APUSH Cold War

Yalta Conference

Plan for post WWII. FDR, Churchill and Stalin met at Yalta. Russia agreed to declare war on Japan after the surrender of Germany and in return FDR and Churchill promised the USSR concession in Manchuria and the territories that it had lost in the Russo-Ja

Potsdam Conference

The final wartime meeting of the leaders of the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union was held at Potsdamn, outside Berlin, in July, 1945. Truman, Churchill, and Stalin discussed the future of Europe but their failure to reach meaningful agreements

Baruch Plan

(1946)Bernard Baruch presented an American plan to control and eventually outlaw nuclear weapons. The plan called for United Nations control of nuclear weapons in three stages before the United States gave up its stockpile. Soviet insistence on immediate

Containment

a U.S. foreign policy adopted by President Harry Truman in the late 1940s, in which the United States tried to stop the spread of communism by creating alliances and helping weak countries to resist Soviet advances

George F. Kennan

an American advisor, diplomat, political scientist, and historian, best known as "the father of containment" and as a key figure in the emergence of the Cold War. He later wrote standard histories of the relations between Russia and the Western powers.

Crisis in Iran

-During World War II the United States put troops in Southern Iran and the Soviets controlled Northern Iran to secure the supply line from the Persian Gulf
-They did not leave at the end of the war as promised but Stalin demanded access to Iran's oil supp

Crisis in Greece and Turkey

announcement in 1947 that the British could no longer afford to support Greece and Turkey; in order to fill the power vacuum,Harry Truman convinced Congress to appropriate $400 million for Greek and Turkish military and economic aid

Truman Doctrine

President Truman's policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism or totalitarian ideology

Domino Theory

the political theory that if one nation comes under Communist control then neighboring nations will also come under Communist control

George Marshall

United States secretary of state who formulated a program providing economic aid to European countries after World War II. The Marshall Plan provided massive American economic assistance to help Europe recover from the war.

Marshall Plan (1947)

A plan that the US came up with to revive war-torn economies of Europe. This plan offered $13 billion in aid to western and Southern Europe.

Foreign Assistance Act (1948)

The official act that signed the Marshall Plan into law

National Security Act (1947)

enacted to back up the Truman Doctrine; established the National Security Council to advise the president, established the Central Intelligence Agency to gather information abroad and engage in covert activities in support of the nation's security, began

Churchill's Iron Curtain speech (1946)

at Westminster College in Fulton Missouri - introduced the phrase "Iron Curtain" to describe the division between Western powers and the area controlled by the Soviet Union. As such the speech marks the onset of the Cold War.

Selective Service Act (1948)

Aka. Elston Act; "established the current implementation of the Selective Service System [the way US maintains information on those who are able be drafted]

Berlin airlift

Joint effort by the US and Britian to fly food and supplies into W Berlin after the Soviet blocked off all ground routes into the city

Organization of American States (OAS) (1948)

Formed in 1948 to promote democracy, economic cooperation, & human rights; Members pledged not to interfere with one another; The US often dominated this organization

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) (1949)

organization whose members include the US, Canada, most western european nations and turkey all of whom agreedd to combine military forces and to treat a war against one as a war against one as a war against all.

Warsaw Pact (1955)

treaty signed in 1945 that formed an alliance of the Eastern European countries behind the Iron Curtain; USSR, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania ; to counter NATO

NSC-68

A document that pushed for a large build up of the U.S military. It allowed the U.S to quickly build up its military for the Korean conflict.

Point Four Plan

(Truman) was a foreign aid program to assist the poor in so-called underdeveloped countries. Designed as an offer to the emerging nations to decide against communism

Recognition of Israel (1948)

Access to Middle Eastern oil was crucial to the European recovovery program, and to the health of the U.S. economy. Afraid to antagonize the oil-endowed Arabs, Truman officialy recognized the state of Israel on May 14, 1948.

