H. US history (11th grade final) BISS

Nazi-Soviet Pact/ Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact

A 10-year non-aggression treaty, it included a secret protocol partitioning Poland, it allowed Germany to invade Poland in 1939, without fear of Soviet interference, initiating World War II.

American Neutrality/Lend Lease Act

allowed the U.S. to supply war materials to Allied nations while maintaining neutrality, a shift from 1930s isolationism. President Roosevelt used it to provide over aide to Allies: Britain, the Soviet Union, and France, serving as the "arsenal of democracy" and overcoming neutrality laws.

Atlantic Charter/Four Freedoms

• Freedom of speech and expression: Everywhere in the world.

• Freedom of worship: Freedom for every person to worship God in their own way, everywhere in the world.

• Freedom from want: Economic understandings that secure a healthy peacetime life for inhabitants, everywhere in the world.

• Freedom from fear: A worldwide reduction of armaments to a point where no nation can commit physical aggression against any neighbor.

The Pacific War/Pacific Theatre

fought between Imperial Japan and the US across East Asia and the Pacific Ocean. Triggered by Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the conflict saw rapid Japanese expansion followed by a long Allied counter-offensive, culminating in the atomic bombings of Japan and its surrender in August 1945.

D-Day

was the massive Allied invasion of Normandy, France. It was the largest amphibious assault in history, landing over 156,000 U.S., British, and Canadian troops on five beaches. liberated Western Europe from Nazi Germany's occupation, ultimately serving as the turning point on the Western

Total war/Atomic Bombs

a military conflict that mobilizes a nation’s entire resources: economic, industrial, and human. It involves unrestricted weapons, disregard for conventional war laws, and the targeting of civilian infrastructure to destroy the enemy's ability to fight

Japanese Internment

the U.S. government forcibly relocated and incarcerated approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans—two-thirds of whom were U.S. citizens. Authorized by Executive Order 9066, this action was driven by wartime hysteria and racism rather than evidence of espionage, resulting in massive property loss and confinement in overcrowded barracks

Korematsu v. United States

(1944) was a landmark Supreme Court case upholding the legality of interning Japanese Americans during WWII. The Court ruled 6-3 that exclusion orders based on race were justified by "military necessity" and national security rather than racism, a decision now widely condemned and largely invalidated

United Nations

Conceived to replace the ineffective League of Nations and prevent future world wars. Founded to maintain international peace, security, and cooperation

Cold War/Truman Doctrine

Announced by President Harry S. Truman on March 12, 1947, a foundational U.S. Cold War policy pledging military and economic aid to nations resisting communism. Aimed initially at Greece and Turkey, it established the U.S. policy of "containment". shifted US role from isolationism to global intervention

Containment/George F. Kennan

an American diplomat and historian who formulated the strategy, the foundational U.S. foreign policy of the Cold War (1947–1989) designed to prevent the spread of Soviet communism.

The Marshall Plan

a U.S.-led initiative enacted in 1948 that transferred over $13 billion to rebuild Western European economies after World War II. it aimed to modernize industry, prevent the spread of communism, and establish stable democratic markets.

Berlin Airlift

a massive Allied operation that flew food, fuel, and supplies into West Berlin after the Soviet Union blockaded all land and water access to the city

Iron Curtain/Eastern Bloc/Soviet "Satellites"

the ideological, political, and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas, Soviet-aligned Eastern Europe and democratic Western Europe. nominally independent nations in Eastern Europe and Asia that were under heavy political, economic, and military control by the Soviet Union during the Cold War

Khrushchev/ Kitchen Debate/ US tour

an impromptu, heated 1959 debate between US Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, taking place in a model kitchen at the American National Exhibition in Moscow

Executive Order 9981

abolished racial discrimination in the United States Armed Forces and mandated equality of treatment and opportunity for all personnel regardless of race, color, religion, or national origin.

NSC-68

a foundational 1950 policy paper that shifted U.S. Cold War strategy toward a militarized containment of Communism

Deterrence/ Massive Retaliation/ Mutually Assured Destruction

a military doctrine stating that a full-scale nuclear attack by one superpower against another with second-strike capabilities results in the complete annihilation of both the attacker and defender

Arms Race/ Security Dilemma

a central concept in international relations where a state’s defensive actions to increase its security unintentionally threaten other states, triggering competitive arms races and escalating tensions. This cycle often results in reduced safety for all parties involved

HUAC

a powerful U.S. House of Representatives investigative committee established in 1938 to root out disloyalty, particularly Communist influence, during the Cold War

McCarthyism

a period of intense anti-communist suspicion in the US during the late 1940s to mid-1950s, characterized by unsubstantiated accusations, fear-mongering, and political repression.

