Part 9

World War II (1941 – 1945)

*The Course of the War*

- We won. Hah. 
(Don’t worry: military history is NOT on the AP! I just summarized it a little more concisely this time, anyway!)

*The Wartime (and Post-War) Conferences*

- Now THIS is important. The key conferences are as follows:
Teheran Conference (December 1943) – FDR, Stalin & Churchill met. The main issues were:
The opening of a second front (the fact that they hadn’t already was annoying Stalin), which led to a decision to invade France in 1944. 
The USSR also promised to help against Japan as soon as Germany lost. 
Dumbarton Oaks Conference – The US, GB, the USSR, and China basically talked over the details of the UN here, finally deciding on the Security Council/General Assembly we all know and love today. 
Yalta Conference (February 1945) – FDR, Stalin & Churchill once again. They discussed…
Poland: After letting the Germans wipe out an uprising, the USSR had installed its own gov’t – but another one was still waiting in London. So it was decided that the USSR would get more territory but would (supposedly) use a coalition gov’t there. 
Germany: They decided upon its division into four zones, and a preliminary figure for reparations (most of which would go to the USSR). 
Stalin also promised (again) to declare war on Japan soon after Hitler lost and sign a treaty with Chiang in China (not Mao). In exchange, the USSR would get back some of the land it lost in the Russo-Japanese war. 
Yalta was the high water mark of diplomatic relations between the three and then…
Potsdam Conference (July 1945) – Truman replaced FDR here. They discussed….
Germany: They agreed on disarmament, dismantling of war industries, de-nazification, and war crimes trials.
Japan: Unconditional surrender.  
Not much else was actually settled, as the spirit of unity had been broken and there was much haggling about gaining/losing territory & spheres of influence and so on…
- That’s all.  

*World War II: The Home Front*

- In many ways, what occurred on the home front in WWII is very similar to what occurred during WWI, although there were also some significant differences. Here’s what you should remember about the home front in WWII: 
Propaganda – FDR started out by getting everybody geared up with his Four Freedoms idea (speech, worship, want, fear), and telling people they had to go out and fight for the American Way of Life. To help get the idea around, he established the Office of War Information (1942) to take charge of the matter – Hollywood joined in too, of course (Capra’s Why We Fight). 
Gov’t Regulation of the Economy – As follows…
Office of Price Administration (1942): The OPA quickly went to work controlling inflation through price ceilings on commodities and rents, as well as establishing rationing through local War Price & Rationing Boards. Many businesses protested, and blamed the OPA for scarcity, but tough luck for them. 
War Production Board (1942): Following Pearl Harbor, the WPB was established to convert the economy from civilian to military production. 
War Manpower Commission (1942): Recruited workers for the factories. 
Gov’t Incentives in Business: The gov’t guaranteed profits (cost-plus-fixed-fee contracts), lowered taxes, and excluded businesses from antitrust laws. Witness the rise of the dreaded military-industrial complex.  
Results of the Wartime Economy – As always, unemployment basically vanished, and people started making more than ever. The gov’t didn’t even bother to overtax them, instead relying on deficit financing. Also, industry (and especially agriculture) experienced yet another period of consolidation.  
Federal Support of Science & Technology – Like business, scientific enterprises all got bigger as the gov’t poured $ into big universities and military/science projects. 
Growth of Organized Labor – A labor/management conference agreed (after PH) to a no strike/lockout pledge to guarantee war production. The NWLB was then created to oversee any disputes – unions were allowed, but workers couldn’t be forced into them either. It wasn’t all good, though, b/c when the NWLB tried to limit wage increases in 1943, workers struck big time, leading to the War Labor (Smith-Connally) Act (1943), which gave the president authority to seize and operate plants w/strikes if needed for nat’l security, and gave the NWLB the authority to settle disputes for the duration of the war.  
Growth of the Federal Gov’t – The gov’t increased both its size and power during the war, esp. the executive branch, which now also had to manage the labor supply and control inflation. 
Japanese Internment – Also as a result of the war, thousands of Japanese citizens were “relocated” to internment camps. 
Opportunities for African Americans – Although blacks were able to find jobs in the military and in cities (Executive Order No. 8802 outlawed discrimination in defense industries), they still faced major problems and race riots in the cities (1943). Membership in civil rights organizations increased as a result. 
Opportunities for Women – In addition to being more involved in the actual army/navy action, women took new war production jobs. 
- So there you have it. No more outlining of the book for me tonight, sorry. This will have to be a short one.  

