HIS 122--U.S. Since 1865
Lecture Outline # 9
Wars Hot and Cold
I. A World at War
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Sept 1, 1939, Germany invade Poland--2 days later, Britaian and France
declare war on Germany
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U.S. revises its Neutrality Acts (review) to permit sale of weapons to
belligerents on cash-and-carry basis
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April 1940--Germany unleashes blitzkrieg on Western Europe
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Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France are attacked
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By end of June, western part of continent under German control
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Summer of 1940, Battle of Britain begins
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air attack by Luftwaffe
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U-boat campaign against British shipping
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Churchill appeals to FDR for help
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most Americans favor stepped-up weapons shipments
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isolationists (including Charles Lindbergh--favors Germany) fear pull of
U.S toward war
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FDR runs for unprecedented 3d term in 1940, defeats Wendell Wilkie
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FDR takes action even though U.S. officially neutral
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endorses a peacetime draft and more spending on weapons
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As Britain runs out of money to buy U.S. war supplies, FDR proposes to
send 50 over-age U.S. destroyers to Britain, getting leases on air and
naval bases on British possessions in Western Hemisphere
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Congress passes lend-lease act in March 1941
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June 1941, Germany invade Soviet Union; lend-lease extended to U.S.S.R.
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"Arsenal for Democracy"
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August 1941, Roosevelt and Churchill meet on battleship off Newfoundland,
issue Atlantic Charter outlining their wartime goals (U.S. not at war yet)
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Japanese actions
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Japan begins to expand its aggression from China to gain control of raw
materials in British, French, and Dutch colonies in Southeast Asia
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Japan's drive to create own economic empire clashes with Open Door policy
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U.S. responds with economic pressure
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July 1940, prohibits sale of aviation gasoline to Japan
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Japan occupies northern Indochina and signs mutual aid treaty with Germany
and Italy
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FDR embargoes metals, chemicals, and machine parts to Japan
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Japan seizes rest of Indochina in July 1941, Washington responds by cutting
off all trade
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Oct. 1941, expansionist Hideki Tojo becomes Japanese prime minister
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tries to persuade U.S. to reopen trade and recognize Japenese conquests
in Asia
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threatens to attack if Washington will not agree
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FDR refuses, orders all U.S. commanders in Pacific to be on alert for possible
attack
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Dec. 7, 1941, Japan strikes Pearl Harbor in surprise attack--devastates
base, sinks most of large ships in fleet (except carriers), destroys most
aircraft, and kills 2,100 American soldiers and sailors
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At same time, Japan launches attacks on Phillipines and most of rest of
Western Pacific--taking Phillipines in May 1942
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Dec. 8, 1941--U.S. declares war on Japan (FDR and "a day that will live
in infamy")
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Germany and Italy declare war on U.S. on Dec. 11
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Early days of U.S involvement
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German U-boat campaign on Atlantic coast and Caribbean--sinks more than
1,000 allied ships
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Hitler controls most of Europe and North Africa--launch attack to take
Moscow and Stalingrad
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Japan controls most of Pacific west of Hawaii
II. America Mobolizes for War
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Roosevelt gets government ready to go to war--establishes 4 key agencies
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War Production Board--allocates scarce materials, limits manufacture of
civilian goods, hands out military production contracts
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National War Labor Board--mediate labor-management disputes
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Office of Price Administration--imposed price controls to stem inflation
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Office of War Mobilization--coordinated efforts of government agencies,
private industry, and military
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By late 1942, 33% of economy devoted to war production--U.S. turns out
more armaments than Germany, Italy, and Japan combined
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Size of federal government and amount of spending soars
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government spends $250 million per day fighting in WWII
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defense contractors and military form tight alliance
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Agriculture and industry finally out of their doldrums
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farm income doubles between 1940-1945
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corporate profits climb 70%
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unemployment vanishes--extra workers needed
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War years see significant shift in income distribution, many poor move
into middle class
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Union membership and strength grow--most labor leaders agree not to strike
(UMW does so in 1943, bringing Congressional action limiting right to strike)
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Office of Price Administration works to curb inflation through price controls
and rationing
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Government raises needed money with war-bond sales, tax increases
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Federal government and scientists get together during war
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FDR establishes Office of Scientific Research and Development--spends over
$1 billion on improving radar, building rockets and aircraft, making new
drugs for soldiers
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Manhattan Project races to develop nuclear weapons before Germany ($2 billion
budget)
III. Changes in American Society During WWII
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New mobility
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Like in WWI, Americans migrate to centers of war production, especially
on West coast
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Millions move from farm to city and from South to North and West--causes
severe housing shortages in war-industry cities
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Mobility and overcrowding contribute to family breakdown, urban slums,
conflict between newcomers and older residents
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Women and the family
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More than 6 million Americna women enter the paid labor force--by 1945
women constitute over 1/3 of employed workers
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Women take on formerly male-dominated occupations--"Rosie the Riveter"
becomes symbol of female defense-plant workers
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Women only earn 65% of men's pay for same work--women are told they
are only emergency replacements until men return from war
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More than 1/3 of women workers have children under age 14
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child-care centers exist for less than 10% of children
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with youngsters left on their own, juvenile delinquency spurts
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Marriage, birth, and divorce soar
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300,000 women enlist in armed forces (compare with 11,000 in WWI)
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African-Americans and the war
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African-Americans demand U.S. fight against racism at home as well as against
Hitler
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Even before U.S. joins war, blacks prepared to fight for equality in America
