US History

What was the first country Hitler invaded?

Poland

Reasons for the US not joining WW2?

1. Foreign Policy

2. War debt

3. still recovering from the Great Depression

What was the Battle of Stalingrad?

Bloody urban warfare fought from street to street as the Germans tried to take the city (in Russia)

What was Operation Barbarossa?

Nazi's plan to invade the Soviet Union

Why did Japan bomb Pearl Harbor?

To lift the economic sanctions against them

What was Operation Torch?

The FIRST operation/fight in WW2 that the US took part in (North Africa)

What was the Manhattan Project?

The secret US government research and engineering project that developed the worlds first nuclear weapons

Where did the US drop the Nuclear Bombs?

1. Hiroshima

2. Nagasaki

What were the reasons for the Cold War?

1. Conflicting WW2 goals

2. Fundamental differences between US and Soviet Union

3. Distrust between countries

What was the Berlin Airlift?

The response by the US and Great Britain to bring supplies to civilians in East Berlin when the USSR blockaded it

What was the Berlin Wall?

The wall that separated East and West Berlin post-WW2; west occupied by allies east occupied by USSR

What was the Marshall Plan?

The plan to rebuild post WW2 European countries AS LONG AS they promised NOT TO be communist

At what parallel were North and South Korea divided?

38th parallel

What was the Cuban Missile Crisis? Leaders? Outcome?

Soviet Nuclear missile pads were spotted in Cuba and were a threat to the US. President JFK solved the situation with diplomacy after 13 days of tension.

What was the Bay of Pigs?

US attempt to overthrow the Cuban government. It failed because Fidel Castro found out about the plan beforehand.

What were the Vietnam War Sides? Leaders?

Leader of North Vietnam : Ho Chi Minh Leader of South Vietnam : Ngo Dinh Diem

What was the Tet Offensive?

A series of surprise attacks by the Viet Cong and the North on cities; turned American public against the war

How did the Vietnam War end?

With the signing of the Paris Peace Accords

What was the Iran Hostage Crisis?

A group of Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and held hostages for around 13 months

What was the Internet created for? First uses?

1. The department of Defense

2. Commercial

What was the Watergate scandal?

1. Nixon wanted to win the election big

2. 5 burglars broke into the DNC to bug the phones

3. Nixon erased 18.5 min of the secret bugs he had in his office and was impeached and stepped down because of the cover-up

What were some Civil Rights events?

1. March on Washington

2. civil rights act of 1964

3. voting act 0f 1965

4. civil rights act of 1968

5. Rosa Parks refusal to move her seat

6. Malcolm X and MLK

What was Operation Desert Shield?

Operation to protect Saudi Arabia from Iraq

What was Operation Desert Storm?

A massive assault on Iraqi military targets

Who was Saddam Hussein?

The leader of Iraq who launched a military blitzkrieg that overwhelmed Kuwait and then they massed on Saudi Arabia's border

What was 9/11?

Al Qaeda terrorists flew 2 planes into the twin towers, 1 plane into the Pentagon, and 1 plan into a field in Pennsylvania.

What was a Major Natural Disaster?

Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans as a Category 3

Who was the Al Qaeda leader?

Osama Bin Laden; he was later killed by US forces in Pakistan