Fifth Party System [1933–1972] V Flashcards
Review - Timeline: Post-War Prosperity and Cold War Fears, 1945-1960
1946: George Kennan sends Long Telegram from Moscow. 1947: Truman Doctrine announced; first Levittown house sold. 1948: Berlin Airlift begins. 1950: North Korean troops cross 38th parallel. 1952: Dwight D. Eisenhower elected president. 1953: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg executed for espionage. 1954: Supreme Court rules on Brown v. Board of Education; Bill Haley and ‘His Comets’ record “Rock Around the Clock”. 1955: Montgomery bus boycott begins. 1957: Little Rock’s Central High School integrates; USSR launches Sputnik.
Genesis of the Cold War - Potsdam Conference
The intention of the Potsdam Conference in 1945 was to discuss the realignment of post-war Europe. However, discussions broke down into threats. The United States and Soviet Union agreed upon the division of Berlin, but the Soviets, under the leadership of Joseph Stalin, wanted to acquire Poland as a buffer against future attacks. President Harry Truman rejected Stalin’s demands, citing the right of self-determination in the case of Poland. Truman then revealed his master card: the atomic bomb. Upon learning of the destructive weapon, Stalin ordered a crash program to commence in order to speed arms development and counter the atomic bomb.
Genesis of the Cold War - Truman Cancels the Lend-Lease Act
In September 1945, as a means of limiting Soviet economic reconstruction, Truman suspended the Lend-Lease Act, which was an infusion of monetary and military aid from the United States to beleaguered nations during the Second World War. Unfortunately, the plan backfired as the Soviets decided to acquire satellite states, (known as members of the Warsaw Pact) in order to make up for the lost funding.
Genesis of the Cold War - George Kennan’s ‘Long Telegram’
The ‘X Article’ (or ‘Long Telegram’), formally titled ‘The Sources of Soviet Conduct’, was an article written by George F. Kennan under the pseudonym “Mr. X” and published in Foreign Affairs magazine in July 1947. Kennan, who was the Deputy Chief of Mission of the United States to the USSR from 1944 to 1946, advocated in the article a policy of containment of the Soviet Union and strong anti-communism.
Genesis of the Cold War - Truman Doctrine
In 1947, the Truman Doctrine was issued in an attempt to combat the Soviet “menace”. The policy called for money to be transferred to third world nations, such as Greece and Turkey, in an attempt to prevent communist expansion and gain allies in the battle against communism. The Truman Doctrine was synonymous with the Marshall Plan, launched in the same year. The Marshall Plan encouraged funding to reconstruct European nations devastated by the Second World War. The hope was to prevent Soviet subversion into the weakened governments.
Genesis of the Cold War - National Security Act of 1947
Truman passed the ‘National Security Act of 1947’, which led to the creation of the Air Force, National Security Council, Central Intelligence Agency, and Department of Defense. All of this was done in an effort to combat the Soviet Union and communism.
Genesis of the Cold War - Containment
Containment was the foremost tool of the United States in combating the Soviet Union. This policy, drafted by Kennan and approved by Truman in 1947, called for action to be taken against international communist expansion by containing and keeping communism from spreading into different countries. Containment was eventually enlarged as the United States suspected communism in places such as Laos, Germany, Vietnam, Korea, and Cuba.
Genesis of the Cold War - NATO, Hydrogen Bomb, and China.
The creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, in 1949 symbolized the unity against communist expansion by Britain, Canada, and the United States. The same year also witnessed the development of the hydrogen bomb by the United States, as well as the severing of diplomatic ties with Mao Zedong’s communist China.
Genesis of the Cold War - National Security Council Report-68, or NSC-68
‘United States Objectives and Programs for National Security’, better known as NSC-68, was a 66-page top secret ‘National Security Council’ (NSC) policy paper drafted by the ‘Department of State’ and ‘Department of Defense’ and presented to President Harry S. Truman on 7 April 1950. It was one of the most important American policy statements of the Cold War. In the words of scholar Ernest R. May, NSC-68 “provided the blueprint for the militarization of the Cold War from 1950 to the collapse of the Soviet Union at the beginning of the 1990s.” NSC-68 and its subsequent amplifications advocated a large expansion in the military budget of the United States, the development of a hydrogen bomb, and increased military aid to allies of the United States. It made the rollback of global Communist expansion a high priority. NSC-68 rejected the alternative policies of friendly détente and containment of the Soviet Union.
