USII Final Exam Review - Cold War to the End of Communism

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering major themes of the Cold War, Civil Rights Movement, and Vietnam War from the provided review sheet.

Containment

The U.S. policy designed to contain communism and prevent it from expanding, exemplified by the Truman Doctrine, The Marshall Plan, and NATO.

Satellite Nations

Countries that are formally independent but influenced or controlled by a more powerful nation.

NATO

A political and military alliance of $31$ independent countries across North America and Europe established to protect member freedom and security through cooperation and defense.

Warsaw Pact

A political and military alliance established between the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries as a counter to NATO.

Truman Doctrine

A U.S. foreign policy established by President Truman that pledged political, military, and economic assistance to any democratic nation under threat from authoritarian forces, specifically Soviet Communism.

Eisenhower Doctrine

A U.S. foreign policy designed to provide assistance to any Middle Eastern nation threatened by communism, created in response to the Suez Crisis.

Iran (1950s intervention)

After Mossadegh nationalized oil fields, the U.S. funded pro-Shah forces to put the Shah (a dictator) back in power to privatize oil.

Suez Crisis

A failed invasion of Egypt by Britain, France, and Israel leading to a withdrawal, which displayed Cold War tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

Berlin Wall

The wall built in $1961$ to separate East and West Germany.

Korean War

A $3$-year war ($1950$-$1953$) involving North Korea (backed by China and the USSR) and South Korea (backed by the UN and U.S.) that ended in a stalemate at the ${38th}$ parallel.

Cuban Missile Crisis

A $13$-day confrontation in October $1962$ between the U.S. and the Soviet Union that was the closest the Cold War came to a full nuclear war, resulting in a hotline.

Nikita Khrushchev

The leader who led the USSR during the Cuban Missile Crisis and competed with the U.S.

Fidel Castro

The Communist leader of Cuba who was allied with the USSR.

Proxy Wars

One of the methods by which the Cold War was fought, such as the Korean War, alongside Arms Races and Space Races.

De Jure Segregation

Segregation that is imposed by law, such as the Jim Crow Laws.

De Facto Segregation

Segregation based on opinions or unspoken rules, such as "white flight."

Children’s March/Birmingham Protest

A protest where thousands of students faced extreme measures from police commissioner Bull Conner, which was covered by television and helped pass the Civil Rights Act of $1964$.

March on Washington

The event where MLK delivered his "I have a dream" speech to thousands, protesting for jobs, freedom, and equality.

Selma

A protest against voting discrimination where the first march, known as "Bloody Sunday," saw state troopers attack protesters on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

Roe v. Wade

A controversial court case that limited states' ability to ban abortion; it was eventually overturned in $2022$.

ERA (Equal Rights Amendment)

A proposed amendment stating rights cannot be denied based on sex; supported by Betty Freedman and opposed by Phylis Schlafly.

Brown v. Board of Education

The $1954$ Supreme Court ruling that overturned "separate but equal" in a $9-0$ decision, determining segregated schools were unconstitutional.

Grape Boycott

A protest led by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta where farmworkers pressured growers to improve wages and conditions.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Legislation that protected voting rights and increased African American voter registration and political participation.

Stonewall Riot

An event where members of the LGBTQ+ community resisted police harassment, marking the start of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.

Sit-ins

Nonviolent protests used to challenge segregation, such as the Greensboro Sit-ins in North Carolina.

Civil Rights Act of 1968

Legislation passed shortly after Dr. King's assassination that prohibited housing discrimination.

Thurgood Marshall

The NAACP lawyer who argued and won the Brown v. Board of Education case.

Dien Bien Phu

A battle during the first Indochina war where French forces were defeated by the Vietminh, ending French rule in Vietnam.

Vietcong (tactics)

A South Vietnamese communist group that used ambush techniques, knowledge of terrain, tunnel systems, and traps to fight for independence from foreign control.

Credibility Gap

The growing distrust toward the government regarding the truth of the Vietnam War, fueled by television broadcasts and events like the Tet Offensive.

War Powers Act

A law requiring the president to have congressional agreement before engaging in conflict with another country to check executive power.

Vietnamization

The U.S. policy of withdrawing troops and turning the war over to the South Vietnamese to achieve "peace with honor."

Tet Offensive

A large-scale coordinated attack on Vietnamese cities during a ceasefire that proved the Vietnamese were highly capable and far from surrendering.

Vietminh

A communist-nationalist organization created by Ho Chi Minh in the $1940s$ and $1950s$ to win independence from France and Japan.

Detente

The easing of strained relationships between countries and the relaxation of Cold War tensions.

SALT I

A $1972$ agreement between Nixon and Brezhnev to limit the nuclear weapons race and anti-ballistic missiles.

SALT II

A $1979$ agreement between Carter and Brezhnev that placed more nuclear limitations but never went through because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative)

A proposed space-based missile defense system designed to shoot down nuclear missiles; the USSR could not compete with its technology.

Mujahideen

Afghan fighters secretly funded and armed by the U.S. (through Charlie Wilson and the CIA) to resist the Soviet invasion.

Perestroika

One of Gorbachev's reforms meaning "restructuring," which allowed for elections.

Glasnost

One of Gorbachev's reforms meaning "openness," which granted free speech.

Tiananmen Square (1989)

The site in China where the government cracked down on student protesters hoping for reform, contrasting with the dismantling of communism in Europe.