Postwar America (1945 – 1961)

*Truman’s First Term: Domestic Policies*

- Truman had become President after FDR’s death, and was subsequently the one who had to face the possible economic consequences of demobilization – as war contracts were cancelled and price controls removed, cutbacks in production led to layoffs and inflation. 
- Truman responded by decided to combat unemployment through expansion on the New Deal programs like unemployment compensation, minimum wage, farm supports, public works, and so on. He also brought back the idea of FDR’s Economic Bill of Rights (everyone deserves a job). 
- It turned out, though, that while there was temporary high unemployment the economy remained stable and even boomed! Why? People had saved up during the war, and easy credit promoted buying. The only big problem was inflation, spurred by shortages of goods and housing. 
- However, inflation soon led to a decline in real income (purchasing power), so workers became discontented b/c they felt they weren’t sharing in the widespread prosperity. In 1946, unions responded by ordering nationwide shutdowns and strikes. 
- This further limited production and created more inflation, so many people began to get very pissed at the unions, including Truman, who declared to Congress that if an industry vital to nat’l security refused to return to work, all the workers would be drafted into the army. This really angered labor, though!
- Another debacle occurred w/Truman’s handling of the OPA (price controls), which big business & consumers wanted lifted. When they did expire, however, inflation rose further. People blamed Truman, leading to the Republican majority in both houses in the 1946 elections. 
- Taft-Hartley Act (1947)  Prohibited the closed shop (union only), permitted states to ban union-shop agreements, forbade union contributions to candidates in federal elections, forced union leaders to swear in affidavits that they were not communists, and mandated an 80 day cooling off period before carrying out strikes. This enraged labor, but helped Truman, who was vindicated in their eyes through his veto.  
- The Republican Congress also offended other groups, like farm organization, with their obliviousness to public demands. Still, though, it seemed like they had a sure Presidential victory. 

*Truman’s Second Term: Domestic Policies*

- Anyway, in the Presidential Election of 1948, in addition to the Republican candidate, Thomas Dewey (G-NY), Truman faced two other parties: (1) the Progressive Party, which advocated friendly relationships w/the USSR, racial desegregation, and the nationalization of basic industries and ran Henry Wallace, a New Dealer who had been fired by Truman for criticizing US foreign policy and (2) the Dixiecrats, who ran Strom Thurmond of SC and consisted of anti-civil rights Southerners. 
- So, basically, most people felt that Truman was totally screwed. As a last ditch tactic, he called the all Republican Congress into a special session and challenged it to enact all their plans. They did nothing in the end, giving Truman the opportunity to go around the country taking about the “do-nothing” Congress. 
- And Truman won! Why? Well, the US was doing well economically, at peace, and united on foreign policy. Plus, the ND coalition – blacks, union members, urban ethnics, and most of the South – still remained, and farmers joined as they worried the Republicans would lower price supports.  
- So Truman started off again all confident and excited – he had a program called the Fair Deal, which he hoped (but largely failed) to implement. The programs he did manage to get passed are as follows:
Welfare/Relief – He extended minimum wage, extended Social Security coverage to thousands of people, passed a Housing Act, and passed the Agricultural Act of 1949, which gave farmers 90% of the market price as supports. 
Civil Rights – He desegregated the military, appointed more blacks than ever to high offices, and created a President’s Committee on Civil Rights, which wrote what was to become the agenda for the movement in the coming years – To Secure These Rights (1947). 
Displaced Persons Act – He passed an act to allow more refugees into the country. 
- However, his attempts to modify TH, pass a civil right bill, establish national health coverage, and get more money for education were blocked by the Republican Congress and special interests. 
- Truman’s most significant legacy, however, is that he strengthened the powers of the Presidency and made many WWII agencies permanent – Atomic Energy Commission, Department of Defense, CIA. 