Gen. Douglas MacArthur

he was commander of UN forces in Korean War. MacArthur fought up until the Yalu River by the Chinese border. Truman told him to only use Korean forces in case China got involved. However MacArthur did not follow orders and sent US, British and Korean forc

Mao Tse-tung

Communist leader of China; gained power through the Chinese civil war; defeated US backed Chiang Kai Shek

Chiang Kai-shek

Chinese statesman and general; president of China 1928-31 and 1943-49 and of Taiwan 1950-75. He tried to unite China by military means in the 1930s but was defeated by the Communists. Forced to abandon mainland China in 1949, he set up a separate National

Chinese Nationalists

Chiang Kai-Shek was the leader of the nationalist forces. The US supported the nationalists because they were anti communists., Jiang Jieshi's (Chiang Kai-shek's) pro-American forces, which lost the Chinese civil war to Mao Zeong's (Mao Tse-tung's) commun

Formosa

Chiang and the nationalists were forced to flee to Formosa, a large island off the southern coast of China, after the Communist victory in the civil war. Throughout the 1950's, the U.S. continued to recognize and support Chiang's government in Formosa as

People's Republic of China

Communist government of mainland China; proclaimed in 1949 following military success of Mao Zedong over forces of Chiang Kai-shek and the Guomindang.

China lobby

People who wanted a third independent force in China with the hope it would become a pro-western nation in Asia.

Dean Acheson

Secretary of State under Harry Truman ; played central role in defining American foreign policy - It is said that he was more responsible for the Marshall Plan and the Truman Doctrine than those that the two were named for.

38th Parallel

Line that divided Korea - Soviet Union occupied the north and United States occupied the south, during the Cold War.

Kim Il Sung

Communist leader of North Korea; his attack on South Korea in 1950 started the Korean War. He remained in power until 1994.

Syngman Rhee

Korean leader who became president of South Korea after World War II and led Korea during Korean War.

Inchon

amphibious rear attack during Korean War; led by D MacArthur; drove North Korean forces back to Yalu River, provoking the Chinese to attack

Yalu River

Where MaCarthur drives communists back to the river that borders China, China wants them to pull back to 38th parallel

Removal of MacArthur

Truman fired fired him for making public statements that contradicted the official policies of the US gov't, especially with regard to Truman's order to restrict military interaction with the media

Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)

a buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea where no military forces or weapons are allowed

Police Action

phrase used to describe the U.S. intervention in Korea in 1950; the United States never officially declared war

Death of Stalin (March 1953)

He continued his repressive political measures to control internal dissent; increasingly paranoid, he was preparing to mount another purge after the so-called Doctors' Plot when he died. Noted for bringing the Soviet Union into world prominence, at terrib

Presidential Succession Act

Sets line of succession: president >> vice president >> Speaker of the House >> President Pro Tempore of the Senate >> Secretary of State and other members of the cabinet.

22nd Amendment (1951)

limits presidents to two terms of office.

Hydrogen bomb

One thousand more times more powerful than the atomic bomb. Truman ordered the development of it to outpace the Soviets.

Atomic Energy Commission

a former executive agency (from 1946 to 1974) that was responsible for research into atomic energy and its peacetime uses in the United States, Created a monopoly for the Federal government's control of fissionable materials (Uranium and Plutonium), Contr

Dwight D. Eisenhower

1952, 1956; Republican; Domino Theory established, Cold War deepened, sent US military advisors to Vietnam; president when Supreme Court decided Brown v. Board of Education, and created the Interstate Highway System (for purposes of national defense)

GI Bill of Rights (1944)

aka Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 gave money to veternas to study in colleges, universities, gave medical treatment, loans to buy a house or farm or start a new business

Removal of price controls

Truman wanted, as one part of his 21 point post-war America aims, to set prices for goods on the market, but was eventually forced to remove it because businesses were not happy with set prices on goods

Taft-Hartley Act (1947)

Passed over the veto of Harry S. Truman. Declared the closed shop illegal and permitted the union shop only after a vote of a majority of the employees ; Forbade jurisdictional strikes and secondary boycotts. Other aspects of the legislation included the

