1. 1945-1953

2. The Cold War
• An era of high tension and rivalry between the
United States and the Soviet Union

3. World War II Alliance
• U.S. and Soviet Union were allies
during WWII, not friends
• U.S. provided military equipment
to Soviets after Hitler’s invasion in
1941 through the Lend-Lease
program
• U.S. often promised to defend
Soviet Union, but never delivered
and hard feelings increased
• Mistrust about the atomic bomb
led Soviets to develop their own.

4. The Iron Curtain Descends
• During the Yalta and Potsdam conferences,
the U.S. and Britain pressed Stalin to hold free
elections in Soviet occupied lands ex. Poland
• Stalin had no intention of giving up political or
economic control of Eastern Europe
• Stalin wanted to increase security for his
country by creating a line of Soviet-friendly
nations around it

5. Communism Spreads
• Did whatever it took to install Communist
governments in these E. European countries
– Outlawed political parties, newspapers opposing
Communists
– Killed, jailed opponents, rigged elections
• Took over and directly controlled every Eastern
European nation except Yugoslavia
• U.S. also concerned about Soviet brutal
relocation of Germans living in E. Europe

6. “The Iron Curtain”
• “A shadow has fallen upon the scenes so lately
lighted by the Allied victory. Nobody knows what
Soviet Russia and its Communist international
organization intends to do in the immediate
future, or what are the limits, if any, to their
expansive… tendencies… It is my duty to place
before you certain facts about the present
position of Europe. From Stettin in the Baltic to
Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has
descended across the continent.”
– Winston Churchill in Fulton, Missouri, March 5, 1946

7. The U.S. Responds
• United States adopted the containment policy
– Created by George F. Kennan
– Included: possibility of using military force,
providing economic aid to countries
• 1947 – Truman asked Congress for emergency
economic and military aid for Greece & Turkey
• Truman Doctrine – a speech urging Congress to
help stop Soviets from gaining control

8. The Truman Doctrine
“I believe it must be the policy of the United
States to support free peoples who are resisting
subjugation by armed minorities or outside
pressures…
I believe that our help should be primarily
through economic and financial aid which is
essential to economic stability and orderly
political processes.”
-President Harry S. Truman, March 12, 1947

9. The Marshall Plan
• WWII was over, but Europeans still suffered
• Americans knew if conditions worsened, more
Europeans might turn to communism
• June 1947, George C. Marshall called for an aid
program to help Europe rebuild known as the
Marshall Plan
– 1948-51, the U.S. spent $13 billion in 17 countries
• Provided food, farm equipment, rebuilt homes, factories
• Helped U.S. build political support in W. Europe

10. The Crisis in Berlin
• U.S., France and Britain
zones - Democratic
• Soviet zone –Communist
• The capital of Berlin
(located in Soviet zone)
also divided into 4 zones
• June 1948 - Soviet’s
blocked all traffic into W.
Berlin
– 2.1 million people were cut
off from basic resources

11. The Berlin Airlift
• American and British
airplanes dropped
necessities to W. Berlin
• Average 7,000 tons of
supplies dropped/day
• May 12, 1949 Soviet
Union lifted its blockade
• Between June 1948 and
May 1949 - 280,000
flights were made

12. The Berlin Airlift
A stamp commemorating the event.

13. NATO
• 1948 – Belgium, France,
Luxembourg, Netherlands and the
UK joined together in a system of
common defense
• April 1949 – These countries, U.S.,
and 6 more countries formed a
military alliance - NATO
– North Atlantic Treaty Organization
– An attack on one member, was an
attack on all

14. Postwar America
• 12 million men
and women
returned to
civilian life
– Jobs not always
available
– Women
pressured to
leave their jobs

15. Life in Postwar America
• June 1944 Roosevelt signed
Serviceman’s Readjustment
Act aka the GI Bill, it provided
veterans with:
– Money to attend college,
receive job training
– Loans to buy homes, farms,
businesses
– Help finding work
– A year of unemployment
benefits for those who couldn’t

16. Life in Postwar America
• Demand for consumer goods rose sharply
• More Americans began having families
– Baby Boom – dramatic rise in birthrate
• Labor unions began seeking wage increases
– Taft-Hartley Act – reduced power of unions
• President Truman issued Executive Order 9981
– Ended segregation in the U.S. armed forces
• Hispanic Americans worked to win full access
to GI Bill benefits they earned for their service

17. Postwar Politics
• Harry S Truman had been VP barely 2 months
when Roosevelt died
– Knew little about issues/decisions the nation faced
– Criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike
• Key complaint: inflation – rise in prices (that had been
controlled by the government during the war)
• 1946 Congressional election – Republicans
became majority for the first time since 1930
– More difficult for Truman to put programs in place

18. Postwar Politics
• 1948 election – Democrats split their support
– Henry Wallace – running w/ Progressive Party
– Strom Thurmond – Dixiecrat, attracted voters who
opposed Truman’s support for civil rights
• Truman set off on a whirlwind campaign across
the U.S., but most people ruled him out
• Beat out Thomas E. Dewey for the presidency in
one of the most surprising elections ever

19. •Truman now felt
strong enough to
create his own plan
for the country
known as the Fair
Deal that included:
•Federal health
insurance program
•Funding for
education
• Not supported by
Congress

20. For Next Class…