AP Euro: Unit 9

Afghan War

Failed attempt by USSR to take over Afghanistan - expense/negative public reaction hurt USSR communists - US supported Afghan guerillas

Americanization

Belief that assimilating immigrants into American society would make them more loyal citizens

Anschluss

The union of Austria with Germany, resulting from the occupation of Austria by the German army in 1938.

Arab-Israeli Conflict

Israel declared itself a nation state in 1948 and the Arabs immediately attack it. It defeats all its neighbors. The conflict heats up occasionally in the Six Day War, and Yom Kippur War. US keeps an active role to keep the peace.

Baltic Republics

The countries of Lativa, Lithuania, and Estonia, located on the eastern coast of the Baltic sea

Battle of Britatin

Air war between German air force and Britain air force (Royal Air Force)-- also the "blitz". Britain used radar which really hurt German forces. Germany also bombed London (the Darkest hour)-- failure to win this battle caused Hitler to call off invasion of Britain-- big victory for Britain.

Berlin Airlift

airlift in 1948 that supplied food and fuel to citizens of west Berlin when the Russians closed off land access to Berlin

Berlin Blockade

The blockade was a Soviet attempt to starve out the allies in Berlin in order to gain supremacy. The blockade was a high point in the Cold War, and it led to the Berlin Airlift.

Berlin Wall

A fortified wall surrounding West Berlin, Germany, built in 1961 to prevent East German citizens from traveling to the West. Its demolition in 1989 symbolized the end of the Cold War. This wall was both a deterrent to individuals trying to escape and a symbol of repression to the free world.

Brezhnev Doctrine

Soviet Union and its allies had the right to intervene in any socialist country whenever they saw the need.

Balfour Declaration

1917, Britain's declaration of support for Zionism, with the promise of the foundation of a Jewish state or nation in Palestine.

Nicolae Ceacescu

president of Romania during revolution in 1989.

Central Committee

Supposedly the most important body in a communist party; its influence declined as it grew in size and the party needed daily leadership.

centralized planning

an economic system in which the state sets production targets and controls the means of production

Christian Democratic Party

This was a political party popular during the "western renaissance" from 1945-1968. They were popular in Italy, France, and Germany. These people rejected authoritarianism and narrow nationalism and placed heir faith in democracy and cooperation. In Germany, an important figure is Konrad Adenauer who in 1949, began his long highly successful democratic rule as former mayor of Cologne and a long-time anti-Nazi.

Cold War

A conflict that was between the US and the Soviet Union. The nations never directly confronted each other on the battlefield but deadly threats went on for years.

1945-1991

Common Market

A group of countries that acts as a single market, without trade barriers between member countries. A byproduct of the EU.

consumer society

Due to WWI and Industrial Rev. greater demand for production. Goods are cheaper, more easily produced. Materialism. Credit system invented.

containment

American policy of resisting and limiting further expansion of communism around the world

Cuban Missile Crisis

..., an international crisis in October 1962, the closest approach to nuclear war at any time between the U.S. and the USSR. When the U.S. discovered Soviet nuclear missiles on Cuba, President John F. Kennedy demanded their removal and announced a naval blockade of the island; the Soviet leader Khrushchev acceded to the U.S. demands a week later.

cult of motherhood

The idea that women did have a vital role as wives and mothers.

decolonization

The collapse of colonial empires. Between 1947 and 1962, practically all former colonies in Asia and Africa gained independence, which was often followed by prolonged periods of intense violence.

detente

A lessening of tensions between U.S. and Soviet Union. Besides disarming missiles to insure a lasting peace between superpowers, Nixon pressed for trade relations and a limited military budget. The public did not approve.