Election of 1948

Considered by most historians as the greatest election upset in American history. Virtually every prediction (with or without public opinion polls) indicated that incumbent President Harry S. Truman would be defeated by Republican Thomas Dewey. Truman won

Thomas Dewey

He was the Governor of New York (1943-1955) and the unsuccessful Republican candidate for the U.S. Presidency in 1944 and 1948. As a leader of the liberal faction of the Republican party he fought the conservative faction led by Senator Robert A. Taft, an

Henry Wallace

A former Democratic who ran on the New Progressive Party due to his disagreement on Truman's policy with the Soviets. He caused the Democratic party to split even more during the election season.

Strom Thurmond

He was an American politician who served as governor of South Carolina and as a United States Senator. He also ran for the presidency of the United States in 1948 under the segregationist States Rights Democratic Party banner.

McCarran Act

United States federal law that required the registration of Communist organizations with the Attorney General in the United States and established the Subversive Activities Control Board to investigate persons thought to be engaged in "un-American" activi

Alger Hiss

A former State Department official who was accused of being a Communist spy and was convicted of perjury. The case was prosecuted by Richard Nixon.

Whittaker Chambers

TIME magazine editor and former communist. Confessed to spying for the Soviet Union during the 1930's. Named fellow spies, some of them in Roosevelt's cabinet.

Richard Nixon

He was a committee member of the House of Representatives, Committee on Un-American Activities (to investigate "subversion"). He tried to catch Alger Hiss who was accused of being a Communist agent in the 1930's. This brought Nixon to the attention of the

Ethel and Julius Rosenberg

were American communists who were executed after having been found guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage. The charges were in relation to the passing of information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union. Theirs was the first execution of civilians

Army-McCarthy Hearings

The Trials in which Senator McCarthey accused the U.S. Army of harboring possible communists.These trials were one of the first televised trials in America, and helped show America Senator McCarthey's irresponsibility and meanness.

Election of 1952

Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) with Nixon as his VP (California business scandal) verses Adlai Stevenson (D) (Truman chose not to run again because he was unpopular because of the Korean war)...IKE wins with slogan "I LIKE IKE

Checkers speech

Given by Richard Nixon on September 23, 1952, when he was the Republican candidate for the Vice Presidency. Said to have saved his career from a campaign contributions scandal.

Sputnik (1957)

First artificial Earth satellite, it was launched by Moscow in 1957 and sparked U.S. fears of Soviet dominance in technology and outer space. It led to the creation of NASA and the space race.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

created 1958, fear of "missile gap" between US and USSR after release of Soviet satellite Sputnik and failure of US satellite Vanguard, an independent agency of the United States government responsible for aviation and spaceflight.

Interstate Highway Act (1956)

This consisted of multilane expressways that would connect the nations major cities. Biggest public works expedenture in history even bigger than any New Deal program. The new highways eased commutes from suburbs to cities, boosted travel and vacation ind

Brown v Board of Education of Topeka (1954)

1954 - The Supreme Court overruled Plessy v. Ferguson, declared that racially segregated facilities are inherently unequal and ordered all public schools desegregated.

White Citizens' Councils

stated that the south would not be integrated. it imposed economical and political pressure against those who favorered compliance with the supreme courts decision.

Southern Manifesto

The manifesto was a document written by legislators opposed to integration. Most of the signatures came from Southern Democrats, showing that they would stand in the way of integration, leading to another split/shift in the Democratic Party.

Orval Faubus

The Governor who opposed the integration of Central High, Sent the Little Rock National Guard to keep them out. Then gave them no protection at all.

Rosa Parks

United States civil rights leader who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man in Montgomery (Alabama) and so triggered the national civil rights movement (born in 1913)

Montgomery bus boycott

In 1955, after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a city bus, Dr. Martin L. King led a boycott of city busses. After 11 months the Supreme Court ruled that segregation of public transportation was illegal.