*The Eisenhower Presidency: Domestic Policies*

- The Presidential Election of 1952 was a huge victory for war hero Dwight D. Eisenhower, who ran promising to end the war in Korea and the whole virtuous-decent-friendly guy deal (“I Like Ike”). Besides winning the presidency, the Republicans once again got both houses of Congress.
- Overall, Eisenhower was a very popular President who relied a lot on the delegation of authority to cabinet members and didn’t have a clue what the heck was going on. This wasn’t such a big deal, b/c his years in office were about the status quo & conformity (“consensus mood”) where talk of reform became unpatriotic.  
- Both Democrats and Republicans alike avoided extremism (stuck with the center), and Eisenhower himself came up with “dynamic conservatism” – we can’t remove the New Deal, so we’ll live with it and try to represent business and balance the budget anyway.  
- What did Eisenhower do during his first term? He built a canal (spur economic development in Midwest), amended the Social Security Act to add people, reformed taxes, and passed the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, which gave private companies the right to use nuclear power. 
- Eisenhower also changed policies regarding Native Americans. His policy of termination (1953) forced NAs into American culture by getting rid of reservations, ending tribal sovereignty and federal services, and making Indians subject to state laws. This was supposed to help states’ rights and lower costs, but it was mainly motivated by land greed (as ever).  
- Although the Congressional elections of 1954 gave the Democrats control of both houses of Congress, Eisenhower was reelected in a landslide victory in the Presidential Election of 1956. 

*Eisenhower’s Second Term: Domestic Policies*

- In his second term, Eisenhower faced rising costs (partially b/c of America’s involvement globally) but ended up going with deficit spending due to the military budget and three short recessions. 
- In 1958 Eisenhower faced further problems when Sherman Adams (the President’s chief aide) resigned under suspicion of a scandal, and the Republicans lost big time in the 1958 Congressional elections. Then in 1960 there was a recession, and the whole U-2 plane incident (more on that later). 
- Although Eisenhower was popular, in retrospect, he did avoid dealing with the major issues of poverty, urban decay, and civil rights – and he authorized CIA covert operations. Nevertheless, just before leaving office, he was eerily prescient in his warnings against the “military-industrial complex.” 

*McCarthyism – The Red Scare Redux*

- McCarthyism was a major problem in both the Truman and Eisenhower administrations, and can basically be summarized as mass hysteria and overreaction to the idea of the Communist threat. Anti-communism had already surfaced in the Red Scare in the early 1920s, and e/t the Communist Party grew during the Depression, the Cold War brought the whole anti-communist deal back big time. 
- Anyhow, here’s how anti-communism began under Truman…
Investigations of US Gov’t Employees: Truman helped begin the circus in 1947 by ordering investigations in the loyalty of employees of the US gov’t. 
This bred a whole atmosphere of fear and accusations ran rampant – in addition to the Hollywood Ten in the movie industry, teachers, professors, and union leaders were all targeted by the gov’t and by each other. This was especially harmful to the Unions. 
Alger Hiss Case (1949)  State Department official Alger Hiss was accused by confirmed spy Whittaker Chambers of giving him classified documents. He was defended by Truman, and ended up being convicted of perjury (not espionage).  
The Rise of McCarthy: It was in the midst of this whole deal that Senator Joseph McCarthy started waving around his lists of confirmed communists (they were really shopping lists, apparently). When this turned out to be a winning campaign issue, he stuck to it, and (for a time) seemed invulnerable. 
Julius & Ethel Rosenberg Case (1950): The Rosenbergs were accused of passing atomic secrets to the USSR and were executed in 1953 (under Eisenhower). 
Internal Security (McCarran) Act (1950) – Targeted Communist front-group orgs. by forcing them to register w/the gov’t and prohibiting them from holding defense jobs or traveling. 
Dennis et al. v. US (1951) – This SC decision upheld the Smith Act (1940), under which CP leaders had been arrested, due to the precedent set by Schenk v. US and the whole “clear and present danger” deal on free speech. 
- Then, under Eisenhower, there was more of the same. McCarthy continued his demagogic attacks, and Eisenhower avoided confronting him lest it split the Republican Party. Additionally… 
Eisenhower attacked communists himself though a 1953 executive order that allowed federal workers to be dismissed as “security risks.” 
Communist Control Act (1954): This act, which received widespread bipartisan support, effectively made membership in the CP illegal.  
Army-McCarthy Hearings (1954): McCarthy finally fell after he attacked the US army. In the hearings, his vile treatment of witnesses and general obnoxiousness got him condemned for sullying the dignity of the Senate. 
- E/t McCarthy finally fell the hysteria had already taken its toll on the American tradition of free speech.

