The early Cold War at home and abroad, 1945-1960

After World War II, the United States adopted containment, a policy of stopping the spread of Soviet communism. The Truman Doctrine (1947) pledged aid to countries resisting communism, the Marshall Plan helped rebuild Western Europe, and the United States joined NATO in 1949. U.S. forces fought in the Korean War (1950-1953), which ended in an armistice near the original border. At home, fear of communism fueled a second Red Scare: loyalty investigations, the House Un-American Activities Committee, and Senator Joseph McCarthy's reckless accusations ruined careers with little evidence until the Senate censured him in 1954. The Soviet launch of Sputnik in 1957 set off the space race and new federal spending on science education. The postwar years also brought a booming economy, the baby boom, and the growth of suburbs, helped by the GI Bill, which paid for college and home loans for millions of veterans, though discrimination kept many Black veterans from its full benefits.

This explanation is AI-generated and can occasionally be wrong. 🚩 Report