1) Distrust of Stalin – although FDR had developed a relationship of statecraft with Stalin, Truman did not develop the same level of trust as his predecessor; in fact, Truman believed that Stalin was one of the most dishonest, evil men that he had ever known (a fact that is hard to argue with, certainly).
(a) Cancellation of Soviet Lend-Lease Aid – at war’s end, Soviets denied any further access to lend-lease aid, which shut off their access to US military hardware.
2) Influence of Winston Churchill – Churchill had never put the level of trust in Stalin that FDR did, so when Truman became distrustful of Stalin, Churchill was there to feed those fears, which he shared with Truman.
(a) “Iron Curtain” speech – in a speech at a tiny college near St. Louis, Churchill delivered his famous Iron Curtain speech, where he encouraged isolating Western European countries from those under the domination of the Soviet Union.
3) Nuclear terror – the US insisted, since it was the lone country that could possibly hold the interests of the whole world ahead of its own self-interests (or that its self-interests alone were of concern to the rest of the world), insisted that this country, alone, should control these new weapons of mass destruction.
(a) Soviets successfully test Atomic bomb in 1949 – the acquisition of nuclear technology by the Soviet Union fed fears of the red menace at home. Part of this hysteria led to the construction of backyard bomb shelters, and the identification of public buildings that could also serve as temporary bomb shelters.
(b) Escalation by the US – after the Soviet Union acquired nuclear capability, the US went ahead with the development of the more powerful Hydrogen bomb, which had ten times the killing power of the atomic bomb.
4) Policy of containment – an increased confidence on the part of the military and diplomatic elite after the US successes in the second World War led to a belief that the military might, or the threat of the use of military might, of the US could “contain” the influence of the Soviet Union as it was constituted in 1946.
(a) George F. Kennan – was the diplomat stationed in Moscow who came up with many of the theories, and the term, which we now refer to as constituting the policy of containment
(b) Truman Doctrine – the Truman doctrine went hand-in-glove with the policy of containment. The Truman doctrine pledged to aid countries in their fight against “communist aggression.”
(i) Plan was formulated in response to an ongoing civil war in Greece, which pitted forces that had fought against fascists in the world war (led by a number of communists) against those forces that had collaborated with the fascists forces (which of course was anti-communist, and therefore backed by the US government). The aid the anti-communist forces received helped them to prevail in the struggle.
(c) Marshall Plan – named after Truman’s secretary of state, Gen. George C. Marshall; was a $16 billion dollar plan (that’s $140 billion in today’s dollars) plan for the reconstruction of Europe. Money was even offered to countries in the so-called Soviet bloc, if they would agree to strengthen economic ties with the West. This plan worked great for countries with strong social democratic traditions (like Great Britain, France), but it mainly strengthened the grip of right-wing dictators around the world.
II) Cold War in Asia – The Cold War was by definition a global conflict, and the United States took a much more active role in Asia after the World War than it ever had before—perhaps because the Soviet Union, like the United States, also was a Pacific Ocean power.
A) Fall of China – the Red Army of Mao tse-Chung prevailed over the forces of Chang Kai-shek in 1949, and Chang and his followers were forced to withdraw to the island of Formosa, just off the Chinese coast. Chang was a venal, corrupt leader, who lost this war despite the aid that he was provided by the United States; however, in domestic politics, Truman was blamed for the “loss” of China, and these domestic pressures in turn prompted and reinforced Truman’s commitment to militarily aid anti-communist governments in Asia
1) NSC-68 – a proposal by the National Security Council to triple the amount of money that the United States spent on defense. This increased defense spending in fact acts as a sort of welfare program for selected parts of the US industrial complex (mainly aeronautics, but also some other manufacturing concerns).
B) The “Domino Theory” – the need to oppose communism anywhere and everywhere it arose was fed by the fear that if communism were tolerated in one country, it would spread country by country, like dominoes toppling one after another, until the threat undermined the freedoms of the people of the United States.