*The Civil Rights Movement*

- The Cold War ended helping the civil rights movement b/c the US couldn’t make a big fuss about human rights if it didn’t live up to its own ideals either. Additionally, the blacks that had migrated to the cities in WWII began to control the political “balance of power” in the cities, and thus became important.
- Subsequently Truman (in addition to genuinely believing in civil rights) had reasons to support it – in 1946, he created the President’s Committee on Civil Rights, which basically summed up the civil rights movement in their report To Secure These Rights (1947) – i.e. anti-lynching & anti-segregation laws. 
- Congress, however, didn’t act on the Committee’s suggestions – e/t Truman did in the end issue two executive orders ending discrimination in the federal gov’t: one was on fair employment (Employment Board of the Civil Service Commission), and the other desegregated the army (another committee to oversee). 
- A series of SC decisions also helped African Americans…
NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund (Thurgood Marshall & Charles Hamilton Houston) worked against the separate but equal policies and got many blacks into universities.
Smith v. Allwright (1944) – White-only Democratic Primaries in some states were outlawed.
Morgan v. Virginia (1946) – No more segregation in interstate bus transportation.
Shelley v. Kraemer (1948) – Outlawed agreements among white not to sell houses to blacks.
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) – The NAACP challenge to school segregation succeeded on the grounds that separate facilities denied kids equal protection under the law (feeling of inferiority generated). Still, the SC didn’t order desegregation directly until a year later, and even then there was no definite schedule, so Southern schools resisted. 
- In general, much of the South resisted the push towards civil rights – White Citizens’ Councils created to resist the school order – and Northern cities maintained a policy of segregation in terms of housing.  
- And the election of Eisenhower didn’t help as Ike ignored the issue (like he did everything else) hoping it would gradually resolve itself – i.e. he objected to compulsory federal segregation laws, therefore encouraging white noncompliance to orders through his lack of leadership.
- Then in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957, the test of school integration occurred when whites tried to block the 8 black kids from entering Central High. In the end, Eisenhower was forced to send army paratroopers to ensure their safety. In response, schools were closed for the following 2 years to avoid desegregation.  
- There was also the whole Rosa Parks and Montgomery Bus Boycott deal in 1955 – after Parks was arrested, blacks under the leadership of MLK, a follower of Gandhi and advocate of non-violent protest, boycotted the buses until they were integrated – partially b/c of economic reasons and partially b/c of an SC decision that declared the segregation laws unconstitutional. 
- Civil Rights Act (1957) – Created the US Commission Civil Rights to investigate discrimination, but proved ineffective. 
- As a result, blacks started a campaign of sit-ins in the South, which helped by giving their cause publicity and demonstrating the brutality of Southern Whites who attacked the non-violent protestors. The SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordination Committee) was formed b/c of the sit-ins.  

