IB History HL Key Terms

Atlantic Charter

Definition: secret meeting between Churchill and Roosevelt that ended in the release of a joint statement called the Atlantic Charter, which consisted of 8 clauses

Significance: meeting kept a secret, excluding Stalin, giving him a reason to be distrustful of the plans and motives of the other two countries; statements aligned ideologically with the West, while rejecting communism

Berlin Blockade

Definition: a Soviet attempt to limit Western Allied access to Berlin early in the Cold War, after Germany’s division into East and West; Soviets blocked all supplies from the West going in and out of Berlin - people were poor with no food or clothing.

Significance: first big battle of the Cold War; triggered introduction by the Allies of a new currency in West Germany, as the previous currency was almost worthless; Soviets saw new currency as a threat, as they wanted to keep Germany destitute and ripe for Communism.

CIA

Definition: a US government agency that provides objective intelligence on foreign countries and global issues to the president, the National Security Council, and other policy makers to help them make national security decisions.

Significance: The CIA played a crucial role in gathering intelligence and conducting covert operations during the early Cold War, influencing U.S. foreign policy and actions against perceived communist threats.

containment

Definition: strategic foreign policy that the US pursued to prevent the spread of Communism after the end of WWII, led to the Truman Doctrine

Significance: US wanted to ‘contain’ USSR, can be argued that Truman and containment led the USA to unimportant, undesirable, and unaffordable commitments all over the world

COMECON (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance)

Definition: council of mutual economic assistance founded in 1949 by USSR and its Eastern bloc allies, purpose to counter Marshall Aid and keep the Eastern bloc on USSR’s side and committed to Communism

Significance: facilitated trade agreements, resource sharing, and collective industrial planning, strengthening economic ties with Communist bloc, further divided Eastern and Western spheres during Cold War

dollar imperialism

Definition: US policy in maintaining and dominating over Eastern Europe and Latin America through economic aid

Significance: shaped Cold War actions in Guatemala, such as the coup, intervention reflected Cold war priorities of anti-Communism driving political interference in Latin America, impacting democratic reforms

FDR’s Four Freedoms

Definition: freedom of speech, of religion, from want, from fear

Significance: a push for democratic rights and ideals in Allied war effort; Guatemalan population exposed to promises of democracy over radio; made people aware of inequities in Guatemala; made Roosevelt a hero there (especially with advocacy of trade unions); positive for the US as it meant that democracy was taking hold in Latin America

Good Neighbour Policy

Definition: prompted by negative rxns to US intervention from LA, FDR halted direct intervention but continued indirect intervention in the form of US training, creating, and equipping local forces; US wanted to act as an “international police power”, so they continued to do so even after the Good Neighbour Policy

Significance: inadvertently made the US a contributor to the creation of repressive Central American dictatorships due to their decision to withdraw all troops

Iron Curtain Speech

Definition: a speech by Churchill in 1946 publicly highlighting the division between Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe and the democratic West; urged Western unity as an essential part of stopping the spread of Communism and maintaining peace in Europe

Significance: key Cold War moment in highlighting this divide, intensified US-Soviet tensions and shaped NATO, speech largely effective

Kennan’s Long Telegram

Definition: telegram from US ambassador Kennan to the Secretary of State giving US policy recommendations based on his analysis of the cultural and historical forces that shaped the motives of the USSR - undermine political potential of major western powers; work towards destruction of all forms of personal independence, economic, political or moral; efforts to set Western powers against each other

Significance: supported fears of US politicians: USSR was aggressive towards US; shaped US policy for the decades of tension to follow; inspired Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan, which attempted to resist Communism

Marshall Plan

Definition: $13 billion in aid given to Western European nations to revitalise them as allies and trading partners after the war; to restore economic infrastructure in post-war Europe

Significance: USSR objected to Marshall plan - dollar imperialism, no Marshall Aid for Eastern bloc; clear opposition to USSR because no aid; highlights US desire for a weakened Communist world

Monroe Doctrine

Definition: 1823 - President Monroe stated that European attempts to interfere in the Western hemisphere would be dangerous to the peace and safety of the US; signalled US interest in LA and opened way to future intervention there if US felt its interests were at stake; amended by FDR to an American commitment to intervention in LA in certain cases

Significance: eventually became an excuse for US intervention in LA on the basis of “foreign influence”; in a similar way, US used Truman Doctrine and threats of Communism to justify intervention in LA post-WWII, such as Guatemalan coup

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation)

Definition: established in 1949 as a defensive alliance against USSR; purpose of guaranteeing freedom and security of its members through political and military means

Significance: creation partly a response to Berlin Blockade, which exacerbated tensions between USSR and Western powers, and highlighted the need for a formal military alliance; members agreed to mutual defence in case of an attack, deterring Soviet aggression in Europe

Non-Aligned Movement

Definition: founded in 1961 with the goal of advancing the interests of developing countries in the context of Cold War confrontation; in first 3 decades, movement played a crucial role in decolonisation, formation of new independent states, and democratisation of international relations

Significance: offered countries an option to avoid US or Soviet alignment, reducing superpower control in the global South; promoted anti-colonialism, economic independence, and peace, aligning with democratisation goals; countered Cold War arms race by advocating disarmament, advancing a vision of sovereignty and non-intervention globally

