key terms set: cold war & superpower tensions

historian David Kennedy

American historian who argues that the U.S.'s role in the Cold War was less significant that its role in globalization

Russo-Japanese War

conflict between Russia and Japan, where Japanese victory represented the end of Western colonialism in East Asia

Vietnam

country in Southeast Asia that played an important role in the Cold War

Mao Zedong

founder and leader of the People's Republic of China

Chiang Kai-shek/ Jiang Jieshi

Chinese political leader and head of the Nationalists/Guomindang

Joseph Stalin

Soviet revolutionary and Communist dictator of the USSR

Cold War

period of political and military tension between the U.S. and USSR

US Neutrality Acts

series of laws passed by the U.S. government to limit American involvement in war

League of Nations

international organization created after WW1 to solve global problems

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organization; an alliance of collective security made to oppose the USSR

United Nations

global intergovernmental organization established to maintain world peace

World Bank

international financial institution that provides loans for nations in need

Smoot-Hawley Tariff

U.S. isolationist tariff enacted on important goods to protect American farmers

World Trade Organization

international organization that regulates global trade.

International Monetary Fund

a United Nations agency created to provide financial support for nations facing economic challenges

"the good war"

American idea/myth about WW2 as "good" due to its opposition to fascism and assistance in curbing the Great Depression

Great Depression

the economic crisis beginning with the stock market crash in 1929 and continuing through the 1930s

Battle of Britain

military campaign in WW2 where Nazi Germany's air force attacked the UK

cash-and-carry program

system where the U.S. sold American war goods only with the use of cash

Lend-Lease Act

U.S. program that provided military aid for Allied nations for American defense purposes

Operation Barbarossa

Nazi Germany's invasion of the USSR during WW2

Winston Churchill

prime minister of Great Britain during WWII

Franklin D. Roosevelt

president of the US during the Great Depression and World War II

Atlantic Charter

joint statement with Churchill and Roosevelt that outlined WW2 war aims

Grand Alliance

alliance with the US, UK, and USSR against Nazi Germany during WW2

Axis Powers

alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan during World War II

Battle of Midway

U.S victory over Japanese off Midway Island that proved to be the turning point of the war

island-hopping

military strategy used during World War II that involved selectively attacking Pacific islands rather than the Japanese mainland

Red Army

the military force of the Soviet Union

Battle of Stalingrad

battle during which the Red Army forced the Germans out of Stalingrad

Casablanca Conference

wartime conference where unconditional surrender was required of the Axis Powers

Cairo Conference

wartime conference including Chiang Kai-shek where strategies against fascist Japan were implemented

Tehran Conference

wartime conference where a second front in France was established

Percentages Agreement

agreement made between Churchill and Stalin that divided the various nations of Eastern Europe into spheres of influence based on percentages

Yalta Conference

wartime conference where post-war plans for Germany after defeat were discussed

Potsdam Conference

final wartime conference where future plans for Europe after WW2 were discused but no agreements were reached

unconditional surrender

policy of giving up completely without any concessions

second front

proposed British and American invasion of France to relieve the Soviets, who were fighting a German invasion

Four Policemen

title of the four major allies: the US, USSR, UK, and China; responsible for maintaining world peace

Cairo Declaration

agreement between FDR, Churchill, and Chiang Kai-shek stating that the US, Britain, and China would strip Japan of all its pre-war and wartime conquests and require Japanese unconditional surrender

Declaration of Freedom for Liberated Europe

pledge made at Yalta Conference where powers agreed to help in the democratic rebuilding of Western Europe post-WW2

German reparations

the repayment required of Germany after losses in war; required of the nation after both WWI and WWII

global superpowers

nations with immense international power, which were the US and USSR after WW2

George Kennan

American diplomat known as the "father of containment"

Long Telegram

8000-word telegram by George Kennan outlining proposed U.S. containment policies

Iron Curtain Speech

Winston Churchill's speech about Europe's division into "free" and "totalitarian", outlining anti-Communist ideology

Truman Doctrine

U.S. foreign policy of containment under Harry Truman

containment

policy of preventing, or containing, the spread of communism

Marshall Plan

U.S. program of economic aid for the reconstruction of Europe under democracy and capitalism rather than communism

European Recovery Program (ERP)

another name for the Marshall Plan

Council for Economic Assistance (COMECON)

