Cold War History 2024

Causes of the Korean War

• The Chinese Civil War led to the Korean War

Korean War

• MacArthur wanted to open a second front in China to break the stalemate
• The 38th parallel was the final resolution of the Korean War

Cold War and Nuclear Power

• Deterrent: making your military so strong that nobody would dare attack you
• The first atomic bomb testing in facilities terrified Americans of the fear of a nuclear attack
• The 1950s saw the first practical use of nuclear power with the building of the American Silver nuclear power plant

Culture and Society in the 1950s

• The Silent Generation chose entertainment and fun
• Women in the 1950s were expected to manage the household
• Jack Kerouac was a famous writer seen as a spiritual leader
• Hippies resented the conformity of the 1950s

Politics and Labor

• Truman's Fair Deal aimed to extend the New Deal
• 1946: Railroad Strike, Truman tried to replace striking workers with scabs
• State preferred performance over seniority
• Taft-Hartley Act (1947) restricted labor strikes that threatened national interest
• Baby boom led to people moving from cities to suburbs, buying second cars, and family growth

Civil Rights Movement

• Brown vs. the Board of Education (1954) ended "separate but equal" and led to the Little Rock Nine
• Montgomery Bus Boycott introduced leaders like Martin Luther King
• Martin Luther King was all about non-violent protest
• James Meredith tried to attend the University of Mississippi
• The treatment of demonstrators by Birmingham police (using German Shepherds and fire hoses) angered Americans
• March on Washington featured Martin Luther's "I Have a Dream" speech
• Freedom Summer and the March were both for freedom rights

Civil Rights Leaders

• Malcolm X believed in racial separation
• NAACP challenged segregation laws
• SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) was a group of African American clergy
• SNCC started to become more militant under Stokely Carmichael's leadership
• Black Panthers wanted African Americans to lead their own communities

Assassinations and World Events

• Robert Kennedy assassinated on June 4, 1968, two months after Martin Luther's assassination
• Berlin Wall was built to keep East Germans from fleeing to the West
• Kennedy's obstacles included his age and health
• New Frontier was his domestic platform for addressing poverty and included the state's program

Kennedy's Administration

• Kennedy proposed to end the recession by raising taxes
• Missionaries commission said Kennedy's assassination was a one-man act
• Peace Corps aimed to raise the standard of living
• Alliance of Progress helped discourage the spread of communism

Johnson's Administration

• Great Society included Medicare and public education
• Cuban Missile Crisis: Soviets removed missiles from Cuba
• Baker vs. Carter: one man, one vote
• Immigration Act of 1965 aimed to extend the flow of refugees

Vietnam War

• Ho Chi Minh was the national leader in Vietnam against the French
• South Vietnamese leaders overthrew Ho Chi Minh because Americans allowed it
• Fighting conditions in Vietnam for American soldiers included booby traps
• US used saturation bombing in Vietnam, carrying as many bombs as their planes could hold
• An advantage for the Viet Cong was their elaborate tunnel system
• Gulf of Tonkin gave Johnson control of military action
• Domino Theory: reason we went to South Asia in fear of countries falling like dominoes

Events and Protests

• Agent Orange burned all trees to see Viet Cong
• Milan Massacre: Cali was the leader
• Most people who refused to be drafted were conscientious objectors
• Nixon continued bombing raids
• Ho Chi Minh trail
• Leader of the American Army in Vietnam: William
• Penn State massacre: four shot killed
• Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first men to walk on the moon