HIS 122--U.S. Since 1865
Lecture Outline # 9
Wars Hot and Cold

I. A World at War

Sept 1, 1939, Germany invade Poland--2 days later, Britaian and France declare war on Germany

U.S. revises its Neutrality Acts (review) to permit sale of weapons to belligerents on cash-and-carry basis
April 1940--Germany unleashes blitzkrieg on Western Europe
Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France are attacked
By end of June, western part of continent under German control

Summer of 1940, Battle of Britain begins

air attack by Luftwaffe
U-boat campaign against British shipping
Churchill appeals to FDR for help

most Americans favor stepped-up weapons shipments
isolationists (including Charles Lindbergh--favors Germany) fear pull of U.S toward war

FDR runs for unprecedented 3d term in 1940, defeats Wendell Wilkie
FDR takes action even though U.S. officially neutral

endorses a peacetime draft and more spending on weapons
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
Congress passes lend-lease act in March 1941

June 1941, Germany invade Soviet Union; lend-lease extended to U.S.S.R.
"Arsenal for Democracy"

August 1941, Roosevelt and Churchill meet on battleship off Newfoundland, issue Atlantic Charter outlining their wartime goals (U.S. not at war yet)

Japanese actions

Japan begins to expand its aggression from China to gain control of raw materials in British, French, and Dutch colonies in Southeast Asia
Japan's drive to create own economic empire clashes with Open Door policy
U.S. responds with economic pressure

July 1940, prohibits sale of aviation gasoline to Japan
Japan occupies northern Indochina and signs mutual aid treaty with Germany and Italy
FDR embargoes metals, chemicals, and machine parts to Japan
Japan seizes rest of Indochina in July 1941, Washington responds by cutting off all trade

Oct. 1941, expansionist Hideki Tojo becomes Japanese prime minister

tries to persuade U.S. to reopen trade and recognize Japenese conquests in Asia
threatens to attack if Washington will not agree
FDR refuses, orders all U.S. commanders in Pacific to be on alert for possible attack

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

At same time, Japan launches attacks on Phillipines and most of rest of Western Pacific--taking Phillipines in May 1942
Dec. 8, 1941--U.S. declares war on Japan (FDR and "a day that will live in infamy")

Germany and Italy declare war on U.S. on Dec. 11

we reciprocate next day

Early days of U.S involvement

German U-boat campaign on Atlantic coast and Caribbean--sinks more than 1,000 allied ships
Hitler controls most of Europe and North Africa--launch attack to take Moscow and Stalingrad
Japan controls most of Pacific west of Hawaii

II. America Mobolizes for War

Roosevelt gets government ready to go to war--establishes 4 key agencies

War Production Board--allocates scarce materials, limits manufacture of civilian goods, hands out military production contracts
National War Labor Board--mediate labor-management disputes
Office of Price Administration--imposed price controls to stem inflation
Office of War Mobilization--coordinated efforts of government agencies, private industry, and military

By late 1942, 33% of economy devoted to war production--U.S. turns out more armaments than Germany, Italy, and Japan combined
Size of federal government and amount of spending soars

government spends $250 million per day fighting in WWII
defense contractors and military form tight alliance
Agriculture and industry finally out of their doldrums

farm income doubles between 1940-1945
corporate profits climb 70%
unemployment vanishes--extra workers needed
War years see significant shift in income distribution, many poor move into middle class
Union membership and strength grow--most labor leaders agree not to strike (UMW does so in 1943, bringing Congressional action limiting right to strike)

Office of Price Administration works to curb inflation through price controls and rationing
Government raises needed money with war-bond sales, tax increases

Federal government and scientists get together during war

FDR establishes Office of Scientific Research and Development--spends over $1 billion on improving radar, building rockets and aircraft, making new drugs for soldiers
Manhattan Project races to develop nuclear weapons before Germany ($2 billion budget)

III. Changes in American Society During WWII

New mobility

Like in WWI, Americans migrate to centers of war production, especially on West coast
Millions move from farm to city and from South to North and West--causes severe housing shortages in war-industry cities
Mobility and overcrowding contribute to family breakdown, urban slums, conflict between newcomers and older residents

