3.The Cold War and Civil Rights Movement

The creation of the UN aroused hope that a new and better world would emerge from World WarⅡ.But the hope was soon broken by the conflict of the two superpowers：Russia and the US.In the post war period the difference between the two powers increased and later led to a new kind of war，a war without fighting which was called the Cold War.In general the Cold War was marked by international tension and hostility arising from various military，diplomatic，social，propagandistic，and economic pressures employed by one side against the other to gain advantage economically in terms of security，or in terms of world opinion.The Cold War was ended with the dissolution of the USSR in 1991.

Facing fast development of Communism in many parts of Europe and Asia after Wold WarⅡ，American President Truman became worried.He wanted to preserve the dominant position of the US in world affairs and contain the development of Communism.In March 1947，Truman asked Congress to appropriate＄400million for economic aid and military supplies for Greece and Turkey.He said：“It must be the policy of the United States to support free people who are resisting attempted subjugations by armed minorities or by outside pressure.Our help（he stressed）should be primarily through economic and financial aid.”This was the Truman Doctrine that successfully avoided communist domination in both Greece and Turkey.The economic equivalent of the containment policy was presented by Secretary of State George Marshall in a speech at Harvard University in June 1947.Called Marshall Plan，it proposed massive and systematic American aid to Europe.The plan had two major aims：（1）to keep Communists out of political power in Europe，and（2）to stabilize the international economic order in a way favorable to capitalism.

Another step in the evolution of the containment policy was to form a military alliance with the European countries.In 1949，the US，Canada，and 10Western European nations signed a treaty that led to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization（NATO）¹.Under the treaty，the US provided the bulk of troops and equipment；and General Eisenhower became the first supreme commander of the NATO forces.

Martin Luther King，Jr.

While the US became involved in wars in different parts of the world in the 1950sand 1960s，at her own home broke out the civil rights movement.Civil rights involve government protection of individuals against discrimination based on their race，religion，national origin，gender，age，and other factors.Until the 1950s，America was a segregated society.In 1955，Dr.Martin Luther King，Jr.，a black social reformer and clergyman，organized a boycott of the bus service in Montgomery，Alabama，which went on for more than a year until public transportation was desegregated.Sit-ins were used at white-only lunch counters in the South.African Americans who were refused service simply remained in their seats and were replaced by others when the police came to arrest them.In 1963，more than 200，000 people，led by King，marched to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.where King addressed the public“his dream”.King’s philosophy of nonviolence demonstrations was widely adopted in the rapidly growing civil rights movement in 1950sand 1960s.King was honored for his effort to fight discrimination.In 1964，he won the Nobel Prize for peace.In 1964and 1965，Congress passed civil rights laws that made discrimination illegal in jobs，education，voting，and public facilities.Unfortunately，white racialists retaliated and King was assassinated on April 4，1968.In 1983 Congress set aside the Martin Luther King Day（the 3rd Monday in Jan.），a federal holiday in the United States.