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History - Mrs Downie > Post-War America (1945 - 1960) > Flashcards

Post-War America (1945 - 1960) Flashcards

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1
Q

Describe USSR losses in WW2

A
  • 27 million dead
  • 25 million homeless
  • 6 million buildings destroyed
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2
Q

What was decided at Yalta?

A
  • February 1945
  • Germany should be divided
  • Half of the Germany reparations would go to the USSR
  • USSR would take land from Poland and Poland would be compensated by being given land from Germany
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3
Q

Describe what happened at Potsdam

A
  • July 1945
  • Both US and UK had new leader
  • Less amicable but the agreements from the Yalta conference were confirmed
  • 50% of Americans felt that wartime cooperation between the US and the USSR should continue
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4
Q

Describe the USSR forcing communism onto eastern Europe

A

Stalin started imposing communist regimes on many of the countries they had liberated from the Nazi’s:
- In Romania, the King was given 2 hours to introduce a pro-communist government
- The Soviets then forced Czechoslovakia to adopt communism in 1948
- Only Greece, undergoing civil war, resisted communist rule in Eastern Europe

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5
Q

Describe international concern about USSR spreading communism

A
  • Truman was worried about the impact of Communism on Europe but there was little he could do about it
  • In 1946, Churchill spoke of an Iron Curtain dividing Europe
  • By 1949, it was agreed that a state of Cold War had developed between the US and the USSR
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6
Q

Describe the Truman Doctrine

A
  • 1947, Truman had offered the support of the US to countries struggling against Communism
  • ‘I believe that it must be the policy of the US to support peoples who resist being enslaved by armed minorities or by outside pressures’

The doctrine was first applied to Greece to give aid to the non-communist forces. Greece did not become Communist so it was deemed successful.

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7
Q

Describe Marshall Aid

A
  • 1948
  • The US offered a $13 billion package to help European countries to recover from the effects of the war
  • A conference of 22 nations was set up to assess the needs of the affected countries
  • The USSR did not attend and refused permission for countries under its influence to do so
  • Eventually 16 western countries formed the Organisation of European Economic (OEEC) to spend the money
  • The aid was partly to prevent countries falling to Communism and this appeared effective in the case of France and Italy
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8
Q

Describe what caused the Berlin Airlift 1949

A
  • June 1948, Western zone introduced the Deutschmark
  • Western leaders tried to introduce currency into East Berlin
  • Stalin cut all transport links with the West
  • He believed he could blockade Berlin into accepting communist rule
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9
Q

Describe the Berlin Airlift 1949

A
  • Britain and US organised an airlift of essential supplies to blockaded West Berlin
  • By March 1949, 8,000 tons of supplies per day were being delivered
  • On 9th May, Stalin called off the blockade and things returned to normal
  • It appeared the West had won
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10
Q

Describe the early stages of the Korean War and the liberation of South Korea

A
  • Following WW2, Korea was divided into North and South at the 38th parallel
  • The South government was supported by the US but the North was communist
  • March 1950, North Korea invaded the South
    UN sent forces to stop the invasion
  • The vast majority were US and under command of General MacArthur
  • UN forces liberated South Korea
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11
Q

Describe the Korean War following the involvement of China

A
  • UN forces liberated South Korea but then invaded North Korea, ignoring warnings from China
  • Truman fired MacArthur for going beyond his orders
  • Some felt Truman was soft and Communism and that North Korea and China should have been invaded
  • China then sent troops to help North Korea
  • Became a stalemate for 3 years
  • The US lost 27,000 troops and one million Korean citizens died
  • In 1953, peace was reached with Korea redivided into North and South
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12
Q

Describe the consequences of the Korean War 1950 - 1953

A
  • Sino-American hostility increasing
  • US gave increased support to Taiwan
  • However, also demonstrated that no major power wanted WW3
  • Sacking of MacArthur showed US planned to stick to containment
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13
Q

Describe NATO

A
  • In April 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) was signed
  • Although it was a defensive alliance, its main purpose was to prevent soviet expansion
  • Countries agreed that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America, would be considered an attack on all
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14
Q

What was the Warsaw Pact?

