The 1950s in America are remembered as a sort of golden age in our history, not just because the economy was thriving, people could move out of the busy city to the quiet suburbs, and Humphrey Bogart and Frank Sinatra was still alive, but because things were simple. True, we entered into an arms race that would hang like a sword over the heads of the American people for the next thirty years, but other than that, people were comforted with the fact that they knew that America was the indisputable hero out to beat the malevolent villain. We were a country of Spaghetti Westerns and Superman, and were too comfortable portraying ourselves as the lawful good. However, by the time we get involved with Vietnam, more and more Americans began to …show more content…
Unfortunately for Truman, the bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the war far earlier than almost anyone had predicted, and propelled the nation into a process of reconversion. The lack of planning was soon compounded by a growing popular impatience for a return to normal economic conditions. The problem that Truman’s administration made was attempting to hasten that return, despite warnings from economists. While his approval ratings quickly declined, Truman put into effect FDR’s GI Bill of Rights from 1944 which provided economic assistance for veterans, and while this addition to the already present flood of consumer demand ensured that there would be no new depression, it did contribute to more than two years of serious inflation. Truman also had to deal with labor unrest, and when the United Mine Workers went on strike in 1946, and he threatened to use the army the trains, and effectively pressure the workers back to work after only a few days. And through all of his unpopularity, Truman was still persistent to institute his Fair Deal programs, and the American people could rely on his unfazed determination. He called for the expansion of Social Security benefits, raising the minimum wage, a program to ensure full employment through aggressive use of federal spending and investment, a permanent Fair Employment Practices Act, public housing
When WWII ended, Americans were left in the hands of Harry Truman. Known as an
Democratic localism was also enforced to keep the government at bay, allowing people to make their own economic decisions. Capitalism was renewed due to growth. Americans were enjoying various freedoms in politics, religion and travel. Nixon stated in one of his speeches that the United States had “come closest to the idea of prosperity for all in a classless society (166).”
There have been various ideologies, events, and origins of the Cold War that have dominated American foreign policy from 1946 to 1989. The Cold War was a time of conflict between between the U.S. and the USSR; the two Superpowers saw each other as a threat. Thus they continued to fight to preserve their positions. Each side became involved in events such as the Korean War. They each stood behind the other nations fighting. Together the rise in communism, a rise of the Soviet influence dominated American foreign policy, and the creation of the Warsaw Pact.
Offner, Arnold, "Provincialism and Confrontation: Truman’s Responsibility" in Major Problems in American Foreign Relations, Volume II.
In 1947, the Cold War had started, named after how both of the disputing sides did not fight but only threatened each other with new technologies. The U.S and Soviet Union disagreements on political systems and also questioned war reparation, show how they cause the Cold War with their mistrust and technological issues.
Between 1945 and 1960, the United States was confronted with a colossal predicament. A Cold War had emerged between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. This war did not involve any direct attacks between the two, instead indirect confrontations. Subsequently, the war took a massive toll on the U.S. An era of high tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union posed a communist threat to America.
The Cold War has many stories, for example, like Stalin, Khrushchev, Sputnik, republic, satellites, and etc. They even talked about the enigma (a puzzling occurrence), capitalism, communism, and socialism. We have Soviet textbooks that can teach us these things, but are they all really there? In 69 years as a country, the Soviet Union accomplished many great things. The Great Terror, military strength, and Olympic values: should be included in their textbooks to remember this time in history.
After World War two the two allies soon split. The United States and the Soviet Union were immediately against each other. This was the beginning of the Cold War. The three main causes of the Cold War were spheres of influence, ideology, and military factors. With my information, I believe that the Soviet Union was the most responsible for the Cold War.
1. How NSC-68 influenced America’s response to Communist North Korea’s invasion of South Korea in June 1950 and to Communist expansion in Southeast Asia in the 1960s. The NSC-68 called for military assistance programs that would meet the requirements of our allies. Since South Korea was an ally, we assisted them in repelling the invasion of another communist nation. This help for South Korea meant that a communist nation would be weakened and therefore possibly cripple a potential ally for the Soviet Union. Also, South Korea would then respond to a call for aid if the Soviet Union ever attacked
After World War II, the Eastern and Western Allies started to grow apart. The Eastern Bloc was led by the Soviet Union and promoted communism, while the Western Bloc was led by the United States and promoted capitalism, through democracy. Both wanted their country’s ideals to spread throughout the world, and at the same time, prevent the opposing superpower from taking over. In an attempt to stop the spread of communism, the United States created NATO and the Truman Doctrine, while the Soviet Union tried to stop democracy by creating the Warsaw Pact. At this point, the world was divided, and most third world countries became pawns in the fight of communism versus capitalism.
The Cold war was a time of hardships in the mid 1900s and continued having a war between the two superpowers for which would have more of a sphere of influence on the nations worldwide. Sphere of influence, nuclear weapons, and propaganda were main ways on how the Cold war had started and were a few of the many “weapons” used in alternating ways for the war. Cold War began in many ways, but a few main ones were the nuclear weapon warfare, the sphere of influence among the two superpowers, the Soviets and the United States and the ways the two nations used propaganda to promote their ideologies on their citizens and others to gain influence. Nuclear weapons are a main source of conflict between the U.S.S.R and the U.S in the cold war.
After World War II there was still a main conflict between the two major world superpowers; the US and allied countries that supported democracy and on the other hand the Soviet Union (USSR) who supported communism and wanted to spread it. The conflict was that the Soviet Union tried spreading communism in other countries, but the United States was not going to allow that. This conflict influenced the Cold War to be fought by the Eastern Bloc (Soviet Union) and Western Bloc (the United States and allies). When the Eastern Europe was taken over by the USSR and turned into communism the US helped the Western Europe to not be taken over by communism. As an adviser to the President of the United States the policy that he should follow is to rapidly build up the political,
In 1961 President John F Kennedy put together a doctrine, which altered from President Eisenhower’s one. It was to “Respond flexibly to communist expansion, especially guerrilla warfare.” (Roskin & Berry, 2010, p. 58) It was a time when the Cold War was at its height and nuclear weapons a mass threat and source of power. This doctrine was aimed at using alternative means before opening into combat. This, in light of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, it succeeded in doing.
The 1950s could be argued to be the best decade of The United States. She was the world’s strongest military power. The Economy was booming, and the New prosperities like new cars, suburban houses and other consumer goods–were available to more people than ever before. However, the 1950s were also an decade of great conflict. For example, the nascent civil rights movement and the crusade against communism at home and abroad exposed the differeces of people in our American society. Americans were at war with eachother and without digging deep enough people would think everyone was equal and that veryone was the same but, alas this cannot be further from the
The Cold War was a response to the perceived threat by the United States that Communism would interfere with national security and economic stakes in the world. It was a perceived threat by communist countries that the United States would take to the world. During the Cold War, the United States, Russia, and other countries made efforts to avoid another world war, while warring in proxy in other lands. The devastation caused by the hydrogen bombs exploded in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the next technological advancements became only deterrents to the public. Governments had their own agenda which would result in worsening the strain between nations. The United States hid behind a curtain of nationalism resulting in increased