C) Korea – Kim IL Sung attempted to reunite his country, which had been portioned at the insistence of the United States along the 38th parallel. The US suspects that the Soviet Union is responsible for this intrigue, and immediately begins aiding anti-communist forces in the South, both with material and men. After some initial difficulties, the US military operation after a brilliantly executed flanking maneuver utilizing a large scale amphibious assault was quite successful, and the combined forces are able to push the so-called North Koreans back well above the 38th parallel—in fact, in direct contradiction of the orders of his commander in chief, Douglas McArthur pushed the North Korean forces above the area claimed by China as its border with China—at which time the Chinese Red Army joined the fight against the Allied forces. The US was initially overwhelmed, but eventually recovered, and the fighting bogged down at the end of the year about where it had started, at the 38th parallel.
D) Wars to end colonial domination – Because of the focus upon the battle against communism, the US government tended to support the re-establishment of colonial rule around the globe, rather than the indigenous populations which looked to the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution for inspiration.
1) The French in Indochina
(a) Opposed by the Vietminh – the Vietminh, led by Ho Chi Minh, had been supported by the US during the war against Japan, even though the OSS was aware that Ho was a communist. This attitude quickly changed after the conclusion of the war, however, and the United States supported France’s efforts to re-establish control over the Indochina peninsula. Because of the strong resistance of the Vietminh, the US had to increase the support it furnished the French throughout the early 1950s, even going so far as providing advisors. In 1954, however, a large French force was surrounded near a little hamlet called Dien Bien Phu, and forced to surrender. The US quickly stepped in here, and declared that the country of Vietnam should be divided along the 49th Parallel, into North and South Vietnam, until a plebiscite could be held to choose a popularly elected government. Former collaborators ran the south with the French, some of who had even converted to Catholicism. The promised election never happened
A)Centralized planning – 1941 was a banner production year for the auto industry, which was reluctant to abandon civilian production to make war material, and did so only under duress (and the promise of guaranteed profits of cost-plus contracts).
B)“Dollar-a-year-men” – executives from the US firms who came to Washington to help the military plan the economy; this "sacrifice" on the part of business men (their salaries were actually paid by the companies that they left) did much to rehabilitate the reputation of business in the minds of the general populace after the Great Depression
1)War Production Board – set prices and determined production, since the entire economy was planned from Washington.
2)Suspension of anti-trust laws – encouraged the formation of larger firms, which officials in the military believed would better meet their production criteria—and which made procurement by the government easier, since they had to deal with fewer firms.
3)Construction of new factories – at the governments expense, or with low cost government loans (often, after the war, these factories that the government owned were sold to private industry for pennies on the dollar). To ensure continued support for the government expenditures, some of these new factories were built in the South, which to this point had little industrialization.
4)Cost-plus contracts--in order to compensate companies who changed over their production to war material, and to encourage continued cooperation, contracts were let with a government guaranteed profit; that is, the companies were compensated at their cost, plus a guaranteed profit.
C)War Labor Board – arbitrated labor-management disputes; set wage rates for all workers. In return, labor officials promised to abide by a “no-strike” pledge, which individual workers supported, except when it involved their own grievances at work.
1) The No-Strike Pledge--in the first blush of patriotism, unions promised not to strike for the duration of the war. While this sounds doable in theory, workers quickly found that by giving up the right to strike, they also lost their best tool for keeping wages up with inflation, and the quickest way to effect changes in working conditions.
D)Office of Price Administration – set price ceilings for almost all consumer goods, in an effort to control inflation--with little success.
E)Selective Service – FDR administration followed the practice of Woodrow Wilson, and instituted a wide-ranging conscription program.
1) The "Double V" campaign--African American leaders encouraged participation in this Selective Service campaign with the "Double V" campaign--victory over fascism, and then victory for the civil rights of African Americans at home.
a) Jackie Robinson--was nearly court-martialed for his resistance to riding in the back of the bus at the Southern military base he was initially assigned to when he entered the Army.
F)War Manpower Commission – determined which workers work was vital to the war effort (which would prevent them from being drafted); also determined when a worker could change jobs.
