Notes on The Politics and Culture of Abundance:1952-1960 | HIST 2020, Study notes of World History

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Chapter 27 “The Politics and Culture of Abundance: 1952-1960.” The Cold War Heats Up! • June 1950, the Cold War becomes a shooting war • Troops from Communist North Korea invaded South Korea • This was the first time that America went into battle to implement its policy of containment • This also marked the militarization of American foreign policy Korea • Neither the U.S. nor the Soviet Union could agree upon a unification plan, so in July 1948, the UN sponsored elections in South Korea SOUTH KOREA: Syngman Rhee, A Korean Nationalist was elected and the U.S. withdrew most of its troops NORTH KOREA: Fall 1948, the Soviets est. the People’s Republic of North Korea under Kim Il-sung and the Soviets also withdrew Korean Civil War • June 1950, civil war turned into an international war when 90,000 North Koreans swept into South Korea • Kim Il-sung was the main instigator • Il-sung wanted to be the champion of Korean unification • June 30, President Truman decides to intervene Korean Intervention • 16 nations, including many NATO allies, sent troops to Korea • The U.S. furnished most of the personnel and weapons, deploying almost 1.8 million troops and dictating military strategy • President Truman had failed to ask Congress for a declaration of war, therefore, Truman’s critics called the war “Truman’s War” U.S. in Korea • General MacArthur ignored the President’s warning • The General sent the UN forces to within 40 miles of the border • When the troops approached the Yalu River, separating China from Korea, there were 300,000 Chinese soldiers waiting on the other side • The Chinese troops stormed across the border and helped the North Koreans push back the UN troops From Roll-Back to Containment • General Matthew B. Ridgway, turned the tide again • UN forces fought their way back to the 38th parallel, after 3 months of battle • Truman decided to seek a negotiated settlement • General MacArthur was furious, he felt that reverting back to containment meant defeat General MacArthur • MacArthur was enraged, he took his case to the public, challenging: the president’s authority to conduct foreign policy and the principle of civilian control of the military • Truman fired MacArthur in 1951 • MacArthur’s frustration also articulated America’s frustration • Why do we just not destroy the enemy? President Eisenhower • 1890-1969 • Played football for West Point where he injured his knee badly • Married Mamie Doud • Decorated war hero • During WWII, Ike was promoted to General • Died of a heart attack End of Korean War • President Eisenhower made good on his promise to end the Korean war • July 1953, the two sides reached an armistice that left Korea divided, again at the 38th parallel • North and South Korea were separated by a two and a half-mile demilitarized zone • By 1953, defense spending accounted for 60% of the federal budget President Eisenhower • Moderation defined Eisenhower’s domestic agenda and leadership style • He supported the continuation and even the expansion of some of the New Deal policies • Nicknamed “Ike” by his friends and the public, he was a well-liked war hero Eisenhower and Conservative Republicans • He felt that the government was best left in the hands of the state officials and that economic decisions were best left to private business • “If all Americans want is security, they can go to prison,” comment on social welfare in 1949 Eisenhower • The President’s greatest domestic initiative was: The Interstate Highway and Defense System Act of 1956 • Promoted as essential to national defense and important to economic growth • The construction of a national highway system was put forth where the federal government would pay most of the costs through increased fuel and vehicle tax New Highways • Road trips to new places became easier • Goods moved more quickly around the nation • Suburban expansion • Rise of fast food chains • Motels • Pollution, decline of railroads Native Americans and Termination -1953, Eisenhower signed two bills transferring jurisdiction over tribal land to state and local governments - the loss of federal hospitals, schools and other special arrangements devastated Indian tribes Native American Relocation • 1948, began as a pilot program and involved more than 100,000 Native Americans by 1973 • The Government encouraged the Native Americans to migrate to the cities and then provided them with a one-way ticket Eisenhower and Foreign Policy • To meet his goals of balancing the budget and cutting taxes, Eisenhower believed he must control military expenditures • Eisenhower’s defense strategy concentrates U.S. military strength in nuclear weapons • Instead of spending large amounts for ground forces, the U.S. would give friendly nations American weapons and back them up with a nuclear arsenal • This new plan became known as Eisenhower’s “New Look” Communism in Vietnam • Eisenhower saw Communism in Vietnam much as Truman had viewed its threat in Greece • A Domino Theory • By 1954, the U.S. was contributing 75% of the cost of France’s war in Vietnam, but the U.S. refused to play a larger role • When France asked for more planes, Eisenhower said, “No!” The U.S. and Vietnam • 1954, the French colony in Dien Bien Phu fell to the Communist • Two months later, in Geneva, France signed a truce • Some officials warned against the U.S. involvement in Vietnam • September 1954, the U.S, along with Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Pakistan, and the Philippines committed to the defense of Cambodia, Laos, and South Vietnam The U.S. and South Vietnam • The U.S. then began to send weapons and military advisors to South Vietnam • The U.S. also sent in the CIA to work infiltrating and