1940s-1950s Cold War Slides for Exam 3

Nuremberg Trial

The 1945–1946 international court trial that prosecuted Nazi leaders for conspiracy, crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

Robert H. Jackson

The U.S. Supreme Court Justice who served as the chief prosecutor for the United States during the Nuremberg Trials.

Tokyo War Crimes Trial

The Pacific theater counterpart trial that prosecuted 28 Japanese military and political leaders, resulting in 7 executions.

United Nations (UN)

The international organization established in 1945 to replace the League of Nations, featuring a General Assembly and a 15-member Security Council.

UN Security Council Veto

The unique power held by the 5 permanent members (US, UK, USSR, France, China) allowing any one of them to block a UN resolution.

Iron Curtain

The symbolic term popularized by Winston Churchill in 1946 to describe the division between democratic Western Europe and communist Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe.

George F. Kennan

The American diplomat whose "Long Telegram" established the core U.S. foreign policy strategy of Containment.

Containment Policy

The long-term U.S. strategy aimed at stopping the expansion and spread of Soviet communism anywhere in the world.

Truman Doctrine

The 1947 declaration stating the U.S. would provide military and economic aid to any nation resisting communist subjugation, first applied to Greece and Turkey.

Marshall Plan

A massive U.S. economic aid package that provided $13 billion to rebuild Western Europe, intentionally designed to prevent communist political gains.

Berlin Airlift

The massive 11-month Allied operation that flew supplies into West Berlin after Stalin blockaded all ground access to the city.

NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization; a 1949 mutual defense military alliance formed by Western nations to counter Soviet aggression.

Warsaw Pact

The 1955 military alliance formed by the Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellite states in response to NATO.

Mao Zedong

The communist leader who successfully won the Chinese Civil War in 1949 and established the People's Republic of China.

NSC-68

A critical 1950 secret national security report that recommended a massive peacetime military expansion and quadrupling the U.S. defense budget.

38th Parallel

The pre- and post-war boundary line dividing communist North Korea and democratic South Korea.

Douglas MacArthur

The U.S. General who led UN forces in the Korean War but was publicly fired by President Truman for insubordination and advocating to bomb China.

Second Red Scare

The intense period of anti-communist fear, paranoia, and political repression in the U.S. during the late 1940s and 1950s.

HUAC

The House Un-American Activities Committee; a congressional committee that investigated suspected communist subversion, famously targeting Hollywood.

Alger Hiss

The prominent State Department official accused of being a Soviet spy who was convicted of perjury in 1950 based on the "Pumpkin Papers".

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

The American couple convicted of passing atomic bomb secrets to the Soviets and executed in the electric chair in 1953.

Joseph McCarthy

The reckless U.S. Senator who fueled the Red Scare by making baseless, sensational claims about communist infiltration in the government.

McCarthyism

The practice of making public accusations of treason or subversion without providing evidence, named after Senator Joseph McCarthy.

Joseph Welch

The U.S. Army attorney who famously condemned Senator McCarthy on television by asking, "Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?"