G)Concentration of the Economy
1)Procurement system – fostered further concentration of the US economy; by the end of the war the top 100 companies held 70% of all civilian and military contracts, compared with 30% five years before.
2)Industrial boom--with government contracts being placed for material and factories, and much of the male civilian population being drafted or (after December 1941) choosing to join the military, economic conditions improved greatly.
(a)By 1943 unemployment disappeared
(b)Second Great Migration – whites and blacks left the South for the Midwest and the West Coast, where most of the jobs created by this economic boom were found.
3)Real income growth – 27% between 1939 to 1945
(a)Redistribution of wealth – income of those at the bottom of the wage scale grew at a faster rate than the heavily taxed incomes at the top of the scale.
(b) Taxation--in order to pay for the war, War Bonds were famously issued. Often overlooked, however, is the fact that taxation was greatly extended as well; Americans who earned as little as $500 per year paid income tax at a 23 percent rate, while those who earned more than $1 million per year paid a 94 percent rate. The average income tax rate peaked in 1944 at 20.9 percent.
H) Americanization push – although there were ugly, racist aspects of this new push toward Americanization, it was not anti-European immigrant; in fact, most propaganda celebrated the ethnic diversity of America.
1) Sojourner Truth Homes--Detroit became a tinderbox of potential conflict because of the number of new workers moving into the city and inadequate housing. The Sojourner Truth projects were one point of contention, with blacks claiming (rightfully) a desperate need for adequate housing, and whites assuming that the housing built in "white" neighborhoods would continue to be used for whites. When black began moving into the project, it set off a riot. This conflict simmered into the summer, when another riot was set off on Belle Isle.
2) Zoot Suit Riots--took place in Los Angles, involving Mexican-American youths dressed in "zoot suits" and soldiers and sailors on temporary leave. A zoot suit, with
its long draped jacket, wide labels, and pleated and pegged trousers, waved its middle finger at the wartime conventions of conservation and all for the war effort. In part, this was the young Californio reaction to being treated as second class citizens by the white establishment. Pachuco culture, particularly with the zoot suit, satirized white culture--something whites got upset about, and supported the sailors when the went into Mexican American neighborhoods for 10 straight nights to "de-zoot" these pachucos.
I)Rosie the Riveter – women began to move into industrial jobs in unprecedented numbers during the war years; although most were force to give up those positions at the end of the war, they fought hard to remain in those positions, and a significant number of women remained in the industrial workforce after the war.
1)Male resistance – women who moved into these jobs faced tremendous amounts of resistance from the males who remained on these jobs (give examples of harassment)
2)Working mothers – faced problems relating to the lack of childcare, and the related problem of the alleged juvenile delinquency that their neglect caused.
3)Role of women in society – remained largely unchanged; many saw women in these kinds of positions as a temporary war expediency, and expected women to willingly return to the kitchen and nursery at the war's end.
Conclusion – the pressured of the war caused many of the programs to be implemented that the FDR administration had attempted to implement during the two phases of the New Deal; in fact what happens is the implementation of the military-industrial-government complex that a later president (Dwight D. Eisenhower, Allied Supreme Commander during the war) warned against in his farewell address in 1959.
I. Roosevelt turns to internationalism – the growing international crisis during the latter 1930s gained more and more of Roosevelt’s attention as his New Deal policies began stalling; Roosevelt’s background left him well-prepared to handle this problem, as well
A. Threat of Fascism – the world-wide economic crisis of the 1930s led many countries to experiment with new forms of government; one of the most popular was what we call fascism.
1. Definition of fascism – government control of all aspects of life, promising a “third way” between Marxism and capitalism, emphasizing the organic national community; it glorified war and violence; it embraced the irrational (like the occult), and the presumption of revolutionary change.
B. Italy
1. Rise of Mussolini
a. Fascism – rigid, one-party rule which crushes opposition (especially on the left), retention of private ownership of means of production (which differentiates it from the tenets of Marxism), but which operates under centralized government control; belligerent nationalism (and sometimes racism); and the glorification of war.
b. Il Duce (the leader) – former socialist; appealed to Italian nationalism, and played upon the perceived slights to Italy from its participation on the First World War.
c. Invasion of Ethiopia – the last independent state on the continent of Africa in the 1930s, but it received no help from other countries to fight of Italian aggression.
