COLD WAR VOCAB

Vocabulary flashcards from lecture notes.

A state of tension between the US and the USSR.

Cold War

Allies delivered food and supplies to Berlin after Russia closed the roads and rail lines; over 200,000 flights were made.

Berlin Airlift

The barrier between Eastern (Russia and communism) and Western Europe, as referred to by Churchill.

Iron Curtain

Provided massive financial aid to rebuild Europe after the war to prevent the spread of communism.

Marshall Plan

An economic system where businesses are owned by private individuals with the goal of making a profit.

Capitalism

A 12-foot wall built in 1961 by communists to divide Berlin and prevent people from traveling from one side to the other; people were killed if they attempted to go to the west.

Berlin Wall

An international organization to solve world conflicts between nations peacefully.

United Nations

Helped returning veterans with education, housing, and employment benefits.

GI Bill of Rights

Large number of children born after WW2 ended during the 1940s and 1950s.

Baby Boomers

Economic growth resulted from pent-up demand and the fact that the US had the only working factories/industries while Europe's had been bombed.

Happy Days (Post-WWII Economic Growth)

Systems of ideas and ideals about economics and politics.

Ideologies

Truman's policy to contain the spread of communism, fearing the domino effect (if one country fell to communism, neighboring countries would also become communist).

Containment Policy

Western allies that agreed to defend each other if attacked by communist countries.

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

Russia's response to the NATO organization.

Warsaw Pact

Senator McCarthy accused everyone of being a communist, including Hollywood and people in government.

Red Scare and McCarthyism

Bunkers built in the ground to protect families from a nuclear attack.

Fallout Shelters

North Korean communists invaded South Korea; the US and UN intervened to prevent the takeover.

Korean War

Russia attempted to put nuclear weapons in Cuba, which was only 90 miles from the US; it was the closest the two nations ever were to actually going to war.

Cuban Missile Crisis

Communists attempted to take over Vietnam. The US sent troops to prevent the takeover. War continued to escalate and was controversial due to the draft.

Vietnam War

The US and the USSR competed to have the most and most powerful nuclear weapons.

Arms Race

Exploration of space became very important to both the US and the USSR. The US was afraid the communists would gain control. Billions were spent on NASA.

Space Race

Lee Harvey Oswald, a Soviet sympathizer, assassinated President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, TX.

JFK Assassination

Outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It prohibits unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, employment, and public accommodations.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964

Civil rights leader assassinated by James Earl Ray, a white supremacist, in Memphis, Tennessee.

1968 Dr. Martin Luther King Assassination

JFK's brother, who was a presidential candidate, was assassinated.

RFK Assassination

President Nixon was forced to resign because of his involvement in breaking into the Democratic headquarters. He lied about his involvement.

Watergate Scandal