherwise
* “New Great Depression” - by ‘74 inflation was 12%, unemployment 9%, production down by 15%
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
___
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
___
Labour saving devices
* By ‘51, 90% of US families had a fridge & 75% had washing machines & telephones
___
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%
___
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
___
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
-
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
___
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)
___
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
___
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
___
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
___
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
-
Alger Kiss trial - president of the Carnegie Institute put on trial
___
- ‘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)
-
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
-
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
-
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
___
- 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
___
- Britain & France clearly no longer superpowers, unable to act w/out US support
-
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
-
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
___
-
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
___
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
___
* American U2 spy plane incident - Powers admitted to spying, became unpopular
___
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
___
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
___
‘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
___
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)
___
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
___
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
Vietnam War Facts ‘64-‘73
US War Crimes
* Agent Orange dropped by US to kill the jungles the Vietkong hid in
* Had long lasting effects on Vietnam, such as birth defects still present 50 years after the war ended
* My Lai Massacre ‘68
* 347 men, women & children were murdered by US troops, who were behaving brutally due to low morale and drug taking - one soldier charged w/ killing 109 ppl only served 2 years hard labour; shocked US & anti-war demonstrations surged
___
* Average age of US soldier in Vietnam was 22, and disproportionately AAs
* Most soldiers were ‘drafted’; selected by lottery to join the army, but rich men were able to dodge the draft by faking a medical condition
* From ‘61-’75, 2.2M men were drafted
* In ‘63, JFK sent 16k military ‘advisers’ to help SV
* In ‘63, Diệm was assassinated in a coup from his own army, thus leaving SV w/out a strong government in control
Why the US failed in Vietnam
Unpopular Tactics
* Use of Agent Orange, Napalm, & indiscriminate aerial bombardment
* Vietnamese ppl further resented the US’s chemical warfare & so refused to surrender, especially from rural farming populations
* Viet Cong even more popular in South, making the Guerilla tactics even more effective
Strength of Communists
* Tet Offensive ‘68 successes demoralised the US
* Guerilla Warfare & tunnels
* Minimised pitched battles and reduced the effectiveness of higher tech US weaponry in jungles of Vietnam
* Due to fear of US bombing raids, the Viet Cong developed tunnels as air raid shelters; the tunnels around Saigon ran for 320k
* A safe haven for Viet Cong, but booby trapped so also a death trap for US & S.Vietnamese troops
* NV were more motivated by Independence & Communism - would not surrender, compared to US draftees
___
US weaknesses
* Average age of draftees = 22, & unprepared for guerilla warfare
* Low morale led to drug-taking & brutal behaviour, such as the My Lai Massacre
___
Attitudes in America
* Kent State Shootings ‘70 - Ohio national guard troops shot at unarmed student protesters, killing 4 & wounding 9
* Draft system
* Images on TV, the failure of not achieving a quick victory, the 58k US troops lost and the use of war crimes like Napalm seriously harmed public support/morale
* The cost of war - estimated $352B spent, though economists have estimated this to be half/a third of total cost
* ~$2B in foreign aid to Viet Cong (China & USSR) ‘65-’68
* 8k anti-aircraft guns & 200 anti-aircraft missiles
___
Role of Nixon
* Vietnamisation - ~
* ‘Peace with Honour’ - ~
* Nixon announced first 540k troops’ withdrawal in ‘69, & only 334k US troops left in Vietnam by ‘70
* SV forces went from 820k-968k in the same time; unable to replace US presence
Vietnam War Causes
- NV was opposed to SEATO; saw it as new form of Western Colonialism
- French colony → invaded by Japan in WWII → Ho Chi Minh led resistance movement/the Vietminh & declared Vietnamese independence in ‘45 → France tried to take it back, but defeated in ‘54
- Still strong scepticism of West
___
Since the peace treaty w/ France in ‘54 the country was divided North-South until elections were held - which there never were - Communist North - Hồ Chí Minh
- US-backed South - Ngô Đình Diệm
___
Civil War broke out in ‘55 - Hồ Chí Minh was very popular in the North & South, as they were unhappy w/ Diệm
- Diệm was incredibly unpopular, corrupt (gave power to his family), Anti-Buddhist, though the majority in the country were Bhuddists; Diệm was Christian. Most people in SV’s religion were under threat and treated poorly by the Gov.
- Famously, ~6 monks burned themselves to death in the streets, showing no pain, in protest of Diệm.
- SV looked very likely to fall to Communism, sparking fears of the domino theory
___
Domino Theory
- If one country falls to Communism, countries around it will also fall
‘48 Election
Truman wins 59.6%, though expected to lose to Dewey
Turnout: 52%
‘52 Election
Eisenhower wins 55.2%
Turnout: 63%
‘56 Election
Eisenhower wins 60.2%
Turnout: 57%
‘60 Election
JFK wins 49.7%, against Nixon
Turnout: 63%
‘64 Election
LBJ wins 61.1%, against Goldwater
Turnout: 62%
‘68 Election
Nixon wins 43.4%, against Humphrey & Wallace (who may have divided the vote; he got the racist vote)
Turnout: 62%
‘72 Election
Nixon wins 60.7%
Turnout: 63%
Civil Rights ‘45-‘75 Legislation/Events
Civil Rights ‘45-‘75 Change evidence
Civil Rights ‘45-‘75 Continuity evidence
Non-CR Social ‘45-‘75 Legislation/Events
Non-CR Social ‘45-‘75 Change evidence
Non-CR Social ‘45-‘75 Continuity evidence
How the Reps & Dems changed ‘45-‘75
How US society changed ‘45-‘75
How US FP changed ‘45-‘75