A
  • Soviet Union set up its own rival to NATO
  • Set up 1955
  • Military alliance of 8 nations headed by USSR
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15
Q

Describe what happened in Hungary during Eisenhower’s presidency

A
  • 1956, Khrushchev began to relax the controls Stalin had imposed on Eastern Europe
  • But then, moderate communists in Hungary (led by Imre Nagy) threatened to leave the Warsaw Pact
  • Khrushchev sent tanks and had Nagy shot
  • Janos Kadar took over leading Hungary, and US did not intervene
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16
Q

Describe the Berlin Ultimatum

A
  • West spied on East Berlin
  • Khrushchev threatened to block off access to West Berlin
  • Nov 1958, Khrushchev gave the West 6 months to close off access to West Berlin from the East
  • The West refused and Khrushchev backed down March 1959
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17
Q

Describe the summits between Eisenhower and Khrushchev

A
  • Kruschev and Eisenhower had their first ever summit Sept 1959
  • Atmosphere was relaxed but no progress was made on Berlin
  • The second summit was supposed to happen May 1960 but this failed as U2 US spy plane had just been shot down over soviet territory
  • Gary Powers had been captured
  • Eisenhower was forced to admit the planes intent and Kruschev refused to attend the summit
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18
Q

Describe the Suez Crisis 1956

A
  • July 1956, Egyptian leader (Nasser) took control of the Suez Canal
  • Britain and France, with the help of Israel, invaded the canal zone
  • The US did not support the invasion and forced the West to withdraw using financial sanctions
  • Eisenhower believed relationships with east were needed for oil and to protect against the Communist bloc
  • Eisenhower was angered that the UK acted without informing the US
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19
Q

Describe US involvement in the Chinese Civil War 1945-1949

A
  • US gave aid to Chiang Kai-shek and the Chinese Nationalists over Mao and the Chinese Communist Party
  • 1949, Chiang fled to Taiwan
  • US refused to acknowledge the People’s Republic of China (Mao) and instead only had diplomatic relations with the Republic of China government in Taiwan
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20
Q

Describe reasons Chinese-American tensions during this period

A
  • US hated communism and was convinced there must be a link to the USSR
  • Mao hated capitalism and resented the US for supporting Chiang during and after the Civil War
  • Both sides interpreted the Korean War as a sign that the other was an aggressive threat
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21
Q

Describe the US-Taiwan Defence Treaty

A
  • 1954
  • Established US military bases in Taiwan
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22
Q

Describe US-Chinese relations following the Korean War

A
  • US put a trade embargo on China
  • Kept China out of the UN
  • US-Taiwan Defence Treaty 1954
  • The shelling of Quemoy and Matsu
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23
Q

Describe the shelling of Quemoy and Matsu

A
  • 1955
  • Communist China shelled these Chinse Nationalist islands
  • Eisenhower hinted in public that he was considering the use of atomic weapons to protect Taiwan

Happened again in 1958 and when US again threatened military action, China again backed down

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24
Q

Describe the race to the atomic bomb and then the hydrogen bomb

A
  • US tested its first atomic bomb in 1945
  • USSR modernised atomic research programme and increased espionage
  • USSR tested first bomb in 1949
  • US tested first H-bomb at Bikini Atoll in 1954
  • USSR in 1955
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25
Q

Describe military spending in this period

A
  • $40 to 50 billion a year in the 50s
  • 90% of foriegn aid to US allies was used for military
  • Technological advancement such as the first IBM computer in 1953
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26
Q

Describe post-war prosperity

A
  • Per capita income was at $1,450, almost twice as high as GB
  • Urban americans consumed around 3,000 calories a day, 50% more than most people in Western Europe
  • Home ownership in 1960 was at 62% (up from 55% in 1950)

Federal government spending:
* 1939, $9.4 billion
* 1945, $92.2 billion
* 1948, $36.5 billion

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27
Q

Give some evidence against post-war prosperity

A
  • People were cautious about the possibilty of a future depression
  • Particular poverty in the south and cities
  • In 1947, 33% of US homes lacked running water and 40% did not have flushing toilets
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28
Q

Describe the growth of the car industry

A
  • The number of new cars sold, 1945 to 1950 rose 69,500 to 6.7 million
  • In 1961, there were 350 different models for sale
  • The number of two car families doubled between 1951 and 1958
  • There were more cars in Los Angeles than the whole of Asia
  • General Motors was wealthier than Belgium in terms of GDP
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29
Q

Describe the Interstate Highway Act

A
  • 1956
  • Boosted federal subsidies for road building
  • Create 41,000 miles of road
  • The principle aim was to facilitate rapid evacuation in the event of nuclear attack
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30
Q

Describe the growth of suburbs

A
  • 1945 to 1955, 15 million houses were built
  • Home owning Americans rose from 50% in 1945 to 60% by 1960
  • The number of people living in the suburbs went from 17% in 1920 to 33% by 1960
  • In 1946, there were 8 shopping malls but by the late 1950s there were over 4,000
  • Derelict inner cities suffered due to the ‘flight of the middle classes’ and lack of investment
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31
Q

