Truman and Cold War America - 1945-1952 - Term Paper Example

After World War II ended all Americans wanted was lasting peace but unfortunately that could not happen. The cooperation between Soviet Union and America ended after the war and a rivalry began resulting in Cold War. The global role of America had expanded. With Col War began the age of anxiety along with the growing fear of communism. The prospects of well paying jobs, good economy, and stable families were still out of reach for most African Americans and minorities. Women were expected to give up their independence and go back to their roles of full time mother and wife. Although an African American was playing the professional baseball game by 1947 Truman’s intentions to maintain and expand the New Deal was still questioned. Truman called for federal support for civil rights, education, and medical care for the minorities but he was labeled too liberal and had to adopt the politics of the possible. Republican senator Joseph McCarthy and the House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) claimed that American institutions were filled with disloyal Americans which limited civil liberties, dissent, and social change. After Roosevelt’s death, it was Truman’s responsibility to finish the war and maintain world peace. Truman’s approach was much harsher than Roosevelt and held that “The Soviet Union needs us more than we need them”. Truman and other American leaders took the paths of international cooperation and deterrence based on military strength to world peace. But not all nations accepted this view. The soviets wanted to be treated as a major power and wanted to continue the relationship of the Big Three (Britain, Soviet Union, and the United States). In September 1946, the Soviet ambassador in Washington, Nikolai Novikov, in a memorandum regarded the US as globally aggressive seeking to further its capitalistic goals and praised the Soviet for resisting the demands of the US. By the end of 1945, Truman expected the Soviets to accept American proposals more than half way. In 1946, Soviet accused the US of poisoning the Soviet-American relations. Russian expert, George Kennan, describes Soviet Totalitarianism as weak in his long telegram. He argued that the Soviet leaders did not want war and recommended the policy of containment to deal with Soviet expansion attempts. Soon the democrats and the Republicans started educating the public about Soviet expansion threat putting an end to any possibility of isolationism. On March 5, 1946, Churchill openly condemned Soviet expansionism. By March, 1946, the stationed troops in Iran were to be withdrawn but it was reported that Soviet tanks were moving toward Tehran, Iraq, and Turkey. Soviet forces were soon evacuated after complaints but it convinced many Americans that a war was possible with the Soviets. Greece and Turkey emerged as an international trouble spot by 1947. Turkey was being pressurized by the Soviets to hand over some control of Dardanelles and a civil war broke out in Greece. Britain could no longer provide economic or military aid to eastern nations and asked the United States to assume its role in the region. Truman soon convinced the Congress to provide $400 million aid for Greece and Turkey. On June 5, 1947, Secretary of state, George Marshall invited all Europeans to work together and offered economic help. The Soviets rejected the plan and labeled it as a poisonous toadstool. In July 1947, Moscow announced the Molotov Plan which was similar to the Marshall Plan. In February, 1948, Czechoslovakian government was toppled by a coup engineered by the Soviet. In March, 1948, the US announced that the western zones were eligible for Marshall Plan and would utilize a standard currency. Stalin reacted by isolating Berlin inside the Soviet zone of Germany. British and American flew supply planes to Berlin to avoid a shooting war. In May 1949, Stalin ended the blockade. National Security aid was passed in 1947 to facilitate fighting a global Cold War. National Security Council was formed along with Central Intelligence Agency. America expanded petroleum interest in Middle East. US also became a powerful supporter of a new Jewish state in Palestine. In August 1945, Truman asked at least 100,000 displaced European Jews to migrate to Palestine. In May 1947, the problem was turned over to United Nations to divide the Palestinian state into an Arab and a Jewish state. The partition was recognized by Truman in fifteen minutes but the surrounding Arab nations refused to accept the partition resulting in a war. By the end of it the emerging state of Israel had added 50% more territory to its nation. By May, 1946, a civil war flared in China and the American supporters of Jiang recommended that US increase its support for the Nationalist government. Faced with an efficient and popular opponent, Jiang forces lost the civil war. To quiet critics and protect Jiang, Truman refused to recognize the People’s Republic of China. In August 1949, Soviet detonated their own atomic bomb, making Americans believe that they were losing the Cold War. The Pentagon State Department Committee concluded that the Soviet wanted to