Period Eight: 1945-1980

rivalry between the soviet union and the united states, growth of various civil rights movements, and economic, cultural, and political transformations

the cold war and the red scare

• berlin crisis — east v west germany

• berlin airlift from us → supplies through ussr-occupied west berlin

• stalin removes road blockades and constructs berlin wall in 1961

• 1949: germany splits into two nations

• rivalry between us + ussr

• mistrust began eg. eastern european nations → allies agreed that they would hold free elections there after the war, stalin kept them under soviet control to act as a buffer zone

• us views as threat to self-determination, democracy

• ideological + political division between europe → iron curtain

• us response: containment of communism

• truman doctrine: us will provide military + economic support to any nation threatened by spread of communism

• marshall plan: rebuilding western europe post-war, prevent communism

• nato: military defense pact to defend western europe

• reponse – warsaw pact: communist nato lol

• arms race: race to develop superior weapon systems

• korean war: after japan’s defeat, korea is divided in half (soviets, us)

• proxy war after north invades south over communism v democracy – truman’s doctrine

• another red scare, house unamerican activities committee (huac) searches for communists in us – joseph mccarthy, mccarthyism → created hysteria surrounding claims of knowing communists

• formerly colonized countries → decolonization (esp in africa, asia, latin america), many need aid – us + ussr fight to help

• guatamala – us troops lead a coup against socialist government encroaching on us business interests

• iran – cia aided iranians in overthrow of socialist government, america dependent on oil → rewarded america with loyal prices

• vietnam war: indochina decolonized after fighting off china/japan, divided at 17th parallel; top is communist (ho chi minh), south is not; eisenhower gives millions of $ in economic aid to south vietnam, domino theory over spread of communism

• farewell address: beware of military industrial complex – american industry’s success is too tightly entwined with military sector, military decisions shouldn’t be dependent on economy + vise-versa

america as a world power

• post-war explosion in children, demand for houses increases in suburbs

• levittown

• middle-class move to suburbs of sunbelt states → warmer climate, increased economic opportunity, defense industry

• mass culture (homogenous) – rise of television, rebellion against conformity by artists (catcher in the rye), beat poets eg. jack carwack

the vietnam war

• highly protested

• stopping the spread of communism in asia

• fundamental misunderstanding: america believed that the vietnamese were fighting for communism when in reality they were fighting for vietnam

• lyndon johnson, gulf of tonkin incident (allegedly, vietnamese ships fired on american ships)

• congress passed tonkin resolution: president can exercise whatever powers necessary to protect american interests

• not techincally a war – congress must approve war, johnson potentially overstepping

• johnson does step-by-step escalation, never ends

• americans have turmoil over civil rights movement + anti-war protests

• secrecy + misinformation spread by johnson, perpetually “almost there”

• televised war → bloodbaths overseas lead to distrust in government

the great society

• struggles to create great society (expansion of new deal reforms); war on poverty

• democratic congress lets johnson pass essentially whatever he wants

• led creation of office of economic opportunity → self-help programs for impoverished americans (eg. literacy programs, vocational training)

• expanded great society to include medicare (government medical insurance for 65+), medicaid (health insurance for impoverished)

• immigration act: abolished immigration quotas

the civil rights movement

• segregation still prominent in south → allowed by plessy v ferguson

• judicial victory in desegregation in schools – brown v board of education, overturns plessy v ferguson in schools

• integration effort was still slow, only 2% integrated after 10 years

• montgomery buss boycott: rosa parks, martin luther king, jr

• nonviolent protests spark mass arrests, culminated in march on washington

• civil rights act (1964): discrimination based on race/sex/religion – illegal

• voting rights act (1965): prohibited racial discrimination in voting

• nonviolent resistance takes toll on black americans

• malcolm x: persuade black americans that integration isn’t the way to freedom → militarism, separation (counter white violence with black violence)

• non-black civil rights movements

• latinos: laborers exploited, ceasar chavez organized them into boycotts + protests

• indigenous peoples: reclaim tribal traditions, achieve self-determination, + address systemic poverty – occupation of alcatraz island for 19 months, self-determination act in 1975

• women: betty ferdan’s feminine mystique – explored traditional housewife’s entrapment as subservient at the expense of her own needs; instrumental in founding of now (national organization of women), borrowed tactics from civil rights movement + secured equal rights/pay for women in the workplace → equal rights amendment would amend the constitution to prevent discrimination on the basis of sex

• lgbtq+ folks: gay liberation, police raid of stonewall inn, arrested people for being lgbtq+ → resistance, lgbtq+ status changes from mentally ill to legitimate sexuality i love women

youth culture of the 1960s

• anti-war protests

• counterculturalism: reject societal norms + cultural restraint therein, hippies

• woodstock music festival → eg. jimmy hendricks

• fizzled out in ‘70s due to lack of longevity that comes with drug use

significant social/political/economic developments, rising distrust in government

• rachel carson: silent spring – expose how pesticides kill the land + world

• exxon valdise oil spill (1989) massive stakes of technology

• 1970 → congress creates environmental protection agency (epa) to regulate environmental impact + provide oversight to ensure that needs were met

• economic turmoil – recession of the ‘70s, stagflation (stagnation + inflation)

• watergate scandal: nixon reelected, men in his reelection campaign caught breaking into the watergate office complex (dfl hq) trying to bug phones, steal documents

• when revealed, nixon claimed he didn’t know about it but was involved → resigned before he could be impeached

• conservatism v liberalism in the supreme court: chief justice (burger court); roe v wade turned it more conservative → based on 4th amendment, right to privacy, set conservatives off