Alexander Dubcek

Communist leader in Czechoslovakia. He launched a "democratic socialist revolution". Supported Prague Spring & promised citizens "socialism with a human face".

ethnic cleansing

Process in which more powerful ethnic group forcibly removes a less powerful, perceived "inferior" one in order to create an ethnically homogeneous region

the euro

the common currency created by the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 between member nations of the European Union. Began circulating in 2002

European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC)

used as a common market by 6 member countries (France, West Germany, Benelux countries, Italy) for steel and coal products by eliminating tarriffs and other trade barriers

European Commission (EC)

the executive body of the European Union responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding treaties and managing the day-to-day business of the EU

European Economic Community (EEC)

An economic organization established in 1957 to reduce tariff barriers and promote trade among the countries of Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, France, Italy, and West Germany. These countries became the original members of the European Community in 1965.

European Union (EU)

is an economic and political union of 27 member states that are located primarily in Europe

feminism

A female movement for gender equality, which evolved into what we might call 'modern feminism' in the late 1900s, specifically in the '60s, '70s, and '80s.

French Popular Front

In response to Stavisky Riots of 1934 and growing fascism. Composed of liberals, socialists and communists. Like many others in other parts of Europe. Campaigned on pledge to defend Republic against fascism, end depression and introduce labor reforms. In 1936 the Popular Front combination achieved victory at the polls.

Gdansk strike

Protest strikes in Poland in response to high meat prices. Ended in the workers' right to unionize

German Democratic Republic

In response to the formation of a united West Germany, the Soviets created this territory, also known as East Germany

German Federal Republic

When Germany was divided, the United States, France, and Great Britain combined their territories to form West Germany, also known as this.

German SPD

Socialist Party in Germany. Banned by Bismarck b/c he saw them as a threat to nationalism. He gives up the ban after a decade b/c they went underground. When the SPD came back, it still was the largest party in Germany. It is revisionist Marxism.

Glasnost

Openness; called for increased transparency in government institutions and activities within the USSR; Mikhail Gorbachev. Usually paired with "Perestroika"

Mikhail Grobachev

Communist Russian president who signed the arms control agreement with US president Ronald Reagan. It stopped the fighting between them. Soviet leader at the end of the Cold War.

green party

A minor party dedicated to the environment, social justice, nonviolence, and a foreign policy of nonintervention.

Vaclav Havel

Czech playwright that called for the independence of Czechoslovakia by 1989; became the first President of Czechoslavakia and the first President of the Czech Republic in 1993

Helsinki Accords

Political and human rights agreement signed in Helsinki, Finland, by the Soviet Union and western European countries.

Hegelian philosophy

the state of the manifestation of God on earth; nothing for the individual, all for the state

Iron Curtain

A term popularized by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to describe the Soviet Union's policy of isolation during the Cold War. The barrier isolated Eastern Europe from the rest of the world.

John Paul II

(1920-2005) Archbishop of Krakúwin, Poland. He was elected in 1978, succeeding John Paul I. He had a three-pronged policy: 1. maintaining traditionalist doctrine, stressing the authority of the papacy and attempted to limit experimentation. 2. Anti-communism, which clashed with the government. 3. Encouraging growth of the church and stressing the need for social justice. He was the first pope to be elected from Poland.

Keynesian economics

Economic theory based on the principles of John Maynard Keynes stating that government spending should increase during business slumps and be curbed during booms.

Nikita Khrushchev

A Soviet leader during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Also famous for denouncing Stalin and allowed criticism of Stalin within Russia.

Soren Kierkegaard

Danish philosopher, founder of existentianalism, said "truth is subjectivity", religion is a personal matter, and relationships with God require suffering, wrote "Either/Or", The Sickness Unto Death"

Helmut Kohl

Chancellor of West Germany during the reunification of East and West Germany

Labour Party

British political party founded in 1900 with the help of trade unions to represent the interests of the urban working class

Marshall Plan

A United States program of economic aid for the reconstruction of Europe (1948-1952)

Imre Nagy

Hungarian Communist Party leader who attempted to end association with the USSR which lead to the 1956 Hungarian revolt.

NATO

An alliance made to defend one another if they were attacked by the USSR; US, England, France, Canada, Western European countries

Neo-Orthodoxy

Movement in the religious community that argued that the gospel of "good news" was just a way of sociability or "belonging," rather than a way of reorienting life toward God.

