The Early Cold War

c. 1945-1962:

The Early Cold War

Essential Questions

How did US leaders respond to the threat of Soviet expansion in Europe?
How did President Truman use the power of the presidency to limit the spread of communism in East Asia?
What methods did the United States use in its global struggle against the USSR?
What was Truman’s Fair Deal? How did it differ from the New Deal?
Why was there a Second Red Scare in the 1950s and how did fear of domestic communism affect American society during the Cold War?
Who are Baby Boomers?
What was Americans suburban life like in the 1950s?
What impact did the Kennedy-Nixon debate have on the 1960 election and future elections?
How did the nation experience recovery and economic prosperity after WWII?
What social and economic factors changed American life during the 1950s?
How did popular culture and family life change during the 1950s?
Why were some groups of Americans dissatisfied with conditions in postwar America?

Learning Objectives

You will learn:

How the American foreign policy of isolationism ended with United States membership in post-World War II alliances and how that involvement influenced American foreign policy during the 20th and 21st Centuries
How, why and to what extent Americans feared the spread of communism and how that fear impacted American culture in the Red Scare after World War II
How and to what extent United States foreign policy has been guided by international human rights and the advancement of democracy since World War I
How, why and to what extent the Cold War and the policy of containment influenced the Truman administration’s involvement in international affairs
How and why a failed policy of containment in China would help lead to United States involvement in the Korean War
How and why the Korean War ended in stalemate and how the war’s outcome affected international relations during and since the Cold War
How, why and to what extent Cold War policies influenced the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations' involvement in international affairs
How the federal government increased its levels of intelligence services and operations through the Cold War
How, why and to what extent the consumer based economy of the United States flourished in the decades following World War II
How and why the Cold War influenced the creation of a national interstate highway system and the implications of highway construction on American societies and culture
How the Soviet launching of Sputnik fostered a space race and impacted the development of American education and culture through the 20th Century
How the race to outer space and space age technologies impacted American culture
How the post-World War II Baby Boom generation affected the culture, economy and politics of the United States through the 20th Century
How the development of suburbs after World War II impacted the growth of American society and culture
How and why the 1960 presidential campaign and election significantly changed American politics and society
How and to what extent a youth culture driven by consumerism, delinquency, and rock-n-roll music emerged after World War II and impacted American society
How and why the role of the military-industrial complex was seen as a concern by significant sectors of American society
How the invention and use of television impacted the economic, political and cultural development of the United States
How some people of the 1950s criticized conformity and reflected on the struggle of the individual in a society of mass consumerism

The Truman Doctrine

Against all expectations, Harry Truman won reelection in the 1948 presidential election. Here he holds up a copy of a Chicago Tribune newspaper incorrectly declaring his opponent, Thomas Dewey, the winner.

The Berlin Blockade and resultant Allied airlift was one of the first major crises of the Cold War. Here a U.S. Navy Douglas R4D and U.S. Air Force C-47 aircraft unload at Tempelhof Airport in 1948 or 1949.

Brinkmanship

Detonated on March 1, 1954, Castle Bravo was the most powerful nuclear device ever tested by the U.S. But the effects were more gruesome than expected, causing nuclear fall-out and radiation poisoning in nearby Pacific islands.

Test of the tactical nuclear weapon “Small Boy” at the Nevada Test Site, July 14, 1962.

Brinkmanship

Brinkmanship Quizlet

Duck and Cover

Joseph McCarthy, Republican Senator from Wisconsin, fueled fears during the early 1950s that communism was rampant and growing. This intensified Cold War tensions felt by every segment of society, from government officials to ordinary American citizens.

The environment of fear and panic instigated by McCarthyism led to the arrest of many innocent people. Still, some Americans accused of supplying top-secret information to the Soviets were, in fact, spies. Julius and Ethel Rosenbergs were convicted of espionage and executed in 1953 for delivering information about the atomic bomb to the Soviets.

Duck and Cover

Duck and Cover Quizlet

Many accused of Communist sentiments refused to denounce friends and acquaintances. One of the most well-known Americans of the time, African American actor and signer Paul Robeson was unwilling to sign an affidavit confirming he was Communist and, as a result, his U.S. passport was revoked. During the Cold War, he was condemned by the press and neither his music nor films could be purchased in the United States.

The Suburbs

As shown in this 1958 advertisement for a “Westinghouse with Cold Injector,” a midcentury marketing frenzy targeted female consumers by touting technological innovations designed to make housework easier.

While many black musicians such as Chuck Berry helped pioneer rock ’n’ roll, white artists such as Elvis Presley brought it into the mainstream American culture. Elvis’s good looks, sensual dancing, and sonorous voice stole the hearts of millions of American teenage girls, who were at that moment becoming a central segment of the consumer population.

Assignments and Readings

Americans Chapter 26: Cold War Conflicts

americans_chapter_26_reading_guides.pdf
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Americans Chapter 27: The Postwar Boom

americans_chapter_27_reading_guides.pdf
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American Experience: Cold War Roadshow

cold_war_roadshow.pdf
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Primary Sources

The Truman Doctrine (1947)

The “Truman Doctrine” directed the United States to actively support anti-communist forces around the world. The following is from President Truman’s March 12, 1947 address before a joint session of congress requesting support for anti-communist regimes in Greece and Turkey.

NSC-68 (1950)

In 1950, the National Security Council produced a 58-page, top-secret report proclaiming the threat of Soviet communism. In the new postwar world, the report argued, the United States could no longer retreat toward isolationism without encouraging the aggressive expansion of communism across the globe. The United States, the report said, had to mobilize to ensure the survival of “civilization itself.”

Joseph McCarthy on Communism (1950)

Senator Joseph McCarthy’s relentless attacks on suspected communist influence in American government so captivated American attention that “McCarthyism” came to stand in for the fervor of Cold War America’s anti-communism. In the following extract, McCarthy depicts what he imagined were the stakes his anti-communist crusades.

Woody Guthrie, “This Land” (1940-1945)

“This Land” was written by Woodie Guthrie in 1940 and first recorded in 1944 at Folkway Records. According to folk singer Pete Seeger, Guthrie printed the songs’ lyrics and music in 1955 with the note, “This song is Copyrighted in U.S., under Seal of Copyright # 154085, for a period of 28 years, and anybody caught singin it without our permission, will be mighty good friends of ourn, cause we don’t give a dern. Publish it. Write it. Sing it. Swing to it. Yodel it. We wrote it, that’s all we wanted to do.” Song lyrics were first published in 1945.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, “Atoms for Peace” (1953)

In 1953, President Dwight Eisenhower spoke to the United Nations’ General Assembly about the possibilities of peace in “the atomic age.”

Atomic Energy Lab 1951-1952

This toy laboratory set was intended to let young people perform small scale experiments with radioactive materials in their own home. Equipped with a small working Geiger Counter, a “cloud chamber,” and samples of radioactive ore, the set’s creator claimed that the government supported its production to help Americans become more comfortable with nuclear energy.

Duck and Cover (1951)

In 1951, Archer Productions created “Duck and Cover,” a civil defense film funded by the U.S. Federal Civil Defense Administration. The short film, starring Bert the Turtle and shown to Cold War school children, demonstrates “duck and cover”–a physical position designed to mitigate the effects of a nuclear blast.