Chinese Revolution (1949)

victory of the Chinese Communist Party over the Nationalist Party after a long civil war. Nationalist Party (Kuomintang/KMT) after a long civil war. This revolution ended decades of political instability, shifting power to a communist regime and forcing Nationalist leaders to flee to Taiwan

Korean War

a,proxy war of the Cold War between North Korea (supported by China and the Soviet Union) and South Korea (supported by the UN/USA). North Korean invasion to unify the peninsula, the conflict stalled near the 38th parallel,

Red Scare/ Black Scare/ Lavender Scare

moral panics driven by political repression, targeting communists, queer individuals, and Black civil rights advocates, respectively. They created a climate of fear, surveillance, and government-led firings in the federal government

Paul Robeson/ Edith Sampson

represented opposing approaches to Black American activism and international relations during the Cold War. While Robeson (a socialist-leaning artist) attacked US racism globally, Sampson (a lawyer and UN delegate) functioned as a "goodwill" ambassador for the State Department, aiming to prove American democracy worked for all races

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)/Brown II (1955)

State-sanctioned segregation of public schools was a violation of the 14th amendment and was therefore unconstitutional.

The "Doll Study" (Kenneth and Mamie Clarke)

a series of 1940s experiments by psychologists to measure the psychological effects of segregation on Black children. Using dolls identical except for skin color, they found children often preferred the white doll and assigned it positive traits

Montgomery Bus Boycott

mass protest against segregated public transit in Montgomery, Alabama, sparked by Rosa Parks' arrest. Led by Martin Luther King, Jr., the boycott, which led to a Supreme Court ruling declaring bus segregation unconstitutional

Emmett Till

An African-American boy who, at 14 years old, was abducted and lynched in Mississippi in 1955 after being accused of offending a white woman

Little Rock Crisis (1957)/ Massive Resistance

a pivotal civil rights confrontation where nine Black students (the Little Rock Nine) integrated Central High School in Arkansas. Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus used the National Guard to block them, prompting President Eisenhower to federalize the guard and send 101st Airborne troops to enforce integration

SNCC/ Diane Nash/ John Lewis

pivotal leaders in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, emerging from the Nashville student movement to drive key 1960s civil rights initiatives. They championed nonviolent, direct-action protests, such as the Nashville sit-ins

Direct Action/ Freedom Rides/ Freedom Summer

nonviolent campaigns that targeted segregation and disenfranchisement in the American South. These movements, led by SNCC, CORE, and others, used public confrontation to force federal intervention and secure voting rights

MFDP/ Fannie Lou Hamer

American voting and women's rights activist, community organizer, and leader of the civil rights movement. She was the vice-chair of the Freedom Democratic Party, which she represented at the 1964 Democratic National Convention.

1964 Civil Rights Act/ LBJ

Lyndon B. Johnson signed the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law on July 2, 1964, It abolished legal segregation in public accommodations and outlawed employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

White flight/ Red-Lining/ Racial Covenants

American practices that enforced segregation and created deep-seated racial wealth disparities. Redlining (financial disinvestment in minority neighborhoods) and racial covenants (legal deed restrictions excluding non-whites) forced minority populations into specific areas, while white flight (the exodus of white residents to suburbs) occurred as neighborhoods integrated, resulting in lasting economic and environmental inequities

Vietnam War/ Gulf of Tonkin Resolution/ Operation Rolling Thunder

a sustained U.S. aerial bombing campaign against North Vietnam, authorized by President Lyndon B. Johnson following the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in August 1964. It failed

Anti-war protests/ Dow Chemical/ Draft resistance

Anti-war protests in the late 1960s, particularly against Dow Chemical (the sole napalm provider), became focal points of student radicalization and draft resistance. Violent clashes, such as the Oct. 1967 "Dow Day" at UW–Madison, occurred as protestors targeted corporate recruiters, signaling a shift to active resistance against the Vietnam War and the Selective Service system

Malcolm X/Black Nationalism

a pivotal proponent of Black Nationalism, defining it as a philosophy of self-determination, self-defense, and economic independence for African Americans. He advocated for Black control of their own communities, politics, and businesses, shifting from Nation of Islam separatism to a broader human rights focus in 1964

Betty Friedan/ The Feminine Mystique/ The Problem that has no name

refers to the widespread, unspoken unhappiness and dissatisfaction felt by American housewives in the 1950s and early 1960s. Betty Friedan described it as a deep, creeping, and solitary yearning for personal identity, purpose, and fulfillment beyond the roles of wife, mother, and homemaker