Key Concepts of WWII and Post-War America

Flashcards covering significant concepts and events from WWII and the post-war era.

Good Neighbor Policy

Roosevelt's promise to act as a good neighbor toward Latin American countries.

Neutrality Acts

Legislation that prohibited arms shipments, forbade US citizens from traveling on belligerent ships, and restricted loans and arms to opposing sides in the Spanish Civil War.

Cash and Carry

A policy that allowed belligerent nations to purchase weapons if they paid upfront and arranged their own transport.

Destroyers for Bases Deal

An agreement in which Roosevelt sold 50 old US destroyers to Britain for rights to build military bases in the Caribbean.

Lend-Lease Act

Legislation that allowed Britain to purchase US arms on credit, effectively ending the Cash and Carry policy.

Attack on Pearl Harbor

A surprise military strike by the Japanese Navy against the United States on December 7, 1941, resulting in significant American casualties.

Executive Order 9066

The order that led to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

Korematsu vs. United States

A Supreme Court case that upheld the internment of Japanese Americans as a wartime necessity.

Bracero Program

An agreement that allowed millions of Mexican workers to enter the US for seasonal agricultural and railroad labor.

GI Bill

Legislation providing benefits such as college education funding and low-interest home loans to returning veterans.

Taft-Hartley Act

Labor legislation that included measures to restrict union powers and require union leaders to declare they were not communists.

Baby Boom

A significant increase in birth rates resulting in 50 million babies entering the US population post-WWII.

Suburbanization during the 1950’s

A trend of population movement to suburban areas as transportation improved and urban migration increased.

Iron Curtain

The imaginary boundary separating democratic Western Europe from communist Eastern Europe.

Truman Doctrine

A policy pledging $400 million to combat communist movements in Europe.

Marshall Plan

US initiative to provide $12 billion for the recovery of Western European nations to prevent the spread of communism.

Berlin Airlift

A joint effort by the US, Britain, and France to supply West Berlin following a Soviet blockade.

NATO

A military alliance of Western nations pledging mutual defense against aggression.

Arms Race

The competition between the US and Soviet Union to develop and stockpile the most advanced weaponry.

Korean War

Conflict that began when North Korea invaded South Korea, leading to US intervention.

House Un-American Activities Committee

A congressional committee that investigated alleged communist influence in the government and other sectors.

Brown vs. Board of Education

A landmark Supreme Court case declaring racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

A boycott led by Martin Luther King Jr. against racially segregated buses in Montgomery, Alabama.

Brinkmanship

A strategy that involved pushing a dangerous situation to the brink of disaster to achieve advantageous outcomes.

Sputnik

The first artificial Earth satellite, launched by the Soviet Union, marking the beginning of the space age.

U-2 spy plane incident

A Cold War incident where the US was caught spying on the Soviet Union, leading to a diplomatic crisis.