The post-war US economy saw rapid population growth, reconversion of factories to consumer goods, and increased consumer spending, leading to economic recovery. The GI Bill provided education and home loans for veterans, fueling suburban housing growth and reinforcing middle-class values. The onset of the Cold War brought tensions with the Soviet Union, leading to the policy of Soviet containment to block expansion. This included the Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, and formation of NATO to promote democracy and Western influence in Europe in response to the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe.

1. Chapter 23

2. Post-War Economy
 Rapid population increase due to the baby
boom
 Rapid process of reconverting factories
back to producing consumer goods
 Result: Americans begin to spend more
freely and the economy recovers

3. Post-War Economy
 GI Bill: Servicemen’s Readjustment Act
 Provided low interest home loans and money for
college education
 Still in use today, extremely important and
provides opportunity for many to go to college
 Part of the “readjustment to peace” movement
 Resulted in a housing shortage that mass
production remedied
○ Think of the suburbs
 Helped reinforce the typical “middle class
values” that were revered throughout the 1950s

4. The Cold War: Soviet
Containment
 Post-war period ushered in years of
tension between the U.S. and the Soviet
Union known as the Cold War
 As Stalin attempted to expand Soviet
influence to Eastern Europe, Soviet
expert George Keenan outlined a policy
of “Soviet Containment”
 Big picture: block Soviet expansion at all
costs

5. The Cold War: Soviet
Containment
 Post-War Strategy
 Russians occupied Eastern Europe – greatly
concerned about national security
○ The German invasion of Poland during World War
II was the primary reason for continued Soviet
occupation
○ The Soviets wanted to establish regimes that were
friendly and/or subservient to Russia
○ Russia was frightened of the U.S. utilizing an
atomic bomb in World War II
 Began to build their own
 Started the arms race

6. The Cold War: Soviet
Containment
 Post-War Strategy
 US troops occupied Western Europe
○ Did not like Russia’s national security emphasis on
occupation of Eastern Europe
 They wanted to keep free elections throughout Europe
and promote democracy
○ U.S. already utilized an atomic bomb in World War
II
 Were stockpiling and building the hydrogen bomb to
keep up in the arms race
 Civil war in Greece and Turkey provided an
opportunity for the U.S. to exercise their
“Soviet Containment” foreign policy

7. Truman Doctrine
 First application of the “Soviet Containment”
doctrine
 Written in 1947 as a result of the civil war between
Greece and Turkey
 Truman asked Congress to supply funds to
keep Greece and Turkey within the western
sphere of influence
 Used defense of democratic freedom as reasoning
 Doctrine also served as an informal
declaration of Cold War against the Soviets
 Truman’s rhetoric suggested that the U.S. had
assumed a permanent global responsibility to
promote democracy and combat communism

9. The Marshall Plan
 U.S. attempted to prevent the spread of
Soviet influence in Western Europe by
economic means
 1947 – Secretary of State George Marshall
proposed an economic aid package to help
Europe rebuild their industries
 Soviets declined this aid because of the
political agenda attached to it (democracy
for all)
 The plan fostered prosperity in Western
Europe that in turn helped stimulate the
American economy in the post-war period

11. NATO
 North Atlantic Treaty Organization
 Military alliance between the U.S., Canada,
and most of Western Europe
 Soviets and Communist nations were left out
 Pledged mutual defense against any future
Soviet attack
 Third and final step in the first large-scale
phase of containment
 U.S. troops were deployed to Western Europe
in 1949
 Greatly enhanced the Soviet fear of Western
expansion

12. Cold War Expansion
 The Soviets respond to the Truman
Doctrine and NATO by restricting access
to Berlin
 Truman refused to withdraw American
troops and orders an airlift to supply the city
 After Truman was reelected in 1948, the
Soviets retreat and end their blockade in
1949
 This clash sets the stage for the West/East
Berlin animosity that continues until the
1980s

14. Cold War Expansion
 U.S. improved its security after WWII
 National Security Act of 1947 – unified
armed forces, CIA, National Security
Council (advisors to the President)
 U.S. puts a significant portion of its
defense budget into the Air Force

15. Cold War Expansion
 Problems in Asia
 Both the U.S. and Soviets had large
stakes in Asia after WW II
 U.S. moved to consolidate its influence
over Japan and the Pacific Islands
 China was torn between pro-Western
Chiang Kai-shek and pro-Soviet Mao Tse
Tung

16. Chairman Mao

17. Chiang Kai-shek

18. Cold War Expansion
 Problems in Asia
 Mao won influence China and Chiang Kai-
shek is exiled from China for the rest of his
life
 China clearly became within the influence of
the Soviets and Communism after Mao
becomes Chairman
○ Truman was politically attacked for losing China
○ As a result, he begins to build up U.S. influence in
post-war Japan to counter the loss in China

19. The Korean War
 U.S. becomes involved with South
Korea in 1950 as Communist forces
in North Korea begin to invade the
south
 The 38th parallel became the dividing line
between the two pro-Western and pro-
Communist forces

21. The Korean War
 General Douglas MacArthur pushed to take
the war into China after the U.S. got involved
 Wanted to achieve a total victory and to
demonstrate American military superiority (much
like Patton in WW II)
 Wanted to make future wars less likely
 Truman disagreed with MacArthur as he feared
the Soviets launching atomic weapons
 MacArthur pushed Truman too far and was
relieved of command in Korea
○ Led to a stalemate for the remainder of the war

22. The Korean War
 U.S. involvement in South Korea
became a United Nations effort
 The majority of troops, supplies, and
strategy were supplied by the U.S.
though
 The Korean War became a stalemate
 Due to MacArthur’s demotion and
continued guerilla warfare

23. The Korean War
 The war continued into Dwight D.
Eisenhower’s presidency
 The most significant result of the war
was the massive American
rearmament
 Americans rapidly expanded their military
arsenal
○ The U.S. felt they were ready to stop Soviet
expansion anywhere in the world

24. The Communist Threat
 The Cold War encouraged a culture of
secrecy and dishonesty
 Freedom of speech and dissent came
under attack again in a new “Red Scare”
in post WW II America
 Those who could be linked to
communism (no matter how absurd the
link) were considered “enemies of
freedom”

26. The Communist Threat
 Essentially turned into another witch
hunt that had the potential to tear the
U.S. apart
 The entire country became gripped in
this paranoia
 Transcended to all levels of government
 Local anti-communist groups would storm
public libraries and destroy “un-American”
books
 The federal and state courts did little to
nothing to stop this type of behavior

28. The Communist Threat
 Why do post WW II Americans favor
fascism over communism?
 Roots trace back to the Civil War
 Americans prefer order over anarchy
 We eerily respected the staunch
militarism (conservatism) of the Germans
over the idea of absolute social and
economic revolution

29. The Communist Threat
 Joseph McCarthy
 Republican U.S. Senator from Wisconsin
announced in 1950 that he had a list of
205 communists working for the State
Dept.
 Really was working for his own fame and
glory
○ Didn’t seem to care who he politically or
socially ruined
○ His anti-communist agenda ran parallel with
an anti-homosexual agenda

31. The Communist Threat
 Joseph McCarthy
 The new “Red Scare” reached its height
during the Election of 1952
 Gained significant support from Midwestern
Republicans, Irish, Poles, and Italians
○ Targeted privileged government officials
 His demise (and embarrassment) came
when he claimed that a significant portion of
the U.S. military was infiltrated by
communists and communist sympathizers

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