Postwar United States
1945 - 1970s

The era following World War II brought about vast changes, not only in foreign policy, but in economics and a changing civic landscape. The liberalism of the New Deal era grew into movements towards increasing civil liberties and economic opportunities, particularly for underrepresented communities and women. Protests became more common as groups demanded equal rights and voting equality. These movements were juxtaposed with Jim Crow laws and the reemergence of the Ku Klux Klan.

The Cold War pitted the United States and its allies in NATO against the Soviet Union and other communist nations, particularly China, Korea, and Vietnam. During this period campaigns were fought not only on the battleground, but in the political arena and social consciousness as well. The fall of the Nazi regime opened the door to the Iron Curtain and Soviet dominance of Eastern Europe. Through the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan the U.S. sought to halt the spread of communism further west. The defeat of Japan enabled previously occupied counties the chance to choose new leaders, many of whom sided with communism over capitalism. The United States would spend much of this period adhering to the “Domino Theory” foreign policy to contain the spread of communism. 

Learn more in the National U.S. History Content Standards