C. Germany
1. National Socialism (Nazi)-- Hostile to all forms of democracy--and to all forms of communism.
2. Rise of Adolph Hitler
3. Appeals to pride in German culture
4. Racism – believed in the “natural” superiority of the “Aryan” race (whatever that is); racism was a much more important ideology for German fascists than it was for Italians.
a. Compare Nazi ideas of the superiority of Aryans to the belief (backed by scientific “proof”) that Anglo-Saxons were destined by biology to rule the earth.
(b) Burning of the Reichstag – fire of suspicious origin (which has been probably rightly been blamed on the Nazis) destroyed the meeting place for the equivalent of the German congress, which then did not meet any longer.
(d)Kristallnach (November 9-10, 1938) – Nazis burned over 200 synagogues, and looted thousands of Jewish-owned stores
(i) Signaled the beginning of a more aggressive anti-Semitism on the part of the German government
(ii) Point of comparison – until Kristallnach, Jews in Germany suffered less discrimination in that country than they suffered in the United States (no restrictions on residence, or clubs they could not join).
(e) Repudiation of the Versailles Treaty – moved arms into the de-militarized Ruhr Valley, also began claiming the right to “lebensraum” or living space, pieces of land that Hitler thought other European powers would not go to war to prevent him from claiming.
D) Japan
1) Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere – to ensure Japan’s continued access to raw materials to run their industries, forced on other East Asian countries by the military power of Japan.
(a) Invasion of Manchuria – Manchuria lies between China and Russian Siberia, and had traditionally been part of China; had the richest deposit of minerals in Asia.
(b) 1937 Sino-Japanese War – the “Rape of Nanking” which resulted in 300,000 deaths of Chinese civilians; numerous women were carted off to serve as “pleasure girls” (prostitutes for the Japanese army—a practice which they also practiced in other areas in Asia)
2) Racist stereotyping
(a) Japanese superiority – Japanese thought that the Chinese were an inferior people, who gave them the rights to dominate; in the Japanese view, westerners like the US and British were decadent westerners who would crumble when confronted by the pure Japanese spirit.
(b)US racism – US saw Chinese has helpless peasants, largely incapable of self-government; the Japanese, on the other hand, were the “yellow peril,” devious, and set upon ruining the West by exporting their cheap goods, and not buying enough western goods.
E)--Spanish Civil War – the Spanish Civil War served as a surrogate battle between fascist and communist forces, with the fascist forces prevailing.
F) Isolationism – the foreign policies of the US government had long promoted isolationism from foreign entanglements, and this; although this had begun to dissipate, it had not disappeared.
1) US Senate rejected membership in the World Court
II)Neutrality Acts – mandated an arms embargo against both victim and aggressor in armed conflict; stipulated a narrower interpretation of neutrality rights; “cash and carry” trade policy for belligerents that would deprive them of access to US credit, ships, and military goods.
III)Pacific Theater of Operation (PTO)
A) Pearl Harbor – Despite the fact that the US was well on its way toward full wartime mobilization, the Japanese attack was still a surprise to the US forces in Honolulu (discuss evidence that some in the US were aware that an attack on Pearl Harbor was imminent).
1) Initial Japanese successes
(a) Indonesia (Dutch)
(b)Indochina (French; spawned the creation of the Vietminh, who with US backing carried on a guerrilla war against Japanese—Vietminh were led by a previously exiled, French-educated Vietnamese who renamed himself Ho Chi Minh
(c) Hong Kong, Malay, and Burma (Great Britain)
(d)Most of eastern China (China)
(e)Philippines (US)
2) US turns tide
(a) Battle of Coral Sea – depleted navy fleet won its first battle of the PTO
(b)Battle of Midway – US gained control of the Central Pacific
3) 1943 – US, with major assistance from Australia and New Zealand, and from many of the indigenous populations of the various Pacific islands and East Asia continental areas, regains the iniative.
