Peacetime Adjustments and the Cold War. Peacetime Economics and Politics After the war, defense industries reduced their workforce and began to lay off.

Peacetime Adjustmentsand the Cold War

Peacetime Economics and Politics

• After the war, defense industries reduced their workforce and began to lay off workers. In addition, more than 10 million returning veterans flooded the job market

• Women began to return to more traditional jobs such as nursing and teaching

The Post War Economy

• The postwar economy boomed

• Increased demand for goods led to skyrocketing prices

Labor, Unrest, and Reaction

• More than 4 million union workers went on strike for better pay

• In response, Harry S. Truman threatened to draft workers into the army to run the trains

• The strike ended before Truman could carry out his threat

Reelection and Fair Deal

• During his reelection campaign, Truman blamed the “do-nothing” Congress for blocking many of his ideas

• Worked – he won reelection

Reelection and Fair Deal

• Truman introduced the “Fair Deal”– Extension of FDR’s “New

Deal”– Called for new housing

and employment projects and an end to racial discrimination in hiring

– Congress fought against him, few measures passed

Origins of the Cold War

• Most important issue: the future of Eastern Europe• When WWII ended, Stalin installed pro-Soviet

governments throughout Eastern Europe• Tensions grew between capitalism Western

democracies and communist Soviet Union– Each side suspected the other of trying to dominate

world affairs• Result – Cold War: although the two nations never

actually met on a battlefield, the threat of deadly contact would last for decades

The Berlin Airlift

• Germany was divided into four zones after WWII

• The Western countries decided to combine their zones into West Germany

The Berlin Airlift• Stalin feared that a united

Germany would threaten the Soviet Union– The capital of Germany,

Berlin, was blockaded by the Soviet Union

– Western countries sent in packages of food, fuel, and equipment into the city for more than a year

– When the blockade finally ended, Germany had been divided into a democratic West Germany and a communist East Germany

The Politics of Containment

• Truman had a policy of containment and included the Truman Doctrine– The Marshall Plan aimed to prevent the spread of

communism by reviving war-torn economies in Europe• Alarm over communist control led to the created

of NATO– Included United States, Canada, and ten Western

European nations– In response, the Soviet Union and Eastern European

countries created the Warsaw Pact

Cold War at Home

• Alger Hiss was accused of passing military information to the Soviet Union– He was jailed for lying

under oath

• Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were convicted of passing atomic secrets to the Russians– They were both executed

Uncovering “Un-American Activities”

• Truman ordered government workers to undergo loyalty checks – many lost their jobs

• The House Un-American Activities Committee began targeting people in the movie industry– Many were blacklisted