Chapters 25 & 26

US History – UEH – ISB

Nationalism and the Good Neighbor:

• “Good Neighbor” policy—renounced any nation’s right to intervene in affairs of another (Dominican/Haiti)

• Tested by Cuba/Mexico—Indirectly ended leftist government by instituting puppet leadership; took over oil companies, America did nothing

The Rise of Aggressive States in Europe and Asia:

• Benito Mussolini took control of Italy—Dictator, suppressed dissent/rights, strictly controlled economy

• Adolph Hitler of National Socialists took control of Germany—Purify country of Jews, rearmed Germany. Took over Rhineland, Austria, Sudentenland. Britain/France yielded to his demands

• Japan occupied Manchuria in China, and eventually waged war against whole country

The American Mood- No More War:

• Americans didn’t respond to aggressive states—isolationism, focus set on economy during Depression

• Neutrality Acts of 1935-37 outlawed arms sales; can’t give loans/travel on ships of nations at war

The Gathering Storm, 1938-1939:

• Hitler took over Czechoslovakia, signed German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact—would not fight each other, & split Poland

• Roosevelt wanted to check Fascism, asked them to pledge not to invade 31 nations; appropriated money/production

America and the Jewish Refugees:

• Nuremberg Laws took Jews’ German citizenship, limited rights… During Kristallnacht (Night of the Broken Glass), Jews were killed and robbed, houses/business burned down

• Roosevelt/America did nothing to aid the Jews or increase immigration quotas

The European War:

• Took over Poland (Cause Britain/France to declare war). FDR amended Neutrality Acts to allow countries at war to buy weapons from America if they paid in cash and carried them away in their own ships

• Took over France, pinned British army to the sea; Air Force assaulted England by air, PM Winston Churchill begged for aid

From Isolation to Intervention:

• FDR won 3rd term—signed Selective Service/Training Act (1st peacetime draft), traded “destroyers for bases” w/ Britain

• The America 1st Committee was isolationist— included Lindbergh and Ford… said America could stand alone

• FDR’s “lend-lease” program lent/leased supplies to any country that was vital to the defense of America

• Roosevelt/Churchill signed Atlantic Charter—condemned international aggression, affirmed self-determination, free trade

Pearl Harbor and the Coming of War:

• Japan/America wouldn’t compromise—Japan wanted a Greater East Asia Co-prosperity sphere, America wanted open door

• America ended trade treaty w/Japan, who signed Tripartite Pact, creating Berlin-Rome-Tokyo Alliance

• Japan took over all Indochina, so FDR froze Japanese assets, started a fuel embargo, banned trade with Japan

• Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and America declared war. Caused Germany/Italy to declare war on America

Organizing for Victory:

• War Production Board managed materials, limited production of civilian goods; War Manpower Commission supervised mobilization of people for the military/production; National War Labor Board mediated disputes between management and labor

• Office of Price Admin. rationed products, controlled prices to check inflation

• America cranked out rubber/weapons/ships, but amount of government employees/offices and spending skyrocketed

The War Economy:

• War ended Depression, started industrial boom. Most government money went to the West. South helped with cloth, oil, gas, metal

• Workers got better conditions and union popularity soared. Strikes were unpopular: Smith-Connally War Labor Disputes Act let president take over factory where strikes slowed war production

• OPA rationed gas, coffee, sugar, butter, cheese, meat: people gave scrap metal, bought bonds to help with war

• Washington raised taxes to pay for war: Revenue Act of ’42 raise top income tax, taxed lower/middle classes

Liberating Europe:

• In Operation TORCH, Americans landed in Northern Africa and moved east; Turning point=Stalingrad, Russia won

• Allies started in Southern Italy and caused Mussolini’s overthrow; Bombed Germany nonstop, crushing cities

• On D-Day of Operation OVERLORD, allies stormed Normandy, pushed inward, and freed Paris

• At the Battle of the Bulge, near German border, German troops drove a bulge into American lines—America won after a month

War in the Pacific:

• US vs. Japan at Coral Sea slowed Japanese advance; knew Japan’s plans at Battle at Midway and thwarted them

• Under Chester Nimitz, soldiers “island-hopped” across the Pacific to seize bases and get closer to Japan

• American navy completely destroyed Japanese fleet at Battles of Philippine Sea/Leyte Gulf

The Home Front:

• People flocked to the West and urban areas for jobs: problems with divorce, mental illness, violence, etc.

• Women got factory jobs (most married and older). “Rosie the Riveter” was the symbol of woman war worker

• Women served in the Women’s Army Corps, Navy Volunteer Emergency Service, Air force Service Pilots

• School attendance dropped, while books, theatre, and music prospered: about romance/loneliness, dreams

Racism and New Opportunities:

• Smith v. Allwright— Texas all-White primary unconstitutional. Congress of Racial Equality used nonviolence to desegregate

• A. Philip Randolph (Brotherhood/Sleeping Car Porters) got FDR to issue Executive Order 8802, which banned discriminatory employment by feds and war-related factories; Created Fair Employment Practices Comm. to enforce

• Most blacks served in segregated units; race riots in America (Detroit) killed hundreds of blacks

• Blacks were reached out to by political parties looking for votes; America was racist despite their power in a nonwhite world, and the war being fought against racism

War and Diversity:

• Native Americans served as “code talkers” for the military, and left their reservations for better economic status

