Cold War and Korean War

Causes of Cold War

beliefs, events, arm race, and resentment

Cold War

an era of high tension and bitter rivalry between the US and SU following the end of WWII from 1945-1990

Capitalism

free elections, multiple political parties, businesses owned by individuals, differrent social classes, freedom of speech

Communism

one-party state, businesses owned by the state, no different social classes, government controls people’s lives, strong censorship

Satellite nations

countries that are dominated politically and economically by another country; SU- East Germany, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Albania

Containment

US policy adapted in the late 1940s to stop the spread of communism; provide economic and military aid to countries opposing SU

Iron Curtain

an imaginary line dividing communist countries in the Soviet bloc from countries in Western Europe during the Cold War

Truman Doctrine

pledge to provide economic and military aid to countris threatened by communism; gave $400 million to Greece and Turkey; successful

Marshall Plan

the US financial aid program to rebuild the economies of European countries in order to create stable conditions for democratic governments

Berlin Airlift

SU created blockade around West Berlin, Truman sent in supplies via airplane, SU lifted blockade May 12 1949

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organizagion; main US-led military alliance against the SU throughout the duration of the Cold War

Warsaw Pact

a collective defense treats established by the SU and 7 other Soviet satellite states in Central and Eastern Europe in response to NATO

Mao Zedong

communist party leader of China; received aid from SU; worked to win peasant support

Chiang Kai-Shek

nationalist leader of China; supported by US; disliked by Chinese communists

Korean War

fought to stop communism from spreading south of China

38th Parallel

divides Korea into 2 sections; North (supported by SU) and South (supported by US)

Douglas MacArthur

general who led US troops in the Korean War

Loyalty Review Program

screening of all federal employees to determine their loyalty to the US government

House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)

looked for “un-American” things; created a hysteria; investigated movie industry

Hollywood Ten

did not cooperate with HUAC; went to jail for contempt of congress and were blacklisted

Alger Hiss

US state department official; accused if membership in a communist espionage ring

Whittaker Chambers

charged Hiss of being communist in the 1930s and 40s; declared Hiss passed him secret reports from the state department

Pumpkin Papers

copies of the documents Chambers said Hiss passed him during the 1930s; Chambers said Hiss stole it

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

accused of heading a spy ring that passed top secret information concerning the atomic bomb to the SU; found guilty of espionage and executed by the electric chair

Venona Documents

proved that Hiss and the Rosenbergs were guilty

Joe McCarthy

republican senator from Wisconsin, claimed there were 205 known communists in state department, accused people of disloyalty without evidence, created a witch hunt and hysteria

Army v McCarthy

accused army of being and protecting communists, people saw how abusive and off base McCarthy was, people afraid to speak out about public and political issues

McCarthyism

spreading fear and making baseless charges

Brinkmanship

willingness to threaten nuclear war in the interest of maintaining peace

Massive retaliation

policy of threatening to use nuclear weapons if a communist state tried to seize territory by force

CIA

central intelligence agency

Nikita Khrushchev

new leader of the SU

Eisenhower Doctrine

sent money to the Middle East

Arms Race

nuclear arms race between US and SU

Sputnik

first artificial satellite to orbit earth; Russia beat US to space

NASA

created by Eisenhower; National Aeronautics and Space Administration

GI Bill

make low-interest mortgages available, granted stipends covering tuition and expenses fo rveterans attending college or trade school

Baby boom

a dramatic increase in the birthrate in the US following WWII

Jonas Salk

invented a vaccine for Polio, saved millions of children

Levittown

planned suburban community; solution to housing shortage after WWII; apply the lessons of the assembly line, division of labor, and mass production to the construction of housing

Interstate Highway System

network of high-speed roads; pushed by Eisenhower

Nuclear fallout

radioactive particles dispersed by a nuclear explosion

Women's role in the 1950s

housewives

When did the US enter the Korean War?

June 27 1950

When and where was a ceasefire signed?

July 27 1953, Panmunjom

Where was the US trapped in July 1950?

Pusan

Where did Douglas MacArthur plan to land the incoming troops? Why? Was it successful?

Inchon, land troops behind enemy lines and force them to retreat, yes

3 reasons Truman wanted to limit the war to Korea

make sure lives are not wasted, security of the country and world, and to prevent a third world war