Period 8 Cold War

The Cold War

A conflict that was between the US and the Soviet Union. The nations never directly confronted each other on the battlefield but deadly threats went on for years.

The Big Three (FDR, Churchill, Stalin)

who - FDR, Churchill, Stalin; leaders who met between 1943 and 1945 to coordinate attacks on Germany and Japan, and later to discuss plans for postwar Europe and settlement of Germany. made defeating Germany their top priority, but differed over how to do it.

Tehran Conference 1943

First major meeting between the Big Three (United States, Britain, Russia) at which they planned the 1944 assault on France and agreed to divide Germany into zones of occupation after the war

Yalta Conference Feb 1945

Conference of Allies that called for a new world security organization, divided Germany between Eastern Russia and the Western Allies, discussed the UN, granted an occupation zone between France and Germany, and Russia agreed to declare war on Japan

Potsdam Conference July 1945

Allied leaders Truman, Stalin and Churchill met in Germany to set up zones of control and to inform the Japanese that if they refused to surrender at once, they would face total destruction.

San Francisco Conference and UN Charter, June 1945

what - the United Nations was an international body to replace the discredited League of Nations. the UN had a General Assembly (which all nations would be present) and a Security Council (US, Britain, France, China, the Soviet Union and 6 other nations elected on a rotating basis). determined that the 5 permanent members of the Security Council had the power to veto decisions of the General Assembly.

why - to maintain international peace and security and to prevent another war, which the League failed to do.

result - UN Charter was adopted at the San Francisco Conference on April 25, 1945.

George Kennan and Containment 1946

who - American diplomat; in his "Long Telegram" he dubbed the Soviet Union an oppressive government with Communism as it's justification and wrote in his famous Foreign Affairs article that the Soviets must be met with "an unalterable counter-force" whenever they show signs of encroaching upon the peace and stability of the world. he believed that the Soviets system was unstable and would eventually collapse; it was up to the US to contain the spread of Communism until this happened.

what - US policy of the late 1940s which sought to contain communism within its existing geographic boundaries rather than seek to defeat communist governments through military action (namely the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and North Korea).

why - Truman took a hard stance against Communism because he was determined to make sure that he wouldn't make the same mistakes that Britain and France had made with Hitler and appeasement (Munich agreement).

result - Kennan came up with a proposal to ensure that Western Europeans would not turn to Communism; a massive infusion of American capital to help get the European economy back on track. the Marshall Plan was approved and successful but also help further Cold War tensions.

Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech

it warned that the Soviet "Iron Curtain" had cut off Eastern Europe from the West. Churchill called for an Anglo-American partnership to resist the USSR.

Post World War II Demobilization

the postwar process of dismissing the troops from military service and dismantling the war machine.

Truman Doctrine, March 1947

asserted that the United States, as the leader of the "free world," must take up responsibility for supporting "freedom-loving peoples" wherever communism threatened them.

Marshall Plan, June 1947

a plan that gave billions of financial aid and supplies to recovering European nations (Communism can't take hold)

many European nations recovered significantly faster and gave US access to more markets

Berlin Blockade, 1948

Russia under Stalin blockaded Berlin completely in the hopes that the West would give the entire city to the Soviets to administer. To bring in food and supplies, the U.S. and Great Britain mounted airlifts that became so intense that, at their height, an airplane was landing in West Berlin every few minutes. West Germany was a republic under France, the U.S. and Great Britain. Berlin was located entirely within Soviet-controlled East Germany.

The Warsaw Pact, 1949

A collective defense arrangement similar to NATO, to protect the Eastern bloc from Western aggression. It also served to solidify Soviet control over Eastern Europe and became the counter-alliance to NATO. Dissolved in 1991.

Operation Vittles

With help from the Royal Air force, the United States began an around-the-clock airlift of historic proportions that delivered nearly 2 million tons of supplies to West Berliners.

NATO, 1949

North Atlantic Treaty Organization; an alliance made to defend one another if they were attacked by any other country; US, England, France, Canada, Western European countries

Collective Security

agreement by a group of nations to defend the other in case of an attack on any member

John Foster Dulles

As Secretary of State. he viewed the struggle against Communism as a classic conflict between good and evil. Believed in containment and the Eisenhower doctrine.