Martin Luther King Jr

U.S. Baptist minister and civil rights leader. A noted orator, he opposed discrimination against blacks by organizing nonviolent resistance and peaceful mass demonstrations.

Southern Christain Leadership Conference (SCLC)

Black southern Clergymen, including Martin Luther King

Civil Rights Act of 1957

Primarily a voting rights bill, was the first civil rights legislation enacted by Republicans in the United States since Reconstruction.

Hungarian revolt

When the Hungarians tried to win their freedom from the Communist regime in 1956, they were crushed down by Soviet tanks. There was killing and slaughtering of the rebels going on by military forces.

Nikita Krushchev

Leader of the Soviet union during the building of the Berlin Wall and the Cuban Missile Crisis. He and President Kennedy signed the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963, temporarily easing Cold War tensions.

John Foster Dulles

Eisenhower's secretary of state, 1953-1959; moralistic in his belief that Communism was evil and must be confronted with "brinkmanship" (the readiness and willingness to go to war) and "massive retaliation" (the threat of using nuclear weapons).

New Look defense

based on an extensive reappraisal of U.S. military requirements ; "more bang for the buck" - instead of supporting a large regular army, increasingly depended on nuclear weapons to hold the Soviet Union in check

Southeast Asia Treaty Organization

SEATO; A regional defense pact pulled together by Dulles to prevent the "fall" to communism of South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia

Arms race

Cold war competition between the U.S. and Soviet Union to build up their respective armed forces and weapons

Gamal Abdel Nasser

Arab leader, set out to modernize Egypt and end western domination, nationalized the Suez canal, led two wars against the Zionist state, remained a symbol of independence and pride, returned to socialism, nationalized banks and businesses, limited economi

Suez Canal crisis

Nasser took over the Suez Canal to show separation of Egypt from the West, but Israel, the British, Iraq, and France were all against Nasser's action. The U.S. stepped in before too much serious fighting began.

Eisenhower Doctrine

Eisenhower proposed and obtained a joint resolution from Congress authorizing the use of U.S. military forces to intervene in any country that appeared likely to fall to communism. Used in the Middle East.

Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD)

a doctrine of military strategy and national security policy in which a full-scale use of nuclear weapons by two opposing sides would effectively result in the destruction of both the attacker and the defender - based on the theory of deterrence according

U-2 Spy plane and Francis Gary Powers

U.S. spy plane shot down over the USSR which ended a move toward "rapprochement" at the end of the Eisenhower administration. ; Powers was the pilot

military-industrial complex

Eisenhower first coined this phrase when he warned American against it in his last State of the Union Address. He feared that the combined lobbying efforts of the armed services and industries that contracted with the military would lead to excessive Cong

Kitchen debate

was a famous discussion between Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev. It signaled that the U.S acknowledged their setback in technology since Nixon focused on technological luxuries.

Dixiecrats

Were conservative southern Democrats who objected to President Truman's strong push for civil-rights legislation. Southern Democrats who broke from the party in 1948 over the issue of civil rights and ran a presidential ticket as the States' Rights Democr

Fair Deal

An economic extension of the New Deal proposed by Harry Truman that called for higher minimum wage, housing and full employment. It led only to the Housing Act of 1949 and the Social Security Act of 1950 due to opposition in congress.

National Housing Act of 1949

This act provided for the construction of 810,000 units of low-income housing accompanied by long-term rent subsidies.

Jackie Robinson

The first African American player in the major league of baseball. His actions helped to bring about other opportunities for African Americans.

Desegregation of armed forces

July 1948, President Truman issued an executive order that established a policy of racial equality in military; ended segregation in U.S. military.

