WH: Unit 8 (shortened)

Big Three

allies during WWII; Soviet Union - Stalin, United Kingdom - Churchill, United States - Roosevelt

Tehran Conference

First major meeting between the Big Three (United States, Britain, Russia) at which they planned the 1944 assault on France and agreed to divide Germany into zones of occupation after the war (Soviet focus on freeing eatern europe while B + US focus on western europe

Yalta Conference

1945 Meeting with US president FDR, British Prime Minister(PM) Winston Churchill, and and Soviet Leader Stalin during WWII to plan for post-war

Potsdam Conference

July 26, 1945 - Allied leaders Truman, Stalin and Churchill met in Germany to set up zones of control and to inform the Japanese that if they refused to surrender at once, they would face total destruction.

Cold War

A conflict that was between the US and the Soviet Union. The nations never directly confronted each other on the battlefield but deadly threats went on for years.

United Nations

An international organization formed after WWII to promote international peace, security, and cooperation.

Iron Curtain

A political barrier that isolated the peoples of Eastern Europe after WWII, restricting their ability to travel outside the region (Churchills speech claimed the USSR wanted to expand communism)

Containment

American policy of resisting further expansion of communism around the world

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

MAD: Mutual Assured Destruction

idea that both sides would face certain destruction in a nuclear war

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 space race.

Marshall Plan

A United States program of economic aid for the reconstruction of Europe (1948-1952)

Proxy War

A war instigated by a major power that does not itself participate

Berlin Airlift

airlift in 1948 that supplied food and fuel to citizens of west Berlin when the Russians closed off land access to Berlin

Berlin Wall

A wall separating East and West Berlin built by East Germany in 1961 to keep citizens from escaping to the West

Korean War

The conflict between Communist North Korea and Non-Communist South Korea. The United Nations (led by the United States) helped South Korea.

Vietnam War

A prolonged war (1954-1975) between the communist armies of North Vietnam who were supported by the Chinese and the non-communist armies of South Vietnam who were supported by the United States.

Domino Theory

A theory that if one nation comes under Communist control, then neighboring nations will also come under Communist control.

Zionism

A policy for establishing and developing a national homeland for Jews in Palestine.

Nakba

1948 mass exodus of +750k Arabs from Palestine

Bay of Pigs

In April 1961, a group of Cuban exiles organized and supported by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency landed on the southern coast of Cuba in an effort to overthrow Fidel Castro. When the invasion ended in disaster, President Kennedy took full responsibility for the failure.

Cuban Missile Crisis

The 1962 confrontation bewteen US and the Soviet Union over Soviet missiles in Cuba.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

a group of 28 countries that has agreed to protect each other in case of attack; founded in 1949

Warsaw Pact

An alliance between the Soviet Union and other Eastern European nations. This was in response to the NATO

Communist Bloc

The group of Eastern European nations that fell under the control of the Soviet Union following World War II.

Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO)

1954-1977

*Created to oppose the spread of Communism in Southeast Asia after France's withdrawal from Indochina

*The organization was meant to justify an American presence in Vietnam, though some members did not support America in this effort

*Original members included the US, Britain, France, Pakistan, Thailand, and the Philippines

*Dismantled in 1977

Central Treaty Organization

Pact between Western nations that wanted to fight communism in the middle east.

John F. Kennedy

President of the US during the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis

Nikita Khrushchev

A Soviet leader during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Also famous for denouncing Stalin and allowed criticism of Stalin within Russia.

Cultural Revolution

Campaign in China ordered by Mao Zedong to purge the Communist Party of his opponents and instill revolutionary values in the younger generation.

Ho Chi Minh

Communist leader of North Vietnam

Viet cong

A Communist-led army and guerrilla force in South Vietnam that fought its government and was supported by North Vietnam.

Khmer Rouge

A group of Communist rebels who seized power in Cambodia in 1975.

Cambodian Genocide

1975-1979 attempt to form Communist peasant farming society resulted in deaths by starvation, overwork, and executions. Led by Pol Pot

Algerian War for Independence

Began in 1954 with Algerians campaigning for independence from France.

Irish Republican Army

a militant organization of Irish nationalists who used terrorism and guerilla warfare in an effort to drive British forces from Northern Ireland and achieve a united independent Ireland

Basque Homeland and Freedom (ETA)

A revolutionary group of northern Spain who used terrorist attacks to force the government to grant territorial independence.

Shining Path

a terrorist group formed in Peru in the late 1960s as a splinter group from the communist party of Peru

Martin Luther King Jr.

U.S. Baptist minister and civil rights leader. A noted orator, he opposed discrimination against blacks by organizing nonviolent resistance and peaceful mass demonstrations. He was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. Nobel Peace Prize (1964)

Nelson Mandela

South Africa: fought violently against apartheid before transitioning to nonviolence after jail

Ronald Reagan

1981-1989,"Great Communicator" Republican, conservative economic policies, replaced liberal Democrats in upper house with consevative Democrats or "boll weevils" , at reelection time, jesse jackson first black presdiential candidate, Geraldine Ferraro as VP running mate (first woman)

Mikhail Gorbachev

Head of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991. His liberalization effort improved relations with the West, but he lost power after his reforms led to the collapse of Communist governments in eastern Europe.

Perestroika

the restructuring of the economy and the government instituted in the Soviet Union in the 1990s

Glasnot

a policy of the Soviet government allowing freer discussion of social problems

Detente

A policy of reducing Cold War tensions that was adopted by the United States during the presidency of Richard Nixon.

SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks)

a series of bilateral conferences and international treaties signed between the United States and the Soviet Union. T

Muslim League

advocated for a separate nation for Muslims in South Asia

Camp David Accords

signed by President Jimmy Carter, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in September 1978, established a framework for a historic peace treaty concluded between Israel and Egypt in March 1979.

Oslo Peace Accords

a pivotal milestone in Israeli-Palestinian relations, aimed at propelling the peace process forward and providing for the expansion of Palestinian self-rule throughout most of the West Bank.

African National Congress

Founded on 8 January 1912 in Bloemfontein as the South African Native National Congress, the organisation was formed to advocate for the rights of black South Africans.

Commonwealth of Independent States

an association that coordinates the facilitation of free movement of goods, services, labor force, and capital between member states. It also promotes cooperation on security matters.

Tiananmen Square Protests

The Tiananmen Square protests, known in China as the June Fourth Incident, were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China, lasting from 15 April to 4 June 1989.