*The 1950s: Comfort, Consumerism & Conformity*

- First of all, the 1950s were (for most) an era of unprecedented prosperity and expansion. More specifically:
The Postwar Economic Boom: Increasing output & increasing demand – it really was that simple. Economist Galbraith called it the “affluent society” – productivity increased, people wanted more stuff, and they used consumer credit to keep buying, which caused profits (and paychecks) to go up, spurring more consumerism, and so on. Per capita real income (adjusted for inflation) jumped up, as did standard of living (for most). 
The Baby Boom: The baby boom was actually both a cause and effect of the new prosperity, as the new population generated new needs for services, esp. in the three industries that expanded most – construction, cars, and defense (well maybe not that). 
Housing & Highway Boom: The GI mortgages and Federal Housing Administration insurance led to an explosion in home building and buying – prefabricated suburbia. Tons of new highways were built, which also speed up the process of suburbanization. 
Military Spending: The other big reason for the economic boom was military spending, which also helped advance the electronics industry.  
Consolidation & Conglomerate Mergers: Due to the new technologies, industry ownership became increasingly concentrated as only the big companies had the $ to buy the new stuff. Conglomerate mergers (when unrelated industries join together to stabilize markets) became increasingly common. Even agriculture became dominated by big, mechanized farm companies – no more family farms, fewer tenant farmers.  
Labor Merger: Finally the AFL and CIO joined back up again, but union membership still didn’t increase all that much, probably b/c most workers were doing quite well. 
Environmental Costs – We screwed up the environment by dumping waste everywhere and spraying DDT (Rachel Carson, Silent Spring). We also wasted a lot of stuff. Sound familiar? 
- As for 1950s culture, here are some of the main themes:
Conformity: The rat-race, status seeking suburbia, materialism…basically the same as suburbia now only people had strange looking black & white TV sets. 
Education: Education was a big concern, and many GIs went to college w/the provisions of the GI Bill of Rights. Parents also became obsessed w/their kids as successful students (we wouldn’t know anything about that, would we) and joined the PTA and so on. Education also became a nat’l security deal with the Sputnik thing (“their scientists are beating our scientists”) so the NDEA was passed to enrich high school programs. 
Religion: Religion was seen as very American – in 1954 they added that little “under God” phrase to the Pledge. 
Television: Evangelists and car salesmen had a new way to be heard, and heard they were as families spend their time glued in front of the “idiot box.” Oh well. 
Women’s Roles: There was a cult of motherhood on one side, but the growing trend of women in the labor force on the other.
Youth Subculture: Music (oh dear – Elvis!) and movies like Rebel Without A Cause catered to bored teenagers dissatisfied with blah middle class conformity. 
Beat Generation: On the sidelines, a few serious artists tried to speak about America’s problems. The Beats (Allen Ginsberg, etc.) rejected conformity and embraced sexuality and drugs – they were largely ignored in the 1950s but then were rediscovered in the 1960s. 
- The general prosperity notwithstanding, there was a large group of other Americans – immigrants, blacks, inner city dwellers, rural poor, Native Americans – that remained unaffected by the outburst of new products and stayed very poor. But they were largely ignored. 

The [Early] Cold War (1945 – 1961) 

*General Origins of the Cold War*

- Following the war, the US & USSR developed a tremendous rivalry. This was for several reasons…
Power Vacuum – Following the collapse of Germany and Japan and the devastation of much of Europe, there was the question of how rebuilding would commence, and who would have hegemony in the areas where the Axis once dominated.
Decolonization – Another source of instability was the disintegration of the big empires and the creation of the new “Third World” countries, which both the US and USSR hoped to win over as military bases and markets. 
Failure of Diplomacy – Diplomacy was largely ignored b/c both countries were thoroughly convinced they were completely right, and weren’t willing to accept “appeasement.” 
US Economic/Strategic Needs – The US knew that its economic well being depended on exports, and therefore wanted to continue the trend towards economic expansionism through an active foreign policy. Also, the increasingly interconnected world (faster travel, etc.) made the US feel it was important to establish defense away from home. 
Truman’s Tough Style – Truman was not a good diplomat. 
US Suspicion of Soviet Intentions – Throughout the Cold War the US obsessed over what the USSR could and wanted to do. They really weren’t as much of a menace as we thought, but we still were concerned they could take over our interests in Western Europe. 
- Basically, only US influence was allowed, so as soon as the USSR started taking interest in new territory we lost it…

