Modern World History Final S2

Adolf Hitler

Austrian born dictator of Germany, head of the Nazi party, caused WWII and the Holocaust, wrote Mein Kampf, implemented fascism into Germany

Winston Churchill

British prime minister during WWII, didn't trust Hitler, one of the Big Three

Joseph McCarthy

Republican US Senator from Wisconsin, aggressively opposed communism, McCarthyism (repress left-wing and spread fear of Soviets/Communism)

Richard Nixon

US President during the end of the Vietnam War, visited Mao Zedong in Beijing, Watergate scandal

Rosie the Riveter

Female character representing women working in factories during WWII, used to get more women in the factories

Ronald Reagan

US President, called for cutbacks on social welfare, spent tons on building up the military

Benito Mussolini

Dictator of Fascist Italy, WWII, Axis, followers were called the Black Shirts, executed after WWII

Harry Truman

US President, launched the atom bombs on Japan

Ho Chi Minh

Vietnamese nationalist and communist, lead guerilla forces against Japanese and French forces, ruled North Vietnam, supported the Viet Cong

Joseph Stalin

Soviet dictator, put his enemies into the Gulag, successor of Lenin, forced farmers to work on state owned farms (collectives), created a cult of personality, one of the Big Three

J. Robert Oppenheimer

Head scientist of the Manhattan Project, developed the atom bomb

Mikhail Gorbachev

Soviet leader who ended the Cold War tensions, called for major reforms such as glasnost and perestroika, caused the downfall of the USSR

Nikita Khruschev

Soviet leader after Stalin, denounced Stalin, closed prison camps, and eased censorship

John F Kennedy

US President, made a plan to fight Fidel Castro during the Cuban Missile Crisis, dealt with the Vietnam War, famously assassinated

Franz Ferdinand

Archduke of Austria, assassinated, death caused WWI

Fidel Castro

Cuban dictator, transformed Cuba into a communist state, silenced the opposition, Cubans fled from Cuba, sought closer ties with the USSR, Soviets gave him nuclear missiles

Franklin D Roosevelt

US President during the Great Depression, introduced the New Deal, one of the Big Three, served triple terms

Vladimir Lenin

Lead the Bolsheviks (the majority in Russian, also called Soviets), controlled Russia after the Russian Revolution, signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, succeeded by Stalin

Langston Hughes

Major figure in the Harlem Renaissance, American poet and writer who wrote about the black experience without sugarcoating it

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Author of the Great Gatsby, short essay writer, novelist, American

T.S. Eliot

British American poet, essayist, and playwright, a leading figure in Modernist poetry

Woodrow Wilson

US President, WWI leadership, made his Fourteen Points on how to stop WWI and prevent future World Wars, but he had to compromise

Totalitarianism

A form of government where one person, a dictator, has complete control over everyone and everything

Zeppelins

A German war balloon, like a blimp, that carried bombs and was filled with flammable hydrogen gas. If shot down, it would light all that was beneath it on fire.

Ultimatum

A final decision that must be made. Austria-Hungary gave Serbia an ultimatum leading up to WWI to let them investigate the assassination of Franz Ferdinand.

Fascism

Radical, authoritarian, nationalism characterized by a one party regime. It had charismatic dictators and enforced an undying loyalty to the state.

Appeasement

To please or fulfill one's demands. This was the Allies' strategy to prevent WWII: keep giving Hitler what he wants and he'll, hopefully, stop.

Prohibition

A period in American history where alcohol was illegal. It wreaked havoc throughout the nation as gangs fought to secretly sell liquor, and speakeasies were created to keep drinking.

Nuremberg Laws

A series of laws in Nazi Germany specifically targeted towards stripping Jews away of their rights.

Hiroshima

A Japanese city that was the first to be bombed by the US during WWII

OR: The incident where the US bombed Hiroshima with an atomic bomb

Cold War

A period of time where the US and the Soviet Union had extremely high tension and were competing for superiority, trying to prove if capitalism or communism were better.

Domino Theory

If one nation falls to communism (South Vietnam), then the surrounding nations will become communist (rest of SE Asia)

Gulag

Stalin's system of brutal labor camps which he forced his opponents into

Truman Doctrine

US foreign policy stating that if a nation pledged to be democratic, then the US would support them. It was based on the spread of communism to Greece, the origin of democracy.

38th Parallel

The border between North Korea and South Korea at 38 degrees north in latitude

Stalemate

A tie where it looks like no one is ever going to win or lose

United Nations

UN, a group of all the world's countries, including communists. It was an improvement on the League of Nations from Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points.

Coup d'état

Also just called a coup, a sudden, violent, unlawful seizure of power from the government

Warsaw Pact

The Communist version of NATO, included the USSR and its seven satellites

Surrealism

Art movement that attempted to portray the working of the unconscious mind

Glasnost

Mikhail's Gorbachev rule for ending Soviet censorship, means "openness"

Containment

An idea to limit communism to places already under Soviet control

Blitzkrieg

"lightning war" in German, German tactic to endlessly bomb their enemies

HUAC

"House Un-American Activities Committee", a House of Representatives committee formed to investigate communist behavior

Perestroika

Gorbachev's idea of restructuring the Soviet government and economy

ICBM

"Intercontinental Ballistic Missile", missile that could go across continents, used for nuclear weapons delivery

MAD

"Mutually Assured Destruction", Cold War theory stating that both sides had nuclear weapons strong enough to destroy the other, so if they started fighting, both countries would be gone

Space Race

A race between the USSR and the US during the Cold War to put satellites in space and a man on the Moon

Iron Curtain

Winston Churchill's idea of a metaphorical wall describing the division of Europe into an eastern and western bloc. In the East, there was communism, while in the West, there were democracies.

Dada

European art movement that rejected traditional artistic values by making absurd nonsense. It was a revolt against civilization.

Cuban Missile Crisis

An event in the Cold War where Fidel Castro let Soviets build missile bases in Cuba, which set off the US as Cuba was close to it. JFK responded by placing a naval blockade on Cuba