• America imported braceros, temporary workers, for agribusiness and treated them poorly (deported if they complained)

• Zoot-suited Mexican-Americans, pachucos, messed with servicemen in CA: led to beatings of pachucos and no punishments

• Gays were banned from the military, formed Veteran’s Benevolent Association, 1st organization to combat discrimination

The Internment of Japanese-Americans:

• Executive Order 9066 forced both native-born Japanese-Americans (Nisei) and 1st-generations (Issei) to be placed in camps during war

• Korematsu case upheld constitutionality. Reports later showed its pointlessness, and Japanese were compensated

The Atomic Bombs:

• At Iwo Jima and Okinawa, the casualty rates were high. Japan wasn’t giving up. America sent the Potsdam Declaration, warning them to surrender or get destroyed

• The US dropped a bomb first on Hiroshima, then sent leaflets warning the Japanese against another

• They ignored it again, so America dropped another on Nagasaki. Only after that did Japan surrender in ‘45

The Cold War

• The GI Bill of Rights:• Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (GI Bill) made

to prevent post-war recession:– Eased veterans back into work force, gave them

first hiring priority– 52 weeks of unemployment benefits– Started hospitals for veterans, gave them loans– Paid for four years of college or job training (1.5

million attended in 1946, 10 million from 1944-56)

The Economic Boom Begins:

• $6 bil. tax cut started boom: demand for consumer products soar

• Bretton Woods Agreement created the International Monetary fund to stabilize world currency (valuing other currencies in relation to US dollar); created World Bank to rebuild war-torn areas; started General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which would break closed trading and expand international trade

Truman’s Domestic Program:

• Employment Act of ’46 helped feds continue economic growth—made Council of Economic Advisors to make policies based on employment, production, and purchasing

• Inflation was #1 problem—ended control of OPA, prices soared. Truman signed a bill that controlled food prices

• United Mine Workers strike halted economy for 40 days… Truman used Army to seize mines before demands met

Polarization and the Cold War:

• Stalin created a demilitarized Germany and a buffer zone of USSR-friendly countries to the west—Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania. Established Communism in Albania and Yugoslavia. Barred free elections in Poland

• Truman got really combative about this:– Appeasement made dictators seek more power… Force

nations ruled by Hitler to be controlled by another dictator– Hurt American businesses that depended on exports/raw

materials– Would hurt Dem. Party (went against free elections agreed

on at Yalta, lose Polish-American votes)

The Iron Curtain Descends:

• Stalin confiscated materials/factories from satellite nations, forced them to end all American trade

• American diplomat George F. Kennan advised containment—uniting politics, economy, diplomacy to contain communism

• Wanted to create Anglo-American monopoly of atomic weapons—threatened USSR if they occupied oil-rich Iran, tried (but failed) to end all Russian bomb construction

Containing Communism:

• Truman Doctrine (US support communist-ruled people); gave money to Greece/Turkey to get rid of communism

• National Security Act of 1947 unified armed forces under Dept. of Defense, created National Security Council (foreign policy info/strategy) and Central Intelligence Agency (Gather info. abroad, covert activities to protect Amer.)

• Marshall Plan (European Recovery Plan) rebuilt war-torn Europe to stop devastation that led to Communism

The Cold War in Asia:

• America occupied Japan until ’52, but kept bases; crushed procommunism in Philippines, help France control Indochina

• Tried to help Nationalists (Jiang Jieshi) control China, but communist Mao Zedong did. America would not recognize the dictator

• USSR exploded an atom bomb, USA created a more powerful H-bomb. USSR followed suit

• NSC-68 emphasized Soviet military strength. Said America should increase nuclear arsenal, army, defense budget

The Korean War, 1950-53:

• USSR/America divided Korea into South Korea (Democratic) and North Korea (Communist)

• North invaded South, so without consulting Congress, Truman ordered air force/navy to Korea

• South won, but MacArthur wanted to invade the North by crossing North Korea/Chinese border: China attacked

• America was defeated, and there was a stalemate. Macarthur wanted to invade China and was criticizing Truman for saying no, so he was fired and replaced with Matthew Ridgway

• Reached armistice in ’53, left Korea divided. The war accelerated NSC-68 and containment

The Politics of Civil Rights and the Election of 1948:

• Even after the war, lynchings were common and only 12% of southern blacks voted

• President’s Committee on Civil Rights and its report To Secure these Rights showed inequities of Jim Crow, stressed gov. to outlaw lynching and poll tax, establish permanent Fair Employment Practices, stop segregation

• Southern democrats (Dixiecrats) wanted to restore dominance and preserve segregation

• Election was Progressives (Wallace), Dewey (Repubs), Truman (Dem). Truman won

• Gave executive order banning discrimination for fed. jobs. Morgan v. Virginia banned segregation in interstate busses; Shelley v. Kraemer outlawed discriminatory housing sale/rental practices

McCarthyism:

• Joseph R. McCarthy accused Democratic politicians as being Communists: appeal to Midwestern Republicans

• McCarran Internal Security Act was passed over Truman’s veto. It made alleged communist groups to register with the Dept. of Justice. Allowed for the arrest of any person who engaged in espionage/sabotage

• Also went against homosexuals and immigrants: McCarran-Walter Immigration/Nationality Act of 1952 kept restricted immigration quota, let attorney general deport “undesirable” immigrants—gays or communists