Describe rise in wages

A
  • 1953, average families annual income was $4,011
  • Disposable income rose by 17%
32
Q

Describe the baby boom

A
  • By 1957, nappies were a $50 mill per year industry
  • 4 million babies were born each year 1954 to 1964
  • By 1964, only 40% of the population had been born before 1946
  • Within an average of 7 months of marriage, most women were pregnant
33
Q

Describe labour saving devices

A
  • By 1951, 90% of US families had a fridge and 75% had washing machines and telephones
34
Q

Describe leisure time

A
  • Debt increased from $5.7 billion in 1945 to $56.1 billion by 1960
  • By 1960, there were over 50 million TV’s in the US
  • American Express was established 1958
35
Q

Describe rise in consumption

A
  • Early 1950’s, the US consumed 33% of all world goods and controlled 66% of the world’s productive capacity
  • 2 billion hot dogs were consumed in 1960
  • Average yearly family consumpbtion included 300lb beef, 31 chickens and 8.5 gallons of icecream
36
Q

Describe support of stereotyping of women

A
  • Ladies’ Home Journal and McCall’s
  • Dr Spock’s childcare books sold over a million copies each year and emphasised the role of the mother
37
Q

Describe opposition to the stereotyping of women

A
  • Ladies’ Home Journal ran a series of articles called ‘How America lives’ showcasing a wide ethnic and class mix
  • Redbook ran a $500 prize competition in 1960, inviting readers to write on ‘Why You Feel Trapped’
38
Q

Describe women and work

A
  • The percentage of women in the labour force rose from 34% to 38% across the 1950’s
  • The percentage of married women in work increased from 36% in 1940 to 60% in 1960
  • The number of women in university rose from 721,000 in 1950 to 1.3 million in 1960
  • Modern Woman: the Lost Sex blamed career women for many social problems such as teenage drinking
39
Q

Describe the cinema

A
  • Average weekly cinema attendance fell from 90 million in 1946 to 47 million in 1956
  • 4,000 drive in’s appeared across the states
  • Drive in’s became known as ‘passion pits’
  • 1940’s and 50’s saw the rise of the rebellious anti-hero in film
40
Q

Describe television

A
  • By 1956, Americans spent $15.6 billion on the sale and repair of TV sets
  • 1954, TV dinners were invented
  • A regular audience of 50 million watched I Love Lucy and the star actress was awarded an $8 million contract
  • Television reinforced stereotypes about women and family values
41
Q

Describe youth culture

A
  • 1950, 41.6% of the population was under 24
  • Teenagers annual spending power rose from $10 billion in 1950 to $25 billion in 1959
  • Rebel Without a Cause was the first film aimed specifically at teens
  • 1956, Elvis entered the music scene
42
Q

Describe the fear of teenage rebellion

A
  • In 1956, the number of murders carried out by teenagers in New York rose by 26%
  • 1954, psychologist Wertham published The Seduction of the Innocent on the dangers of violent comic books
  • Fear of rebellious behaviour in movies such as The Wild One and Rebel Without a Cause
  • Others argued on the dangers of ‘latch-key kids’ whose parents both worked
43
Q

Describe the limitations on teenagers

A
  • Half of all male teenagers in the 50s were drafted into the armed forces
  • The average age of marriage fell from 21.5 years in 1940 to 20.3 years by the 50s
44
Q

Describe the Full Employment Bill

A
  • 1945
  • Declared employment to be a right
  • Required the government to ensure that jobs were available
  • Increased the dole
  • Raised minimum wage
  • Introduced farm price supports and public works programme
45
Q

Describe Truman’s relationship with striking

A
  • Truman called a special labour-management conference in November 1945 in an attempt to prevent further strike action but it ended without agreement
  • In April 1945, the United Mine Workers went on strike for pay increase
  • In May, the railroads went on strike
  • Truman announced he would conscript the railroad workers and have the army run the railroads
  • He also wanted to introduce legislation to restrict the right to strike
  • The rail strike was called off so this was deemed unnecessary
46
Q

Describe the Taft-Hartley Bill

A
  • 1947
  • Makes labour unions liable for violations of contracts
  • Ends the tradition of joining a trade union being a condition of employment
  • Truman attempts to veto but Congress overturns the veto and passes it anyway
47
Q