B) Island hopping – the strategy of choosing to battle Japanese fortifications on some islands, while skipping (or “hopping”) over others.
1) Amphibious assault
IV) European Theater of Operation (ETO)
A) Soviet Union – from mid-1941 on, the Soviet Union bore the brunt of the war with Germany
1) “Scorched earth” tactics – much of the eastern front had to be given up by the Red Army in a series of strategic retreats, but the Soviets burned to the ground anything that they could not carry with them, which prevented the German Army from obtaining the material, which caused the supply lines of the Germans to be stretched dangerously thin.
2) Battle of Stalingrad – German Army was encircled, supplies from the West were cut off, and the Germans were starved into submission.
B) Air War – to relieve some pressure on the Soviet Union before the Allies were ready to open a second front in Europe.
1) “Precision bombing” – a misnomer; when attacks on industrial areas increased, Germany decentralized its industry, which led to the Allied bombing of population centers—like Dresden in Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five (much of the same thing was happening in the United States, as the government paid industry to build new factories in previously rural areas).
C) Allied invasion of Europe
1) D-Day at Omaha Beach – (clip from Saving Private Ryan).
A) Productive jobs – WPA employees saw themselves as workers and citizens, not welfare cases; workers received nearly double to rate of pay of workers on earlier programs (although, at FDR’s insistence, still below the rate of the private sector, so that no one would be tempted to live on government largess), and they were exchanging their labor for money, just as they had during their employment in the private sector
B)8,000,000 people put to work during the life of the life of the program
1)Toledo – AnthonyWayneTrail, Toledo Zoo
2)Cleveland – numerous bridges, Memorial Stadium
3)The OhioState guide series
C)Popular Culture and the New Deal
1)Art
(a)Murals – numerous murals were painted in public buildings, inspired by Mexican muralists like Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco (local examples include the Perrysburg Post Office and various buildings at the Toledo Zoo).
2)Federal Writers Project
(a)State guides – government funded “guides” were produced for each of the 48 states; larger cities also got their own guides.
(b)Slave narratives
(c)Narratives of immigrants and cowboys, as well
3)Federal Music Project
(a)Created 34 symphony orchestras
(b)Sponsored numerous dance bands
(c)Collection of folk music (Alan Lomax)
4)Federal Theater Project – perhaps the most controversial of the federal projects
(a)Living newspaper – writers and actors collaborating to produce drama out of recent news, and dramatizing current events.
(b)Ethnic theater groups – Yiddish, Spanish language.
5)Photography – not strictly WPA; photographers were also hired by the Department of Agriculture, and particularly the Farm Security Administration. The photographers often were able to publish their photographs in popular magazines of the day. When viewing these photographs today, one should keep in mind that these photographers were hired to take photographs by government agencies, in the expectation that these materials would help the government build its case for specific government programs.
6)Cultural forces outside of government
(a)Woody Guthrie
(b)John Steinbeck – Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men
(c)Warner Brothers Studio – the unofficial house studio of the New Deal; Jack Warner was FDR’s main supporter in Hollywood, outside of the acting and production talent.
7)Screen Actors Guild – although established earlier, the Screen Actors Guild becomes more of a force to be reckoned with during this time period (in fact, a second banana actor named Ronald Reagan begins a second career when he rises to the presidency of the organization in the 1950s).
II)Social Security Act (1935) – now synomomous with an old age pension, the program encompassed much more than this at its inception; it was an attempt to build a European-style welfare state, with cradle-to-grave coverage.
A)Help for the elderly
1)Immediate aid – a whopping $15 a month
2)Federal pension financed by payroll tax split evenly between workers and employers
B)Unemployment insurance – administered at the state level, which meant that compensation was higher in the north than in the south; the program was meant to counteract the insecurity caused working families caused by temporary layoffs.
C)Political, rather than fiscal, issue – because the program was supported by a tax paid by workers and employers (for whom the workers produced a profit), workers felt that they had “earned” benefits, and some of the more conservative elected officials who represented them.
