The Emergence of A New Society

• Rapid change due to things like computers, TV, jets, contraceptives, and new surgical techniques. A New Society was born.

The Structure of European Society

• Changes in the middle class now including managers and technicians as large corporations and gov’t agencies increased the number of white collar admins and supervisors.
• Specialized knowledge from higher education was a must for the experts and managers. They also took steps to make sure their children were educated for the future.
• Traditional lower classes also moved to more urban areas. Agricultural workers declined but the labor force in industry did not change much. What really increased were the white collar jobs. Increase in real wages allowed the lower class to own the same things that the middle class could own creating a “consumer’s society”.
• However, it was cars that really gave the symbol of a buyer’s market. By 1960s, there were about 45 million cars.
• Rising incomes and short hours gave way to more vacation and leisure time giving 40 hour weeks and paid vacations.
• German and Italian workers received between 32-35 paid holidays a year.
• Everything belonging to pop culture was commercialized with thing such as concerts and sporting events.

Creation of the Welfare State

• Goal of Welfare state was to make people’s lives better and meaningful.
• Postwar reforms extended previous legislation and added new ones such as pensions, medical insurance, and unemployment compensation.
• Men eligible for pensions at 65 and women at 60 but they were not always generous. The British and French only gave $40 a month after 40 years of work.
• Affordable healthcare (something the US sucks at) was another goal for the welfare state. Britain, Italy and Germany gave free medical care to all people with some kind of insurance. France, Scandinavia, and Belgium required people to contribute to their own healthcare which was about 10-25 percent of total cost.
• Family allowances for minimum level of material care for children providing usually a fixed amount per child. Class barrier removal was attempted by expanding # of universities and providing scholarships giving more opportunities. Most students in Western European universities still came from privileged backgrounds.
• The welfare state increase the amount of money spent on social services although critics said the new generation was way too dependent on the state.
• However, when it came to women, there was a debatable classification, whether to treat them as mothers or to treat them as individuals. William Beveridge an economist, drafted the report that was the foundation for the British welfare state saying that women were vital in the adequate continuation of the British race.
• The women that did become employed were treated differently from singles. British welfare system based on a belief that women should stay home with the kids and they received subsidies for children but married women that worked got nothing. Employers encouraged to pay  women lower wages to keep women at home. The West German system also followed suit as it was a differentiation from the Soviet Union and communism which encouraged women to work.
• France wanted to maintain women’s individual rights and gave equal benefits to women as to men but provided extra incentives for women to stay home and bear children.

Women in Postwar Western World

• The return to trad. families created a “baby boom” but the increase in birthrate did not last very long due to the practice of birth control.
• “the pill” was new way to control birth.
• This led women to become eager to enter the workforce but there was still a salary gap.

THE FEMINIST MOVEMENT: THE SEARCH FOR LIBERATION

• WWI gave women the right to vote except France and Italy who gave that right in 1945. After WWII, women tended to return to the traditional ways.
• Late 1960s began to assert rights again with the feminists’ movement.
• Prominent figure of the movement was the work of Simone de Beauvior. She was born into the Catholic middle class family educated in Sorbonne, Paris. She earned money from teaching and becoming a novelist and writer. She never married but had a lifelong relationship with Jean-Paul Sartre.
• De Beauvoir saw her as living a liberated life but still perceived obstacles that men did not have. She published The Second Sex was an argument that women received second class status and took an active role in the French women’s movement.
• Another contributor would be Betty Friedan who was a journalist and mother of 3 children.
• Of course she was uneasy about the traditional life and published The Feminine Mystique arguing women being denied equal rights.
• Her book became famous and Friedan was a celebrity. She went on to form the National Organization for Women (NOW) which was to establish equality of women and men. She called for a constitutional amendment for equal rights for women.

The Permissive Society

• Yeah basically morals went out the window and well stuff went on.
• Sweden took the lead with the first sex ed. program and decriminalization of gays.
• Amsterdam allowed open prostitution and public sale of porn attracting thousand of perverts……I mean tourists.
• Umm yeah, this led to the birth of Playboy magazine.
• Oh yeah, drugs are bad, just say no. And umm…yeah the drug culture rose in this period of time and marijuana was popular among college students.
• It wasn’t just drugs and sex, the youth were also politically conscious and this lead to some protests to the Vietnam War.

Education and Student Revolt

• Higher education was more popular because of the elimination of fees. However, the students overwhelmed the universities and professors paid little attention to the students and acted like little Joseph Stalins.
• They also felt the education did not have much practical instruction.
• This led to student revolts and opposition to the Vietnam War made it all worse.
• The most famous revolt happened in the University of Nanterre outside of Paris but spread to Sorbonne, the main campus of University of Paris demanding a greater voice in society. Then the invited workers to protest with them and they did. Huge debacle.

