Post-WWII

1945 - 1968

International Organizations set

up

IMF

UNO

IMF• Bretton Woods Conference (1944)

created International Monetary Fund (IMF)

• Lay foundations for modern monetary system (based on US dollar)

• IMF World Bank loaned money to poor recovering countries

UNO• United Nations Organization set up in

1945

• Security Council allowed military powers–12 members with 5 being permanent

• USA, USSR, Britain, France, China

• General Assembly (all members) had advisory powers

ContainmentContainment• Truman Doctrine:

–1947: Pledge to stop further spread of Communism

• 1947: US gave aid to Greece and Turkey to help stop communist forces there

• Marshall Plan (1947)–Aid package to help war-torn

Europe rebuild

–Purpose = prevent spread of communism

–Result = West and central Europe recovered (the economic miracle)

• Soviets refused to let West help Eastern Europe countries

Berlin Crisis• 1948-1949; Soviets attempt to

remove allies from Berlin by setting up a blockade

• Very tense (WWIII?)

• Berlin Airlift–US instituted massive airlifts to get

supplies into West Berlin

• Soviets lifted blockade (it failed)

NATO formed• North Atlantic Treaty Organization

formed in 1949–Anti-communist alliance

• Collective security in Europe, US, Canada

• Radio-free Europe & Voice of America–Radio messages sent to countries

behind the Iron Curtain (pro-Democracy)

Eastern Bloc

Commies• Eastern Bloc = countries in Eastern

Europe dominated by USSR– USSR, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, E

Germany, Rumania, Bulgaria

• One party states established with help of Red Army and KGB (Soviet secret police)

• Only Yugoslavia was communist yet not dominated by USSR

Post war Economics

• Recovery modeled after Soviet model–Changes slow and uneven

• Five-Year plans adopted again

• Oppressive rule adopted (USSR’s new foe, the USA, provided excuse)

• Forced labor camps used

Nikita Krushchev (r. 1953-1971)

• After brief power struggle, Krushchev emerged

• USSR in bad shape- reforms needed!–Fear and hatred of Stalin

–Agriculture in bad shape

–Shortages in consumer goods

–Hard work and initiative in decline

–Poor living conditions

De-Stalinization• Reduction of role of KGB

• Gradual closure of forced labor camps

• XXth Party Congress (1956) Khrushchev denounced Stalin; anti-hardliner

• Began programs to undo what Stalin did

• Gosplan: resources shifted away from heavy industry and military toward consumer goods and agriculture – Centralized Economic Planning

• Arts and Literature grew (anti-Stalin sentiment tolerated)–Pasternak wrote Dr Zhivago (1956)

–Solzenitsyn wrote One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1962)

Dr Zhivago by Pasternak

Story of pre-revolutionary intellectual who rejects brutality of Revolution (1917) and Stalinism:

even as he is destroyed, he triumphs from his humanity and

Christian spirit

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

by Solzenitsyn

A story about life in a Stalinist concentration camp

Results of de-Stalinization

• Rise of reformers and mass movements seeking liberty

• Poland: March 1956 – riots led to release of 9000 political prisoners–Led to greater autonomy in

Poland

• 1956 Hungarian Uprising–Students and workers in Budapest

installed Communist reformer

–Hungarian nationalists held huge demonstrations demanding non-communist parties

–Soviet tanks and troops crushed national democratic revolution

–After word, other small bloc countries hoped fro change, but kept their mouths shut!

Western European Recovery

ProblemsProblems• Food scarce

• Runaway inflation

• Black markets

Political Parties• Christian Democrats

–Rejected authoritarianism

–Rejected narrow-minded nationalism

–Faith in Democracy and cooperation

• Socialists and Communist–Influence in France and Italy

–Pushed for social reform

European Renaissance• Italy underwent reform under

Christian Democrats with socialist influences

• France led by Charles De Gaulle –Fourth Republic set up

–Catholic Party strong

–Large socialist influences

• West Germany–Konrad Adenauer began long

democratic rule 1949

–Christian Democrats were majority party

• Britain put Clement Attlee in Churchill’s position–Socialist Labour party

–Moved toward a welfare state

The “Economic Miracle”• Period of rapid progress

lasting into 1960’s

• By 1963 Europe produced 2.5 times more than pre-WWII

• Marshall Plan helped significantly

• Korean War stimulated economy

• Keynesian economics adopted

• People willing to work hard for little pay

• Increases in demand spurred development

• Many economic barriers removed–Common Market emerged

• Ludwig Erhard led Western German economic development–Combined free market and Nazi-inherited social welfare networks

• Jean Monnet led European unity economic pragmatic solutions

European Unity1. Define/Describe the following:

a) Council of Europe

b) Schuman Plan

c) EEC

d) 1957 Treaty of Rome

e) EURATOM

f) COMECON

2. Discuss the steps taken by de Gaulle to make France a player in Cold War affairs. (pg 895)

3. What was the Manhattan Project?

4. What is “Big Science”?5. Describe the key events of

the Space Race

6. What is meant by “Brain Drain”?7. Discuss the rise of the Middle Class.

What caused its rise? What were its characteristics? What changes did it go through?

8. Describe “Consumerism” (pg 900)9. What was the Gadget Revolution?10.Describe the new Youth Movement

11.What caused the outbreak of student revolutions in the 1960’s? (pg 910)

12.Describe the French student revolt of 1968.

13.What was the Prague Spring of 1968?

14.What was the Brezhnev Doctrine? (pg 914)