Women and the family

More than 6 million Americna women enter the paid labor force--by 1945 women constitute over 1/3 of employed workers
Women take on formerly male-dominated occupations--"Rosie the Riveter" becomes symbol of female defense-plant workers
Women only earn 65% of men's pay for same work--women are told they are only emergency replacements until men return from war
More than 1/3 of women workers have children under age 14

child-care centers exist for less than 10% of children
with youngsters left on their own, juvenile delinquency spurts

Marriage, birth, and divorce soar

300,000 women enlist in armed forces (compare with 11,000 in WWI)

African-Americans and the war

African-Americans demand U.S. fight against racism at home as well as against Hitler
Even before U.S. joins war, blacks prepared to fight for equality in America

A. Philip Randolph, head of Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters

Feb. 1941, plans march on Washington to demand desegregation in defense industries
FDR worried about the negative publicity this would provide to Axis
FDR signs an executive order prohibiting employment discrimination in defense industries and government agencies--creates Fair Employment Practices Committee

NAACP and Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) struggle for civil rights during the war

Once war begins, labor shortages lead to rise in African-American defense-plant laborers (from 3% to 9% of workforce)

black union membership doubles
number of African Americans holding skilled and semi-skilled jobs triples

One million blacks serve in armed forces

mostly in segregated units commanded by white officers
most of these units were in supply, transportation, etc.; few see combat until very late (Dec. 1944) in war (exception--Tuskegee Airmen)

Like in WWI, race riots erupt as over 700,000 blacks flood from the South into the North and West
movement during the war gives African Americans greater opportunities and possible political power

Japanese-Americans -- Internment and medals

strong prejudice against Japenese-Americans erupts following Pearl Harbor (one barber advertised "free haircuts to Japs, not responsible for accidents")
U.S. government uproots over 112,000 Japenese-Americans (Nisei) living on West coast

most are forced to sell their land and homes (at cutrate prices)
Japenese-Americans locked in remote internment (prison) camps in Southwest
Manzanar as example

Japenese Americans consistently referred to as Japs
Only a handful actually found working against U.S.
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

Allied drive in Europe

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)
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

Nov. 1942, U.S. and British invade North Africa; defeat Germans there by May 1943

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
Britain and U.S. turn focus to Italy in 1943, get bogged down in heavy fighting against German forces which lasts until early 1945
June 6 1944--D Day; U.S. and British forces land in Normandy, begin push across France and reach German border by the fall
Dec. 1944, German counterattack at the Battle of the Bulge inflicts heavy Allied casualties, but fails
Allied forces close on Germany from both sides by early spring; Berlin falls in May 1945

War in the Pacific

At beginning, U.S. commits most of its resources toward fighting Japan
Spring and summer 1942, U.S. Navy wins key battles at Coral Sea and Midway--halting Japanese expansion
During the fall of 1942, U.S. takes the offensive in an "island hopping" campaign designed to take control of South Pacific
U.S. returns to Phillipines in 1944; Navy destroys most of remaining Japanese fleet at Leyte Gulf
Islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa taken after desparate struggles
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)

Japan refuses to surrender at this point

VI. Late-war diplomacy

Teheran (1943)

Big Three meet to discuss post-war Europe
Disputes over how countries should be governed (particularly Eastern Europe)
Stalin unhappy with what he sees as lack British and American activities in fighting Germany

Yalta (Feb. 1945)

Big Three meet again in Soviet city of Yalta (on Black Sea)
Stalin has upper hand--close to defeating Germany and knowing U.S. wants Soviet help against Japan
Question of Eastern Europe remains unresolved (although Soviets control region)--Germany to be partitioned
Decision to create the United Nations agreed upon

Potsdam (Apr. 1945)

New president Harry Truman met with Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov
Meeting was not friendly and U.S. and Soviet Union strongly disagree over Germany and Eastern Europe
Language of agreements leaves each side room to accuse the others of cheating and backstabbing

V. Origins of the Cold War

Struggle for postwar control of Europe

With failure to reach agreement at Potsdam, the Western nations and the Soviet Union worked to impose their systems on the areas they controlled
This leads U.S. and West to give up any effort to create a unified, "open" world
Instead they turned to an effort to "contain" the spread of Soviet and communist expansion
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

