HIST 1302 Exam 3 Study Guide

Cold War

Term given to the political, economic, and military tensions that existed between the United States and its allies and the Soviet Union between 1945 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1989.

Sphere of Influence

Area of economic and political control exerted by one nation over another nation or other nations.

Balance of Power

The balance of power meant an international equilibrium of political and military forces that would discourage aggression by any combination of state. Balance of power kept order between U.S. and Soviet Union and kept any one nation from becoming too powerful.

Harry Truman

The 33rd U.S. president, who succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt upon Roosevelt's death in April 1945. Truman, who led the country through the last few months of World War II, is best known for making the controversial decision to use two atomic bombs against Japan in August 1945. After the war, Truman was crucial in the implementation of the Marshall Plan, which greatly accelerated Western Europe's economic recovery.

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 soon led to the onset of the Cold War.

Atomic Bomb

Powerful weapon used by the U.S. to end World War II. It was dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Containment

Containment was a United States policy using numerous strategies to prevent the spread of communism abroad. A component of the Cold War, this policy was a response to a series of moves by the Soviet Union to enlarge communist influence in Eastern Europe, China, Korea, Africa , and Vietnam. Kennan. The basis of the doctrine was articulated in a 1946 cable by U.S. diplomat George F. Kennan.

CARE Packages

1946 Started by Truman and was an agency that sends needed food-packets overseas. Helped countless people survive the worst of the misery left in the war.

George Kennan

Ambassador in the 1940's who is known as "The Father of Containment," which argued that the Soviet Union was always looking to expand, therefore it was the US' duty to "CONTAIN" it.

Marshall Plan/European Recovery Plan (ERP)

Introduced by Secretary of State George G. Marshall in 1947, he proposed massive and systematic American economic aid to Europe to revitalize the European economies after WWII and help prevent the spread of Communism.

Red Scare

Widespread fear of communism in the United States from 1919-1920 caused by the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917, the intensely patriotic feelings due to World War I, and a series of labor strikes. Caused Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer to attempt to suppress radical organizations.

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 communists

Julius & Ethel Rosenberg

An engineer and his wife who were accused, tried, and executed in the early 1950s for running an espionage ring in New York City that gave atomic secrets to the Soviet Union; long considered unjustly accused to victims of the Red Scare.

House UnAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC)

Investigated communist activities in the US, hearings concentrated on the showing that the subject matter of Hollywood films had been tainted by communist ideas.

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 marriage and fertility.

Serviceman's Readjustment Act/GI BIll

1944, Its purpose was to provide veterans with opportunities for education and training, home and business loans, and employment services to help them return to civilian life after WWII. Guaranteed home loans to veterans resulting in the rapid development of suburbs.

Levittown

In 1947, William Levitt used mass production techniques to build inexpensive homes in suburban New York to help relieve the postwar housing shortage. Levittown became a symbol of the movement to the suburbs in the years after WWII.

Suburbia

The post WWII era witnessed a mass migration to the suburbs. As the population in cities areas grew, people began to spread further out within the urban areas, which created new suburban communities. By 1970 more people lived in the suburbs than in central cities.

Car Culture

The automobile industry changed the face of America, the popularity of the automobiles jumped from 26 million in 1945 to 60 million in 1960. Gave young freedom from parents. Gave rise to new industries. Well paying car industry jobs were part of the growing middle class.

National Highway System

1950s. A system of limited access roadways that connects all major cities in the US. The system was designed to give troops faster routes to get to destinations across the US in the event of an attack on the US. The system's main purpose now is travel by civilians. During Eisenhower's term.

Why Johnny Can't Read

1955. Rudolph Flesch. This was a best-selling book that talked about how parents should make kids read at home and that television is bad.

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.

"Duck and cover"

Duck and Cover was a suggested method of personal protection against the effects of a nuclear weapon which the United States government taught to generations of United States school children from the early 1950s into the 1980s.

National Defense Education Act (NDEA)

1958 - passed in response to Sputnik, provided an opportunity and stimulus for college education for many American students and allocated funds for upgrading studies in the sciences, foreign languages, guidance services, and teaching innovation

Executive Order 9981

1948, establishes equality of treatment and opportunity in the Armed Services for people of all race, religions, or national origins

Brown v. Board of Education

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

Little Rock Nine

1957 - Governor Faubus sent the Arkansas National Guard to prevent nine Black students from entering Little Rock Central High School. Eisenhower sent in U.S. paratroopers to ensure the students could attend class.

Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955)

Protest, sparked by Rosa Parks's defiant refusal to move to the back of the bus, by black Alabamians against segregated seating on city buses. The bus boycott lasted almost a whole year, and became one of the foundational moments of the Civil Rights Movements. It led to the rise of Martin Luther King, Jr., and ultimately to a Supreme Court decision opposing segregated busing.

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 Montgomery Bus Boycott and the national civil rights movement

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Prominent civil rights leader who rose to fame during the 1955-6 Montgomery Bus Boycott; he led the struggle for integration and equality through nonviolent means.

Chief Justice Earl Warren

Chief Justice who delivered the Court's decision on the Brown v. the Board of Education case that declared school segregation illegal. He made the Court a power center on a more even base with Congress and the presidency

Nikita Khrushchev

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. Denounced Stalin's rule and practices in a letter (his Secret Speech) that led to destalinization.

The Ugly American

1958. A book written by two American journalists critiquing American foreign policy and behavior overseas. Shows how far America has come from "liberal consensus" and McCarthyism in that you can critique the government. Stressed the importance of cultural understanding when deployed abroad. How JFK based his foreign policy.

Charles Van Doren

The English teacher won $129,000 on the NBC show Twenty-One and became instantly famous. When an investigation revealed that the quiz shows were rigged, Van Doren admitted the truth that he was involved in the scandals. The truth of the scandals angered the public, causing Congress to pass legislation to prevent TV show fraud and lead to increased network regulation.

Payola Scandal

The late 1950's scandal that resulted from the investigation of the practice of record companies' bribing disc jockeys to secure airplay for their recordings.

John F. Kennedy

1960. Initiates space exploration program and established Peace Corps. Stands up to the Soviets and organizes the Alliance for progress to provide aid to Latin America. Most notable foreign affairs disaster was Bay of Pigs invasion while he is well known for the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Peace Corps

The Peace Corps was a program for thousands for young men and women to travel to underdeveloped countries and teach English and help villagers find water. Kennedy created the Peace Corps in 1961 to redeem himself after the Bay of Pigs invasion.

Bay of Pigs Invasion

A disastrous military operation designed to overthrow the Cuban government. The operation was a complete failure, and became a diplomatic relations nightmare for the country, with Latin America outraged at the breaking of a non-interference policy, which sent European countries into worry about the U.S.'s future decisions.

Fidel Castro

Cuban revolutionary, communist, and political leader, Castro overthrew President Batista in 1959 and took power of Cuba making it a communist state. After the United States isolated Cuba and Castro, he began working with the Soviet Union which lead to military tensions, namely the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Operation Mongoose

1961. Result of Bay of Pigs failure. Program of propaganda, warfare, and sabotage against Cuba to remove the communists. Acknowledged failure of American policy.

Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a Confrontation between the US, Soviet Union and Cuba during the height of the Cold War. The Soviet Union helped Cuba place missiles on Cuban land which directly threatened US Security. In the end, Kennedy and Khrushchev make a secret agreement in which missiles are removed from Cuba. The closest the the world has gotten to a nuclear war.

Lyndon B. Johnson

Became president after Kennedy's assassination and reelected in 1964. He signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law, promoted his "Great Society" plan, created Medicare and Medicaid. He was president during the Vietnam War during the time when the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, and Tet Offensive occurred.

"Johnson Treatment"

A method used by LBJ in which he would control personal space in order to gain the advantage in an argument. Used in his coercion of powerful politics in order to advance legislation.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

This act made racial, religious, and sex discrimination by employers illegal and gave the government the power to enforce all laws governing civil rights, including desegregation of schools and public places.

Great Society

President Johnson called his version of the Democratic reform program the Great Society. In 1965, Congress passed many Great Society measures, including Medicare, civil rights legislation, and federal aid to education.

Ho Chi Minh

Communist leader of North Vietnam; he and his Viet Minh/Viet Cong allies fought French and American forces to a standstill in Vietnam, 1946-1973. Considered a nationalist by many, others viewed him as an agent of the Soviet Union and China.

