Truman Complete Flashcards
What did America emerge from WWII as?
The strongest world power
By 1945 America had 7% of the world’s population but what % of global income?
42%
Who died in 1945 that meant Truman took over as President?
FDR (Roosevelt)
What did those who thought Truman wouldn’t do a good job call him?
a ‘compromise candidate’
Who are the two main political parties in America?
Democrat and Republicans
What are the three branches of the American Government known as?
Legislative, Executive, Judicial
The systems that stop these branches becoming too powerful is known as…?
Checks and Balances
What does Congress have the power to do?
To propose new laws, controls the budget and can impeach the president
What does the President have the power to do?
Can veto laws put forward by Congress and appoint new Supreme Court justices
What does the Supreme Court have the power to do?
Can rule president actions as unconstitutional
What did WWII help America to fully recover from?
The Great Depression
How did America use WWII to its advantage?
They made money by selling arms/raw materials to European allies for rebuilding. Money America loaned to allies in the Lend Lease Programme were repaid post war
What percentage of the world’s manufactured goods did the US produce?
50% (80% of cars)
What happened to American Trade Unions during WWII?
They grew in strength
Why was it easy to believe in the American Dream in the 1940s?
Unemployment never rose above 4 per cent and the average American had a greater disposable income that led to a boom in consumer goods, such as cars, vacuum cleaners and refridgerators
What were the key regional differences?
North was the centre of politics/finance/education. The Northern states had the most developed industries especially Detroit anc Chicago. The Modwest was less populated but America relied on its agriculture. The South was more traditional and segregated and predominantly agricultural
How had the war decreased regionalism?
- Over 10 per cent had left their homes for training camps
- 13% had changed their county of residence
- 8 million had permanently located to a different state
Many people moved between classes after WWII. What is this known as?
Social mobility
Which Americans did not experience social mobility?
African Americans and Asian immigrants
Many women filled jobs left by men during WWII. By ’44 what % of the workforce were women?
36%
What was Truman’s political relationship with FDR?
Vice President - President (?)
How many days was Truman vice president before becoming president?
82
Which of FDR’s main policies was Truman keen to continue?
New Deal successes
Who did Truman seek regular advice from?
Secretary of State Dean Acheson
Which conference was held between America, Britain, France, and the USSR in February ’45?
Yalta Conference
What was agreed at the Yalta conference?
Agreements were made to split Germany into 4, hold free elections in liberated Eastern Europe and USSR agreed to help the USA against Japan
What was the name of the conference that took place in August 1945?
Potsdam
What was agreed at Potsdam?
Free elections in Poland and German reparations were agreed.
What did Truman keep secret from Stalin over Potsdam?
The atomic bomb which was then dropped on Japan whilst conference was on
Why did tension between the USSR and USA develop after WWII?
Stalin expanded the USSR into Eastern Europe and Truman responded by announcing the Truman Doctrine
What was the Truman Doctrine
A commitment to support any country under the threat of Communist takeover
What was passed by Congress the year after the Truman Doctrine and what did this promise?
The European Recovery Plan (The Marshall Plan) which promised $17bn of aid to aid European recovery from the war?
What did the US, GB and France do with their German zones?
They united them to form West Germany
What currency was introduced into West Germany?
The Deutsch Mark
What was Stalin’s response to the new currency in West Germany?
The Berlin Blockade, he blocked all transport links in and out of Berlin
When was the Berlin Blockade?
March 1948 - May 1949
What was the Western response to the Berlin Blockade?
They began the Berlin Airlift whereby 2.5 million people in West Berlin were supplied by air. 1.5 million tonnes of supplies were flown in by 2750,000 flights
What was a consequence of the Berlin Blockade and who was it a victory for?
Huge propaganda victory for Truman after Stalin had to concede the blockade. Also led to the formation of NATO
Who was given the power to create a democracy in Japan after their surrender in 1945?
General MacArthur
Which group who resisted a Communist revolution did America support in China?
Nationalists led by Chiang Kai Shek
In 1949 who led the successful Communist Revolution in China?
Mao Zedong
Which nation, fighting against Communist troops in Vietnam, did America support?
France
What was the Communist Army in Vietnam known as and who led them?
The Vietminh led by Ho Chi Minh
Why did the UN, supported heavily by US troops, get involved in the Korean War?
Communist North Korea led by Kim il Sung invaded South Korea
When did the Korean War begin?
June 1950
What were the results of the Korean War?
the UN stopped South Korea becoming communist, showing Truman’s commitment to containment
What was created at the end of WWII that aimed to stabilise the global economy?
IMF and World Bank
What system was agreed between 44 allied nations where the value of their currency was tied to the value of the dollar?
the Bretton-woods System
What did Truman do with the US military after WWII?
He slowly demobilised them
What was the name given to Truman’s domestic policies introduced in 1949?
Fair Deal
What two booms took place in America after WWII?
A consumer boom and a baby boom
What did the Democrat’s lose in the 1946 mid-term elections?
control of Congress
How did the government respond to increased demand for housing?
$20 million government investment in suburban development such as Levittowns
What happened to US output between 1939 and 1948?
It doubled
After workers’ strikes in the late 1940s, who did Truman have a bad relationship with?
Trade Unions
In which year was Truman unexpectedly re-elected?
1948
What did Truman struggle to convince Congress to do?
To pass his Fair Deal policies
Which US senator became powerful as a result of growing anti-communist feelings?
Joseph McCarthy
What was HUAC?
The House Un-American Actitivities Committee
Name the Fair Deal legislation that was successfully passed.
Full Employment Act (1946)
Social Security extended to 1 million Americans (1950)
Minimum wage increased to $0.75 per hour
Housing Act (1949) promised 810,000 houses for the poor, 156,000 built by 1953
What laws were most Southern African Americans living under by the start of WWII?
Jim Crow laws
What feeling grew in American society during the late 1940s and early 1950s?
Anti-Communism
What did he do in the 50s and what was this known as?
He worked to find Communists in society and claimed to havea list of 205 Communists in the State Dept. Known as McCarthyism
What name is given to the way that facilities were split between races?
Separate but equal
The membership for which civil rights group grew during world war two?
The NAACP
What did HUAC do under Truman?
Investigated famous actors and scientists
What kind of segregation did many African Americans experience in the North?
De Facto segregation
What campaign was run by the Chicago Defender newspaper and what did it link?
The Double V Campaign, linking victory over the Nazis with defeating racism in America
Which groups started to take actino in the North after WWII?
The Urban League and the Nation of Islam
What does NAACP stand for?
The National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People
Where did African American soldiers experience better treatment during WWII?
In Britain and across Liberated Europe
What did Truman set up in response to increasing lynchings?
President’s Committee on Civil Rights
Which groups started to take action in the South after WWII?
The NAACP and CORE
Give an example of an NAACP legislative victory under Truman?
1950 Sweat v Painter declared separate law schools were not equal
What report was published by Truman’s Committee that criticised segregation and discrimination in 1957?
To Secure These Rights
Qhich landmark Supreme Court case challenging segregation in education began in Decmeber 1952?
Brown v Board of Education
Who represented the NAACP in court?
Thurgood Marshall
What did Truman try to introduce in 1948 that Congress did not back?
Anti-lynching laws and voting laws