Percentages Agreement

Definition: October 1944: Churchill and Stalin met secretly in Moscow to divide up control of Balkans into spheres of influence; Soviets got control of most of Bulgaria and Romania, much of Hungary, and half of Yugoslavia; West got control of most of Greece and half of Yugoslavia

Significance: Truman resentful of percentages agreement, arguing that Stalin and Churchill’s meeting without the US decided the fate of millions of people on the back of a sheet of paper; Truman challenged Bulgaria and Romania; increased tension between the US and the Soviets

OAS (Organisation of American States)

Definition: At the Bogota 1948 conference, the Union of American Republics was reconstituted as OAS; laid groundwork for hemispheric consultation and military strategy

Significance: its formation pleased Truman administration; US viewed OAS as a hemispheric unity in the struggle against Communism, in which US would take the lead; LA feared US leadership would lead to US domination, so they successfully insisted that the charter of OAS include a statement of principles that would govern hemispheric relations

War Conferences: Tehran, Yalta, Potsdam

Definition:

Tehran - November 1943, big three; agreements - unconditional surrender of Germany, Normandy landing, shift Polish borders West, Soviet annexation of baltic states, idea of UN, need for weak postwar Germany; disagreements - Soviet pleas for second front, second front in Japan, Poland

Yalta - Feb 1945, big three; agreements - USSR to enter vs Japan, Germany’s division, punish war criminals, free elections in occupied territory, UN formed, spheres of influence; disagreements - Poland

Potsdam - Aug 1945, Stalin, Truman, Atlee (following FDR’s death); agreements - economy of Germany run as whole, reparations decided zone by zone, Nuremburg trials, reform German society; disagreements - personalities, free elections in Poland, the bomb, Soviet policy in the East

Significance: soviets not officially informed of atom bomb’s existence until Potsdam (Stalin knew through unofficial sources); Yalta was one of the first official splittings of East and West through spheres and disputes over Poland

Rio Pact 1947 (Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance)

Definition: Treaty in Rio which said an attack on one American nation is an attack on all and countries would resist if 2/3 agreed; similar to Act of Chapultepec - inter-American defence treaty where an attack on one is an attack on all

Significance: Countries like Brazil, Chile, Cuba initially cut off contact from USSR and banned Communist organisations; some in LA felt they were just proponents of US containment with nothing in return

salami tactics

Definition: 1 - Soviets supervised organisation of governments in the Eastern European states, establishing a broad alliance of anti-fascists; 2 - each of the parties ‘sliced off’ (like salami) one after the other; 3 - the Communists were left and, ultimately, the local Communists were replaced with those that were Moscow-trained

Significance: used by the soviets to gain political control over Eastern Europe; Moscow-trained leaders would ensure that their respective countries’ governments would be dominated by Moscow-backed “Stalinist” Communists

sphere of influence

Definition: a state’s claim to exclusive or predominant control over a foreign area or territory

Significance: Europe first split into spheres of influence between West and Soviets at the Yalta conference; by 1946, after Potsdam, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Albania all had Communist governments under Soviet control

Truman Doctrine

Definition: speech delivered to a joint session of congress by Truman which set out the principle that the US will aid those threatened by Communism; Truman committed to $400 million in aid to Greece and Turkey

Significance: clear pronouncement of Cold War politics; viewed as plainly aggressive by Stalin

Decree 900

Definition: formal name for the agrarian land reform passed in Guatemala; passed by Arbenz through Guatemalan congress in 1952; all property that was larger than 600 acres and not in cultivation given to the peasants

Significance: 81k acres of UFC land was given to the poor, infuriating US and UFC because they were the main target; caused final tensions which led to Arbenz’ overthrow; Arbenz in 1953-5 wanted more reforms of UFC land

Operation PBSuccess

Definition: title given to the coup that was directed by the CIA to overthrow the Guatemalan president Jacobo Arbenz (US government believed that Arbenz was a Communist); coup replaced the democratic movement with the military dictator Castillo Armas

Significance: coup started a civil war in Guatemala that lasted for several decades, specifically a guerrilla movement where lower class citizens attacked wealthy landowners; US did not have any good reasons for this intervention, as Arbenz was not actually a Communist; started a trend of US intervention throughout the world

United Fruit Company

Definition: began as the Boston Fruit company when Andrew Preston and others established it to import bananas from LA; Minor Keith also had a banana trade between the US and LA, establishing banana plantations to eventually dominate trade; the two enterprises merged in 1899 to form the UFC

Significance: Played a key role in the coup d’etat in Guatemala - under Ubico’s leadership, UFC flourished, as workers were being granted more luxuries than at local plantations; Arbenz government reclaimed some of UFC’s unused land, giving them in return what they had undervalued the land at; UFC created the idea that Arbenz was a Communist, which contributed to the eventual US intervention in the 1954 coup

Voice of Liberation

Definition: radio station that the US set up in Nicaragua as part of their plan to overthrow Arbenz; station blasted anti-Communist messages and told people to resist the rule of Arbenz

Significance: key part of US propaganda plan to turn Guatemala’s people against Arbenz; a lot of the civil unrest towards Arbenz can be attributed to this station and the propaganda fliers that went up around Guatemala