Chapter 36: Post WW2 - Cold War and Economic Prosperity

El Alamein

Town in Egypt, site of the victory by Britain's Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery over German forces led by General Erwin Rommel (the 'Desert Fox') in 1942-1943.

"Marianas Turkey Shoot"

Battle of the Philippine Sea; Japanese lost 600 aircraft and 3 aircraft carriers, meant that the Japanese didn't have much left, Spruance criticized for not being aggressive enough because there were four more Japanese aircraft carriers

Jiang Jeshi

he led the Chinese Nationalist army and fiercly resisted the invasion of Japan

Anzio

battle that allowed allies to occupy Rome

subversives

Individuals attempting to overthrow the government

Gross National Product

The total value of goods and services, including income received from abroad, produced by the residents of a country within a specific time period, usually one year

"Operation Dixie"

CIO's operation aimed at unionizing southern textile workers and steelworkers

Taft-Harley Act

(1947) Forbids closed shop, permits states to bar union shop, allow temporary injunctions of strikes affecting national welfare

Servicemen's Readjustment Act

also known as GI Bill of Rights-1944- offered stipends covering tuition and living expenses to veterans attending vocational schools or college

Harry S. Truman

The 33rd U.S. president, who succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt upon Roosevelt's death; best known for making the controversial decision to use two atomic bombs against Japan in August 1945; crucial in the implementation of the Marshall Plan, which greatly accelerated Western Europe's economic recovery

George F. Kennan

Believed the US should resist Soviet attempts to expand power and influence; "the father of containment"

Douglas MacArthur

commanded the American occupation of Japan and United Nations troops in the Korean War

Dean Acheson

Secretary of State under Harry Truman; more responsible for the Marshall Plan and the Truman Doctrine than those that the two were named for

Joseph McCarthy

US senator; claimed that their were Soviet spies and Communists within the government but had no evidence; discredited by the US senate

The Rosenbergs

Liberal Jews who were prosecuted in the 1950's over accused spying for the Soviets. Were convicted and senteced to death, and killed in 1953

Strom Thurmond

governor of SC, leader of the Dixiecrats, ran for president under State's Rights Party in 1948

Henry Wallace

former Democratic VP who ran on the New Progressive Party due to his disagreement on Truman's policy with the Soviets; caused the Democratic party to split even more

Thomas Dewey

the Governor of New York (1943-1955) and the unsuccessful Republican candidate for the U.S. Presidency in 1944 and 1948

Adlai Stevenson

the Democratic candidate who ran against Eisenhower in 1952. His intellectual speeches earned him and his supporters the term "eggheads"

Dwight Eisenhower

denied offer to run in 1948 election; WWII hero

Richard M. Nixon

He was a committee member of the House of Representatives, Committee on Un-American Activities (to investigate "subversion"). He tried to catch Alger Hiss who was accused of being a communist agent in the 1930's; brought him to attention of the American public

Yalta Conference

FDR, Churchill and Stalin met at Yalta. Russia agreed to declare war on Japan after the surrender of Germany and in return FDR and Churchill promised the USSR concession in Manchuria and the territories that it had lost in the Russo-Japanese War

Berlin airlift

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

containment doctrine

a foreign policy strategy advocated by George Kennan that called for the United States to isolate the Soviet Union, "contain" its advances, and resist its enroachments by peaceful means if possible, but by force if necessary

Truman Doctrine

pledged to provide U.S. military and economic aid to any nation threatened by communism

Marshall Plan

Introduced by Secretary of State George G. Marshall in 1947, he proposed massive and systematic American economic aid to Europe to revitalize the European economies after WWII and help prevent the spread of Communism.

National Security Act

established the Department of Defense and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and National Security Council.

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organization; an alliance made to defend one another if they were attacked by any other country

McCarran Act

passed over Truman's veto; made it unlawful to advocate or support the establishment of a totalitarian government, restricted the employment and travel of those joining Communist-front organizations, and authorized the creation of detention camps for subversives

Point Four program

The concept of foreign aid to the non-Western world in hope that such aid would prevent new nations from turning to communism

Fair Deal

Truman's extension of the New Deal that increased min wage, expanded Social Security, and constructed low-income housing

NSC-68

A document that pushed for a large build up of the U.S military. It allowed the U.S to quickly build up its military for the Korean conflict.