The United States and Canada: A New Era

• The United States obviously became one of the world superpowers and, with tensions against the Soviet Union, became a strong force to combat communism

American Politics and Security

• New domestic policies were mirrored on the New Deal by FDR which basically increased the role of the Fed. Gov’t and the rise of organized labor.
• The democrat presidents that followed FDR, Truman, Kennedy and Johnson and even the republican Eisenhower went with the New Deal policies.
• Wages went up after the War and so did consumer confidence.
• However, the fear of communism led to repercussions at home causing phobia that communism had infested the United States.
• Joseph R. McCarthy was a senator that intensified the “Red Scare” when he attacked “Communist conspirators” of the US Army but he was censured and eventually his anticommunist crusade was crushed.

Decade of Upheaval

• JFK- youngest elected president and also a Catholic. His administration was cut short by an assassin although during his presidency, he focused on foreign policy.
• Lyndon B. Johnson continued the New Deal with his “Great Society” including a healthcare for the elderly, “war on poverty” using food stamps, and the new Job Corps, New Department of Housing and Urban Development.
• In 1954, the Civil Rights Movement got a jumpstart when Brown Vs. Board of Education of Topeka ruled that segregation of schools was unconstitutional.
• This gave way to Martin Luther King Jr. crusade for racial equality and by 1963, Americans believed Civil rights to be the top issue.
• Civil Rights Act created the effort to end segregation and discrimination in the workplace and all public places. Johnson however, did not do enough and the African Americans were bitter. Also opposition to the Vietnam war made him extremely unpopular.
• Local areas of segregation gave way to ghettos for the Blacks. Malcom X of the Black Muslims used violence to protest. This lead to riots in major cities and when MLK was assassinated, even more riots broke out leading to severe division of the population.
• Protests against the war also led to violence when 4 students were killed for protesting by the Ohio National Guard causing anti-war movement to decline.
• Nixon decided to stop this with his “law and order” and the shift to the right in American politics began.

The Development of Canada

• Canada experienced similar developments to the United States such as electronics, industrial development, aircraft, and nuclear.
• Canada was financed by the US and businessmen were worried about being dominated by the US.
• Canada did agree to join NATO and sent military forces to fight in Korea the following year along with supporting the UN in order to avoid subordination to the US.
• North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) formed in the 1957 maintained cooperation of the two airforces in order to ward off potential missile attacks.
• Liberal Party continued to dominate Canadian politics until 1957 when John Diefenbaker  won it for the Conservative Party.
• However, major economic problems returned control to the liberals allowing for welfare state and the Canada Pension Plan by Lester Pearson.

Recovery and Renewal in Europe

• Europeans were able to make a quicker than expected recovery after being stricken by WWII and Nazism.

The Soviet Union: Stalin to Khrushchev

• Soviet Union was devastated from WWII but Stalin’s only recovery policy was to do the same thing he did in the 1930s.

• Soviet laborers were expected to come up with exports without being paid much at all. Loss of millions of men meant that women were filled with the pressure to work.

• By 1947, industrial production was at pre-war steam and three years later it had surpassed by 40 percent. Stalin’s new Five Year Plan of 1946 had success in less than 5 years.

STALIN’S POLICIES

• The people of USSR were sold short however. They did not see any increase in consumer goods and the success from the launch of Sputnik had nothing to do with keeping the people of Russia happy.

• Housing was scarce and one could not find a place to relax and eat in Moscow.

• However, nobody really complained, Stalin had already eliminated any opposition and everyone was basically his puppet. Because of this, everything had to be in compliance with the ideology of the party including literature and broadcasts. A number of Jewish doctors were also allowed to kill high-level party officials until the death of Stalin on March 5, 1953.

KHRUSHCHEV’S RULE

• Collective leadership succeeded Stalin until Khrushchev came to power as the chief policymaker. He was responsible for ending the forced labor camps, a work of Stalin.

• Khrushchev condemned the repressive policies of Stalin at the Twentieth Congress of the Communist Party.

• The aim of the new government was to undo some of the horrors of the Stalin regime. He allowed freedom of thought saying that readers should have the right to make up their own mind.

• He reduced the powers of the secret police and closed some Siberian labor camps. However, this laxing policy led some Soviet satellite countries to think that rebellion would be possible. Soviet troops crushed the Hungary uprising in 1956 causing Khrushchev to slow down his de-Stalinization policies.