Soviet-led economic program to provide funding for Communist nations post-WW2; a "competitor" to the Marshall Plan

de-Nazification

process of removing Nazi ideology and influence from Germany post-WW2

Allied Control Council

body that governed over Allied-occupied Germany and Austria post-WW2

Bizonia

combined U.S. and U.K. sectors of divided Germany

Berlin Blockade

Cold War crisis where the USSR blocked off aid to Berlin

Berlin Airlift

joint U.S. and U.K. effort to airdrop supplies in Berlin as a response to the Blockade

Federal Republic of Germany

democratic state of West Germany; created after the Berlin Blockade

German Democratic Republic

communist state of East Germany; created after the Berlin Blockade

Warsaw Pact

Soviet-led mutual defese alliance with Communist states; "competitor" to NATO

Manhattan Project

research program in the U.S. during WW2 to produce nuclear weapons

hydrogen bomb

nuclear weapon designed for mass destruction, thousands of times more destructive than the bombs on Japan

arms race

a competition between nations to have the most powerful armaments

Douglas MacArthur

American general and top commander during WW2

Chinese Communist Party (CCP)

Communist party that has ruled China from 1949 to the present; most notably led by Mao Zedong

Nationalists / Kuomintang / Guomindang

political party in China led notably by Chiang Kai-Shek that opposed the CCP

Chinese Civil War

conflict between the CCP and the Nationalists in China

People's Republic of China (PRC)

Communist government of mainland China with military success over the forces of Chiang Kai-shek and the Guomindang.

Taiwan / Republic of China

island of mainland China that is governed by a democratic system

UN Security Council

body in the UN with the most power and is responsible for maintaining world peace and security

North Korea

communist country established in 1948 and once led by Kim Il-Sung

South Korea

democratic country established in 1948 and once led by Syngman Rhee

38th parallel

latitude line chosen to split North and South Korea after WW2

Syngman Rhee

democratically elected first leader of South Korea

Kim Il-Sung

communist and Soviet-backed leader of North Korea

Dean Acheson

Secretary of State under Harry Truman

Pacific Perimeter Speech

Dean Acheson's speech that outlined U.S. foreign policy in East Asia, which didn't mention Korea

Communist Voluntary Army Corps

Chinese troops in the Korean War to assist North Korea

stalemate

situation where neither side can win decisively

Central Intelligence Agency

U.S. agency created to gather secret information about foreign governments and involved in several foreign destabilization efforts to ensure U.S. global interests

historian Hajimu Masuda

Japanese historian who argues that the Korean War was a catalyst for a new postwar order

decolonization

the process of former colonies liberating themselves from their colonizers

Non-Aligned Movement

group of mostly African and Asian nations that didn't side with either the US or the USSR during the Cold War

Gamal Abdel Nasser

influential leader of Egypt who pushed for anti-colonial policy

Pan-Arab Movement

political movement that called for the unification and independence of all Arab people

Aswan Dam Project

project to build a dam on the Nile River to control flooding

Suez Canal

man-made Egyptian waterway connecting the Mediterranean and Red Seas

Suez Crisis

conflict where British, Israeli, and French forces attacked Egypt after the nationalization of the Suez Canal

Nikita Khrushchev

Communist leader of the USSR during the height of Cold War tensions

Dwight D. Eisenhower

commander of Allied forces who became the 34th president of the United States

Blue Helmets

UN military forces dispatched in conflict areas with the intention of keeping peace

Berlin Crisis

Cold War crisis where the Berlin Wall was constructed as to prevent refugees from leaving East Germany after Khrushchev demanded Western withdrawal from West Berlin

Konrad Adenauer

first chancellor of West Germany; he was able to establish a stable democratic government

peaceful coexistence

Khrushchev's proposal that the U.S. and U.S.S.R. could compromise and learn to live with each other.

brinkmanship

political strategy of the willingness to go to the brink of war to force an opponent to back down

John F. Kennedy

35th president of the United States, with influential policies on Cold War conflicts and domestic civil rights

Walter Ulbricht

communist leader of East Germany who was selected by the USSR

Berlin Wall

wall separating East and West Berlin built by East Germany to keep citizens from escaping to the West

Korean War

Cold War conflict between communist North Korea and capitalist South Korea, which was aided by the U.S.

John Foster Dulles

Secretary of State under Dwight D. Eisenhower

First Taiwan Strait Crisis

brief Cold War conflict where the PRC shelled, or bombarded, the islands of Taiwan/ROC