destabilizing North Vietnam • Between 1955-1961, the U.S. provided $800 million to the South Vietnamese Army • The Army of the Republic of Vietnam, or the ARVN The United Fruit Company • United Fruit refused Arbenz’s offer to compensate it at the value of the land the company had declared for tax purposes • The CIA organized an opposition army that overthrew the elected government and installed a military dictatorship in 1954 • U.F. kept its land, Guatemala succumbed to a series of destructive civil wars that lasted throughout the 1990s The U.S. and Cuba • 1959, Cuban’s desire for political and economic autonomy erupted • American companies had long controlled major Cuban resources: sugar, tobacco, and mines • 1959, Fidel Castro led an uprising against the U.S. supported dictator Fulgencio Batista • The U.S. denied Castro’s pleas for loans, for which he turned to Russia • When U.S. companies refused to sell to Castro, he began to nationalize their property Castro and Cuba • Many anti-Castro Cubans fled to the United States and reported his atrocities • Castro was executing hundreds of Batista supporters • Before Eisenhower left office, he broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba and authorized the CIA to train Cuban exiles for an invasion The U.S. and the Suez Canal • 1956, Egypt’s leader, Gamal Abdel Nasser, sought arms from Communist Czechoslovakia, formed a military alliance with other Arab nations and recognized the People’s Republic of China • July 1956, Nasser seized the Suez Canal, then owned by Britain and France • In response to the seizure, Israel, attacked Egypt with military help from Britain and France • Eisenhower opposed the intervention and called for a truce The Nuclear Arms Race • 1953, Stalin dies, a more moderate leader emerges under Nikita Khrushchev • The Soviet signed a peace treaty with Austria and removed their troops • Khrushchev, like Eisenhower, wanted to reduce defense spending and the threat of nuclear devastation The Arms Race • August 1957, the Soviets test-fired their first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and 2 months later beat the U.S. into space by launching Sputnik • Sputnik was the first artificial satellite to circle the earth Technology and Industrial Production • 1945-1960, the automobile industry cut in half the number of hours needed to manufacture a car • Labor unions enjoyed their greatest success during the 1950s, real earnings for production workers went up 40% Rise of Suburb/Decline of City • 1949, Builder William J. Levitt modified the factory assembly- line process, making homes - families could purchase these homes in his Levittown development on Long Island - 17,000 home development • 1950s, 11-13 million new homes built during the decade, in the suburbs • 1960, 1-in-4 Americans lived in the suburb Levittown • Homes could be purchased from around $8,000 • The government underwrote home ownership with low-interest mortgage guarantees through the Federal Housing Administration • Each Levittown homeowner signed a contract pledging not to rent or sell to a non-Caucasian • 1948, the Supreme Court declared this unenforceable • Suburbs remained dramatically segregated Higher Education • The University and the college system grew exponentially from 1940 onwards • 1940-1960, college enrolments in the U.S. went from 1.5-3.6 million • The large veteran enrollment did make the traditional student body more diverse along the lines of class and age • African Americans constituted only about 5% of all college students Revival of Domesticity and Religion • Traditional family life and conventional gender roles were celebrated again • Ideal Family: male, bread winner, woman, home maker, three-to-four children • Renewed interest in the family gave rise to a renewed interest in religion Rise of Religion • 1960, 63% of Americans belonged to a Church or a Synagogue, up from 50% in the 1940s • 95% of all Americans believed in God • Evangelism took on a new life, Billy Graham • Congress linked religion more closely to the state by adding: - “under God” to the pledge (1954) - “In God we Trust” printed on all money (1955) Civil Rights • 1940-1960, more than 3 million African Americans moved from the South into areas where they could vote and exert political pressure • The NAACP reached its crowning achievemnent in 1954, Brown v. the Board of Education Brown v. Board of Education • Oliver Brown, a WWII veteran from Topeka Kansas, filed a suit because his 8-year-old daughter had to pass by a white school, just 7 blocks away from their home, to go to the black school, more than a mile away • Brown won, but ultimate responsibility for enforcement of the decision lay with President Eisenhower, but he refuse to endorse Brown • 1955, Eisenhower also kept quiet when whites murdered Emmett Till, a 14 year-old black boy who allegedly whistled at a white woman Civil Rights • 1957 and 1960, The Civil Rights Acts lacked effective enforcement mechanisms • Eisenhower did order integration of public facilities in Washington, D.C. • Boycotts and demonstrations seemed to be falling on deaf ears • These came to be know an acts of civil disobedience Montgomery Improvement Association • E.D. Nixon, leader of the NAACP, called a mass meeting at the Holy Street Baptist Church, where a crowd of supporters stretched for blocks • These protesters formed the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) • The MIA volunteered carpools and helped more than 90% of the black community sustain the year- long boycott • Martin Luther King Jr. was elected as the head of the MIA Supreme Court Ruling • November 1956, the Supreme Court declared Alabama’s laws requiring bus segregation unconstitutional • February 1957, King appeared on the cover of Times • This marked a win for the Civil Rights movement and international fame for Dr. King