Joseph McCarthy

1950s; Wisconsin senator claimed to have list of communists in American gov't, but no credible evidence; took advantage of fears of communism post WWII to become incredibly influential; "McCarthyism" was the fearful accusation of any dissenters of being c

House Committe on Un-American Activities (HUAC)

committe to regulate terrorism or suspicious "unamerican activities" in the country

Hollywood Ten

Group of people in the film industry who were jailed for refusing to answer congressional questions regarding Communist influence in Hollywood

Executive Order 9835 (1947)

(Truman) The order established the first general loyalty program in the United States, which was designed to root out communist influence within the various departments of the U.S. federal governmen

Loyalty Board

effort to control possible communist influence in US gov: boards to investigate "security risks" working for gov- some employees released for affiliation with unacceptable political organizations/ sexual orientation

Bretton Woods conference

Conference that led to creation of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, designed to secure international capitalism by preventing global economic catastrophes.

William Whyte

Criticized the loss of old Protestant ethics in society to a new emphasis on teamwork and togetherness, which could only lead to conformity; author of The Organization Man (1956), based on suburban life he observed.

Sloan Wilson

wrote "The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit;" social critic commenting on the bland homogenization of the US

AFL-CIO

1955 two larger labor unions united. American Federation Labor- Congress of Industerial Organization.

Levittowns

planned suburban communities of cheap, mass-produced houses built by WIlliam Levitt all over the country during the 1950's

National Interstate and Defense Highway Act (1956)

the federal govt is going to build massive amounts of highways. With the first it will build over 37,000 miles, with the second it will build 42,000. This is being done largely for military reasons. With the cold war starting at any time, they need a way

1950s TV

used for advertising and was called a selling machine

vast wasteland

In the 1960s, FCC commissioner Newton Minow labeled American television a "vast wasteland" devoted to uninspired programming and crass commercials.

Norman Vincent Peale

Reverend and founder of the Guideposts (mag) that burnt down. He believed positive thoughts would overcome obstacles.Wrote the book, "The Power of Positive Thinking" in 1952. Guideposts had a formula for real-life stories about people who "walked up to ad

Baby boom

A cohort of individuals born in the United States between 1946 and 1964, which was just after World War II in a time of relative peace and prosperity. These conditions allowed for better education and job opportunities, encouraging high rates of both marr

Betty Friedan

1921-2006. American feminist, activist and writer. Best known for starting the "Second Wave" of feminism through the writing of her book "The Feminine Mystique".

Dr. Benjamin Spock

Pediatrician and author of the Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care (1946), which emphasized children's need for the love and care of full-time mothers

The Affluent Society

John Kenneth Galbraith's novel about America's post-war prosperity as a new phenomenon. Economy of scarcity --> economy of abundance.

1950s Rock and Roll

Key musicians including Little Richard, Chuck Berry, and Elvis Presley; Inspired by Black musical traditions, esp. rhythm and blues ; considered rebellious for youth - parents didn't like it, some called it a communist plot

Beat writers

A group of American writers in the late 1950s that rejected conformity and materialism, lead by poet Allen Ginsberg and the novelist Jack Kerouac

Allen Ginsberg

He an American poet. He wrote in his Poem "Howl" about the destructive forces of conformity in the United States.

Jack Kerouac

was the author of the best-selling book On the Road, which epitomized the Beat Generation of the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Jackson Pollock

a gestural abstractionist called his work "action painting". He put the unstretched canvas on the floor where he dripped, dribbled and splattered the paint over the canvas with sticks, brushes and filled cans.

Arthur Miller

This playwright was the writer of Death of a Salesman (1949) in which the modern idea of personality as the greatest aspect of a man's person is put into question

J.D. Salinger

Wrote The Catcher in the Rye(1951) which told the story of a prep-school student who was unable to feel secure or committed in any area of society.

Ralph Ellison

United States novelist who wrote about a young Black man and his struggles in American society (1914-1994). He was the author of the Invisible Man (1952)

Bracero program

brought in Mexicans for temporary jobs, concentrated in southern CA, given extremely poor working conditions (as they were not American citizens)

Termination program

The belief was that Native Americans would be better off if assimilated as individuals into mainstream American society. Congress proposed to end the special relationship between tribes and the federal government. The intention was to grant Native America