Cold War PEDLIGS

George Kennan (Mr. X)

George Kennan (Mr. X)

• American diplomat in Moscow during the Cold War who established the containment policy

George C. Marshall

• Secretary of State who developed the post WWII European economic aid package

Douglas MacArthur

• US General who led the majority of troops in the Korean War and invaded North Korea

• Was dismissed by Truman after expressing plans to invade China as well.

Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-shek)

• the US supported leader of  the Nationalist government in China who was anti-communism

Mao Zedong

• leader of the chinese communist party and founder of the People's Republic of China in 1949

Alger Hiss

• former State Department official who was accused of espionage by former Soviet Spy Whittaker Chambers.

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

• Soviet spies who were sentenced to death for espionage after spreading information regarding the atomic bomb

Thomas Dewey

• popular Republican candidate who ran against Truman in the 1948 election

• considered his strongest challenger

J. Strom Thurmond

• Dixiecrat (Southern Democrat) candidate who ran against Truman in the 1948 election in attempts to preserve racial segregation in the South

Henry Wallace

• Former Democratic VP who ran on the New Progressive Party due to his disagreement on Truman's policy with the Soviets

• caused the Democratic party to split even more.

Kim II Sung (North)

• the leader of North Korea from its founding in 1948 until his death

• He held the posts of Prime Minister from 1948 to 1972 and President from 1972 to his death

• He was also the General Secretary of the Korean Workers' Party where he exercised autocratic power.

Syngman Rhee (South)

• Korean leader who became president of South Korea after World War II and led Korea during the Korean War.

Yalta Conference (post WWII)

• A meeting in 1945 between Stalin, Churchill, and FDR

• Agreed that Germany would demilitarize, denazify, and be split up into 4 military occupation zones (this is potsdam)

• Also discussed the creation of the UN and Russian entry into war against Japan.

Bretton Woods Conference (1944)

• Meeting of Western allies to establish a postwar international economic order to avoid crises like the one that spawned World War II

• Led to the creation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, designed to regulate currency levels and provide aid to underdeveloped countries.

Nuremberg War Crimes Trial (1945)

• a series of military tribunals, held by the Allied forces after World War II, to prosecute the important members of the political, military, and economic leadership of Nazi Germany.

Recognition of Israel (1948)

• Truman officially recognized Israel on May 14, 1948

• This was opposed by the State and Defense Departments and European Allies, who were afraid to antagonize the oil-endowed Arab nations

• The support for Israel complicated US relations with the Arab world.

Berlin Airlift (1948)

• Successful effort by the United States and Britain to ship by air 2.3 million tons of supplies to the residents of the Western-controlled sectors of Berlin from June 1948 to May 1949, in response to a Soviet blockade of all land and canal routes to the divided city

Fall of China (1949)

• The Chinese communists (Mao Zedong) defeated the Chinese nationalists and declared the people of Republic of China to be independent and communist

• This was a devastating defeat for America and its cold war allies. The United States refused to recognize the new government in beijing

• This added to the anti communist hysteria in America.

Korean War (1950)

• Conflict fought between the northern Communist, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the UN-backed southern Republic of Korea between 1950-1953

The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care (1946)

• written by pediatrician Benjamin Spock

• it instrumented parents on modern child-rearing, replacing traditional means of passing along such knowledge

• bible of the baby boomer generation

Containment Doctrine (1947)

• US strategy against the USSR based on the ideas of George Kennan

• declared that the USSR and communism were inherently expansionist and had to be stopped from spreading through both military and political pressure

• guided American foreign policy throughout most of the Cold War

Truman Doctrine (1947)

• President Truman's universal pledge of support for any people fighting any communist or communist

Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 (GI Bill)

• Veterans from WW2 received discounts for homes, education, and job training

• It did however discriminate against people of color

International Monetary Fund (1944)

• Created during the Brettonwood Conference of 1944

• Encouraged world trade by regulating currency exchange rates

World Bank (1944)