*The Cold War under Truman*

- After the war ended, the US & USSR lost no time in getting each other mad. As follows:
Soviet Expansion: In 1945 The USSR didn’t allow the Polish gov’t that had been in exile in London to join their new communist gov’t in Lublin (as they had promised). They also took over Romania, and encouraged coups in Hungary (1947) and Czechoslovakia (1948). The Soviets claimed the US was doing the same thing, and complained about the double standard. 
Atomic Diplomacy: The USSR whined that the US was trying to scare them into concessions b/c of their monopoly on the atomic bomb. Then Truman refused to turn the bomb over to an internat’l institution and backed the Baruch Plan instead – the US would give up its atomic monopoly if all the world’s fissionable materials were given to an agency. The Soviets felt this would let the US continue researching the bomb w/o letting anyone else…
World Bank/IMF: After clashing on several fronts (reconstruction loans, Iran, etc.) in 1946, the USSR decided not to join the new institutions, believing them to be too US dominated (and also b/c they were capitalist). Still, the IMF opened and began making loans. 
- This caused more paranoia and obsession on both sides, and we responded with the…
Truman Doctrine (1947): After the British asked for US help in Greece (to defend their client gov’t against a leftist uprising) Truman gave a speech to sell the idea to Congress that defined the Truman Doctrine – “It must be the policy of the US to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.” The US backed both Greece (gov’t won in 1949) and Turkey (because big US ally) as a result. 
X Article: After Truman’s speech, George Kennan (writing as “Mr. X”) published an article on containment of Soviet power – confronting the USSR with a strong counterforce anywhere they showed signs of expansion.  
Marshall Plan (1947): In order to prevent radicalism through the sponsorship of international prosperity, the US began a huge European recovery program – money was sent, but it had to be spent in the US on US-made products (to stimulate our economy). It was mixed success, as it caused inflation and divided Europe even more (East/West) in addition to spurring industrial progress. From our POV, though, it was excellent b/c it helped contain communism.  
National Security Act (1947): This act created the Office of Secretary of Defense (later the Dept. of Defense) and the CIA (“The Department of Dirty Tricks”). 
Fulbright Program (1948): This program of exchange students tried to blunt anti-Americanism and aid cultural exchanges – there was also the Congress for Cultural Freedom. 
Rio Pact (1947) & Organization of American States (1948): Both these military alliances were in Latin America and served to protect American interests and boost the militaries of LA states.
- Other key events in the early Cold War: 
Recognition of Israel (1948): Truman did this to gain Jewish votes and get another ally. 
Berlin Blockade/Airlift (1948): After the US, France and GB agreed to merge their German zones, the USSR cut off access to all of Berlin, prompting a US airlift of supplies there until May 1949 and the foundation of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). 
Point Four Program (1949): This was an aid program for the Third World that helped to win allies onto our side. It later became part of the Mutual Security Agency. 
NATO (1949): We formed a Western Europe security pact, which caused some domestic debate (no alliances since 1778) since some felt it would force us into war. But it was ratified.
NSC-68 (1950): After the double shock of the USSR exploding its first bomb and China going communist, the Nat’l Security Council came up w/this report asking for more $ for the military.  

*The Cold War in Asia*

- Like Europe, Asia became involved in the conflicts of the Cold War. 
Japan: In Japan, the US monopolized reconstruction through military occupation under MacArthur, who started a “democratic revolution from above.” In 1951, we signed a separate peace w/Japan that ended occupation. A Mutual Security Treaty the next year provided for the stationing of our forced on their soil. 
China: We didn’t do so well in China, where we insisted on backing Chiang against Mao, who we refused to talk to once he did come to power in 1949 (this pushed him over to the USSR, but that relationship didn’t last either – Stalin & Mao didn’t get along). Anyway, we didn’t recognize the actual gov’t of China in 1979. 
Vietnam: During WWII, Ho Chi Minh, while planning to free the nation from the French, also fought against the Japanese (with our help). Once we “lost China,” though, we decided to back a restoration of French rule in order to (1) gain French cooperation, (2) have more economic hegemony in the areas, and (3) Ho was a communist, so we thought he was Soviet-sponsored. Anyway, in 1950 we decided to recognize the puppet gov’t under Bao Dai and start sending weapons and advisers to the French. More on this later…
- Then there was the whole Korean War issue, which bears going into. The KW began as a civil war in 1950 when North Korea moved across into South Korea (the two parts had been divided in 1945 w/US & USSR approval). Both leaders hoped to reunify the nation, but Truman thought that the USSR had planned the whole thing (he hadn’t really, and had barely been convinced to help at all). 
- Anyway, the United Nations then voted on helping South Korea, and since Stalin wasn’t there (he had walked out b/c of the China deal) it went through. MacArthur became commander of UN forces (90% US), and they fought until they not only passed the original boundary but went into NK (hoping to reunify). 
- UN forces went deep into NK until they were stooped by a surprise counterattack by Chinese forces. This sent them back to the 38th parallel (original boundary) and e/t MacArthur wanted to go fight China, Truman told him off and then fired him as a result. 
- Fighting went on as the POW issue stalled negotiations (US officials said only the prisoners that wanted to go back would be returned, and NK countered by saying they wouldn’t return anyone). An armistice was finally signed in 1953 – the POW question was handed over to a board of neutral nations, who ended up giving the prisoners their choice, and the border went to the 38th parallel again w/a demilitarized zone. 
- Domestically, the war helped get Eisenhower elected, and also gave the President more power, since he had never asked Congress for a declaration of war prior to sending the troops. 
- Overall, Truman’s legacy was a very militarized foreign “containment” policy on a global scale.

