The Impactful Decade Following WWII

Fulton, Missouri - March 1946

• Small town with 12,000 residents
• Winston Churchill visited at Truman's invitation
• Churchil's speech on Soviet domination (Iron Curtain)

Post-WWII Tensions

• Stalin's negative reaction to Churchill’s speech
• The start of Cold War
• US and Soviet Union shift from allies to enemies
• Henry Luce predicted American Century
• America emerged strong and prosperous

Returning Veterans and the GI Bill

• WWII vets return home
• Initial job scarcity
• GI Bill passed in 1944: guaranteed mortgages, funded education
• Economic transition to American consumerism

Economic Boom

• Factories transition from wartime to consumer goods
• Rise in wages, productivity
• Bill Levitt's approach to affordable housing - Levittowns
• Emergence of middle-class suburbs

Baby Boom and Social Changes

• 1946-1952: Added 25 million children
• Limited roles for women, pressures to be homemakers
• Continued racial discrimination despite black Americans' efforts in WWII

Civil Rights Progress

• President Truman's civil rights initiatives
• Integration of Armed Forces
• Jackie Robinson breaks color barrier in Major League Baseball (1947)

Global Repercussions and Cold War Developments

• Europe in ruins post-WWII (devastation in Germany and Japan)
• Allied occupation in Japan and Germany
• Marshall Plan: $13 billion to aid Europe
• Soviet occupation and exploitation of Eastern Europe
• Notable defections from Communist regimes

Berlin and the Cold War

• Berlin divided into Soviet/American/British/French sectors
• Soviet blockade of Berlin (1948)
• Berlin Airlift by US and British pilots
• End of blockade in May 1949

Nuclear Arms Race and Cold War in Asia

• Soviets test atomic bomb in 1949
• Rise of Communist China (Mao Zedong)
• Korean War (1950): US-led UN force vs North Korea/China

Domestic Concerns and McCarthyism

• Rise of anti-communist sentiment
• Julius and Ethel Rosenberg's arrest
• Senator Joseph McCarthy's accusations
• Hollywood Blacklist and Red Scare

Technological and Cultural Shifts

• Development of hydrogen bomb (1952)
• Computers: Rise of MANIA (Mathematical Analyzer, Numerical Integrator, and Computer)

Changes in American Politics and Media

• Eisenhower's presidency and use of television
• Rise of TV in social life, iconic shows like 'Your Show of Shows'

Summary

• The US after WWII was marked by economic prosperity, societal shifts, advancing civil rights, and the dawn of the Cold War
• The nation transitioned from wartime to peacetime, fostering rapid growth and innovation, but also faced significant political and social challenges.