US After WW2: Baby boom, GI bill

• The late 1940s and 1950s was a period of baby boom, containment, and social change.

US After WW2

• Roughly 16 million people served in WW2.
• Post-war veterans needed jobs, homes, and stability.
• Servicemen's Readjustment Act, also known as the GI Bill, was passed in 1944 and provided benefits to WW2 veterans.
• Benefits included college education, insurance, housing, government loan backing, and unemployment allowances.
• GI Bill fueled a period of economic growth
• Millions of Americans used GI Bill promises to start new families.
• An increase in people attending college and having jobs created a demand for houses.
• Levittowns were large housing developments for WW2 veterans that represent the first suburbs in the US.
• Jobs, education, and home security helped create the Baby Boom.

The Baby Boom

• The Baby Boom in the US, from 1946 to 1964, saw a drastic increase in births after WW2.
• Government programs created stability that allowed Americans to have large families.
• The GI Bill was made available to the children of veterans, creating generational benefits.

United Nations

• After WW2, the world feared another catastrophic conflict.
• The United Nations was formed as an international body pushing for world peace, security, and human rights.
• The UN is different from the League of Nations because it has armed forces, the ability to establish security, and economic power.

The East vs. West

• Though meant to ensure peace, the UN became a platform for conflict between the US and the USSR.
• The Soviet Union, representing the Eastern bloc, advocated for Communism and aimed to control Eastern Europe to balance the US in West Europe.
• The United States, representing the Western bloc, promoted self-determination and invested in rebuilding Europe.

Communism

• Communism advocates for group ownership of the means of production, rather than individual ownership.
• Communism is a critique of Capitalism, the system the US advocates for.
• After WW2 Soviets chose not to leave conquered territories in Eastern Europe.
• Satellite States: countries were independent, but relied on and were influenced by bigger nations.
• The US feared the spread of Communism and created a policy to contain it.

Containment

• Containment was the US policy to stop the spread of Communismglobally.
• The US considered the spread of Communism a threat to American interests.
• The US, UK, France, and other Western countries aimed to contain Communism through diplomacy or force if necessary.
• The Cold War was a geopolitical conflict, with political and economic actions between the US and the USSR, rather than direct military action.
• The Truman Doctrine was created to support anti-communist nations with military and economic aid.
• The US sent money and weapons to support nations fighting against communism.
• The Marshall Plan was an economic relief policy for Western European nations recovering from WW2.
• As part of the Marshall Plan, the US offered to rebuild nations that rejected Communism.

Truman 1948 Election

• Truman was popular for winning WWII, but as the 1948 election approached, inflation, low wages, and strikes were on the rise.
• Civil Rights: Truman issued an executive order to integrate the military, ensuring equal rights and treatment for all citizens.
• This included White and Black soldiers in the same divisions.
• In this election he faced Republican Thomas Dewey.
• Southern Democrats, upset about civil rights, left the party and formed the Dixiecrats.
• Truman won a shocking election, remaining president in 1948.

The Iron Curtain

• The first conflict of the Cold War occurred in divided Germany.
• Germany was split in two: East Germany (controlled by the USSR) and West Germany (controlled by the USA).
• Churchill gave the name Iron Curtain to the territories occupied by the USSR, which separated Western and Eastern Europe.
• The USSR initiated a conflict with the West by blockading access to Berlin.
• The Berlin Airlift was a 15-month operation using airplanes to transport supplies to the blockaded portions of Berlin.

Looking like Modern USA

• Shift in occupations occurred in the 1950s.
• There was an increase in white-collar jobs over blue-collar jobs:
  • White Collar: professional, managerial, or administrative positions
  • Blue Collar: Manual labor or skilled trade
• Conglomerates: Major corporations own smaller companies in unrelated fields.
  • This made it harder to fail in business if in different fields
• Franchise- A company offers similar products and services at various locations.

New Consumerism

• There was a movement of consumerism after WW2.
• New consumerism was modified to keep everyone buying.
• Planned Obsolescence: A product is created so it eventually becomes obsolete and needs to be replaced or upgraded.
• Cars became the leaders of Planned Obsolescence.
  • New models every year meant new potential buyers.
• Cars become an important part of American life and affects domestic policy.
  • People buying more cars, moving to the suburbs, and driving more causes issues.
• Automania caused the US government to respond and tackle the issues, like roads, the create the Interstate Highway system.
  • The Interstate Highway system- Law was passed in 1956, used to create 41,000 miles of expressways.

Communism Spreads

• Communism already took over Eastern Europe and was continuing to spread after WW2.
• Communism then spread to Asia after Japan was defeated.
• China, Korea, and French-Indochina (Vietnam) risked falling to Communism.
• China was divided between Nationalists and Communists.
• Communists took over China in 1949 which meant Containment failed.
• America was determined to fix the breach of Containment, by force to fix breach. -Korea was the next battlefield.
  • 38th Parallel- Border between the two Koreas. North = Communist, South = Free
• North Korea attacked South Korea in 1950, but the American defends South Korea.
  • China joined, but the war ended after 3 years.
  • 54,000 lives were lost, with $67 billion spent, but Communism was contained.

Communism in America?

• Post fall of China and the stalemate in Korea, Americans were paranoid about Communism.
  • Conservatives had a belief that there are secretly Communists all over the US and in Government.
• Joseph McCarthy was a US senator who claimed Communists were infiltrating all areas of the US
  • Government, Hollywood, military etc...
  • HUAC = House Un-American Activities Committee
• A 1900's "witch hunt" for Communists in the US
• In 1949, the Russians built their own Atomic Bomb.
  • The questions was, did a Communist spy reveal the A-Bomb to the Soviets?
• Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were Jewish who were convicted of giving Soviets secrets on the atomic bomb.
  • After being found guilty of espionage and were executed in 1953.

Pop Culture

• Mass Media- the means to communicate to a wide ranging audience. -TV was king of Mass Media in the 50's.
  • 9% in 1948 and 55% by 1950. FCC- Federal Communications Commission regulated TV.
• phone, and radio industries.
  • Regulated what you can watch, say, and show in media and helped create a new culture in America.
• Two popular subcultures comes from the change in Mass Media:
  • Beatniks and Rock n' Roll Beat Movement wasYoung social that that focused on nonconformist ideals. that focused on nonconformist ideals.
• Writer Jack Kerouac became the voice of the Beatniks .
• Youth flock to the movement while adults think it's “just a phase".

Rock n' Roll

• Musical genre that combines the rhythm and blues with country music = bridge between Black and White culture in US.
• Originally, Rock n' Roll was a black dominated musical genre, but was not as popular.
  • Chuck Berry, "Johnny B. Goode" = First popular Rock n' Roll song.
• Rock n' Roll became a national craze when white artists start performing in the same style.
  • Elvis Presley = King of Rock n' Roll.
• Issue: Did White people steal Rock n' Roll music?.
  • Yes: Black artists were used and abused in the music industry in favor of white artists. -Less money in record deals, radio time, and TV sets. - Black families had fewer tv's and radios = Less viewers = less popular.
  • No: White and Black artists brought their styles together to create the genere - RnB was black dominated while country was white dominated Is Rock racialized? Rock n' Roll is another thing that will bring black and white families closer together.
  • ,Truman and Rock n' Roll brings White and Black people closer together. Start to see that White America and Black America aren't so different from each other in general and a need to identify "Why are we treating each other differently?"
• Social and cultural change brings about Civil Rights in the 50's and 60's