Domino Theory

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

Geneva Conference (1954)

A peace settlement between France and Ho Chi Minh's Viet Minh. Vietnam was divided into a northern communist half and a non-communist southern half

Ngo Dinh Diem

American ally in South Vietnam from 1954 to 1963; his repressive regime caused the Communist Viet Cong to thrive in the South and required increasing American military aid to stop a Communist takeover. he was killed in a coup in 1963.

Madame Nhu

"Dragon Lady" - Nhu's wife. Called the buddhist self-immolations "barbecues" and was known for personal and governmental largesse. Threatened to crush Diem's opponents and instituted sets of "morality laws" throughout S. Vietnam.

"BBQ Monk"

"Dragon Lady" - Nhu's wife. Called the buddhist self-immolations "barbecues" and was known for personal and governmental largesse. Threatened to crush Diem's opponents and instituted sets of "morality laws" throughout S. Vietnam.

Tet Offensive (1968)

Series of Communist attacks on 44 South Vietnamese cities; although the Viet Cong suffered a major defeat, the attacks ended the American view that the war was winnable and destroyed the nation's will to escalate the war further. Led Johnson to realize that Vietnam had lost him the presidency.

Vietnam Moratorium

Antiwar protesters staged a massive national Vietnam moratorium in October 1969, as nearly 100,000 people jammed the Boston Common and some 50,000 filed by the White House carrying lighted candles.

Detente

A lessening of tensions between U.S. and Soviet Union. Besides disarming missiles to insure a lasting peace between superpowers, Nixon pressed for trade relations and a limited military budget. The public did not approve.1970s and late 1980s.

Feminist Movement

Sought various legal and economic gains for women, including equal access to professions and higher education; came to concentrate on right to vote; won support particularly from middle-class women; active in Western Europe at the end of the 19th century; revived in light of other issues in the 1960s.

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.

Kent State

Kent State gained national attention on May 4, 1970 when an Ohio National Guard unit shot at students in response to war protests on and around campus, killing four and wounding nine. This event, known as the Kent State shootings, propagated intense national response as hundreds of schools closed due to an eight million student strike.

Vietnamization

President Richard Nixon's strategy for ending U.S involvement in the vietnam war, involving a gradual withdrawal of American troops and replacement of them with South Vietnamese forces.

Pentagon Papers

A 7,000-page top-secret United States government report on the history of the internal planning and policy-making process within the government itself concerning the Vietnam War. Revealed that the u.s. government had misled Americans about the Vietnam war.

Daniel Ellsberg

A former American military analyst employed by the rand corporation who precipitated a national political controversy in 1971 when he released the pentagon papers, a top-secret pentagon study of government decision-making about the vietnam war, to the new york times and other newspapers.

Flu Epidemic

A flu outbreak caused people to panic and attempt to get vaccinations which caused many to have neurological problems and also some deaths occured. It turned out that not many people were actually affected by this but the vaccine was a huge controversy.

Love Canal

An area in Niagara Falls, NY where seepage from buried toxic wastes contaminated local soil and water. In 1968, President Carter relocated almost all the residents of Love Canal. This incident provided impetus for the 1980 Superfund legislation.

Iran Hostage Crisis

In November 1979, 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.

Grenada

1983. Grenada was a small Latin country where a communist government had taken power. Reagan invaded the country in protest of communist expansion, showing that he was not pursuing détente.

Star Wars

Nickname for Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) - shooting down nuclear weapons from space - never actually worked, but scared USSR into economic bankruptcy

Iran-Contra Scandal

Although Congress had prohibited aid to the Nicaraguan contras, individuals in Reagan's administration continued to illegally support the rebels. These officials secretly sold weapons to Iran in exchange for the release of American hostages being held in the Middle East. Profits from these sales were then sent to the contras.

Mikhail Gorbachev

Became the leader of the USSR in 1985. He proposed major reforms and adopted policies of greater openness and allowed Soviet-bloc states greater independence. In 1991, there wa an unsuccessful attempted overthrow of his government. The USSR dissolved in 1991 with Gorbachev's resignation.

Telecommunications Act

1966 effort to do away with most regulations: loosened restrictions on media ownership, allowed telephone companies, cable tv providers, and broadcasters to compete with each other for telecommunication services