Describe the 1948 presidential election

A
  • Truman was expected to lose
  • Promised New Deal type measures
  • Went on a 30,000 mile whistle stop tour of the US
  • Claimed the Republican congress was the ‘do-nothing’ Congress
  • Truman won a majority of over 2 million votes and the Democrats regained control of Congress
48
Q

Describe the Fair Deal

A
  • 1949, Truman declares ‘every segment of our population and every individual has a right to expect from our government a fair deal’
  • Congress blocked many of the welfare reforms he attempted to pass but there were some successes
49
Q

Give the successes of the fair deal

A
  • Raise the minimum wage
  • Extend the Social Security Act
  • Pass an act to assist slum clearance and provide housing for the poor
50
Q

Describe how Eisenhower reduced the role of federal government

A
  • Ended wage and price controls
  • Reduced farm subsidies
51
Q

Describe how Eisenhower promoted economic growth and the welfare state

A
  • Strengthened the Social Security programme
  • Increased the minimum wage
  • Created the Department of Health, Education and Welfare
  • 1956, created the Interstate Highway System which would construct 41,000 miles of road
  • Money spent on the completion of the St Lawrence Seaway, linking the Great Lakes with the Atlantic
52
Q

Describe the international developments that encouraged McCarthyism

A
  • China fell to Communism in 1949
  • The development of the Cold War in Europe
  • Increasing US involvement in Asia, particularly in the Korean War
53
Q

Describe the US reaction when China fell to communism

A
  • This was unexpected and some felt the US should have done more to stop it
  • ‘China lobby’ campaigned for action against this communist regime and an investigation into the failings of the US
54
Q

Describe spying within the Manhattan Project

A
  • Har Gold was arrested for giving nuclear secrets to the USSR
  • It was felt that the Soviets could only have developed their own nuclear weapon so quickly through spying
  • Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed for giving away atomic secrets
  • A Soviet official wrote that the information about the materials was obtained in Britain and information about their assembly in the US
  • The Soviets later claimed that they had 221 operatives spying in the various branches of government
55
Q

Describe the Alger Hiss trial

A
  • Whittaker Chambers accused Hiss of being a Communist during his time at the State Department
  • Hiss sued Chambers
  • Chambers produced evidence that Hiss had handed over copies of secret documents to the Soviets in 1938
  • Hiss’s alleged treason was too far in the past for him to be prosecuted for but he was found guilty of perjury and sentenced to 5 years imprisonment
  • This led to widespread accusations of Communism in high places in the US
56
Q

Describe the Loyalty Review Board

A
  • Introduced by Truman in 1947
  • To check up on government employees
  • Any found to be sympathetic to ‘subversive organisations’ could be fired
  • Within 4 years, 1,200 had been fired and 6,000 resigned
  • 150+ organisations were banned, of which 110 were accused of supporting communism
57
Q

Describe the Smith Act 1940

A

11 leaders of the Communist Party were prosecuted under the 1940 Smith Act and sentenced to up to 5 years in prison, simply for believing in Communism

58
Q

Describe the rise of McCarthy

A
  • Joseph McCarthy was a junior Senator for Wisconsin
  • On 9th Feb 1950, he made a speech claiming the State Department was infested with spies
  • Despite not having any evidence, many believed him
  • In 1953, McCarthy was given control of the Senate Committee on Government Operations and its subcommittee on Investigations
59
Q

Describe attacks on ‘communists’ under McCarthyism

A
  • Many argued that the New Deal measures were based in Communism and these came under renewed criticism
  • Those advocating for Civil Rights, support for the UN or any redistribution of wealth were all under attack
  • One school librarian in Indiana banned books about Robin Hood because she said robbing the rich to give to the poor promoted Communism
60
Q

Describe the controversial accusations that brought down McCarthy

A
  • McCarthy condemned General George Marshall, who introduced Marshall Aid
  • In 1954, he began to investigate the army, during the anti-communist Korean War
  • By December 1954, millions had seen his drunken, bullying hearings
  • When McCarthy accused a junior member of Joseph Welch’s team of being a communist supporter, Welch accused McCarthy of attacking people without evidence
61
Q

Describe the final end of McCarthy

A
  • Eisenhower was critical of McCarthy’s investigation of the army
  • McCarthy himself was accused of seeking preferential treatment for one of his aides who had been drafted into the army
  • Censured by the Senate
  • Returned to obscurity until his death from alcoholism in 1957
62
Q