*The Cold War under Eisenhower*

- Eisenhower basically kept up Truman’s policies and made sure the more hawkish (to say the least) John Foster Dulles (Secretary of State) didn’t get out of control. Dulles was totally anti-communist (and anti-compromise) and called for “liberation” (instead of containment) & “brinksmanship” (taking the country to the edge of war and relying on MAD), and popularized the Domino Theory (if one goes they all will).  
- Eisenhower, however, did rely increasingly on the CIA to buy out foreign leaders, labor unions, newspapers and political parties. The CIA also planted fake stories in newspapers, trained foreign military officials, experimented w/mind control drugs, and launched covert operations to subvert Third World gov’ts.
- The Eisenhower administration also tried to spread American culture in the USSR and the East (to spark discontent) through the United States Information Agency, which funded the Voice of America. There was also Radio Free Europe & Radio Liberty, funded by the CIA, which sent anti-Soviet messages, some of which got through. 
- Meanwhile (“kitchen debates” notwithstanding) the arms race intensified under Eisenhower with the explosion of the Hydrogen bomb, the first ICBM (USSR), and then Sputnik (1957), which caused a big ruckus over here and got us to start NASA in 1958. E/t we actually had a lot more missiles & crap, we kept worrying about the (non-existent) “missile gap” and building more. 
- In fact, this even got to be a bit much for Eisenhower (it was tough to balance the budget) so in 1957 some arms-control proposals were started like the “atoms for peace” initiative, the “open skies” proposal, and bans on testing. But none of these agreements really worked out despite talks in Geneva in 1955. 
- Some specific incidents under Eisenhower include:
Hungary (1956): When Khrushchev came to power he denounced Stalin and called for more toleration, which inspired revolts in Poland and Hungary. But after the new Hungarian gov’t decided to withdraw form the Warsaw Pact Soviet troops crushed the rebellion – and e/t we’d been sending all that liberation stuff over the radio, we didn’t do anything (we couldn’t w/o starting some huge war). 
Khrushchev’s Ultimatum (1958): The USSR got mad b/c we had bombers in West Germany, and announced that unless we began talks on German reunification and rearmament they would recognize East German control of all of Berlin. We refused to do anything, and he backed off – it was basically a test. 
U-2 Incident (1960): Well, in Dublin, Ireland, this really cool band was formed and then – oh crap, wrong U2, haha I’m obsessed! Anyway, this U-2 plane was flying over the USSR and it was shot down, leading to some embarrassment for us, esp. when we refused to apologize. 
Jinmen-Mazu Crisis: This was a dispute over two tiny islands off the Chinese coast with China (go figure) – we were allowing Chiang to use the islands to as outposts to raid the mainland, so China started bombing them. Eisenhower decided to defend the outposts, pushing the nation to the brink – the Formosa Resolution (1955) authorized the president to send US forces to defend the islands. The issue came up again in 1958, but this time we told Chiang to get rid of some of his troops, which led China to stop dropping bombs. China got the bomb in 1964. 
- Meanwhile, Japan grew (economically) at an incredible rate – while remaining an uneasy Cold War ally. Western Europeans were also a little scared by McCarthyism, German rearmament and the Vietnam deal, and resented being treated as dependents by the US in the name of “community.” 

