Chapter 20Cold War & Postwar Changes

20.3- Western Europe &

North America

Main Ideas

• Postwar Western societies rebuilt their economies and communities

• Shifting social structures in the West led to upheaval and change

Key Terms

– bloc -a group of nations with a common purpose

– real wages - the actual purchasing power of income

– welfare state - a state in which the government takes responsibility for providing citizens with services and a minimal standard of living

People to Identify

• Charles de Gaulle– the first president of the Fifth

Republic of France• Simone de Beauvoir

– wrote the book- The Second Sex

– influenced both the American and European women’s movements

People to Identify• John F. Kennedy

– the youngest elected president of the U.S.

– was assassinated in 1963• Martin Luther King, Jr

– a leader of the civil rights movement

– led a march on Washington, D.C., for equality

– He advocated the use of passive disobedience in gaining racial equality

Western Europe: Recovery• The Marshall Plan

helped the countries of Western Europe recover relatively rapidly from the devastation of World War II

• The 1950s and 1960s were periods of dramatic economic growth and prosperity in Western Europe

Western Europe: Recovery

• For almost 25 years after World War II, France was mostly led by Charles de Gaulle.

• France became a major industrial producer and exporter

Western Europe: Recovery• From 1949 to 1963,

Konrad Adenauer, leader of the Christian Democratic Union, served as chancellor of West Germany– West Germany’s

economy was revived– The unemployment rate

fell greatly

Western Europe: Recovery

• At the end of World War II, Great Britain had large economic problems– The Labour Party defeated Churchill’s

Conservative Party• promised far-reaching reforms• created a modern welfare state

– The British welfare state became the norm for most European states

Western Europe: Recovery

• The cost of building a welfare state caused Great Britain to dismantle the British Empire– Many British colonies gained their

independence

Western Europe: The Move toward Unity

• After World War II, many Europeans wanted European unity

• In 1957, France, West Germany, the Benelux countries, and Italy created the European Economic Community (EEC), also known as the Common Market.– The six member nations would impose no

tariffs on each other’s goods– By the 1960s, the EEC was an important

trading bloc

The Development of Canada

• After World War II, Canada increased its industrial development– a founding member of the UN in

1945 and joined NATO in 1949– The Liberal government of Canada

created a welfare state • national social security system • national health insurance program

The Emergence of a New Society

• Postwar Western society had a changing social structure– Managers and technicians joined the middle-

class groups– The number of people in farming declined

dramatically– The number of industrial workers declined as

white-collar workers increased– A consumer society developed as real

wages increased

The Emergence of a New Society• Buying on credit became

widespread in the 1950s– The automobile was a sign of

consumerism

• Women in many Western countries

had gained the right to vote after World War-– Women in France and Italy gained

voting rights in the 1940s– Women who had worked during World

War II returned to traditional roles

The Emergence of a New Society• Birthrates rose, creating a “baby boom”

in the late 1940s and the 1950s• By the end of the 1950s, birthrates declined

– Married women entered the workforce– Women earned much less than men did for equal work– Many women worked and raised families at the same

time

The Emergence of a New Society

• By the late 1960s, women renewed their interest in the women’s liberation movement– The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir

influenced both the American and European women’s movements

The Emergence of a New Society

• Growing discontent in European and U.S. universities led students to revolt in the late 1960s

• In the 1970s and 1980s, student rebels became middle-class professionals