HIST357 America Since 1945 Major Themes 01 26 2015 o Ideological conflict international and domestic o Technological revolution o Globalization o Expansion of size and role of government o Reaction to expaned government o Expansion of civil rights and individual liberty o Expansion of privacy rights 8 american revolutins o rise of general affluence o end of isolation o transition to hegemonic internationalism o rise of military in American society o reorganization of America business o revolution in race relations o revolution in gender roles o revolution in sexual behavior o plus the end of privacy American 1945 World s preeminent power o Military superiority come out of ww2 world s must superior military o Nuclear monopoly had until 1949 o Economic domination closest rivals were gutted by ww2 Europe and Japan Extreme until the 1970s when oil began to change the economy o Moral high ground Other countries admired US for our success in ww2 Winston Churchill we were the world s most powerful nation Challenges Europe and Japan will become economic rivals competing ideological religious and political philosophies At home o Celebratory relief we held 2 3 of the worlds gold in the US half of the world s monetary reserves produced much of the worlds oil o High expectations o Optimism about the future characteristic of 1950s America o Rising standard of living that was spread through all classes o Strong memories of the great depression from baby boomer until 1973 parents o Exploding economy because people spend money and explosion of consumer products that were not available before the war o Vast array of new products supermarkets fast food ranch style homes freezers dishwashers ballpoint pens fidelity tape recorders record players cameras computers four lane highways penicillin and polio vaccines o Exploding population baby boom o Strong desire to reassert traditional isolationism white picket fence all american family USA is an urban nation but now is a political power and will only intensify and only getting more multicultural non traditional 1 28 15 on an exam which will have a greater impact on America The cold war or 9 11 both of them have a huge impact on America The cold war lasted 45 years and it changed the country more than did the new deal FDR Cold War America to dec 26 1991 gorbachev announces breakup of soviet union Cold war origins first 10 years Why is it a cold war o Never an open conflict between US and USSR Proxy war other countries fight for you s korea Vietnam angola Afghanistan The soviets would arm north korea to fight US and the US would arm Afghanistan to fight USSR Nature of cold war war of differing ideologies o Communism v capitalism Communism always produced totalitarianism vs capitalism where we see 2 varying degrees in a political system that emphasizes individual liberty totalitarian v liberty o Totalitarianism v liberty o Atheism v theism Soviet union and allies were Marxist which means that they were atheist The noncommunist block free world was Christian Muslim had a god therefore they were theists More intense fear and hatred of communism by other nations most likely because of the religious factor o Nationalistic competition for empire and global hegemony War for world domination Conflict arises before the end of wwii US britian and USSR had conflicts o Yalta conference feb 1945 Yalta is on the Black Sea Wwii was still going on but all powers met here Talks about what happens at the end of the war o USSR s Red army with 50 miles of Berlin at the time of yalta o Battle of the Bulge USSR attack on USA happened right before yalta therefore the west was at a disadvantage o Stalin wanted to expand o U S wanted help against Japan in wwii o Partition begins 5 major early issues o disposition of Poland USSR wanted some land o future of Germany o structure of governments in eastern Europe o economic reconstruction o atomic weapons policies Potsdam Conference o July 25 1945 because they cannot agree on how to govern the world they Truman and stalin begin to divide it acknowledge spheres of influence By 1946 a partitioned Europe separated by the iron curtain at the end of wwii The idea that wwii was over and theyre liberated is fiction All countries were taken over by either US or USSR exploiting the countries Poland Germany Czech LONG telegram by George Kennan against Stalin o 2 22 1946 o reaction to stalin s election speech o ussr still lives in antagaonistic capitalist encirclement with which in the long run there can be no permanent peaceful coexistence Marxist believe in inevitability of conflict between nations o Capitalist world is beset with internal conflicts inherent in nature of capitalist society These conflicts are insoluble by means of peacefull compromise Greatest of them is that between England and US o Speech intented to rally soviet citizens to more sacrifice but by blaming capitalism for WWI and II and USSR s current woes his speech was interpreted by Jennan as a declaration of cold war against the capitalist world Churchill s Iron Curtain Speech o Sinews of peace o March 5th 1946 o Goal you are the only nation that can block stalin Went against American foreign policy and our attitude towards war and the world Mr X article july 1947 o Expansion of the LONG telegram o Elaborates on the long telegram with more detail o Formulates a policy the US should adopt w the USSR vigilante containment cant deal with ppl that are delusional about us Said that socialism is the enemy the USSR would use anyone that is slightly Marxist against us USSR aggression was made from history and hatred of foreignors and paranoia The USSR government structure prohibited objective or accurate pictures of internal and external reality What to do about the soviets o good faith policy no mystery to soviet plans different culture with a different government but essentially they mean what they say about fear of invasion FDR was old school in the sense that historically the heads of countries were nobility FDR thought he could treat Stalin as heads of state treated one another who kept their word Tried to deal w stalin this way but was unsuccessful Was nevery really successful Stalin could not be trusted hardline rollback any attempt by USSR to gain more power bust be met with fierce resistance use military if needed stalin and hitler the same going to run them out of Europe was rejected by Truman coexistence then containment kennan s idea balance between sovereignty and