Fort Nico's fortress of History: The Immediate Postwar Era: The 50's!

Democratic divisions in 1948

53. What was Truman's bold new program, and what was it designed to do?

Truman's "bold new program is called Point Four. The program entailed the US lending money to underprivileged and underdeveloped countries. But why would the United States lend money to these countries? One reason: To stop Communism! The thought was that lending money would prevent the people from becoming Communistic.

54. What was the Fair Deal?

In a message to Congress in 1949, Truman called for a Fair Deal. The Fair Deal "called for improved housing, full employment, a higher minimum wage, better farm price supports, new TVAs, and an extension of Social Security." A higher minimum wage, improved housing through the Housing Act of 1949, and extending Social Security through the Social Security Act of 1950 were the major successes of the program.

The Korean Volcano erupts (1950)

55. How did the tensions in Korea reach the shooting stage? What fundamental premise of the Truman Doctrine did this seem to support?

I don't believe this question can be answered in merely a sentence. You see, after Japan surrendered, Soviet troops occupied the Korean peninsula north of the 38th parallel. Below the parallel, US troops occupied the land. Although both claimed a united Korea, both countries worked for the establishment of a similar regime: A communist regime in North Korea and a democratic South Korea. In 1949, both nations' troops were withdrawn. The situation amounted to that of a cat and a dog. The two cannot simply exist without some sort of action (or at least it would take time for the two to become accustomed to each other). The dog (N. Korea) broke the parallel line on June 25, 1950 and attacked South Korea. This supported the fundamental premise of the Truman Doctrine: "that even a slight relaxation of America's guard was an invitation to communist aggression somewhere."

56. What was NSC-68? Why is it a key document of the Cold War Era?

NSC-68 (National Security Council Memorandum Number 68) was a recontamination by the National Security Council that the defense program be expanded and defense spending should quadruple. It is a key document of the Cold War period because it started an era of a militarized American foreign policy, meaning it started an era of America using military might in order to achieve it's foreign objectives. Not only that, it represented the mindset of Americans that they had an unlimited amount of money to spend on a rearmament program without hurting the economy.