D)Aid to Dependent Children – granted on a monthly basis, after a social worker visited the family to ascertain their needs.
E)Racial Inequalities – as the potential for more non-whites began to receive these benefits, the benefits became more controversial.
1)Racial code of the Social Security Act – the act excluded, at the insistence of Southern legislators, agricultural workers and domestic servants—or about 60% of the African American workforce.
2)Sharecroppers and farm laborers – excluded from benefiting from unemployment insurance, as well
3)Disparities in Aid to Dependent Children – families in Arkansas received approximately 1/8 of the total aid given to families in Massachusetts
F)Fair Labor Standards Act – ended ½ day on Saturdays as a usual workday, and made the 40-hour week standard nation wide; the FLSA also pegged the minimum wage to Southern wages of textile and lumber workers, in the hopes of eventually raising those rates.
G)Wagner Act – officially known as the National Labor Relations Act, but named for its Senate sponsor, Robert Wagner of New York.
1)Hoped to answer two problems
(a)Industrial unrest and social turmoil – as was seen in the labor actions in 1934
(b)Wage stagnation and under consumption – these two problems were seen by an increasing number of people in the New Deal as the reason for the Depressions grip on the economy of the country.
III)Rise of the CIO – initially these letters stood for the Committee for Industrial Organization; after the break away from the AFL, the organization became known as the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
A)Formed in the fall of 1935 – by unionists inside the AFL who believed that unions had to begin organizing workers by industry to begin combating the economic clout of large corporations.
1)John L. Lewis – president of the UMW; to this point Lewis was an autocratic leader (and he remained that in the UMW). Lewis’ change of heart was probably dictated by his unions inability to organize “captive” mines—that is, the mines owned by the steel companies
(a)Communist organizers – Lewis utilized numerous Communist and Socialist organizers in his drive, mainly because of their superior organizing results. When asked if he were concerned that these organizers might persuade workers to join these other organization, Lewis replied, “Who gets the pheasant, the dog or the hunter?”
B)Flint Sit-Down Strike (1936-1937) – in many ways, this strike was the defining moment for the early CIO, and certainly for the fledgling United Automobile Workers (UAW).
1)GM employed 80% of the Flint workforce at this time, either directly or indirectly, so the economic impact of the company on the community was huge, and the corporation could usually rely upon city government to be compliant with their wishes.
2)GM workers began strikes around the country in November and December of 1936.
(a)Toledo GM workers – had successfully struck the Chevrolet Transmission plant on Central Avenue in the spring of 1935, with hardly any violence; many Toledo union members had advocated asking other GM workers to go out on strike as well—in fact, a caravan drove to Flint. The AFL representative actively discouraged this action, however. The corporation responded by pulling out half the machinery in the plant over a Thanksgiving lay over, with a resultant loss in jobs.
(b)UAW plan – the leadership of the union planned to strike Fisher Body plants in Cleveland and Flint after the start of the year, when workers received a bonus from the corporation, and more labor-friendly administrations took office in Ohio and Michigan
3)The Sit-Down Strike – this tactic allowed a militant minority to shape events; by occupying the building, workers were able to ensure that their would be no scab replacements—and that the threat of attacks on the workers would be minimized because they were inside with all of the expensive machinery
(a)First utilized in Akron – this tactic was first used by tire workers in Akron, even if Flint workers get most of the credit
(b)Battle of Bulls Run (January 11, 1937)
(c)Workers seizure of Chevrolet Plant #2 forced GM to bargaining table.
IV)Presidential politics
A)1936 Presidential election
1)Roosevelt Landslide – Roosevelt used a great deal of populist rhetoric in the election, calling the Republican Party “economic royalists” and “organized money.”
2)Roosevelt won 60% of the popular votes cast (greater than his victory over Hoover), and the electoral votes of every state except Maine and Vermont.
(a)African American vote – by 1936, African Americans voted overwhelmingly in favor of FDR over the Republican standard-bearer, in a reversal over long-standing tendencies to vote for the party of Lincoln. This occurs, despite some discriminatory practices in New Deal programs, for several reasons.
