USH Sem 2 - Final Review Guide

What was the impact of the Crash of 1929 on the U.S. and the world?

It led to economic depression, trade decline, and political instability.

Which group did Hitler blame for Germany's problems?

Jewish people.

countries and leaders (Axis powers)

Germany - Hitler, Italy - Mussolini, Japan - Hirohito.

countries and leaders (Allied powers)

US - FDR, UK - Churchill, Russia - Stalin, France - de Gaulle.

Lend Lease Act

A program to supply war materials to Allies expecting repayment.

What years was the U.S. directly involved in fighting WWII?

1941-1945.

Munich Conference

Meeting with Germany, Great Britain, France, and Italy; led to the appeasement of Hitler, who later broke the agreement

Blitzkreig

A lightning war strategy used by the Nazis.

What was the Nazi-Soviet Pact?

An agreement of non-aggression between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.

What was the Battle of Britain?

The first major battle fought entirely in the air.

Pearl Harbor

The bombing of a harbor by Japan on December 7, 1941; led to US joining the war

Victory Gardens

Gardens planted by civilians to support the war effort.

Fred Korematsu

A civil rights activist who fought against Japanese internment.

Fair Employment Practices Commission

A U.S. agency to promote discrimination-free hiring practices.

Manhattan Project

The secret U.S. project to develop atomic bombs.

Four Freedoms (FDR)

Freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, freedom from fear.

Iwo Jima

A major and pivotal battle between the U.S. and Japan with heavy casualties.

Kamikaze

Japanese suicide pilots who attacked Allied ships.

Code Talkers

Native American soldiers who created unbreakable codes for communication.

D-Day

The Allied invasion of Normandy, a critical turning point in the war (June 6, 1944)

Final Solution

The Nazi plan for the extermination of the Jewish people.

War Production Board

A U.S. agency that coordinated the production of war materials.

Rosie the Riveter

A propaganda character designed to increase production of female workers in the factories. It became a rallying symbol for women to do their part.

Zoot Suit Riots

A series of riots in L.A. California during WW2, soldiers stationed in the city and Mexican youths because of the zoot suits they wore.

Bracero Program

Wartime agreement between the United States and Mexico to import farm workers to meet a perceived manpower shortage; the agreement was in effect from 1941 to 1947.

Truman

Elected Vice president in 1944; 33rd President, after FDR's death; led the U.S. through the end of World War II and beginning of the Cold War

FDR

Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd president (1933-45); led the New Deal and guided the U.S. through most of WWII.

Eisenhower

Allied commander in WW2 in Europe; helped plan the D-Day invasion at Normandy; 34th President

MacArthur

United States general who served as chief of staff and commanded Allied forces in the South Pacific during World War II

WWII

1939-1945

Causes of WWII

appeasement, aggressive policies of Hitler and Mussolini, Great Depression, Versailles Treaty, failure of the League of Nations

buffer zone

a neutral area serving to separate hostile forces or nations.

reasons for Japan invading Manchuria

to secure resources, protect strategic interests, expand its empire, and exploit China's political weakness, using a manufactured incident as justification

areas of actual fighting during WWII

Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Mediterranean, Pacific Islands, East Asia, Pearl Harbor (Hawaii), Singapore, Malaya

appeasement

A policy of making concessions to an aggressor in the hopes of avoiding war. Associated with Neville Chamberlain's policy of making concessions to Adolf Hitler.

neutrality

policy of supporting neither side in a war and not taking part in it

how dictators come to power

secret police, censorship, eliminating opposition; by promising stability and strong leadership; propaganda, eliminate opposition, and restrict freedoms to consolidate and maintain their control

Albert Einstein

encouraged FDR to develop nuclear weapons (after figuring out that Germany was doing so)

Hiroshima

City in Japan, the first to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, on August 6, 1945. The bombing hastened the end of World War II.

Nagasaki

Japanese city devastated during World War II when the United States dropped the second atomic bomb on Aug 9th, 1945.

economic state of Germany

Economy focused on war production, used forced labor; collapsed under Allied bombing and shortages.

economic state of Russia (Soviet Union)

Devastated by invasion, rapidly shifted industry east; recovered with Allied aid but suffered huge losses.

economic state of France

Economy exploited by Germany, faced severe shortages, rationing, and decline.

economic state of England

Economy strained by war spending; relied on U.S. aid, rationing, and ended deeply in debt.

economic state of United States

War production ended the Depression; economy boomed but faced rationing and high taxes.

economic state of Italy

Weak economy, unprepared for war; suffered shortages, inflation, and heavy damage.

VE Day (Victory in Europe)

May 8, 1945; victory in Europe; day when the Germans surrendered

VJ Day (Victory over Japan)

Japan surrendered on September 2, 1945. Peace treaty was signed

speculation and buying on margin

Investors bet on rising stock prices, putting down only a small cash deposit and borrowing the rest from brokers.

why did stock market crash occur?

Over-inflated prices + heavy margin debt; when prices dipped, margin calls triggered panic selling and the bubble burst

major causes of depression and brief explanation

Overproduction • Uneven incomes • Easy credit & weak banking rules • High tariffs that cut exports • Farm crisis & drought • Fed policy mistakes.

Dust Bowl cause/location/impact on people

Drought and poor plowing in the 1930s Great Plains (TX-KS-OK-CO-NM) let winds strip topsoil, ruining farms and forcing mass exodus.

how did people escape from their worries during the Depression?

Cheap pastimes: movies, radio serials, swing music, sports, board games, dance marathons.

how women's helped their family cope with the Depression

Stretched budgets by sewing, canning, gardening, doing laundry, and taking part-time or domestic jobs.

years of Depression

Roughly 1929 (Black Tuesday) → 1941 (wartime boom).

