cold war test

uneasy alliance

the end of WWII both sides looked at each other with animosity and suspicion of their goals.

capitalism

an economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rater than by the state.

democracy

a political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them.

communism

a theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state.

yalta conference

1945- established a world organization; USSR pledged to allow democratic procedures in Eastern Europe; pledge broken, led to cold war.

containment

a us foreign policy adapted by us president harry truman in the late 1940s, in which the United States tried to stop the spread of communism by creating alliances and helping weak countries to resist soviet advances.

iron curtain

winston churchill’s term for cold war division between the soviet dominated east and the us dominated west.

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***

a us program of economic aid for the reconstruction of europe (1948-1952)

cold war

the power struggle between the soviet union and the us after ww2. opposing ideologies of how people throughout the world should be governed- will of the majority or will of the minority. not directly firing weapons at one another, finding other areas in the world to fight.

berlin airlift

joint effort by the us and britain to fly food and supplies into west berlin after the soviets blocked off all ground routes into the city. berlin begins to be the flash point for the cold war, it os always the most vulnerable free city in the world.

NATO

an alliance between us europe france canada and western european countries

warsaw pact

an alliance between the ussr and other eastern european nations/satellite/countries. this was in response to nato.

mao zedong

1893-1976 leader of the communist party in china that overthrew jiang jieshi and the nationalists. established china as the people’s republic of china and ruled from 1949 to 1976.

chang kai shek

leader of the nationalist forces, against mao zedong and other communists, in china during the revolution and fled to taiwan.

38th parallel north

Line that divided Korea - Soviet Union supported the North and United States supported the South, during the Cold War. Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

korean war

1950-1953. Conflict that began with North Korea's invasion of South Korea and came to involve the United Nations (primarily the United States) allying with South Korea and the People's Republic of China allying with North Korea.

pusan perimeter

a defensive line around the city of Pusan, in the southeast corner of Korea, held by South Korean and United Nations forces in 1950 during the Korean War; marks the farthest advance of North Korean forces

inchon

An amphibious invasion and battle of the Korean War that resulted in a decisive victory and strategic reversal in favor of the United Nations

yulu river

The United States pushes to the boarder of China during the Korean War. The Chinese amass 300,000 men ready to join the North Koreans.

chosin reservoir

this is where the chinese army started to attack us forces. us marines withdrew to the south.

truman fires macarther for insubordination

MacArthur advocates attacking China, if needed, the use of nuclear weapons. He believes the United States can win the war and remove the communists in China as well. Truman meets with MacArthur, but will eventually sack him for insubordination.

NSC-68 a national security council

approved by President Truman in 1950, developed in response to the Soviet Union's growing influence and nuclear capability; it called for an increase in the US conventional and nuclear forces to carry out the policy of containment

eisenhower ended the korean war

After his election Eisenhower pushes to make a peace in Korea. Both sides agree to the 38th parallel, but both sides mistrust, creates the DMZ.

eisenhower 1952

Eisenhower ran as a republican and wins the presidency. He will remain a popular president during the 1950's (52-60).

massive retaliation

The "new look" defense policy of the Eisenhower administration of the 1950's was to threaten "massive retaliation" with nuclear weapons in response to any act of aggression by a potential enemy.

duck and cover

School children practiced crawling under their desks and putting their hands over their heads to protect themselves from an atomic bomb attack.

brinkmanship

The art of never backing. In the 1950's it meant to keep the USSR believing that we were capable of launching our missiles (mass retaliation, arms race, etc...)

sputnik

First artificial Earth satellite, it was launched by Moscow in 1957 and sparked U.S. fears of Soviet dominance in technology and outer space. It led to the creation of NASA and the s

arms race

Cold war competition between the U.S. and Soviet Union to build up their respective armed forces and weapons (missile gap, etc...). Oppenheimer put it this way "the USA and the USSR are like two scorpions in a bottle, both willing to sting each other).

military industrial complex

Eisenhower first coined this phrase when he warned American against it in his last State of the Union Address. He feared that the combined lobbying efforts of the armed services and industries that contracted with the military would lead to excessive Congressional spending

GI bill

Provided for college or vocational training for returning WWII veterans as well as one year of unemployment compensation. Also provided for loans for returning veterans to buy homes and start businesses. Levittown one of the largest post war building projects (homes for veterans).

