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Containment

Coined by George Kennan; urged the US to keep communism from spreading

Truman Doctrine

1947, President Truman's policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism mainly helped Greece and Turkey.

Marshall Plan

Named from Sec. of State George Marshall

Plan to rebuild Europe after WWII - helped to make sure those countries wouldn't be tempted towards communism.

$17 billion

NATO vs Warsaw Pact

North Atlantic Treaty Organization -mutual defense treaty linking the US to western Europe.

Warsaw pact - Soviet version of NATO

Berlin Airlift

Airlift in 1948 that supplied food and fuel to citizens of west Berlin when the Soviets closed off land access to Berlin

Mao Zedong

Communist leader that takes over China defeating Nationalist Chiang Kai-shek in a civil war right after WWII.

Korean War

A conflict between UN forces (primarily US and S Korea) against North Korea, and later China; Gen. Douglas MacArthur led UN forces and was later fired by Truman for criticizing his refusal to Nuke China. Resulted in Korea remaining divided at the 38th parallel.

Alger Hiss

Example of the Second Red Scare.

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.

The Rosenberg's

Husband and wife who, in 1950, were accused of spying for the Soviets. The Rosenbergs countered the accusation on the grounds that their Jewish background and leftist beliefs made them easy targets for persecution. In a trial closely followed by the American public, the Rosenbergs were convicted and sentenced to death. They were executed on June 19, 1953.

HUAC

The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) was an investigating committee which was famous for investigated supposed communists in Hollywood.

McCarthyism

The term associated with Rep. Senator Joseph McCarthy who led the search for communists in America during the early 1950s. Lost credibility after going after the US Army in a televised Senate hearing.

The Feminine Mystique

Author Betty Friedan

Spoke about growing discontent of House Wives.

Kicked stated modern Feminist Movement

Beat Movement

Poets based out of Greenwich Village in New York

50's subculture which was a precursor to the hippies of the 60's

emphasized non-conformity

Suez Crisis

Egyptian President Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal.

France and Britain launched an attack, but it failed because the US refused to support it.

Highlights the growing importance of Oil in the Middle East. (Canal needed to transport the oil.)

OPEC

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries

Middle East & Venezuela

Cartel that works together to control the amount of oil in the market at a given time - therefore keeping the prices for oil high.

Massive Retaliation

Eisenhower administration

Cut spending on ground troops and spend money on nukes.

Threaten to use nukes if China or the Soviets step out of line.

Failed - e.g. Hungarian Uprising - when Hungary revolted against the Soviets, we did nothing, because we didn't want to the nuke the Soviets and cause WWIII over a relatively small matter.

Sputnik

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.

U-2 Spy Incident

US spy plane shot down deep over Russia. Paris Summit Conference between JFK and Khrushchev ruined.

Cuban Revolution

(1958) A political revolution that removed the United States supported Fugencio Batista from power. The revolution was led by Fidel Castro who became the new leader of Cuba as a communist dictator.

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka

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

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.

Little Rock 9

A group of nine African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957.

Orval Faubus, the Governor of Arkansas sent in the National Guard to prevent them from integrating.

Eisenhower later sent in federal troops to escort the students.

March on Washington

In August 1963, civil rights leaders organized a massive rally in Washington to urge passage of President Kennedy's civil rights bill.

MLK Jr., gave his "I Have a Dream" speech to more than 200,000 marchers in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

A federal law that authorized federal action against segregation in public accommodations, public facilities, and employment.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Outlawed racial discrimination in voting - no more literacy tests etc..

Federal examiners where sent south to help register voters in states that had disenfranchised blacks.

Politicians now started to court the black vote, and more blacks were elected.

Malcom X

Promoted black supremacy - rejected the early Civil Rights movement's emphasis on integration. Assassinated by a rival member of the "Nation of Islam."

Black Panthers

A black political organization that was against peaceful protest and for violence if needed. The organization marked a shift in policy of the black movement, favoring militant ideals rather than peaceful protest.

Ho Chi Minh

Vietnamese leader who worked for independence.
Is responsible for ousting first the French, then the United States from his country.

