Unit 13: The Early Cold War Vocab part 2

DMZ (Demilitarized Zone)

an area in which treaties or agreements between states, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities, or personnel

Third World

former political designation originally used (1952) to describe those states not part of the first world—the capitalist, economically developed states led by the U.S.—or the second world—the communist states led by the Soviet Union

Covert Action

an activity or activities of the United. States Government to influence political, economic, or military conditions abroad, where it is. intended that the role of the United States will not be apparent or acknowledged publicly

Arms Race

race to develop weapons of mass destruction

H-Bomb

hydrogen bomb. Truman gave the “green light” to produce it. it was tested in 1952

Brinksmanship

an approach in which a country pushes a situation extremely close to a dangerous point

Deterrence

military strategy under which one power uses the threat of reprisal effectively to preclude an attack from an adversary power

MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction)

either side would respond to a nuclear attack by launching its own missiles

Blacklist

communist influence in the film industry lead to blacklists of actors who may be sympathisers

Communist Sympathizers

individuals or groups who express support for the principles and ideologies of communism

Loyalty Oaths

a pledge of allegiance to an organization, institution, or state of which an individual is a member

Subversion

the act of overthrowing

Alger Hiss Case

an American government official accused in 1948 of having spied for the Soviet Union in the 1930s

Perjury

the giving of false evidence under affirmation to other tribunals that have the authority of the law

McCarthyism

also known as the Second Red Scare, was the political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and a campaign spreading fear of communist and Soviet influence on American institutions and of Soviet espionage in the United States during the late 1940s through the 1950s

Rosenberg Trial

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed for conspiracy to commit espionage under the U.S. Espionage Act of 1917. members of the communist party, the Rosenbergs were convicted of passing secret information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union in 1945

Censured

Atomic Age

the current historical period, initiated by the development of the first atomic bomb towards the end of World War II and now marked by a balance of power between nations possessing the hydrogen bomb and the use of nuclear power as a source of energy

Civil Defense

the organized non-military effort to prepare Americans for military attack and similarly disastrous events

Federal Civil Defense Administration

with the Federal Civil Defense Act of 1950, Congress charged the FCDA with creating shelter, evacuation, and training programs that state and local governments would implement. local governments could request federal funds for these programs and for post-attack health care and reconstruction