Consumerism

A preoccupation with the purchasing of material goods. The latest gadget (keeping up with the Jones's)

corporate ladder

a series of increasingly important jobs that someone can do within a company. Men in the 1950's focused on their careers as corporate men.

cookie cutter

all the same (suburban America in the 1950's), conformity, etc...

television

1950s-60s

*Invented in the 1930s

*Seminal shows during the 1950s and 1960s included The Honeymooners, I Love Lucy, and The

Ed Sullivan Show

*By 1960, over forty million homes had televisions.

* was a status symbol within your neighborhood (especially when the color set came o

dr jonas salk

developed the polio vaccine

women in 1950s america

Women were stereotyped in the conservatism of the 1950's to stay in the home. More women were going to university, but it was still a fraction of the population. Women began to work later in life after the children had left the home.

representative richard nixon

Republican from California fashioned himself in Congress as a leading red (communist) hunter.

backlash against the new deal

Many in the 1950's saw the New Deal as socialism/communism and the programs FDR created were no longer seen as good for the nation. Supporters of the New Deal were targeted by Republicans as unpatriotic.

taft hartley act

Act that provides balance of power between union and management by designating certain union activities as unfair labor practices; also known as Labor-Management Relations Act (NLRB)

trumans election 1948

defeats dewey ® in a come from behind win. proposes a fair deal for all the american people.

*challenge southern whites about Jim Crow in the South. Truman signed a executive order to integrate the armed forces.

dixiecrats

southern Democrats who opposed Truman's position on civil rights. They caused a split in the Democratic party. Eventually the Southern Manifesto was guiding Southern congressman to block all legislation on civil rights.

HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee)

congressional committee that investigated possible subversive activities within the United States. Nixon, etc...

the anticommunism of the 1950s

was more of a legitimate response to a serious threat than a form of paranoia. scare in the 1950's

alger hiss case

a court case involving Alger Hiss, a U.S. State Department official accused of passing secrets to the Soviet Union, that contributed to a growing fear of subversion during the early Cold War; in 1950 a federal grand jury convicted Hiss of perjury, but his guilt in regard to espionage was not proven

mccarran act

required all communist organizations to register with the government and to provide lists of members

ethel and julius rosenberg

American communists who were executed after having been found guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage. The charges were in relation to the passing of information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union. Theirs was the first execution of civilians for espionage in United States history

Senator Joseph McCarthy (McCarthyism)

1950s; Wisconsin senator claimed to have list of communists in American gov't, but no credible evidence; took advantage of fears of communism post WWII to become incredibly influential;"McCarthyism" was the fearful accusation of any dissenters of being communists

blacklisting

list of people suspected to be communists, people on the list were prevented from finding work.

hollywood ten

Group of people in the film industry who were jailed for refusing to answer congressional questions regarding Communist influence in Hollywood

nixon’s checkers speech

Ike's VP candidate addressing bribery charges by asking if his daughters should give back their Cocker Spaniel

Highway Act of 1956

was enacted on June 29, 1956, when a hospitalized Dwight D. Eisenhower signed this bill into law. Appropriating $25 billion for the construction of 40,000 miles (64,000 km) of interstate highways over a 10-year period, it was the largest public works project in American history to that point.

Kennedy vs. Nixon

race for the 1960 presidency. Kennedy's superior presence on television helped him in the vote, despite Nixon's effective use of the radio for campaigning.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

- Satire of the Cold War

- fluoride conspiracy drives a general to initiate a nuclear war.

- Soviets have a doomsday machine

- a plane gets through and begins the end of the world.