House Committee on Un-American Activities

The House of Representatives established the Committee on Un-American Activities, popularly known as "HUAC," in order to investigate "subversion."

Dennis v. United States

1951, made it illegal to advocate or teach the overthrow of the government by force or belong to an organization with this objective. (upheld the Smith Act of 1940)

States' Rights Party (Dixiecrats)

Conservative southern Democrats who objected to President Truman's strong push for civil-rights legislation, chose J. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina as its presidential

candidate.

"Grand Alliance"

Led by the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union, was determined to smash the Nazi order

"missionary diplomacy"

Woodrow Wilson's policy contingent on the belief that it was America's responsibility and destiny to spread its institutions and values to the far corners of the globe

World Bank

A specialized agency of the United Nations that makes loans to countries for economic development, trade promotion, and debt consolidation; or the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development

IMF

International Monetary Fund//a United Nations agency to promote trade by increasing the exchange stability of the major currencies

"Missouri Gang"

Trumans cabinet whom were friends from senator job in missouri

UN Conference

UN forms - 11-member security council

Big Five Powers

These were the most powerful countries that made up the Security Council of the United Nations: the U.S., Britain, USSR, France and China.

UNESCO

an agency of the United Nations that promotes education and communication and the arts, encourages international peace and universal respect by promoting collaboration among nations

WHO

a United Nations agency to coordinate international health activities and to help governments improve health services

satellite nations

Communist nations in Eastern Europe on friendly terms with the USSR and thought of as under the USSR's control

Reinhold Niebuhr

Influential liberal protestant clergyman who crusaded against what he percieved as the drift away from Christian foundations for over five decades after WWI.He was vehemently against fascism, communism, and pacifism, and divided the world into "children of light" and "children of darkness."

George C. Marshall

Secretary of State, invited the Europeans to work out a joint plan for their economic recovery, offered financial aid to the Soviet Union and its allies

European Community

An organization promoting economic unity in Europe formed in 1967 by consolidation of earlier, more limited, agreements. Replaced by the European Union (EU) in 1993. (p. 834)

Joint Chiefs of Staff

high-ranking military officers who represent the Navy, Army, Air Force and Marines. They assist the civilian leaders of the Department of Defense-advise the president on security matters.

Voice of America

1948; This government agency was created to make radio (and later TV) broadcasts of news and entertainment into foreign countries, especially into those controlled by communists.

National Security Agency

The technological unit of the intelligence community whose primary mission is to collect communications and signal intelligence and conduct code-breaking activities is known as the ____ ____ ____.

Mao Zedong

This man became the leader of the Chinese Communist Party and remained its leader until his death. He declared the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 and supported the Chinese peasantry throughout his life.

Jiang Jeshi

he led the Chinese Nationalist army and fiercly resisted the invasion of Japan

Japanese constitution of 1946

US occupation of Japan under General MacArthur- during this time the Constitution was written. It ended divine right rule, gave sovereignty to the people, a parliamentary govt, women's suffrage, local self-govt. It also renounced the war forever and the use of force. There were some war trials held but no great purge of military. Despite efforts at social and economic reform the power structure remained fairly conservative and Liberal Democratic party which held power after occupation was in reality a conservative grouping. With American help the Japanese economy had recovered by 1954.

Taiwan

an island in southeastern Asia 100 miles off the coast of mainland China in the South China Sea, a government on the island of Taiwan established in 1949 by Chiang Kai-shek after the conquest of mainland China by the communists led by Mao Zedong

H-bomb

the hydrogen bomb - a thermonuclear weapon much more powerful than the Atomic bomb

Smith Act 1940

made it illegal to advocate the overthrow of the US government by force or violence

HUAC

The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) was an investigating committee which investigated what it considered un-American propaganda,

loyalty oaths/program

incite anti- communist hysteria - need to swear loyalty to US

J. Strom Thurmond

South Carolinian who was the presidential candidate of the States' Rights (Dixicrat) party in 1948

Housing Act 1949

Act passed by Congress that's goal was to provide a decent home for every family in America, funded by public housing and urban renewal programs. Ended up making things worse

38th parallel

...

"police action"

phrase used to describe the U.S. intervention in Korea in 1950; the United States never officially declared war

"limited war"

military actions that seek objectives short of the surrender and occupation of the enemy