1945-1955: The Platform to Power
With the Second World War about to draw to a close, an eminent victory for the Allies in sight, Allied leaders Churchill, FDR, and Stalin met at the Yalta Conference in February 1945 to finalize war measures. The fragile alliance of the three countries, however, would not last as the issue of Eastern European countries, the division of Germany, and differing economic systems divided the US and USSR. The stage was set for the post-war era, with the communist USSR on one side and the capitalist United States on the other. With Great Britain and France in chaos from the wartime destruction, America became the leading capitalist authority. In the first decade of the Cold War, the military, economic, foreign, and …show more content…
American ambassador George Kennan wrote to the US from the USSR, advocating a policy of containment that became the major theme of American foreign policy during the Cold War. This strategy is evident in the various attempts to stop the spread of Communism abroad, especially under Eisenhower. President Eisenhower delivered his Eisenhower Doctrine to help Middle Eastern countries trying to fight Soviet influence and also espoused the ‘domino theory’ in which one country falling to communism would start a downward spiral of all falling sooner or later. The political cartoon in Document 3 illustrates this policy of US blocking the spread of what they thought was an evil, sinful, disease-like ideology for which ‘Doctor US Congress’ was called upon. This ‘doctor’ was also used in the Berlin Airlift when the US and other Allies responded to the Soviet blockade of West Berlin with flying supplies over for 15 months. Another way the US assured the curbing of communism was through foreign alliances, as depicted in the map in Document 8. The map was made to display the treaties and alliances made by both sides, like the Rio Treaty, SEATO, ANZUS, Warsaw Pact, and CENTO, as well as the division of global power along what Churchill had called the “Iron Curtain.” These treaties, like NATO, were formed for the purpose of collective security and stability. …show more content…
With much of the world’s attention drawn to the US and Americans calling for equality abroad, the civil rights movement started for creating equality at home. The war effort had resulted in a total mobilization and increasing jobs in wartime industries on the home front. As War Production Board leader Nelson said in his speech in Document 4, “Countless lives and untold suffering will be saved if extra effort at home brings victory…closer.” Although the war provided work opportunities for women and some minorities, they still faced discrimination in getting jobs and in the workplace. In response to this, FDR passed Executive Order 8802 during the war to prohibit discrimination in the defense industries. The movement for civil rights continued in the legal realm with Shelley v. Kraemer in 1948, ruling that restrictive covenants on housing for minorities were not allowed, and Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in 1954, which overturned the “separate but equal” ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson. This started the Double V campaign, fighting discrimination at home and the Axis and communism abroad. The anticommunist rhetoric also created a second Red Scare at home, created primarily by Joseph McCarthy. In Document 5, McCarthy tells Truman that he has a list of 57 state department of officials linked to communism. The fear created by McCarthyism led to the Loyalty-Security Program to check government employees
With the Second World War about to draw to a close, an eminent victory for the Allies in sight, Allied leaders Churchill, FDR, and Stalin met at the Yalta Conference in February 1945 to finalize war measures. The fragile alliance of the three countries, however, would not last as the issue of Eastern European countries, the division of Germany, and differing economic systems divided the US and USSR. The stage was set for the post-war era, with the communist USSR on one side and the capitalist United States on the other. With Great Britain and France in chaos from the wartime destruction, America became the leading capitalist authority. In the first decade of the Cold War, the military, economic, foreign, and …show more content…
American ambassador George Kennan wrote to the US from the USSR, advocating a policy of containment that became the major theme of American foreign policy during the Cold War. This strategy is evident in the various attempts to stop the spread of Communism abroad, especially under Eisenhower. President Eisenhower delivered his Eisenhower Doctrine to help Middle Eastern countries trying to fight Soviet influence and also espoused the ‘domino theory’ in which one country falling to communism would start a downward spiral of all falling sooner or later. The political cartoon in Document 3 illustrates this policy of US blocking the spread of what they thought was an evil, sinful, disease-like ideology for which ‘Doctor US Congress’ was called upon. This ‘doctor’ was also used in the Berlin Airlift when the US and other Allies responded to the Soviet blockade of West Berlin with flying supplies over for 15 months. Another way the US assured the curbing of communism was through foreign alliances, as depicted in the map in Document 8. The map was made to display the treaties and alliances made by both sides, like the Rio Treaty, SEATO, ANZUS, Warsaw Pact, and CENTO, as well as the division of global power along what Churchill had called the “Iron Curtain.” These treaties, like NATO, were formed for the purpose of collective security and stability. …show more content…
With much of the world’s attention drawn to the US and Americans calling for equality abroad, the civil rights movement started for creating equality at home. The war effort had resulted in a total mobilization and increasing jobs in wartime industries on the home front. As War Production Board leader Nelson said in his speech in Document 4, “Countless lives and untold suffering will be saved if extra effort at home brings victory…closer.” Although the war provided work opportunities for women and some minorities, they still faced discrimination in getting jobs and in the workplace. In response to this, FDR passed Executive Order 8802 during the war to prohibit discrimination in the defense industries. The movement for civil rights continued in the legal realm with Shelley v. Kraemer in 1948, ruling that restrictive covenants on housing for minorities were not allowed, and Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in 1954, which overturned the “separate but equal” ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson. This started the Double V campaign, fighting discrimination at home and the Axis and communism abroad. The anticommunist rhetoric also created a second Red Scare at home, created primarily by Joseph McCarthy. In Document 5, McCarthy tells Truman that he has a list of 57 state department of officials linked to communism. The fear created by McCarthyism led to the Loyalty-Security Program to check government employees