• Khrushchev emphasized light industry and consumer goods, but his reputation was damaged by his attempt to plant core in the Ural Mountains to try and increase the food supply.

• Failures and increased military spending damaged the Soviet economy and the industrial growth rate declined 13 percent to 7.5 percent in 1964.

• Khrushchev attempted to crack jokes and play clown at times and the Soviet officials were not pleased. They did not find the curbing of their privileges especially amusing either. Foreign policy failures and the Cuban missile crisis were the last straw and led to his forced retire by vote of the Soviet Politburo. Leonid Brezhnev gained the most power in the leading group soon after. Khrushchev had trusted him but he was the one that ultimately set up Khrushchev’s downfall.

Eastern Europe: Behind the Iron Curtain

• Eastern Europe was under the control of the Soviet Union by influence of the soviet troops and many of the same political reforms in Soviet Union would affect the Eastern states.

• Between 1948 and 47’, one-party Communist governments were established in East Germany, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, and Hungary. In Czechoslovakia, the elections of 1946 made the communist party the largest party but it shared control with non-Communist governments. When the non-Communists were about to win, the Communists stepped in and seized control of the government and all other parties were dissolved. Klement Gottwald became the new president as he was a Communist leader.

ALBANIA AND YUGOLSLAVIA

• Exceptions to progressive Soviet influence. These countries were taken over by Communists right when the war ended.

• Albania-Local communists established a Stalinist regime but it grew independent from the USSR itself.

• Yugoslavia-Josip Broz aka Tito led the Communist resistance movement and was a loyal Stalinist. After the war he established an independent communist state that Stalin attempted to take over. He refused to give into Stalin’s demands claiming his ways were closer to the Marxist-Leninist ideals and aroused the people to fight to be an independent nation.

• Other Eastern European countries did follow through with Stalinization, setting up their own 5- year plans emphasizing heavy industry rather than goods. Agriculture was collectivized and all opposition was eliminated by use of a secret police.

• However, communism wasn’t too popular in Eastern Europe and Soviet Union exploited the economies of those countries making life harsh. Soviets demanded reparations from eastern European countries claiming plants and factories that were dismantled and moved inward. All of the Eastern European states had to trade with the Soviet Union.

UPHEAVAL IN EASTERN EUROPE

• After the death of Stalin, there was more of a shift toward nationalism and Khrushchev did not disturb the satellite states very much although he did not allow any of the Soviet satellites to become independent.

• Protests erupted after they realized that Khrushchev was denouncing the practices of Stalin esp. in Poland. The Polish Communist Party adopted a series of reforms electing Wladyslaw Gomulka as first secretary. Fearful of Soviet response from this, the Poles initiated compromise pledging to be loyal to the Warsaw Pact. Soviets let Poland follow their own path to socialism.

• Hungary saw Poland and wanted to do the same thing. Debates eventually ousted the Stalinist leader and replaced him with Imry Nagy as the new leader. Internal dissent was also against communism itself, however, causing the Soviet secret police to cause much fear and hatred. Nagy declared Hungary an independent nation on Nov. 1, 1956.

• The Red Army invaded Budapest allowing Soviets to re-control Hungary and established Janos Kadar, a reform-minded minister, to work with the Soviets to crush the revolt.

• Kadar was still able to save many of Nagy’s economic reforms.

• Czechoslovakia did not show the desire to revolt. “Little Stalin” Antonin Novotny, was placed in power by Stalin himself, had firm control. By late 1960s Novotony alienated many of the party members and was hated by the writers. The rebellion of the writers ended up forcing Novotny to resign. In Jan 1968, Alexander Dubcek was elected first secretary of the Communist Party and introduced numerous plans of reform, including freedom of speech and press, travel abroad, and relaxation of the secret police. Dubcek wished to form “communism with a human face” creating a period of euphoria known as “Prague of Spring”.

• Then people were not satisfied and wanted more reforms including withdrawal from Soviet Rule which automatically prompted invasion by the Soviet Union. Gustav Husak replaced Dubcek and removed all of his reforms.

Western Europe: The Revival of Democracy

• Western Europe experienced many of the same problems of Eastern Europe. Communist parties did gain a level of respect for their efforts in WWII and France and Italy both had Communists win elections. But of course the Cold War caused the Communists to be distrusted although France and Italy still had 25 percent of the vote going toward communism.

• Communist parties often joined forces with the other left-wing parties such as Social Democrats.

• Desire to overthrow the old order initially allowed the conservative reforms to be set aside, however, the support soon dwindled.