Korean War
In summary, between 1945 and 1950, the United States and Soviet Union both wanted to establish its respective ideologies within Korea. By 1950, Korea was divided at the 38th parallel. On June 25, 1950, the Korean War began when North Korea (led by Kim Il-sung), supported by the Soviet Union and China, invaded South Korea (led by Syngman Rhee), which was supported by the United States. General MacArthur, leader of the United Nations forces, drove the North Koreans back across the divide, yet encountered a Chinese invasion. The war languished for an additional two years until an armistice was reached on July 27, 1953. However, the armistice was not followed by a peace treaty. North and South Korea are still engaged in conflict to this day.
Korean War - Summarize the causes of the Korean War
When Japan fell during the Second World War, Korea was suddenly free, and hoped to finally be able to decide the fate of their own country. Most Koreans campaigned for a unified state. However, the Soviets wanted to expand communist influence into Korea and the U.S countered by encouraging the establishment of democracy and stressed containment.
Korean War - proxy war
The Korean War was the first battle of the Cold War, and first major proxy war fought between the United States and a Soviet communist supported enemy. A proxy war occurs when one or more opposing powers instigates a war and then uses third parties to fight on their behalf. Other examples of proxy wars include the Vietnam War and the War in Afghanistan.
Korean War - The War Commences
At the Potsdam Conference in 1945, the Allies decided to split Korea into two parts at the 38th parallel. Armed with Soviet rifles and tanks, North Korea crossed the 38th parallel on June 25, 1950. In response, Truman cited a 1950 National Security Council report known as NSC-68, which called for military force to contain communism and obtained support from the UN to remove the communist invaders. By the beginning of September, North Korean forces had advanced all the way to the Tsushima Strait on the border of South Korea. The North Korean march also successfully captured Seoul, the capital of South Korea.
Korean War - The Tide Shifts
By mid-September, the United States had turned the North Korean advance by utilizing its arsenal of sophisticated weaponry. On September 15, MacArthur landed over 10,000 Marines at Inchon. By the end of the month, American forces had recaptured Seoul and began the process of driving the enemy out of South Korea. Truman hesitantly approved of MacArthur’s desire to pursue war into North Korea to eliminate it completely because he did not want to encourage China to enter the war.
Korean War - China Enters the War
When U.S forces reached the Yalu River at the border of China and North Korea the Chinese viewed this as overly aggressive and surprise attacked the U.S. The Chinese drove the U.S. back across the 38th parallel. MacArther wanted to regain the initiative and drove the Chinese back across the divide. Truman encouraged MacArther to negotiate a settlement, but MacArther favored total war against North Korea and China. Truman relieved MacArther of his command.
Korean War - Forging an Armistice
Truman wanted to negotiate a settlement, but the North Koreans adamantly refused. As a result, from 1951 to 1953, overland campaigns were halted in favor of massive air campaigns over North Korea. Saturation bombing eventually persuaded the North Koreans to negotiate. On July 27, 1953, an armistice was signed between the United Nations (supported by the United States), North Korea, and China. The agreement called for a cease fire as well as the establishment of a Demilitarized Zone at the 38th parallel, but an official peace treaty was never signed. Overall, ~54,000 Americans perished and ~100,000 wounded, with the Koreans and Chinese suffering simnifically more losses.
Recognize the growing internal fear in America after World War II.
The Cold War developed a heightened fear of communism in America throughout the 1940s and 1950s. The Red Scare, which was the fear of communist subversion, caused Americans to reevaluate their daily interactions and beliefs. The possibility of nuclear annihilation also loomed after observing the tests of both nations’ nuclear arsenals. As a result, a period of uncertainty and trepidation gripped millions of Americans.
