Cold War Vocab Study Guide

Vocab test Truman through IKE

Truman Doctrine

TRUMAN’S PROMISE TO AID NATIONS STRUGGLING AGAINST COMMUNIST MOVEMENTS “TO SUPPORT FREE PEOPLES WHO ARE RESISTING ATTEMPTED SUBJUGATION.” FIRST USED BY GIVING $400 MILLION IN AID TO GREECE AND TURKEY

Containment

IN RESPONSE TO ARTICLE BY GEORGE KEENAN (AMERICAN DIPLOMAT) US BEGINS POLICY TO KEEP COMMUNISM CONTAINED WITHIN ITS BORDERS, DON’T LED IT SPREAD.

Marshall Plan

GAVE $13 BILLION DOLLARS IN GRANTS AND LOANS TO NATIONS IN WESTERN EUROPE TO REBUILD AFTER WWII

Act of Chapultepec

ADOPTED BY US AND 19 LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES, RESOLVED TO UNDERTAKE JOINT ACTION IN REPELLING ANY AGGRESSION AGAINST AN AMERICAN STATE. DID NOT DISCUSS ECONOMIC AID

Rio Treaty

PROVIDED A REGIONAL “SELF-DEFENSE” AGREEMENT TO OPPOSE AGGRESSION OR ARMED ATTACK AGAINST ANY AMERICAN STATE. THIS AGREEMENT BYPASSED THE AUTHORITY OF THE UNITED NATIONS AND WOULD BE USED BY THE US TO JUSTIFY OVERT AND COVERT ACTION AGAINST DEMOCRACIES THAT SUPPORTED LIBERAL REFORMS.

Organization of American States (OAS-1948)

PROVIDED COLLECTIVE SECURITY IN THE HEMISPHERE AND TO PROVIDE MEDIATION IN DISPUTES AMONG ITS MEMBERS THE 21 COUNTIRES PLEDGED TO OPPOSE COMMUNISM IN THE AMERICAS. THE MAIN US OBJECTIE WAS MAINTENANCE OF THE STATUS QUO.

Mutual Security Act of 1951

IT PROVIDED $38 MILLION OF MILITARY ASSISTANCE SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED FOR LATIN AMERICAN. CONTINUED POLICY OF STABILITY OVER DEMOCRACY.

CIA

CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (1947) USED COVERT OPERATIONS AGAINST LATIN AMERICAN GOVERNMENTS AND POLITICAL MOVEMENTS THAT WERE SUSPECTED OF SUPPORTING SOCIALIST AGENDAS SEEN AS SYMPATHETIC TO COMMUNISM.

Point Four Programs

Part of Truman’s inauguration speech where he announced scientific and monetary aid to developing nations. Asia and Africa received aid; Latin America got little as Truman promoted private enterprise.

McCarran Act

passed in 1950 said members of Communist organizations had to register with the federal government or face jail or fines. Those registered could be denied passports or deported. Truman tried to veto the act “In a free country we punish men for the crimes they commit, but never for the opinions they have”

Truman Executive Order

ordered a loyalty investigation into federal employees (set up loyalty boards)

HUAC- House Un-American Activities Commitee

was set up in 1947. The committee would investigate suspected communists within the US. Much of their work involved Hollywood where numerous actors, directors, writers, etc. were accused of being communist and many of them ended up being blacklisted

IKE- Executive Order 10450

This measure took President Truman's emphasis on "loyalty" and added "security" to the realm of suitability for employment in the executive branch. In plain terms, it meant that discovering disloyal acts or communist party membership was not the only basis for dismissing a government employee. Employees who were alcoholic, homosexual, or "blabbermouths" could be dismissed summarily under the program devised by the Justice Department

Algor Hiss and the Rosenberg's

TWO HIGH PROFILE SPY CASES THAT TOOK PLACE IN LATE 40S EARLY 50S. INCREASED AMERICANS FEAR THAT COMMUNIST WERE PRESENT WITHIN THE US GOVERNMENT AND SOCIETY.

Joseph McCarthy

WISCONSIN SENATOR WHO LED THE COMMUNIST WITCH HUNT IN THE US DURING THE EARLY 1950S.

McCarthyism

SMEARING OF REPUTATION THROUGH RECKLESS ACCUSATIONS AND POLITICAL WITCH HUNTS.

NSC-68

Report from the National Security Council that advocated for a substantial increase in defense spending and a global policy of containment. Led to tripling defense spending.

New Look Policy

IKE’s defense policy that emphasizes the use of nuclear weapons rather than conventional forces.

Aims to New Look Policy

firstly, to build up the US nuclear capability to facilitate a ‘massive nuclear response’ to Soviet expansion, secondly to use covert operations to undermine threats posed by communist forces and finally, to strengthen US alliances.

Military - industrial Complex

Belief that the interests of the military and industry encouraged them to escalate tensions and the production of weaponry.

More Bang for a Buck

IKE’s belief that greater dependence on nuclear weaponry would save the US money and protect it as effectively as conventional forces.

Massive Retalisation

Being willing and able to respond vigorously at places and with the means of our choosing

Brinkmanship

Creating the impression that one is willing to push event to the point of war rather than concede.

Domino Theory

The idea that if one country in a region became communist the others would inevitably follow suit and become communists too.

PB Success

a covert CIA operation to overthrow the democratically elected Guatemalan President Jacobo Árbenz in 1954.