He guided Vietnam through decades long warfare to emerge as a communist nation.

Flexible Response

A policy, developed during the Kennedy administration, that involved preparing for a variety of military responses to international crises rather than focusing on the use of nuclear weapons.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

It gave Johnson authorization, without a formal declaration of war by Congress, for the use of military force in Southeast Asia. Blank Check to do whatever he wanted.

Tet Offensive

North Vietnamese forces launched a huge attack on the Vietnamese New Year (Tet), which was defeated after a month of fighting and many thousands of casualties; major defeat for communism, but Americans reacted sharply, with declining approval of LBJ and more anti-war sentiment

My Lai Massacre

A massacre of hundreds of Vietnamese civilians in 1968; despite governments attempts to cover it up, reports of the killings shocked Americans and increased opposition to the war

Kent State

An Ohio National Guard unit shot at students in response to war protests on and around campus, killing four and wounding nine. In response hundreds of schools closed for the rest of the year.

Pentagon Paper

Classified study of the Vietnam War carried out by the Department of Defense. Published in part, by the New York Times. Showed the blunders and deceptions that led the US into the Vietnam War.

Cambodia

A country to the west of South Vietnam
Was a stronghold for Viet Cong troops to build up and then attack S. Vietnam.

Nixon invaded it believing that this plan would allow him to end the war quickly and decisively, it only succeeded in igniting a civil war in this country and a new wave of protests in America.

Ultimately the interference led to the rise of Pol Pot - a communist dictator who was responsible for the death of 1.5 -2 million of his own people.

Fall of Saigon

After the US cease fire in '73

US supported govt. in Saigon fell '75 & Vietnam became under rule of Communist. Before its fall, the US evacuated 150,000 Vietnamese who had supported the US and now faced persecution.

Bay of Pigs

In April 1961, a group of Cuban exiles organized and supported by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency landed on the southern coast of Cuba in an effort to overthrow Fidel Castro. When the invasion ended in disaster, President Kennedy took full responsibility for the failure.

Cuban Missile Crisis

A 13 day international crisis in October 1962, the closest approach to nuclear war at any time between the U.S. and the USSR.

When the U.S. discovered Soviet nuclear missiles on Cuba, JKF demanded their removal and announced a naval blockade of the island.

Soviet leader Khrushchev made a deal to withdraw the nukes if the US promised not invade Cuba and would remove our nukes in Turkey that were pointed at the USSR

The Great Society

Johnson's program that included major social reform legislation, along with important new civil rights programs. Included the War on Poverty - kind of like a second New Deal.

Six Day War

(1967) Egypt attacked Israel - Israel won: took over the Golan Heights , The West Bank and the Sinai Peninsula.

Rachel Carson

Wrote the "Silent Spring", sparked the environmentalist movement. Warned about pesticides that would harm wildlife and create a Silent Spring.

Clean Air Act

Set emission standards for cars and limits for release of air pollutants for companies

Moon Landing

Space Race 1969 - Neil Armstrong - Apollo 11

Detente

French word meaning an easing of tensions between the world's superpowers during the Cold War

Yom Kippur War

Fought by Israel and neighboring Arab nations to reclaim land lost during the 6 days war.

Launched a surprise attack during Yom Kippur.

U.S. support for Israel during the war led to OPEC boycotting the U.S., creating an energy crisis.

Watergate

The events and scandal surrounding a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in 1972 and the subsequent cover-up of White House involvement, leading to the eventual resignation of President Nixon under the threat of impeachment, Ford becomes President

Camp David Accords

Jimmy Carter - Peace deal between Egypt and Israel

Egypt got back the Sinai Peninsula and normalized relations between the two countries after the Six Days War and the Yom Kippur War.

Iranian Revolution

When the Shah of Iran was overthrown and Iran became an Islamic theocracy (gov run by Islamic leaders). Very Anti- American

Iran Hostage Crisis

During the Iranian Revolution

-Revolutionaries stormed the American embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans hostage. The Carter administration tried unsuccessfully to negotiate for the hostages release. On January 20, 1981, the day Carter left office, Iran released the Americans, ending their 444 days in captivity.