Unit 8A AP US History Review

Yalta Conference

When FDR, Churchill, and Stalin meet; they agreed to wage war on Japan, to divide Germany into 4 equal parts, and to hold free elections for the liberated countries

Harry Truman

33rd President of the United States. Led the U.S. to victory in WWII making the ultimate decision to use atomic weapons for the first time. Shaped U.S. foreign policy regarding the Soviet Union after the war.

GI Bill of Rights (Servicemen's Readjustment Act)

Made low-interest government loans available to veterans for the purchase of homes, farms, and businesses, or for college tuition

Baby Boom

A large generation born between 1946 and 1964, when a time of relative peace and prosperity encouraged high rates of both marriage and fertility.

Suburbs

Residential areas surrounding a city; low cost loans and highways made it possible for young families to move out of urban areas

Levittown

New York suburb where postwar builders pioneered the techniques of mass home construction

Sun Belt

The South and Southwest regions of the United States; many people moved to this region in the 1950s because of jobs in the defense/space industry, low housing costs and air-conditioning

22nd Amendment

Limits the president to two terms or 10 years.

Taft-Hartley Act

Act passed in 1947 over President Truman's veto that put increased restrictions on labor unions; It allowed states to pass "right to work" laws: prohibited "union" shop (= workers must join union after being hired) and established that the President has power to issue injunctions in strikes that endangered national health & safety

Dixiecrats

Conservative southern Democrats who objected to President Truman's strong push for civil-rights: J. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina was their first presidential candidate

Cold War

An approximately 50 year conflict between the US and the Soviet Union involving sovereignty in Europe, the space race, and the arms race

Iron Curtain

Winston Churchill's term for the Cold War division between the Soviet-dominated East and the U.S.-dominated West

Containment

American foreign policy of resisting further expansion of communism around the world

Truman Doctrine

1947, President Truman's policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism or totalitarian ideology, mainly helped Greece and Turkey

Marshall Plan (European Recovery Program)

An American initiative to provide $13 billion to help rebuild Europe after WW2

Berlin Airlift

Joint effort by the US and Great Britan to fly food and supplies into West Berlin after the Soviet Union blocked off all ground routes into the city

NATO

An international organization created in 1949 by the North Atlantic Treaty for purposes of collective security

Korean War

1950-1953 conflict that began with North Korea's invasion of South the United Nations (primarily the United States) and South Korea battled the People's Republic of China and North Korea; the armistice ended the fighting near the 38th parallel where the war began

General Douglas MacArthur

American general who played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II; he also led UN forces during the Korean War and was dismissed by President Truman

HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee)

House of Representatives committee responsible for rooting out communists in American government and society

The Rosenbergs

Husband and wife tried/executed for treason under suspicision of communist influence and trading atomic bomb secrets with the Soviet Union

Joseph McCarthy

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

McCarthyism

The act of accusing people of disloyalty and communism named for US Senator Joseph McCarthy

Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961)

Republican President known for the growth of highways, strong economy, aid to the French in Indochina, and US Incident

Interstate Highway and Defense System Act of 1956

Law that authorized the construction of a national highway system, with the federal government paying most of the costs through increased fuel and vehicle taxes

Brinksmanship

A policy of threatening to go to war in response to any enemy aggression.

Massive Retaliation

A military doctrine and nuclear strategy in which a state commits itself to retaliate in much greater force in the event of an attack.

Ho Chi Minh

Communist leader of North Vietnam

Geneva Accords

A 1954 peace agreement that divided Vietnam into Communist-controlled North Vietnam and non-Communist South Vietnam until unification elections could be held in 1956

Domino Theory

Eisenhower's theory that if one nation comes under Communist control, then neighboring nations will also come under Communist control

Suez Crisis

Crisis in which Britain and France attempted to seize control of the Suez canal from Egypt; US did not back Britain

OPEC(The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries)

An organization of countries formed in 1961 to agree on a common policy for the production and sale of petroleum.

Nikita Khrushchev

Aggressive Soviet leader who failed to put missiles in Cuba

Sputnik (1957)

First man-made satellite put into orbit by the USSR causing fear that the US had lost the space race; Eisenhower responded by creating NASA and increasing educational requirements in math and science

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the United States government agency responsible for the civilian space program; created after the Soviet launch of Sputnik

U-2 Incident

A 1960 incident in which the Soviet military used a guided missile to shoot down an American U-2 spy plane over Soviet territory; increased tensions between the US and USSR

Fidel Castro

Cuban socialist leader who overthrew a dictator in 1959 and established a communist state in Cuba

Military-Industrial Complex

Eisenhower coined this phrase to warn Americans about the dangers of collusion between the military and weapons makers that could lead to excessive Congressional spending.

"Vast Wasteland"

Expression coined by FCC chair Newton Minow in 1961 to describe television content that he saw as shallow and meaningless

Elvis Presley

A symbol of the rock-and-roll movement of the 50s when teenagers began to form their own subculture, dismaying to conservative parents

Beat Generation

Group highlighted by writers and artist who stressed spontaneity and spirituality instead of apathy and conformity.