Remember that Truman lit domestic fear of Communism with his Loyalty Program.
The fear of communism began with the commencement of President Harry Truman’s Executive Order 9835, sometimes known as the ‘Loyalty Order’, in 1947, which called for allegiance to the United States by federal employees under the penalty of immediate termination. Truman aimed to rally public opinion behind his Cold War policies with investigations conducted under its authority. He also hoped to quiet right-wing critics who accused Democrats of being soft on communism. At the same time, he advised the ‘Loyalty Review Board’ to limit the role of the ‘Federal Bureau of Investigation’ (FBI) to avoid a witch hunt. The program investigated over 3 million government employees, just over 300 of whom were dismissed as security risks. The Loyalty Order was part of the prelude to the rise of Senator Joseph McCarthy, Republican of Wisconsin.
J. Edgar Hoover
J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 1935 to 1972, was often given free rein to covertly investigate and detain anyone he suspected of being a national risk. Hoover was concerned about what he claimed was subversion, and under his leadership, the FBI investigated tens of thousands of suspected subversives and radicals. According to critics, Hoover tended to exaggerate the dangers of these alleged subversives and many times overstepped his bounds in his pursuit of eliminating that perceived threat. William G. Hundley, a Justice Department prosecutor, said Hoover may have inadvertently kept alive the concern over communist infiltration into the government, quipping that Hoover’s “informants were nearly the only ones that paid the party dues.”
Subversive Activities Control Board (SACB)
The ‘Subversive Activities Control Board’ (SACB) was a United States government committee to investigate Communist infiltration of American society during the 1950s Red Scare. It was organized in 1950, under authority provided in the ‘McCarran Internal Security Act’, with a five member panel responsible for investigation. The SACB was empowered to order the registration of organizations that it found to be “Communist fronts”, “Communist action” groups, or “Communist infiltrated” groups. In carrying out this mandate, the SACB was a leader in the U.S. government’s response to the Red Scare. The SACB’s proceedings were thorough and methodical. Hundreds of witnesses testified and were cross-examined by defense lawyers. The SACB was continued throughout the L.B. Johnson administration; however, it was eventually rendered powerless by the Supreme Court.
Recall that Truman et. al. stoked the fires of the Red Scare with his investigation of labor unions.
Unions campaigned for higher wages and more power in the workplace, yet Truman viewed many of these individuals as militant supporters of communism, largely because of their post-war strikes. Even Congress became involved in stripping labor unions of their rights, which had been earned in previous decades. One aspect of the ‘Taft-Hartley Act’, passed by Congress in 1947, required labor unions to confirm that none of their leaders belonged to the Communist Party. Unions that were found guilty of an infraction lost federal protection.
House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)
The ‘House Un-American Activities Committee’ (HUAC) was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. It was created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty and subversive activities on the part of private citizens, public employees, and those organizations suspected of having Communist ties. When the House abolished the committee in 1975, its functions were transferred to the ‘House Judiciary Committee’. The committee’s anti-communist investigations are often compared with those of Joseph McCarthy who, as a U.S. Senator, had no direct involvement with this House committee. McCarthy was the chairman of the ‘Government Operations Committee’ and its ‘Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations’ of the U.S. Senate, not the House.
House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) - Hollywood
HUAC believed that certain members of Hollywood, which included actors, actresses, writers, and directors, were engaged in the Communist Party. As a result, HUAC opened investigations in 1947 into the alleged communist activity, and eventually tried and imprisoned the group known as the ‘Hollywood Ten’. Additionally, HUAC created a Hollywood ‘blacklist’ which stigmatized those who were deemed to be supporters of communism. This action alone ruined the careers of many aspiring artists throughout the late 1940s and 1950s.
House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) - Alger Hiss Trial
The case of Alger Hiss rose to national prominence during 1948. Hiss, who was charged with espionage and selling national security secrets to the Soviet Union during the 1930s, was tried and convicted only of perjury before Congress. The Hiss case proved to be the catalyst for future congressional hearings on communist activity, such as Senator Joseph McCarthy’s witch hunts in the federal government.