Okies

Dust-Bowl farm families—many from Oklahoma—who migrated to California for field work.

Hoover Blankets

Newspapers the homeless used as bedding, mocking President Hoover.

Depression

A long, severe downturn with collapsing output, prices, and living standards.

unemployment

Joblessness hit ~25 % of U.S. workers by 1933.

repatriation

Early-'30s drives that forcibly returned thousands of Mexican immigrants (and some citizens) to Mexico

Hoover flags

Empty pants pockets turned inside-out to show you were broke.

sharecropping

Tenant system where farmers worked land for a share of the crop—left many Southern families in chronic debt.

foreclosure

Lenders seized homes or farms when owners couldn't meet mortgage payments; 1 million farms lost 1930-34.

recession

A shorter, milder economic slump; the 1929-33 slide deepened into a full-scale depression.

migration

Mass movement of job-seekers riding rails or highways (e.g., Dust-Bowl migrants) to find work.

Hoovervilles

Shantytowns of scrap shacks named for Hoover, seen on city edges nationwide.

tenant farmer

Rents, rather than owns, the land he cultivates; pays cash or crop share.

stock market

Exchange where shares are bought and sold; 1920s boom gave way to 1929 crash.

Hawley-Smoot tariff

Record-high U.S. import duties; foreign retaliation shrank world trade and deepened the slump.

Black Tuesday

a day where 16 million shares changed hands and $14 billion in value evaporated; start of the crash.

causes of bank closure

Uninsured deposits + loan defaults; panicked runs drained cash, forcing 9,000+ closures by '33.

Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)

1932 Hoover agency that lent federal money to banks, railroads, and big business to spur recovery.

Hoover's beliefs on the role of the government and spending

Favored voluntary aid and balanced budgets; opposed large federal relief or deficit spending

fireside chats

FDR's plain-spoken radio talks that explained New Deal steps and rebuilt public confidence.

New Deal and 2 New Deal Programs

First wave ('33-34): relief & recovery agencies (CCC, AAA, TVA, FDIC, SEC). Second wave ('35-38): long-term reform (Social Security, WPA, Wagner Act, REA).

1 Hundred Days

March-June 1933 session where Congress passed 15 major New Deal laws at FDR's request.

Sick Chicken Case

Supreme Court struck down the NRA codes, saying Congress had delegated too much power.

Huey Long

Populist Louisiana senator who proposed "Share Our Wealth" limits on fortunes; assassinated 1935.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Activist First Lady who toured the nation, pressed for civil-rights and relief, and advised FDR.

Court Packing

FDR's failed bid to add up to six justices after rulings against New Deal laws.

federal government's role in economy before/after Depression

Before: limited regulation, local charity for relief. After: federal government became chief regulator, economic manager, and provider of a social safety net (bank insurance, jobs programs, Social Security, labor rights).

domino theory

U.S. idea that the fall of one country to communism would trigger a chain reaction in neighboring states.

Ngo Dinh Diem

Anti-communist, Catholic leader of South Vietnam (1954-63); backed by the U.S. until his overthrow.

Ho Chi Minh

Revolutionary who led Viet Minh against France and later North Vietnam against the U.S.; symbol of Vietnamese nationalism and communism.

Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)

13-day U.S.-Soviet standoff after the USSR placed nuclear missiles in Cuba; ended when Khrushchev agreed to remove them in exchange for a U.S. pledge (and secret Jupiter-missile pullout).

superpowers

Term for the United States and Soviet Union after 1945, reflecting their global military, economic, and ideological reach.

welfare state

Government that guarantees basic social protections (health care, pensions, unemployment aid) financed through taxation; expanded in Western Europe after WWII.

Fidel Castro

Led 1959 Cuban Revolution, established a communist state allied with the USSR, and ruled Cuba for five decades.

Anti-ballistic missiles (ABMs)

Defensive rockets designed to shoot down incoming nuclear warheads; regulated by the 1972 ABM Treaty.

Détente

1970s policy of relaxed Cold-War tensions, featuring arms-control talks (SALT) and increased U.S.-Soviet trade.

Nikita Khrushchev

Soviet premier (1953-64); denounced Stalin, faced off with Kennedy over Berlin and Cuba, launched Sputnik.

Cuban Revolution (1953-59)

Guerrilla campaign led by Castro that ousted dictator Fulgencio Batista and aligned Cuba with communism.

Red Scare

Wave of U.S. fear and suspicion of communists; first after WWI (1919-20), second during early Cold War (late-40s / 50s).

Marshall Plan / Truman Doctrine / Containment

Economic aid to rebuild Western Europe; promise to help nations resist communism; overall U.S. strategy to limit Soviet expansion.

Great Leap Forward / Cultural Revolution

Mao's radical campaigns in China (1958-61 & 1966-76) aimed at rapid industrialization and ideological purity; both caused chaos and mass deaths.

Perestroika

Gorbachev's late-1980s restructuring of the Soviet economy toward limited market mechanisms.

Lech Wałęsa

Leader of Solidarity labor union; spearheaded non-violent opposition that helped end communist rule in Poland.

Warsaw Pact / NATO

Military blocs formed, respectively, by the USSR and its satellites (1955) and by the U.S. & Western allies (1949) for mutual defense.

Cold War & its weapons

Ideological and geopolitical rivalry (c. 1946-1991) fought with nuclear arms, ICBMs, ABMs, proxy wars, propaganda, espionage, and economic aid.

Berlin Wall

Built by East Germany (1961) to halt skilled-worker flight to West Berlin; symbolized division of the city—and of Europe—until 1989.