Operation Overlord

the code name for the Allied invasion of Europe at Normandy on June 6, 1944; also known as D-Day

Order No. 227

"Not One Step Back"

peaceful coexistence

Term used by Khrushchev in 1963 to describe a situation in which the United States and Soviet Union would continue to compete economically and politically without launching an actual thermonuclear war.

Perestroika

A policy initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev that involved restructuring of the social and economic status quo in communist Russia towards a market based economy and society

A restructuring of the Soviet economy to permit more local decision making, begun by in 1985.

Politburo

"Political bureau"; small, top governing body of most Communist parties

Prague Spring

In 1968, Czechoslovakia, under Alexander Dubcek, began a program of reform. Dubcek promised civil liberties, democratic political reforms, and a more independent political system. The Soviet Union invaded the country and put down the short-lived period of freedom.

Ronald Reagan

1980 and 1984; Republican; "Reagan Revolution": reduce reliance on government; Reagonomics: supply-side, laissez-faire, send troops to Grenada, escalated the Cold War: "rollback" of communism, Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars); War on Drugs, Iran-Contra affair, second term-ended cold war ("tear down this wall" (Berlin Wall))

Jean-Paul Sartre

A French existentialist who said that people just "turned up" and that there was no God to help honest people. Also said "man is condemned to be free" and people had to choose their actions.

Secret Speech of 1956

Speech before the 20th Communist Party Congress, in which Khrushchev denounced Stalin and his crimes against the Soviet Union. Hardliners feared a purge of old -Stalinists (much like earlier ones under Stalin). Purges never occurred under Khrushchev. Whew.

Solidarity

Polish trade union created in 1980 to protest working conditions and political repression. It began the nationalist opposition to communist rule that led in 1989 to the fall of communism in eastern Europe.

Sputnik

First artificial Earth satellite, it was launched by Moscow in 1957 and sparked U.S. fears of Soviet dominance in technology and outer space. It led to the creation of NASA and the space race.

Strategic Arms Limit Treaty (SALT)

Restricted nuclear arms between USA and Soviet Union

supreme Soviet

communist-controlled parliament of the U.S.S.R.

third world

Term applied to a group of "developing" or "underdeveloped" countries who professed nonalignment during the Cold War.

the three crises of 1956

1: the Suez intervention,

2:Polish resistance to Soviet pressure,

3:the Hungarian uprising

Tiananmen Square

1989

Site in Beijing where Chinese students and workers gathered to demand greater political openness in 1989. The demonstration was crushed by Chinese military with great loss of life.

Marshal Tito

Yugoslav statesman who led the resistance to German occupation during World War II and established a communist state after the war (1892-1980)

Truman Doctrine

1947, President Truman's policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communist or totalitarian ideology, mainly helped Greece and Turkey

UN police action

the United Nations starting a military action without declaration of war; against violators of international peace and order

Vatican II

a council called by Pope John XXIII, which addressed the relations between Roman Catholic Church and the modern world

Vietnamization

President Nixon's strategy for ending U.S involvement in the vietnam war, involving a gradual withdrawl of American troops and replacement of them with South Vietnamese forces

Warsaw Pact

An alliance between the Soviet Union and other Eastern European nations. This was in response to the NATO

Lech Walesa

A Polish politician, a former trade union and human rights activist, and also a former electrician. He co-founded Solidarity, the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and served as President of Poland from 1990 to 1995.

Boris Yeltsin

the first President of the Russian Federation from 1991 to 1999. The Yeltsin era was a traumatic period in Russian history—a period marked by widespread corruption, economic collapse, and enormous political and social problems. In June 1991 Yeltsin came to power on a wave of high expectations. On June 12 Yeltsin was elected president of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic with 57% of the vote, becoming the first popularly elected president in Russian history. But Yeltsin never recovered his popularity after endorsing radical economic reforms in early 1992 which were widely blamed for devastating the living standards of most of the Russian population. By the time he left office, Yeltsin was a deeply unpopular figure in Russia, with an approval rating as low as two percent by some estimates.

Zionists

Jews that wanted to return to their homeland (Israel) and make it their independent homeland