General MacArthur, Japan

General MacArthur led efforts in rebuilding Japan after WWII by forcing it to accept a new constitution and adopt democratic principles

the US gains a major ally and foothold in eastern Asia (described the Pacific as an Anglo-Saxon Lake)

Korean Conflict

The Korean War was fought from 1950 to 1953. The North was supported by USSR and later People's Republic of China while the South was supported by U.S. and small United Nations force. The war ended in stalemate, with Korea still divided into North and South.

New Look Defense Program

Emphasized atomic bombs and the planes to deliver them while cutting back on the army and navy. Stressed threatening Moscow with massive retaliation instead of using US troops in wars in remote places. Spurred Soviets to enlarge their own nuclear stockpile.

Brinkmanship

A 1956 term used by Secretary of State John Dulles to describe a policy of risking war in order to protect national interests

Massive Retaliation

The "new look" defense policy of the Eisenhower administration of the 1950's was to threaten "massive retaliation" with nuclear weapons in response to any act of aggression by a potential enemy.

SEATO

Southeast Treaty Organization: Includes USA, UK, France, Pakistan, Thailand, the Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand

Eisenhower's Farewell Address

In his address to the nation he warned of the potential influence of the military-industrial complex. He also called attention to the ongoing threat of communism to America. Also speaks of his disapproval against overspending.

NSC-68, 1950

Top-secret policy paper approved by President Truman that outlined a militaristic approach to combating the spread of global communism.

1946 Midterm Elections

what - Republicans came to power in both the House and the Senate in 1946 as a reaction to price controls, inflation, and strikes. led by Robert Taft. this Congress was known as the 80th Congress.

result - 22nd Amendment and the Taft-Hartley Act.

Taft-Hartley Act of 1947

anti-union law passed by increasingly conservative Congress over Truman's veto. Prohibited the closed shop (union only), permitted states to ban union-shop agreements (to become anti-union "right to work" states), forbade union contributions to candidates in federal elections, forced union leaders to swear in affidavits that they were not communists, and mandated an 80 day cooling off period before carrying out strikes. This enraged labor, who called it a "slave labor" law. Helped contribute to massive decline in unions.

To Secure These Rights (Civil Rights)

what - report given by the President's Committee on Civil Rights which called for vigorous federal action to ensure equality for African Americans; recommended that the government start an anti-lynching campaign to ensure that blacks got to vote and abolish the poll tax/restore the Fair Employment Practices Commission.

why - to ensure equality for all African Americans.

result - led to the formation of the Dixiecrats (Strom Thurmond and S Democrat's), whose platform was segregation and states rights, and helped lead the way to the Civil Rights movement.

Fair Deal

An economic extension of the New Deal proposed by Harry Truman that called for higher minimum wage, housing and full employment. It led only to the Housing Act of 1949 and the Social Security Act of 1950 due to opposition in congress.

HUAC 1947

Committee in the House of Representatives founded on a temporary basis in 1938 to monitor activities of foreign agents. Made a standing committee in 1945. During World War II it investigated pro-fascist groups, but after the war it turned to investigating alleged communists. From 1947-1949, it conducted a series of sensational investigations into supposed communist infiltration of the U.S. government and Hollywood film industry.

The Second Red Scare

Post-World War II Red Scare focused on the fear of Communists in U.S. government positions; peaked during the Korean War and declined soon thereafter, when the U.S. Senate censured Joseph McCarthy, who had been a major instigator of the hysteria.

HUAC and the Hollywood Ten

1947, congress enacted to investigate communism in movies; 300 stars were blacklisted- 10 went to jail for refusing to testify or name names, their families suffered

Alger Hiss

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 Rosenbergs

Husband and wife tried/excuted for treason under suspecision of communist influence and trading atomic bomb secrets with the Soviet Union

McCarthyism

The term associated with Senator Joseph McCarthy who led the search for communists in America during the early 1950s through his leadership in the House Un-American Activities Committee.

100% Americanism, Nativism

what - anti-foreign sentiment in the US; policy of favoring the interests of native-born citizens over immigrants. 100% Americanism was a movement which celebrated all things Americans while it attacked ideas (and people) it view as foreign and/or anti-American.

why - anti-Communist sentiment in post-WWII US.

result - Loyalty-Security Program, HUAC, McCarthyism, etc.

