Cold War and Civil Rights Movement Review

Flashcards covering the Cold War era and the Civil Rights Movement based on lecture notes.

Cold War

An era of distrust and hostility between the U.S. and the Soviet Union spanning from $1945$ to $1991$.

Yalta Conference

The meeting where Stalin agreed to allow self-determination in Eastern Europe.

Soviet satellites

Nations in Eastern Europe that were forced to become communist and were heavily influenced by the Soviet Union.

Iron Curtain

The division in Europe between the capitalist/democratic west and the totalitarian/communist east.

Containment

The American foreign policy designed to stop Soviet influence and the spread of communism.

Truman Doctrine

An American foreign policy that promised economic and military assistance to any nation threatened by communism.

Marshall Plan

An American foreign policy that offered $13$ billion to help rebuild post-war Europe and prevent it from becoming communist.

NATO

A military alliance among democratic countries.

Warsaw Pact

A military alliance among communist countries.

Berlin Airlift

An American and British effort to keep West Berlin non-communist by dropping in supplies for $11$ months.

Domino Theory

The American fear that communist nations would turn their neighbors communist.

Korean War

A conflict from $1950$ - $1953$ that resulted in a communist North Korea and a non-communist South Korea split at the $38^{th}$ Parallel.

Brinkmanship

The policy of threatening to use nuclear weapons and the willingness to go to the brink of war.

Massive Retaliation

An American policy to attack every major Soviet city and military target.

Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)

A condition where large nuclear stockpiles ensured each side could destroy the other.

McCarthyism

An anti-communist movement led by Senator Joseph McCarthy characterized by making unsupported accusations against suspected communists.

Interstate Highway System

Created under Eisenhower to evacuate cities during a potential nuclear attack.

Sputnik

The first satellite launched into space by the Soviet Union, which began the Space Race in $1957$.

National Defense Education Act

A law promoted to fund university research and education in math, science, and technology.

NASA

An agency created to help the U.S. catch up to the Soviet Union in the Space Race.

Military Industrial Complex

A concept Eisenhower warned about involving overspending and over-prioritizing the military over basic American needs.

Berlin Wall

A permanent structure created to separate West and East Berlin to prevent people from leaving East Germany.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

A congressional authorization allowing President Johnson to defend Vietnam at any cost.

Operation Rolling Thunder

The U.S. military's bombing campaign against North Vietnam.

Credibility Gap

The difference between what the government was saying about the Vietnam War and the reality of the war.

Tet Offensive

A $1968$ Vietcong attack that served as the turning point of the war, leading to Johnson's decision not to seek re-election.

Vietnamization

An American plan to gradually withdraw troops and replace U.S. efforts with South Vietnamese efforts.

War Powers Act (1973)

Legislation that limits the ability of the President to conduct war efforts.

$26^{th}$ Amendment

An amendment that lowered the voting age to $18$ years.

Détente

A policy defined as a relaxation of tension, notably during Nixon's administration through dialogues like SALT.

Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars)

Reagan's plan to use a satellite and laser shield in space to intercept missiles.

INF Treaty

A treaty signed at the Reykjavik Summit that eliminated American and Soviet intermediate-range nuclear weapons in Europe.

Glasnost

A reform that allowed for more freedom of speech to discuss ways to fix the USSR.

Perestroika

A reform that allowed for the adoption of capitalism in some areas of the Soviet economy.

Plessy vs Ferguson (1896)

A Supreme Court case that established the doctrine of Separate but Equal.

Brown vs Board of Education

A ruling that stated separate facilities are inherently unequal, overturning Plessy vs Ferguson.

Thurgood Marshall

The NAACP lawyer who successfully argued the Brown vs Board of Education case.

Little Rock Nine

Nine African-American students who enrolled at Central High School and were protected by the $101^{st}$ Airborne to force integration.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

A protest organized by Martin Luther King, Jr. that resulted in the integration of city buses.

SCLC

An organization formed to use activism and non-violent protest to end segregation.

SNCC

An student-based organization centered on non-violent forms of protest.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

A law that outlawed discrimination based on race, religion, and gender and integrated restaurants and hotels.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

A law that banned literacy tests and sent federal voting officials into the South to protect voters.