Domino effect--fall of one country to communism would lead those around it to fall

Marshall Plan

1947, Sect. of State George Marshall announces aid plan to help Europe recover from war
Over next 3 years, U.S. sends $12 billion in aid to Europe to help revive the economy

Berlin Airlift and NATO

Dispute arises over control of Germany
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
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
Crisis in Berlin leads western powers to form a defense alliance--NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
Soviet Union responds by creating Warsaw Pact

By 1950, Truman government decides that U.S. could no longer rely on others to take the initative in resisting communism

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.
this leads to major expansion of the American military power, along with vastly increased defense spending
NSC-68 will dictate our response to communism for over 30 years
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

Asia

China

Since 1927, nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek had been engaged in a prolonged and bitter struggle with the communits armies of Mao Zedong
By 1945, Mao had become so successful that he controlled 1/4 of the population
U.S. supported Chiang (although a number of people in this country wanted to find some alternative to both Chiang and Mao)
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
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
U.S. under Truman refused to recognize the legitimacy of the Mao's new government

U.S. turns to revitalizing the Japanese economy and society to create a buffer zone against communism in Asia
Korean War

Eisenhower, Dulles, and Massive Deterrence

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)
relied on the threat of nuclear attack in response to Soviet aggression

Kennedy and Flexible Response

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
American public wanted something different than massive retalition as way of responding to the "Communist menace"
Kennedy develops idea of "flexible response" to combat communism wherever it appeared

placed emphasis on use of conventional military weapons rather than nukes
would rely on quick deployment of U.S. troops and advisors to help "free" governments around the world fight communism

Developed Peace Corps, Agency for International Development, and Food for Peace programs to help developing nations and win friends abroad

Cuba

one of worst problems for Kennedy Administration was Cuba

Cuba became unsettled during the 1950s during the reign of Fulgenico Batista
Batista popular with free world (outside of Cuba), but very unpopular with most Cuban people
Cuban rebels (peaceful at first) led by Fidel Castro

Cuban rebels popular at first, Castro even appeared on the Ed Sullivan show
Castro talked in 1958 with VP Nixon about plans for nationalizing industry in the nation (after paying for nationalized businesses)

Castro turns more to Soviet Union for assistance after U.S. refuses to help, overthrows Batista in 1959

many Cuban businessmen flee country as their wealth confiscated, Castro becomes unpopular in U.S.

Bay of Pigs

Pres. Eisenhower sets plan to help Cuban refugees regain power--called for invasion of Cuba
When Kennedy comes into office he inherits plan
he is convinced by the CIA, Cuban exiles, and the Mafia to overthrow Castro
April 1961, 1,500 anti-Castro exiles land at the Bay of Pigs
invasion a fiasco, most Cubans support Castro
Kennedy accepts blame, but does not apologize--creates resentment among many Latin American leaders

Cuban Missile Crisis

early October 1962, U.S. spy planes and sattelites took photographs revealing Soviet missile bases and missiles in Cuba
Kennedy responds strongly, condemning what he calls a "provocative threat" to world peace on national TV
issues ultimatum for missiles to be removed and places a "quarantine" or blockade around Cuba
says U.S. will remove missiles by force if Soviet Union does not get rid of them
Soviet premier Nikita Khruschev denounces blockade and tries to get missiles ready to launch
U.S. forces (including nuclear attack weapons) placed at highest alert--preparations made to invade Cuba
World looks on in horror as two sides go to brink of nuclear war
Kennedy and Khruschev finally reach agreement--Soviet Union will remove missiles if U.S. agrees not to attack Cuba and removes missiles from Turkey

Detente

Khruschev and Kennedy are startled by how close they came to nuclear war
set up hotline between two nations
Cold War shifts from direct confrontation toward more negotiation--called detente
in 1963, both nations agree to a treaty banning atomic tests in the atmosphere and the oceans
nuclear arms race not ended, but escalates during this period
detente does not stop US-USSR rivalry for influence over Third World