Dixiecrats, 1948

-Southern Democrats form the segregationist States' Rights Party, soon dubbed the Dixiecrats

-The Dixiecrats run Strom Thurmond for president

-Thus, in the election of 1948, three presidential candidates with roots in the Democratic Party face just one Republican: Thomas Dewey.

\>Truman: 49.6 percent popular vote

\>Dewey: 45 percent

\>Thurmond and Wallace: 2.4 percent each

Allen Dulles and the CIA

CIA made many covert operations to quietly combat signs of Communism in other governments

increased tensions through interventions in Iran, Guatemala, and the Philippines → benefited US interests

U2 Incident

The incident when an American U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union. The U.S. denied the true purpose of the plane at first, but was forced to when the U.S.S.R. produced the living pilot and the largely intact plane to validate their claim of being spied on aerially. The incident worsened East-West relations during the Cold War and was a great embarrassment for the United States.

Hydrogen Bomb

One thousand more times more powerful than the atomic bomb. Truman ordered the development of it to outpace the Soviets.

Space Race

A competition of space exploration between the United States and Soviet Union.

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.

Bretton Woods System

Named for a conference held at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, in 1944, this system provided the foundation for postwar economic globalization, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund; based on the promotion of free trade, stable currencies, and high levels of capital investment.

Affluent Society

term used by economist John Kenneth Galbraith to describe the American economy in the 1950s, during which time many Americans became enraptured with appliances and homes in the suburbs

Suburbanization

Movement of upper and middle-class people from urban core areas to the surrounding outskirts to escape pollution as well as deteriorating social conditions (perceived and actual). In North America, the process began in the early nineteenth century and became a mass phenomenon by the second half of the twentieth century.

Sunbelt

A region of the United States generally considered to stretch across the South and Southwest that has seen substantial population growth in recent decades, partly fueled by a surge in retiring baby boomers who migrate domestically, as well as the influx of immigrants, both legal and illegal.

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.

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the United States government agency responsible for the civilian space program as well as aeronautics and aerospace research.

Jack Kerouac

A key author of the Beat movement whose best selling novel, On the Road helped define the movement with it's featured frenzied prose and plotless ramblings.

William Levitt

Created Levittown \-- the first "cookie cutter" suburb \-- was an American real estate dealer. His innovations of providing affordable housing popularized the type of planned community building later known as suburbia.

Dr. Spock

Was a 1950's doctor who told the whole baby boom generation how to raise their kids. He also said that raising them was more important and rewarding than extra $ would be.

The Catcher in the Rye

A book written by Salinger about a sixteen-year-old boy who goes to New York City where he reflects on the phoniness of adults and heads toward a nervous breakdown.

Beat Movement

a social and artistic movement of the 1950's stressing unrestrained literary self expression and nonconformity with the mainstream culture

Rock and Roll

music that grew out of rhythm and blues and that became popular in the 1950s with the younger generation.

Bakke v. University of California

1978 Supreme Court ruling that limited affirmative action by rejecting a quota system.

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.

NAACP

Interracial organization founded in 1909 to abolish segregation and discrimination and to achieve political and civil rights for African Americans.

Desegregation

the ending of a policy of racial segregation.

Little Rock Crisis

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

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.

Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

An organization founded by MLK Jr., to direct the crusade against segregation. Its weapon was passive resistance that stressed nonviolence and love, and its tactic direct, though peaceful, confrontation.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Federal agency created to enforce the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which forbids discrimination on the basis of race, creed, national origin, religion, or sex in hiring, promotion, or firing.

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

students whose purpose was coordinate a nonviolent attack on segregation and other forms of racism

Civil Rights Commission

set up by the Civil Rights Act and was made to investigate violations of civil rights and authorized federal injunctions to protect voting rights

Sit-in movement

a form of protest used during the Civil Rights Movement. Students from the NAACP Youth Council began this movement by sitting in segregated lunch-counters and refusing to leave even in the when physically assaulted. This is a form of direct action protest.

New Frontier

The campaign program advocated by JFK in the 1960 election. He promised to revitalize the stagnant economy and enact reform legislation in education, health care, and civil rights.

Beatniks

A United States youth subculture of the 1950s that rebelled against the mundane horrors of middle class life.

Thurgood Marshall

American civil rights lawyer, first black justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. Marshall was a tireless advocate for the rights of minorities and the poor.

Griswold v. Connecticut

Established that there is an implied right to privacy in the U.S. Constitution