• Created during the Brettonwood Conference of 1944, it funded post-war reconstruction and aided underdeveloped areas

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (1947)

• lowered barriers on international commerce (succeeded by World Trade Agreement in the 1990s)

Taft - Hartley Act (1974)

• curtailed unions’ ability to organize

• prevented unions from barring employment to non-union members and authorized the federal government to halt a strike for 80 days if it interfered with the national interest

National Security Act (1947)

• created the Department of Defense as a cabinet agency (replacing the Department of War)

• consolidated control of the various military services under its authority

• established the Joint Chiefs of Staff, composed of the head of the army, navy, air force, and marines

Marshall Plan (1948)

• Post World War II European economic aid package developed by Secretary of State George Marshall

• The plan helped rebuild Western Europe and served American political and economic interests in the process

Housing Act of 1949

• was passed to help address the decline of urban housing and sought to improve the quality of housing by providing financial assistance for slum clearance, urban renewal, and the rehabilitation of existing housing units

The Buck Stops Here (1945)

• This sign on President Truman's desk reflected his belief that the President has to make the decisions and accept the ultimate responsibility for those decisions

Fair Deal (1945)

• Called for improved housing, full employment, a higher minimum wage, better farm price supports, new TVAs, and an extension of social security

• was created by President Truman

Operation Dixie (1946)

• recruited 250 organizers to go into the South and unite the workforce, black and white, skilled and unskilled, under strong unions

• the idea was that, once the workers were united, the factory bosses would no longer have the opportunity to use divisions to the detriment of the workers there or anywhere

NSC - 68 (1950)

• National Security Council document that advocated the intensification of the policy of containment both at home and abroad

• U.S. quadruples its defense spending and there is a drastic expansion of the U.S. military budget

Spheres of Influence

• one of the Soviet Union's Post WW2 goals

• meant the great powers would control areas of strategic influence to them (a region over which a specific ruling group, institution, or country exerts military, cultural, or economic power)

Open World

• FDR was known for implementing the idea of this

• clashed with the sphere of influence the Soviet Union was trying to achieve

• it encouraged wartime spirit and cooperation and peace settlement

Arms Race

• Cold War competition in the 1950s between the U.S. and the Soviet Union to build up their respective armed forces and weapons

• led many Americans to fear that nuclear war could happen any time

Loyalty Program

• Truman’s program

• designed to root out communist influence within the various departments of the U.S. federal government

• around 3 million employees were investigated

Containment

• the belief that the Soviet Union desired the spread of communism throughout the world

• to prevent this spread, George Kennan advocated for a strict policy of containing communism and advised Truman to adopt it

United Nations

• an organization of independent states formed in 1945 after WW2 to promote international peace and cooperation

Big Five Security Council

• Five permanent members (United States, Britain, France, China, USSR) with veto power in the United Nations

• promised to carry out UN decisions with their forces

• have the power to veto any action proposed by the General Assembly

Satellite Nations

• Eastern European countries that came under the Soviet's control after WW2 under the Warsaw Pact

• Soviets argued they had liberated these countries from the Nazis and thus they had a right to continue to influence countries there

CIA

• intelligence organization established by the 1947 National Security Act

• part of the executive branch and responsible for conducting and gathering espionage in foreign nations

• created to counter Soviet spying operations

NATO

• Cold War military alliance intended to enhance the collective security of the U.S. and Western Europe

• established a collective pact in which an attack on one was an attack against all

HUAC (House Un-American Activites Committee)

• U.S. House Representatives Committee established in 1938 to combat communism

• conducted highly publicized investigations of Communist influence in government and entertainment industry post

Dixiecrats

• Southern Democrats who created a segregationist political party as a response to federal extensions of civil rights

• advocated for a state’s right to legislate segregation

• ran Strom Thurmond in an unsuccessful bid for the presidency in 1948 against Truman

Dennis v. United States (1951)

• 1951 Supreme Court decision upholding the conviction of Communist leaders on the grounds despite the absence of any evidence of an immediate uprising or plot