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A. Philip Randolph, head of Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
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Feb. 1941, plans march on Washington to demand desegregation in defense
industries
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FDR worried about the negative publicity this would provide to Axis
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FDR signs an executive order prohibiting employment discrimination in defense
industries and government agencies--creates Fair Employment Practices Committee
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NAACP and Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) struggle for civil rights
during the war
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Once war begins, labor shortages lead to rise in African-American defense-plant
laborers (from 3% to 9% of workforce)
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black union membership doubles
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number of African Americans holding skilled and semi-skilled jobs triples
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One million blacks serve in armed forces
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mostly in segregated units commanded by white officers
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most of these units were in supply, transportation, etc.; few see combat
until very late (Dec. 1944) in war (exception--Tuskegee Airmen)
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Like in WWI, race riots erupt as over 700,000 blacks flood from the South
into the North and West
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movement during the war gives African Americans greater opportunities and
possible political power
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Japanese-Americans -- Internment and medals
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strong prejudice against Japenese-Americans erupts following Pearl Harbor
(one barber advertised "free haircuts to Japs, not responsible for accidents")
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U.S. government uproots over 112,000 Japenese-Americans (Nisei) living
on West coast
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most are forced to sell their land and homes (at cutrate prices)
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Japenese-Americans locked in remote internment (prison) camps in Southwest
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Manzanar as example
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Japenese Americans consistently referred to as Japs
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Only a handful actually found working against U.S.
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443 Regt. ("Go for Broke")--fought in Europe (weren't allowed to fight
in Pacific) against Germans, most decorated American unit in WWII
IV. On the Battlefields
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Allied drive in Europe
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British, Soviets, and Americans seek to beat Germany first, then Japan
(although U.S. has to concentrate much of its men and resources in Pacific)
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Stalin wants the Allies to invade mainland of Europe from across English
Channel; Churchill convinces FDR to open a second front in North Africa
first
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Nov. 1942, U.S. and British invade North Africa; defeat Germans there by
May 1943
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Soviets able to hang on during long winter of 1942-43 (winning at Stalingrad
and Leningrad); begin to turn tide in summer of 1943, then push Germans
back across eastern Europe in 1944-45; fighting extremely heavy on Eastern
Front, huge casualties on both sides
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Britain and U.S. turn focus to Italy in 1943, get bogged down in heavy
fighting against German forces which lasts until early 1945
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June 6 1944--D Day; U.S. and British forces land in Normandy, begin push
across France and reach German border by the fall
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Dec. 1944, German counterattack at the Battle of the Bulge inflicts heavy
Allied casualties, but fails
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Allied forces close on Germany from both sides by early spring; Berlin
falls in May 1945
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War in the Pacific
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At beginning, U.S. commits most of its resources toward fighting Japan
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Spring and summer 1942, U.S. Navy wins key battles at Coral Sea and Midway--halting
Japanese expansion
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During the fall of 1942, U.S. takes the offensive in an "island hopping"
campaign designed to take control of South Pacific
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U.S. returns to Phillipines in 1944; Navy destroys most of remaining Japanese
fleet at Leyte Gulf
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Islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa taken after desparate struggles
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U.S. begins air campaign against Japan; devastate Tokyo and other cities--sometimes
using fire bombs to burn cities to ground (over 100,000 killed in one raid
on Tokyo)
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Japan refuses to surrender at this point
VI. Late-war diplomacy
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Teheran (1943)
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Big Three meet to discuss post-war Europe
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Disputes over how countries should be governed (particularly Eastern Europe)
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Stalin unhappy with what he sees as lack British and American activities
in fighting Germany
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Yalta (Feb. 1945)
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Big Three meet again in Soviet city of Yalta (on Black Sea)
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Stalin has upper hand--close to defeating Germany and knowing U.S. wants
Soviet help against Japan
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Question of Eastern Europe remains unresolved (although Soviets control
region)--Germany to be partitioned
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Decision to create the United Nations agreed upon
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Potsdam (Apr. 1945)
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New president Harry Truman met with Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov
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Meeting was not friendly and U.S. and Soviet Union strongly disagree over
Germany and Eastern Europe
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Language of agreements leaves each side room to accuse the others of cheating
and backstabbing
V. Origins of the Cold War
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Struggle for postwar control of Europe
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With failure to reach agreement at Potsdam, the Western nations and the
Soviet Union worked to impose their systems on the areas they controlled
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This leads U.S. and West to give up any effort to create a unified, "open"
world
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Instead they turned to an effort to "contain" the spread of Soviet
and communist expansion
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Truman Doctrine (1947) -- U.S. must support free peoples around the world
who are resisting efforts by outsiders or armed minorities to overthrow
their governments
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Domino effect--fall of one country to communism would lead those around
it to fall
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Marshall Plan
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1947, Sect. of State George Marshall announces aid plan to help Europe
recover from war
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Over next 3 years, U.S. sends $12 billion in aid to Europe to help revive
the economy
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Berlin Airlift and NATO
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Dispute arises over control of Germany
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June, 1948, Stalin orders Soviet blockade around the western sectors of
Berlin in effort to force U.S., Britain, and France to abandon the city
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Over next 10 months, the U.S. leads effort to ship 2.5 million tons of
food, fuel, and supplies to the western part of the city--Stalin lifts
blockade
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Crisis in Berlin leads western powers to form a defense alliance--NATO
(North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
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Soviet Union responds by creating Warsaw Pact
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By 1950, Truman government decides that U.S. could no longer rely on others
to take the initative in resisting communism
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in April, government issues a report (NSC-68) that states the U.S. must
take the lead in stopping communism wherever it occurred, regardless of
the intrinsic strategic or economic value of that area to the U.S.
