The United States in the Post World War II Era

Time Line

The United States in the Post World War II Era

World War II was over, but instead of bringing peace to the world, it ushered in a new era of conflict, the Cold War, that was to last for forty-five years. The conflict was known as a “cold” war because the opponents—the United States and the Soviet Union—did not actually fire shots at one another. Instead, they maintained a hostile standoff.

The Soviet Union was the only European nation to emerge from the destruction of World War II as a superpower. By 1949, it had begun to manufacture and stockpile nuclear weapons in order to keep pace with the world’s only other superpower, the United States. Given their antithetical political systems and economic policies, the United States and the Soviet Union were natural enemies; throughout the Cold War, each tried to limit the other’s sphere of influence. However, the development of nuclear weapons in the 1940s meant that both sides had to move very carefully; neither was willing to risk a nuclear holocaust that might literally destroy the world.

From the Asian point of view, the term Cold War is a misnomer. When civil wars erupted in Korea and Vietnam, the Soviets backed one side and the United States the other. Hundreds of thousands of civilians and soldiers died during the Korean and Vietnam wars, but neither outcome made much difference to the overall Cold War.

In the United States, fear of the Soviet Union led to an era of anti-Communist hysteria. Congressional investigations pandered to this public fear, ruining lives with questions and accusations that violated the civil rights of hundreds of people.

Americans enjoyed an era of prosperity and plenty after the hard times of the Great Depression. The GI Bill of Rights gave veterans the chance to get a college education, buy a farm, attend training school for a particular profession, or start a business. This enabled many veterans to marry, start families, and move to the newly built suburbs. People bought cars, television sets, and quantities of other consumer goods.

Society was beginning to integrate. The war had proved to many that African Americans were the equal of whites. By the mid-1950s, federal legislation and important Supreme Court decisions had desegregated public schools and public transportation. The Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team set an example of integration in private business by signing Negro League star Jackie Robinson in 1947.

Practice questions for these concepts can be found at:

The United States in the Post World War II Era Practice Test