World War II through Modern America Lecture Review

A comprehensive vocabulary review of American history from World War II through the end of the Cold War and the modern era.

Adolf Hitler

Dictator of Germany who started WWII and led the Nazi Party.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

U.S. president during most of WWII.

Winston Churchill

British prime minister who led Britain during WWII.

Neville Chamberlain

British leader known for appeasement toward Hitler.

Harry S. Truman

Became president after Roosevelt's death and approved use of the atomic bomb.

Munich Conference

Meeting where Britain and France allowed Hitler to take part of Czechoslovakia.

Invasion of Poland

Germany invaded Poland in $1939$, beginning WWII.

Operation Barbarossa

Germany's attack on the Soviet Union in $1941$.

D-Day

Allied invasion of France on June $6$, $1944$.

Battle of the Bulge

Germany's final major offensive in Western Europe.

Yalta Conference

Meeting where Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin planned postwar Europe.

Potsdam Conference

Truman, Stalin, and Churchill discussed postwar plans.

Attack on Pearl Harbor

Led the U.S. to enter WWII.

Axis Powers

Germany, Italy, and Japan.

Allied Powers

United States, Britain, Soviet Union, and allies.

Atomic Bomb

Powerful weapon dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Duration of WWII

$$1939–1945$$

Fascism

Authoritarian government emphasizing nationalism and dictatorship.

Lebensraum

Hitler's idea of expanding German territory.

Nuremberg Laws

Nazi laws discriminating against Jews.

Isolationism

Policy of avoiding involvement in foreign affairs.

Neutrality Acts

Laws aimed at keeping the U.S. out of war.

Lend-Lease Act

Allowed the U.S. to supply Allies with war materials.

Atlantic Charter

Agreement between Roosevelt and Churchill outlining war goals.

Chiang Kai-shek

Led Nationalist China against communists.

Mao Zedong

Established Communist China in $1949$.

Kim Il Sung

Communist leader of North Korea.

Alger Hiss

U.S. official accused of espionage.

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

Executed for passing atomic secrets to the Soviets.

Joseph McCarthy

Led anti-communist investigations.

Nikita Khrushchev

Soviet leader during much of the Cold War.

China's Fall to Communism ($1949$)

Mao's communists defeated Chiang's nationalists.

Korean War

Conflict between North and South Korea ($1950–1953$).

Red Scare

Fear of communist influence in America.

Coup in Iran

CIA-backed overthrow of Iran's prime minister in $1953$.

Communism

Government ownership of property and economy.

Capitalism

Private ownership and free-market economy.

United Nations

Organization promoting international cooperation.

Satellite Nations

Eastern European countries controlled by the USSR.

Domino Theory

Belief that one nation becoming communist would lead others to follow.

Containment

U.S. policy to stop spread of communism.

Iron Curtain

Division between communist Eastern Europe and democratic Western Europe.

Truman Doctrine

U.S. aid to nations resisting communism.

Marshall Plan

U.S. economic aid to rebuild Europe.

Berlin Airlift

U.S. effort to supply West Berlin by air.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Alliance of Western nations against Soviet aggression.

Loyalty Review Board

Investigated federal workers for communist ties.

HUAC

House committee investigating communist activity.

Hollywood Ten

Film industry figures jailed for refusing HUAC testimony.

Brinkmanship

Pushing conflicts to the edge of war.

Warsaw Pact

Communist counterpart to NATO.

Eisenhower Doctrine

U.S. aid to Middle Eastern nations fighting communism.

Space Race

Competition between U.S. and USSR in space exploration.

John F. Kennedy

President from $1961–1963$.

Richard Nixon

Kennedy's $1960$ opponent and later president.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

JFK's wife and First Lady.

Fidel Castro

Communist ruler of Cuba.

Lee Harvey Oswald

Accused of killing Kennedy.

Lyndon B. Johnson

Expanded civil rights and social programs.

Bay of Pigs Invasion

Failed U.S.-backed invasion of Cuba.

Cuban Missile Crisis

Confrontation over Soviet missiles in Cuba.

1960 Election

Kennedy defeated Nixon.

Berlin Wall

Barrier dividing East and West Berlin.

New Frontier

Kennedy's domestic agenda.

Camelot

Nickname for Kennedy's presidency.

Peace Corps

Volunteer program serving abroad.

Race to the Moon

U.S.-Soviet competition to reach the moon.

Warren Commission

Investigated Kennedy's assassination.

Great Society

Johnson's anti-poverty and civil rights programs.

Warren Court

Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Sent troops to enforce school integration.

Emmett Till

Teenager whose murder shocked the nation.

Thurgood Marshall

Lawyer in Brown v. Board.

Orval Faubus

Opposed school integration.

Rosa Parks

Refused to give up her bus seat.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Advocated nonviolent protest.

George Wallace

Supported segregation.

Malcolm X

Promoted Black empowerment.

Black Panther Party

Advocated self-defense and community programs.

Plessy v. Ferguson

Upheld segregation.

Brown v. Board of Education

Ended school segregation.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

Protest against bus segregation.

Sit-Ins

Nonviolent protests at segregated businesses.

Freedom Rides

Challenges to segregated interstate travel.

March on Washington

Massive civil rights demonstration in $1963$.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Banned discrimination.

Selma Campaign

Voting rights demonstrations in Alabama.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Protected voting rights.

Civil Rights Act of 1968

Banned housing discrimination.

Jim Crow Laws

Laws enforcing segregation.

Segregation

Separation of racial groups.

SNCC

Student civil rights organization.

CORE

Congress of Racial Equality.

Nation of Islam

Black nationalist religious movement.

Civil Disobedience

Peacefully breaking unjust laws.

De jure segregation

Segregation by law.

De facto segregation

Segregation in practice.

Ho Chi Minh

Led communist North Vietnam.

Ngo Dinh Diem

First president of South Vietnam.

Viet Cong

Communist guerrilla fighters in South Vietnam.