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this leads to major expansion of the American military power, along with
vastly increased defense spending
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NSC-68 will dictate our response to communism for over 30 years
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It will play a major role in how we look at countries trying to gain independence
from colonial powers--leading revolutionaries in many of those nations
to turn to Soviet Union for help
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Asia
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China
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Since 1927, nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek had been engaged
in a prolonged and bitter struggle with the communits armies of Mao Zedong
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By 1945, Mao had become so successful that he controlled 1/4 of the population
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U.S. supported Chiang (although a number of people in this country wanted
to find some alternative to both Chiang and Mao)
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After end of WWII, the struggle between the nationalist and communist armies
erupted into a full-scale civil war, with Mao's forces winning in 1949
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Mao controlled the mainland, while Chiang and many of his followers fled
to the offshore island of Formosa (Taiwan) and set up a government there
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U.S. under Truman refused to recognize the legitimacy of the Mao's new
government
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U.S. turns to revitalizing the Japanese economy and society to create a
buffer zone against communism in Asia
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Korean War
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Eisenhower, Dulles, and Massive Deterrence
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During 1950s, Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster
Dulles develop response to spread of Soviet power called massive deterrence
(or massive retaliation)
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relied on the threat of nuclear attack in response to Soviet aggression
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Kennedy and Flexible Response
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Although Kennedy has number of programs he wants to push forward to improve
the lot of the poor, his primary focus is on foreign policy
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American public wanted something different than massive retalition as way
of responding to the "Communist menace"
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Kennedy develops idea of "flexible response" to combat communism wherever
it appeared
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placed emphasis on use of conventional military weapons rather than nukes
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would rely on quick deployment of U.S. troops and advisors to help "free"
governments around the world fight communism
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Developed Peace Corps, Agency for International Development, and Food for
Peace programs to help developing nations and win friends abroad
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Cuba
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one of worst problems for Kennedy Administration was Cuba
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Cuba became unsettled during the 1950s during the reign of Fulgenico Batista
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Batista popular with free world (outside of Cuba), but very unpopular with
most Cuban people
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Cuban rebels (peaceful at first) led by Fidel Castro
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Cuban rebels popular at first, Castro even appeared on the Ed Sullivan
show
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Castro talked in 1958 with VP Nixon about plans for nationalizing industry
in the nation (after paying for nationalized businesses)
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Castro turns more to Soviet Union for assistance after U.S. refuses to
help, overthrows Batista in 1959
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many Cuban businessmen flee country as their wealth confiscated, Castro
becomes unpopular in U.S.
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Bay of Pigs
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Pres. Eisenhower sets plan to help Cuban refugees regain power--called
for invasion of Cuba
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When Kennedy comes into office he inherits plan
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he is convinced by the CIA, Cuban exiles, and the Mafia to overthrow Castro
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April 1961, 1,500 anti-Castro exiles land at the Bay of Pigs
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invasion a fiasco, most Cubans support Castro
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Kennedy accepts blame, but does not apologize--creates resentment among
many Latin American leaders
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Cuban Missile Crisis
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early October 1962, U.S. spy planes and sattelites took photographs revealing
Soviet missile bases and missiles in Cuba
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Kennedy responds strongly, condemning what he calls a "provocative threat"
to world peace on national TV
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issues ultimatum for missiles to be removed and places a "quarantine" or
blockade around Cuba
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says U.S. will remove missiles by force if Soviet Union does not get rid
of them
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Soviet premier Nikita Khruschev denounces blockade and tries to get missiles
ready to launch
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U.S. forces (including nuclear attack weapons) placed at highest alert--preparations
made to invade Cuba
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World looks on in horror as two sides go to brink of nuclear war
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Kennedy and Khruschev finally reach agreement--Soviet Union will remove
missiles if U.S. agrees not to attack Cuba and removes missiles from Turkey
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Detente
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Khruschev and Kennedy are startled by how close they came to nuclear war
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set up hotline between two nations
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Cold War shifts from direct confrontation toward more negotiation--called
detente
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in 1963, both nations agree to a treaty banning atomic tests in the atmosphere
and the oceans
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nuclear arms race not ended, but escalates during this period
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detente does not stop US-USSR rivalry for influence over Third World