*The Emergence of the Third World*

- Due to decolonization, a ton of new states were formed – and before long, once all the other countries declared their allegiances in the Cold War, US and Soviet attention shifted the Third World, which could provide markets, supplies of raw materials, and provide sites for military and intelligence bases. 
- As this wasn’t exactly what most of the Third World had in mind the US began to turn a ton of resources towards it – and it wasn’t all aid (based on the views of MIT professor Walt Rostow, Stages of Economic Growth) and propaganda (the good ol’ US Information Agency) either – we supported nasty dictators, got into civil wars, and used CIA covert operations to squash revolutions. 
- Nevertheless, some countries – India, Ghana, Egypt, Indonesia, and others – still managed to stay out of it by declaring themselves non-aligned. They then organized at the Bandung Conference (in Indonesia), which got Dulles all annoyed – hey, they have to take sides, our side, I mean. 
- The US (as always) believed that the Third World needed some tutoring in how to establish a nice capitalist democracy (just like ours), and depicted Third World peoples as dependent, irrational, and weak. Race attitudes also hurt relationships – they made us look bad – as we weren’t exactly living up to all our ideals.  

*American Intervention in the Third World*

- More specifically, here’s where and what we did:
Guatemala: In 1951 leftist leader Guzmán was elected President, and once he deiced to expropriate all of United Fruit’s (big US company) unused land (he offered compensation) UF officials claimed he was a communist, which led to the generation of a CIA plot to overthrow him. In 1954 CIA-supported troops drove him from power, and the new pro-US regime returned the land before a huge civil war erupted. 
Cuba: In 1959 the Cuban Revolution erupted – Batista was ousted, and Fidel Castro took control. From the start Castro was anti-American, and got rid of a lot of our business interests, which (in addition to his growing popularity and authoritarianism) scared the crap out of Washington. And once the US cut purchases of Cuban sugar, Castro nationalized all our companies and asked the USSR for loans and more trade to hold off the US. Eisenhower broke diplomatic relations in 1961, leaving the whole Bay of Pigs debacle for Kennedy. 
Puerto Rico: In PR, Operation Bootstrap encouraged companies to invest in tourism and other industries. 
Middle East: In the Middle East we encountered challenges from Arab nationalists to our support of Israel and oil holdings (Iran was our special oil source in exchange for CIA help in the overthrow of the Shah’s nationalistic rival). 
Suez Crisis: Since we hated Egypt’s nationalist leader Nasser (non-alignment, pan-Arabism) we suddenly decided we wouldn’t help Egypt finance the Aswan Dam as promised. However, Nasser responded by nationalizing the Suez Canal (and using those profits), which caused the Israelis (w/GB & French support) to invade Suez in 1956. Fearing it would force the Egyptians into the arms of the USSR, Eisenhower told them to pull out, which they did – Egypt took control of the canal, the USSR built the Dam, and Nasser became a big hero. 
Eisenhower Doctrine (1957): To try to improve our position in the ME, Eisenhower declared that the US would intervene in the ME if any gov’t threatened by a communist takeover asked for help. This led to troops being sent to Lebanon in 1958. 
- And then there was the big story: Vietnam. Here’s how it all started. Even though the US was helping them, the French were losing big time to the Vietminh (Ho’s forces). Finally, at Dienbienphu (1954) the French surrendered (despite US attempts to rally a coalition around them). 
- France wanted out, so at the Geneva peace talks (US, USSR, GB, China, and the two Vietnamese regimes) the Geneva Accords were established, which temporarily divided Vietnam at the 17th parallel (military truce line) until unification via nat’l elections in 1956. Until then, no foreign troops or alliances.
- We didn’t really mean that, though, b/c as soon as the conference ended CIA teams went to Vietnam and began secret operations against the North. We also joined in SEATO (sort of like NATO) and made one of the goals be to protect Vietnam. 
- Then we decided to get rid of Bao Dai (original puppet ruler) and replace him with Diem, who staged a phony election in the South and then refused the call for nat’l elections. We helped his army and gave tons of aid, but Diem insisted on acting dictatorially until nobody liked him anyway. 
- Consequently, resistance began to build, and in early 1959 Ho finally started sending aid to the insurgents, who terrorized the area and organized the National Liberation Front (NLF) or Vietcong. This set off a civil war in which we backed Diem against Ho, who we thought was a global communist agent or something. 
- And on that depressing note, to be continued…