US History WWII/Cold War

Isolationism

Isolationism

Withdrawal from foreign affairs

Disarmament

Reducing size of a country’s military

Kellog-Briand Pact (1927)

62 Countries signed a pact to outlaw war except for self defense purposes(nobody to enforce it though)

Appeasement

Giving in to demands to avoid larger conflict

Non-aggression pact(1939)

Pact between Hitler/Stalin not to attack each other (divide up Poland)

Lend-Lease Act(1941)

U.S. lends or leases arms and supplies to Allies

Antisemitism

Discrimination against Jews

Fascism (Italy-Mussolini, Spain-Franco)

Military controls all aspects of government

Totalitarianism (Russia-Stalin)

Government has complete control

Dictator (Germany-Hitler)

Complete control AND Anti-Semitism: Hatred of Jews

Militarism (Japan-Military Leaders)

These leaders run country

Immigration Laws

Jewish immigrants were accepted into France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, but only if they were wealthy and influential. (Had to get approval from Nazi officers).

Treaty of Versailles

League of Nations met after WWI and punished Germany harshly, they had to pay $33 billion, limit their army, and give up land. This angered Germany and led to the start of WWII.

Pearl Harbor

Japan attacked because they needed resources that the US was restricting, and FDR moved naval fleet from California to Hawaii which threatened Japanese control of the Pacific.

Genocide

Deliberate annihilation of a group of people. Modeled after US segregation and the taking of Native American lands (Manifest Destiny).

Holocaust

Nazi’s systematic elimination of European Jews

Yalta Conference (1945)

Roosevelt (U.S.), Churchill (Britain), Stalin (Soviet Union) met to plan the post-war peace situation.  The end plan basically divided up Germany into 3 zones to be occupied by the Allies (US, Britain, Soviet)

Rosie the Riveter

Example of how civilians were encouraged to join war effort, specifically women into the work force to increase production

Mobilization

Brought the US out of the Great Depression

Island Hopping

Military strategy of capturing islands in the Pacific to support an advance

Firebombing

Happened mostly in Japan, the US attempt to break Japanese morale and force surrender

Atomic Bombs

US dropped 2 bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 135,000 casualties, because Japan would not surrender

Bataan Death March

In the Pacific, Japan didn’t have enough resources to take care of their prisoners, so they forced 75,000 of them on a death walk to Bataan Peninsula

Battle of the Bulge

On the Western Front, the Allies won, it marked the last German offensive attack

Battle of Stalingrad

Germany launched attack on Stalingrad, Russia but were stopped by the Soviets. Turned the tide of the war in favor of the Allies

Nuremberg Trials

Held by the Allies against Nazi officials and punished them for their war crimes. If they were just following orders, it did not count as an excuse

Two Fronts

Main reason Germany lost the war fighting France in the West and the Soviets in the East

HUAC

stopping un-American activities occurring within our borders, aka persecuting communists

Internal Security Act

force all Communists to register with the government

McCarthyism

use all means to stop and condemn Communist activities in the United States

Potsdam Conference (1945)

Truman(U.S.), Churchill(Britain), Stalin (Soviet Union) met to decide the fate of Germany, Japan, and the rest of the world. Decided to rebuild Germany by splitting it into 4 sections (France got one too).

United Nations (1945)

International organization addressing political and military problems.

Cold War

Competition for global power and influence

Warsaw Pact

Soviet satellite nations connected

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Org, U.S. allies

Truman Doctrine

The U.S. will support free people resisting conquest.

Marshall Plan

The U.S. will financially support the emergence of free institutions in Europe.

Israel

UN gave Jews Irael to live in, but it was already occupied by Palestinians. This angered the Soviets who supported them and led to the area becoming a war zone.

GI Bill of Rights

Pensions/Loans to help war veterans start business, buy a home/farm, go to college

Taft-Hartley Act

Judges could end strikes, oath of ‘not Communist’, no ‘closed-shops’. Drastically reduced number of unions

Fair Deal

President Truman’s urging of Congress to reach full employment, higher minimum wage, national health insurance program, affordable housing, more aid to farmers, expansion of welfare benefits.

Committee on Civil Rights

Found widespread discrimination in most regions, in most areas of life. Federal government enforced some change.

Modern Republicanism

Concept under President Eisenhower “conservative with money, but liberal when it comes to human beings”.

Automation

Machines that could perform industrial jobs faster than human workers

Highway Act (1956)

expanded highway system

Baby Boom

soaring birth rates (30 million) in the 1950’s

African American Events:

Brown v Board of Education, Little Rock 9, Montgomery Bus Boycott