• The cold war hurt the cause of socialism. Their identification with Marxism and communism hurt them badly too. Continental socialist parties began to call for social justice and liberty rather than the elimination of a class struggle. They no longer wished to eliminate capitalism.

• 1950s saw the rise of the moderate policies again. The Christian Democratic parties were especially important. The new Christian Democrats wanted economic and were interested in democracy.

• Western European countries were able to recover quickly primarily from the Marshall Plan where industrial production was still at its peaks and even above prewar times.

FRANCE: THE DOMINATION OF DEGAULLE

• De Gaulle influenced all French politics for almost 25 years. He led some of the resistance parties and made sure a provisional government was established after the war. However the Fourth republic was too weak and de Gaulle withdrew from politics although he formed the French Popular Movement, a rightist organization.

• Indochina was a disaster for the French and they were determined not to do the same thing to Algeria. However, differences in opinion almost led to civil war and De Gaulle was forced to take over again by est. the fifth republic and a new constitution enhancing the power of the president. He pulled France out of NATO high status increasing her prestige among third world countries by giving Algeria her independence.

• Nuclear program, economic centralized. Eventual large deficit and increased dissatisfaction. Series of strikes and student protests. De Gaulle resigned April 1969.

WEST GERMANY

• Three Political parties- Social Democrats, Christian Democrats, and Free Democrats

• Founding Hero of fed republic-Konrad Adenauer leader of CDU

• Cooperation with the Western states and reconciliation with France. Korean War created fears that security of West Germany was compromised therefore calling for rearmament of Germany and induction into NATO later.

• Adenauer’s chancellorship was primarily due to the “economic miracle” in West Germany. Ludwig Erhard was the key here because he was the minister of finance.
• West Germany had 75 percent of the original population and 52 percent of the original territory but its economic prestige exceeded that of prewar Germany
• Germany even took in guest workers as the unemployment rate dropped below 8 percent.
• Germany was still troubled by the Nazi past, however, and the Nuremburg Trials were held to convict former Nazi leaders of war crimes. German courts took over these trials beginning in 1950.
• Adenauer resigned in 1963 after 14 years. He wanted Germany to gain equilibrium.
• Ludwig Erhard succeded Adenaur and continued his policies. The social democrats began to rise, however, when the mid-1960s had an economic downturn.

GREAT BRITAIN: THE WELFARE STATE

• Great Britain ended up with a lot of problems  The Labor Party defeated Churchill with an landslide. The Labor Party promised social reforms, appealing to the masses in a country of scarcity.
• The new labor government was controlled by Clement Attlee who proceeded to enact those welfare reforms.
• The first step was to create a Bank of England that was nationalized, sort of like our Federal Reserve. Industries such as coal and steel, public transportation, and public works.
• National Insurance Act and National Health Service Act established social security and required doctors and practitioners to work with state hospitals.
• This forced Britain to reduce abroad expenses causing the British to dismantle their empire and tone down military assistance for Greece and Turkey.
• Conservatives came back into power due to continuing unrest in the economy in 1951 to 1964.
• Favoring private ownership of businesses, the conservatives still supported the social reforms.
• However the economy was still depressing and the failure of British to adopt new industrial methods did not help out.
• The British seemed to have lost most of her prestige as a world power. The Suez Crisis occurred when Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser, leader of Egypt, nationalized the Suez Canal which threatened British vital interests. British, French and Israeli forces attacked Egypt but were force into a UN ceasefire by the United states.

ITALY THE WEAKNESS OF COALITION GOV’T

• Italy sustained almost as much damage as Germany. They were in a period of reconstruction.
• They abolished the monarchy and became a democratic republic in 1946
• At first the Christian Democrats were in power with Alcide de Gasperi serving as the from 1948-1953.
• There were coalition governments but none of them included the communist party and the Christian Democrats stayed in power due to the support of the middle and upper classes.
• Italy also experienced an “economic miracle” but it wasn’t as publicized and it was greatly helped by the Marshall Plan.
• Production of consumer goods and private enterprise with government support helped out greatly but Southern Italy was still backward.

Western Europe: Toward Unity

• National sovereignty hindered the development of full unity in Western Europe but the economic arena was open to unity.
• France, W. Germany, Benelux (Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands) countries, and Italy formed the European Coal and Steel Community to create a common market for coal and steel products. Soon the European Atomic Energy Community was also created and in the same year the Rome Treaty created the European Economic Community aka Common Market
• The six member nations no longer had customs barriers and created a large free trade area and also encouraged cooperation. EEC nations were an important trading bloc and all benefited economically.
• Only US passed EEC in steel production.