Describe Native Americans in WW2

A
  • 25,000 served in the armed forces
  • 40,000 worked in war production
  • 1941, Indian Commissioner John Collier suggested that reservation life was not suitable for returning service men and that living standards were too poor
  • Begins a return to assimilation
63
Q

Describe the Indian Claims Commission

A
  • Set up 1944
  • Designed to compensate NA for their past exploitation so they could take their place as US citizens (assimilation)
64
Q

Describe Native American termination under Eisenhower

A
  • August 1953
  • House Concurrent Resolution, Number 108, announces termination policy
  • Reservations should be broken up and NA encouraged to move to the cities and live like other Americans
  • Began with the sale of valuable lands belonging to the Menominee in Wisconsin and the Klamath in Oregon
65
Q

Describe the effect of the termination policy

A
  • Many who left reservations ended up in unemployment and alcoholism and simply returned to the reservations
  • 1960, only 13,000 out of 40,000 NA had left the reservations permanently
  • 1960, only 3% of reservation land has been sold
  • Policy was abandoned
  • Left bad feeling and contributed to the Red Power and more militant activism of the 60’s
66
Q

Describe the legacy of the WW2 on civil rights

A
  • The membership of the NAACP rose from 50,000 in 1940 to 450,000 in 1945
  • CORE was founded in 1942
  • Racism was aligned with Nazi Germany
  • New communist regimes opposed racism
67
Q

Describe the impact of Truman on civil rights

A
  • Sept 1946, set up the Civil Rights Committee to investigate racial abuse
  • 1947, Committee published ‘To Secure These Rights’
  • Called for laws to prevent lynching, abolition of the poll tax and for the FEPC to be made permanent
  • 20 southern Democrats and 15 Republicans blocked every measure
68
Q

Describe the desegregation of Washington DC

A
  • Under Eisenhower
  • Passed Executive Orders desegregating government run shipyards and veterans’ hospitals
  • Tried to encourage the desegregation of schools
69
Q

Describe the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka

A
  • Reverend Brown’s 7 yr old daughter had to cross railroad tracks and take a bus to get to school while a white school nearby had plenty of places
  • New chief justice, Earl Warren, was sympathetic to civil rights
  • 17th May 1954, the Court ruled separate but equal could not apply to education
70
Q

Describe the impact of Brown vs Board of Education of Topeka

A
  • Some were overly optimistic. Thurgood Marshall said all schools would be desegregated in 5 years.
  • There was no deadline and no sanction for non-implementation
  • States began to ban desegregation. Alabama declared the ruling ‘null, void and of no effect’.
  • By 1957, 723 school districts were desegregated, involving 300,000 AA children
  • 240,000 AA children remained in entirely in segregated schools
71
Q

Describe progress in education the later 1950s

A
  • By Jan 1956, the SC upheld Brown v Board ruling in 19 cases
  • The NAACP had upwards of 170 cases pending
72
Q

Describe limitations to education in the late 1950’s

A
  • Georgia and North Carolina gave grants to ensure all white pupils could attend segregated private schools
  • 1959, Prince Edward County, Virginia, closed all public schools
  • ‘Public placement’ laws allowed racially biased tests
  • Mississippi made desegregation illegal
  • By 1964, only 2% of african americans in the 11 most resistant southern states went to fully integrated schools
  • March 1956, 22 Southern senators and 82 Southern representatives presented the Southern Manifesto, accusing the Supreme Court of abuse of power
73
Q

Describe what happened at Little Rock High School

A
  • 1957, Arkansas
  • Governor Faubus used National Guard troops to bar the entry of nine black children to Central High School
  • Eisenhower sent in federal troops to control the National Guard and escort the children into school
74
Q

Describe the murder of Emmett Till

A
  • 24th August 1955
  • 14 yr old boy visiting relatives in Money, Mississippi
  • Flirted with a white cashier at a grocery store
  • Four days later, he was kidnapped, tortured and killed by two white men
  • The men were tried but acquitted by an all white jury
75
Q

Describe the Montgomery bus boycott

A
  • 1st December 1955, Rosa Parks was thrown off a bus for refusing to give up her seat to a white person
  • 50,000 AA boycotted the bus system for 381 days
  • Nov 1956, the Supreme Court ruled segregation on buses to be unconstitutional in Browder vs Gayle
76
Q

Describe the role of Martin Luther King

A
  • A minister at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church
  • Chosen as leader for the Montgomery bus boycott
  • Organised rallies and carpools to support the boycott
  • Believed in non-violence
  • 1956, set up the Southern Christian Leadership Conference

History - Mrs Downie (9 decks)

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