(i)“Black Cabinet” – second level bureaucrats and black leaders outside of the administration who provided advice to the administration; these African Americans were particularly influential upon Eleanor Roosevelt.
(ii)Eleanor Roosevelt – when African American singer Marion Anderson was refused the use of the DAR Hall in DC to hold a concert, Eleanor R. resigned her membership in the organization, and arranged for Ms. Anderson to give her concert on the Mall, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
B)Roosevelt Recession – FDR’s lack of ideology comes back to haunt him; because he was not a true believer in Keynesian economics (explain Keynesian economics), Roosevelt was never comfortable with the sizable deficit that his government was running; with his sizable victory in 1936, he decided to greatly reduce spending in 1937, with disastrous results.
1)Economic recession – the Roosevelt Recession probably contributed most to the disenchantment towards Roosevelt, and the gains by conservatives in the elections in 1938.
2)Political backlash
(a)Reaction to “packing” the Supreme Court – a reactionary court had ruled against Roosevelt policies in numerous cases to this point; FDR advocated being enabled to nominate an additional justice for each one over the age of seventy-five (which would have added four additional justices to the bench); both Republican and many Democrats claimed Roosevelt was attempting to become dictator. The public fallout here was probably less severe than the bad press this generated for the President.
3)Backlash against labor
(a)MonroeMI – Republic Steel private police force gassed SWOC headquarters and set fire to it.
(b)Youngstown – Gov. Davey, who labor had supported in the 1936 election, read the handwriting on the wall, and used the National Guard to protect and escort strikebreakers to another Republic Steel plant on strike in this city. Phil Murray, whom Lewis had appointed to head up the SWOC Little Steel organizing drive, called for FDR to assist in this crisis, which he refused to do; this was the beginning of the rift between Lewis and FDR.
(c)Chicago Memorial Day Massacre – Republic Steel employees in Chicago on strike were rallying when Chicago police opened fire on the unarmed crowd, killing several; newsreel footage of this incident was withheld because officials feared it would be incendiary.
A) Hoover’s popularity – Hoover, of course, was hugely unpopular; most of the blame and frustration with the economic woes most people were facing were placed upon him.
B) Franklin Delano Roosevelt – promised to balance the federal budget (Hoover was running the largest peace-time budget deficit in the country’s history at this time) and trim the federal payroll; his stand on religion and drink were completely unexamined during the campaign (much to his benefit). Roosevelt campaigned on the slogan “A New Deal for the American People.”
1) Background – patrician (meaning he came from old money, as did his cousin TR). In many ways, he tried to model his political career with that of his cousin’s—he served as New York assemblyman, secretary of the Navy, and he was the Democratic Party’s choice to run as Vice-President in 1920. In 1921 he was stricken with polio, and was never able to walk without some kind of assistance after that. That he was able to make a political comeback from this disease was due in large part to the assistance of his wife, his second cousin Eleanor.
2) FDR won 57% of the popular vote (against an immensely unpopular Republican candidate); the only state that he lost outside of New England was Pennsylvania.
II) First 100 Days – this has often been treated by historians as the implementation of the Roosevelt “plan;” however, Roosevelt operated during this time period without any plan, and often under conflicting advice from his advisors. Most of the actions taken during these 100 days were forced upon the administration by events.
A) March 1933 Bank Holiday – the first action that Roosevelt took during his administration was to order all banks closed to prevent a “run.” Banks were allowed to reopen when they were able to prove that they were solvent. This caused some temporary hardships, but as banks reopened they did so with the assurance that they were solvent
B) Fireside Chats – FDR became the first president to regularly use the radio to communicate with the American people. FDR used a friendly, conversational tone on the radio, and many people came to look upon the president as a personal friend, someone who was interested in their welfare. Because he also came to embody the government, many people came to see the government as directly interested in their welfare, as well.
C) “Alphabet Agencies” – these agencies were populated with young Jewish and Catholic intellectuals, who were largely unwelcome in the Protestant-dominated business world.
1) Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) – the agency charged with providing funds for the unemployed. Although the agency did hand out direct relief, much of the relief that people received they had to work for.
2) Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) – largely served young adult males; moved city boys into the country (away from those corrupting influences) to work on conservation projects.
3) Civil Works Administration (CWA) – small scale public works projects, mainly road-building.
4) Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) – implemented a whole series of laws and policies to assist farmers; restored “parity”; government made payments to farmers for NOT planting crops, which acted to decrease the supply and force prices upward. The timing of the implementation of this piece of legislation meant that many farmers had to destroy crops that were already planted as well as livestock.
(a) Who benefited? – most of the benefit of these policies went to larger and corporate farmers, who could take more land out of cultivation
(i) Southern Tenant Farmer’s Union – formed to protest this development; it was a bi-racial group, which of course was threatening to those in power in the South, and therefore was swiftly and violently put down (evictions, and attacks on road side camps)
5) Public Works Administration (PWA) – funded larger building projects, like University Hall and the Glass Bowl, as well as much of the expansion of the Toledo Zoo, and eventually a new public library.
6) Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) – provided flood control for the Tennessee Valley (the Tennessee River flows northward from Alabama, through Tennessee and Kentucky to the Ohio River); the dams for this flood control also brought cheap electricity, which attracted industrial development in the area as well.
7) National Recovery Agency (NRA) – perhaps the most famous of the alphabet agencies was the NRA. What the NRA proposed to do was to foment the development of cartels in the US economy—that is, to encourage the formation of monopolies. It was thought at the time that this would help stifle cut-throat competition, because companies would be allowed to collude together to fix prices and divide the market between themselves.
(a) Section 7a – in return for being allowed to form cartels, businesses were to allow employees to join unions “of their own choosing.” This section was ambiguous on the point of whether these had to be independent unions, or whether they could be company unions. United Mine Workers president, however, sent organizers into the field with the message that “The President wants you to join the union.”
III 1934 Strikes
A. Electric Auto-Lite (Toledo)--automobile parts plants in Toledo struck over wages, working conditions, and union recognition
1. February strikes--Spicer Transmission, and the associated firms with Electric Auto Lite, including Bingham Stamping and Logan Gear (all three companies shared board members); strike called off when companies agreed to bargain "in good faith."
2. April strike--the failure of Electric Auto-Lite management--and that of Logan Gear and Bingham Stamping--to follow through on this promise led to a second strike. While initially successful, the plants had been able to hire and train a number of new workers in the month-and-a-half interim between the two strike, and by the end of May, when Judge Roy Stuart granted the company an injunction limiting the number of pickets, the strike was essentially lost.
3. Role of the Lucas County Unemployed League--organized unemployed workers, and used these people to reinforce mass picketing in open defiance of the injunction. By intimidating the judge in court, members won release from jail, and returned to the swelling picket line.
4. Auto-Lite Riot--arrests of picketers on May 23, in conjunction with the operation of the plant and a female picket being hit with an object thrown from within the plant touched off a riot that lasted several days--and included a two-day battle with Ohio National Guardsmen called in to keep the peace.
5. Resolution--when Ohio Governor White refused to use the Guard to ensure plant could reopen with strikebreakers, management had to bargain with union, and Federal Local 18384 (later UAW Local 12) won a contract with local firms.
B. Teamsters (Minneapolis)--Trotskyists Farrell Dobbs and the Dunne Brothers, after a bloody street battle against the Citizen's Alliance, were able to organize all truck drivers in the heretofore open shop city of Minneapolis.
C. Longshore Workers (San Francisco General Strike)--Harry Bridges, the head of the International Longshore Workers union in San Francisco, was able to win the right for the union to determine which workers would be hired for jobs, ending the "shape-up" that usually meant workers had to give hiring bosses "kick-backs" to be hired for a job.
D. The NRA was overturned by the Supreme Court, and was the impetus for Roosevelt’s attempt to “pack” the Supreme Court (which had to this point blocked much of the New Deal legislation).
