Key Terms from the Great Depression to the Cold War

A comprehensive set of flashcards covering key vocabulary and significant terms relating to American history from the Great Depression through World War II and into the Cold War.

Great Depression

A severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939, characterized by high unemployment, poverty, and widespread bank and business failures, particularly in the United States.

Black Tuesday

October 29, 1929, the day of the massive stock market crash in the United States that triggered the Great Depression.

Buying on Margin

A method of purchasing stocks by borrowing a portion of the purchase price from a broker, using the stocks as collateral, which amplifies potential gains and losses.

Shantytown

Low-income, makeshift towns constructed during the Great Depression from scrap materials, where unemployed people congregated.

Dust Bowl

A period of severe dust storms in the 1930s that devastated the ecology and agriculture of the American prairies, primarily due to drought and poor farming practices.

New Deal

A series of domestic programs, public work projects, and financial reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt between 1933 and 1938 to address the Great Depression.

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

A New Deal program established in 1933 that provided jobs for unemployed young men working on conservation projects.

World War II

A global conflict (1939-1945) involving most of the world's nations, primarily the Allies against the Axis powers.

Fascism

A political movement characterized by extreme nationalism, denial of individual rights, and dictatorial one-party rule.

Pearl Harbor

A surprise military strike by Japan against the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941, leading to the US entering WWII.

Lend Lease Act

A law allowing the U.S. to lend or lease war materials to nations deemed vital to its defense during World War II.

Island Hopping

A military strategy used by the United States in the Pacific Theater during WWII, bypassing heavily fortified islands to capture strategically important ones.

Japanese American Internment

The forced relocation of Japanese Americans to detention camps during WWII, based on fears of disloyalty.

D-Day

The Allied forces' massive amphibious invasion of Nazi-occupied France on June 6, 1944, marking a turning point in WWII.

Victory Gardens

Vegetable, fruit, or herb gardens planted by citizens to support the war effort during WWII.

Atomic Bomb

A weapon that derives its explosive power from nuclear fission, used during WWII.

Holocaust

The systematic extermination of millions of European Jews and others deemed undesirable by the Nazis during WWII.

Marshall Plan

A U.S.-sponsored initiative enacted in 1948 to provide economic aid to Western Europe post-WWII.

Berlin Air Lift

The operation where the U.S. and its allies airlifted supplies into West Berlin after the Soviet blockade in 1948-1949.

Iron Curtain

A political metaphor describing the division between Western Europe and the Soviet Union post-WWII.

Truman Doctrine

The U.S. pledge to support countries resisting communism, marking a shift from isolationism.

NATO

A military alliance formed in 1949 for collective security among North America and European countries.

Warsaw Pact

A military alliance formed in 1955 by the Soviet Union and Eastern European communist states as a counter to NATO.

Totalitarian

political system where the state exercises absolute control over all aspects (TOTAL CONTROL) of public and private life, suppressing opposition and imposing a dominant ideology