dominate the world. Having received approval from the Soviet, North Korea launched a full scale invasion of South. In response Truman asked the UN Security Council to intervene. After battling for three weeks, Truman abandoned the goal of pro-Western Korea and proposed a negotiation settlement to end the conflict, leaving two Koreas. This decision generated much protest against Truman. By the beginning of 1952, the majority of Americans wanted to end useless conflict. Truman proceeded with his plan to rearm Germany and Italy, and improved relations with Spain’s dictator, Francisco Franco. In 1951, a settlement had been made with Japan that kept American forces in Japan and Okinawa. The Australian-New Zealand-United States treaty of 1951, promised Australia and New Zealand American military protection. United States also increased its military air to nationalists Chine and French Indochina. Kennan’s containment policy had also been expanded to cover East Asia and China. The idea which was being applied was that a Communist victory anywhere threatened the Nation Security of United States. To protect the wartime gains by minority, Truman asked the Fair Employment Practices Commission be renewed and to extend the New Deal. He was opposed by the conservatives who claimed everyone who supported a change to be a communist. By 1945, a battle between the Congress and Truman fired up. Truman agreed in 1946, to create a committee on civil rights to examine race relations in the country. The report described racial inequalities and asked the government to take steps to correct the imbalance. Truman defeated Dewey in the 1949 elections. Truman again expressed his wish to expand New Deal, revoke the Taft-Hartley Act, and the creation of national health program. The development of Cold War altered American Foreign Policy. Conservatives used the fear of socialism and communism to resist the expansion of New Deal. Responding to these accusations, Truman established the Federal Employee Loyalty Program. Between 1947 and 1951, government discharged more than three thousand federal employees on the basis of disloyalty. The HAUC targeted Hollywood and wanted to remove liberals from the entertainment industry to ensure that the mass media promoted traditional American values. In 1951, Supreme Court upheld the Smith Act. In February 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy emerged as a strong supporter of anti Communists movement. He claimed to know 205 communists working in the State Department and that the United States was losing war because of these traitors within the government. However, after examination by a Senate committee they were proved to be inaccurate. Democrat Millard Tydings pronounced McCarthy a hoax and fraud. McCarthy continued spreading false stories and pictures that showed connection to the American Communists, including a forged photograph of the democrat talking to Earl Browder, the head of American Communist party. He was rarely opposed by the Congress and had a strong support of Robert Taft, the most powerful Republican in the Senate. But the outbreak of Korean War increased his popularity even more and became a powerful social and political force. By 1952, Truman’s popularity declined and only 24% of the voters approved of his Presidency and he had lost control over domestic policy. By November 1945, 1.25 million GI’s were returning home from the Korean War each month. Americans Were concerned about the postwar economy. Owning a house was considered a common American Dream. By mid 1946, William Levitt and other developers built thousands of suburban tract homes. But they were not for everyone, a widespread discrimination was present. Almost every suburb was owned by white and Christian. Across the nation, less than 5% of suburban neighborhoods provided nonwhites access to these homes. Women once again faced unemployment and decline in wages. By 1959, marriage was more popular than ever and two third of the population was married. With society celebrating family, the nation saw a sudden increase in birth. But not all women accepted the role of a submissive wife. These hasty marriages resulted in an increase in divorce rate. Minorities were concerned as the society forced them to return to the prewar social and economic pattern. Despite the widespread discrimination, the minorities did gain socially and economically during the war. Minorities soon became active to gain equality. Some black veterans attempted to register to vote but most failed. By 1959, the number of African American employees shrunk from a million to 237,000. Discrimination was not limited to African Americans. Latinos too had limited jobs and educational opportunities. Mexican Americans organization of American GI Forum worked to secure the benefits provided by the GI Bill for Latino veterans. Despite all these efforts, Latino students remained in Mexican school throughout Southwest and West. For women, the postwar period saw considerable loss of status and income. Women, African American, and other minorities had their own vision of American dream after the war which included a respectable social status, freedom, and growing prosperity. Read More