Civil Rights and the Cold War

What is the Yalta Conference?

• Meeting between Us, USSR, and Germany to discuss the fate of Germany

• Germany (and Berlin individually) are divided into four areas of occupation that are shared among the allies

  • This divides Germany into east (communist) and west (democratic)

Describe the differences between the United Nations and the League of Nations

• The US joins the United Nations

• The United Nations actually has a military force

What happens to Japan after the war?

• It becomes occupied by the US

• The US takes control of Japanese military and rewrites their constitution

What is the Truman Doctrine?

• Truman’s plan to provide support to countries that reject communism

  • Turkey and Greece receive a lot of money

What is Domino Theory?

Theory that if some nations fall to communism, surrounding countries will as well.

What is the Marshall Plan?

• Plan created by George Marshall for the US to give a lot of money to Europe to rebuild so that another fascist leader does not arrive.

• UNDELRYING REASON: Stable markets in Europe will lead to an economic gain for the US

What is the Cold War?

• An intense competition between the US and Russia to spread their ideology

• Democracy vs. totalitarian communism

What is NATO?

• Military alliance between the (democratic) Allied Powers

• Participating nations are obligated to respond to an attack on any NATO member

What were the Bikini Atoll Nuclear Tests?

• Test zone for nuclear bombs

• Tests occurred for scientific research and as a display of American atomic power

What was the Warsaw Pact?

• Soviet version of NATO

• Soviet allies in Eastern Europe

• No longer exists

What were the Berlin Airlifts?

Russia blockades Western Berlin from getting food, water, etc. in order to force Western Berlin to become communist. Allied planes send supplies to Western Berlin in order to stop them this.

What is McCarthyism?

• Period of intense anti-communism suspicion in the late 40’s - early 50’s

• Senator McCarthy: anti-communist senator

Who were Alger Hiss and the Rosenbergs?

• Spies for the USSR

• Rosenbergs were convicted and executed which increases fear of communism in the US

What is the House of Un-American Activities? (HUAC)

Congressional committee that investigated activity disloyal to the US

Describe how Korea is divided during the Civil War?

It is divided on the 38th parallel into a communist north (controlled by the USSR) and a democratic south (controlled by the US)

What is the Korean War?

North Korea is convinced by the USSR to invade South Korea. Because of this, US and other allied countries send troops to assist South Korea, causing China to enter the war. Ultimately, the war ends in a ceasefire at the 38th parallel.

What is the Berlin Wall?

Wall created by the USSR around West Berlin to stop people in South Berlin from fleeing to democracy (called the Iron Curtain)

Describe the Cuban Revolution.

• Revolution occurs in Cuba and the nation becomes communist

• This scares the US, and they stop trade

  • Cuba wants to begin trade with the USSR

  • Many Cubans flee to the US, and the CIA sends them back to Cuba armed to start a counter-revolution

What was the Bay of Pigs

• Counter-revolution against Cuban government sponsored by the US

• Castro (leader of communist Cuba) is ready to retaliate, and the US leaves the Cuban soldiers in Cuba with no help (this pushes Cuba closer to the USSR)

What is the Cuban Missile Crisis?

• USSR stations missiles in Cuba which scares the US
  Kennedy calls for a blockade on Cuba to stop them form retrieving any shipments, and the USSR says this is an act of war

• Negotiations occur and…

  • US promises to remove missiles from Turkey and not invade Cuba

  • Soviets agree to pull their missiles out of Cuba

How does the NAACP challenge segregation in schools?

They investigate many southern schools where black students are being denied entry into better, white schools. Using the 14th amendment (equal protection under the law), they bring the case to the Supreme Court to argue separate is not equal.

Describe Brown V. Board.

• Combination of many cases of segregation in southern schools

• Case relies on the 14th amendment (equal protection under the law)

• Supreme Court reaches a unanimous verdict (primarily due to Judge Warren) that separate is not equal

Describe the aftermath of Brown V. Board.

Southern states, led by Virginia, strongly oppose the case’s verdict. “White Flight” occurs where white people flee from urban cities to suburban places with private schools so their children stay in white only schools.

Who was Rosa Parks?

Member of the NAACP that chose to use passive resistance to protest against segregated busses in the wake of Emmett Till’s murder.

What was the Little Rock Nine?

Soldiers deployed by President Eisenhower to the south to ensure that schools followed the supreme court’s verdict in Brown V. Board.

Who were the Freedom Riders?

People who protested segregated bus terminals by using white only facilities in the deep south.

What is the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

Act that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in public accommodations, employment, and federally funded programs.

What is the Selma March?

Series of marches that took place in Montgomery Alabama. Protested against Jim Crow laws.

What is the Voting Rights Act of 1965?

Act that eliminates voting test that would discriminate people. States that limit voting or have less than 50% of eligible people vote will have special attention (federal examiners can oversee voter registration and counting).