HIST 2322 Quiz 1 Study Guide

Atlantic Charter

(August 14, 1941) joint declaration by FDR and Churchill, outlining their vision for a post-WWII world before the US entered the War; no territorial gains, self-determination of government, freedom of choice (of government), free trade, economic cooperation, freedom from fear and want (of war), freedom of the seas (for shipping), disarmament/system of general security

Executive Order 8802

(June 25, 1941) prohibited racial discrimination in the defense industry, establishing the Fair Employment Practice Committee (FEPC) to enforce the policy; signed by FDR as a response to a threatened mass march on Washington by A. Philip Randolph

Marshall Plan

(April 3, 1948) European Recovery Program; US initiative providing over $13 billion in aid from 1948 to 1951 to help rebuild Western European economies devastated by WWII; proposed by Secretary of State George C. Marshall

The Long Telegram

(February 22, 1946) 8,000-word cable sent by American diplomat George F. Kennan, outlining his interpretation of the USSR’s motives and recommending “containment” to counter Soviet expansionism; Kennan believed that the hostility of Soviet culture was necessary for their perpetual war world, but that the system was internally unstable

Fair Deal

(1949) Truman’s domestic policy agenda announced in the State of the Union address, built upon FDR’s New Deal; aimed to establish a national health-insurance system, address civil rights issues (such as lynching), repeal the Taft-Hartley Act, increase the federal minimum wage, expand public housing, provide federal aid to education, and expand Social Security coverage and benefits

Taft-Hartley Act

Labor Management Relations Act of 1947; US federal law that amended the National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) to curb union power and limit certain union activities, such as banning secondary boycotts, banning compulsory union membership, allowing employers to express their views against unionization, etc.

Election of 1948

(November 2, 1948) Democrat Truman defeated Republican Thomas E. Dewey, who was projected to win. Truman launched a cross-country whistle-stop campaign, speaking against the “do-nothing, good-for-nothing Republican Congress”

Berlin Blockade/Airlift

(1948) the USSR attempted to force the Western Allies out of Berlin by cutting off all land and water access to West Berlin.

(June 1948 - May 1949) the Berlin Airlift was the Western Allies’ response to supply the city’s 2 million+ residents with food, coal, and other necessities by plane

Korean War

(June 25, 1950 - July 27, 1953) armed conflict between North and South Korea and their respective allies; N. Korea was supported by China (and partly supported by the USSR), and S. Korea was supported by the UN led by the US; the end of the War reestablished a status quo/border between N. and S. Korea

Economic Bill of Rights/Second Bill of Rights

(January 11, 1944) FDR’s message to Congress on the State of the Union

the rights he mentioned are: 

• the right to a useful job in the industries/shops/farms/mines

• the right to earn enough to provide adequate food, clothing, and recreation

• the right of every farmer to raise and sell products for a decent living

• the right of every businessman to trade in an atmosphere free from unfair competition

• the right of every family to a decent home

• the right to adequate medical care and good health

• the right to adequate protection when old, sick, and/or unemployed

• the right to a good education

Communist Party

political party that advocates for the principles of communism, which include collective ownership of the means of production and the establishment of a classless society; the CPUSA closely followed the movements of the USSR

House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)

(1938) a committee made to investigate alleged disloyalty and rebel activities of individuals and groups suspected of having Communist ties

Executive Order 9835 (Federal Employee Loyalty Program)

(March 21, 1947) signed by Truman to establish the Federal Employee Loyalty Program, which investigated and screened all current and prospective government employees for “reasonable doubt” of disloyalty, driving by Cold War fears and anti-communism

Elizabeth Bentley

(1908-1963) American NKVD spymaster, recruited from within the CPUSA; served the USSR as the primary handler of multiple highly placed moles within the US federal government and the Office of Strategic Services from 1938 to 1945; exposed 2 networks of spies, naming more than 80 Americans who engaged in Soviet espionage (July 1948)

GI Bill

Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1994; US law providing benefits for returning WWII veterans, including education and home loans

The Four Freedoms

the freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want (right to a secure and healthy life), and the freedom from fear (right to live in a world free from war and physical aggression)

Containment

US foreign policy strategy of preventing the spread of communism beyond its existing borders through diplomatic, economic, and military measures, rather than attempting to roll back through communist gains; outlined by George F. Kennan in 1946 and adopted by Truman as the Truman Doctrine

NSC-68

(1950) secret National Security Council report completed by the US Department of State for Truman that called for a massive military buildup and an aggressive, worldwide policy of containment against the Soviet Union and communism

Congress of Industrial Organizations

(1935) American federation of labor unions founded by John L. Lewis to organize workers in mass production industries under one union, in contrast to the American Federation of Labor (AFL)’s approach that separated unions by craft

1946 Strike Wave

(April 1, 1946) 24 calendar day-long strike in which 400,000 coal miners went on strike for safer conditions, as well as increased health benefits

Wagner Act (National Labor Relations Act)

(1935) foundational US law that guaranteed private-sector employees the right to form join and assist unions, and to bargain collectively with their employers

Dixiecrats

formally known as the States’ Rights Democratic Party; a short-lived segregationist party that formed during the 1948 US presidential election by southern Democrats who opposed Truman’s push for civil rights/Fair Deal

Stalin’s 1946 Bolshoi Theatre speech

(February 9, 1946) election speech that sent a hardline, anti-capitalist tone for the post-WWII era; shifted the focus to Marxist-Leninist ideology, and was interpreted by American policymakers as a delcaration of ideological warfare

Clifford-Elsey Report

(September 24, 1946) “American Relations With The Soviet Union” authored by Clark M. Clifford, “contained the seeds of the Marshall Plan, the seeds of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the basic principles upon which the President relied for the Truman Doctrine”

McCarthyism

(1950-54) campaign against alleged communists in the US government and other institutions carried out under Sen. Joseph McCarthy; many were blacklisted or lost their jobs, despite many false accusations

Walter White

(1893-1955) civil rights leader and executive secretary of the NAACP from 1931 to 1955; conducted undercover investigations into lynchings and race riots in the Jim Crow South; lobbied presidents for federal anti-lynching laws, hired Thurgood Marshall (laying groundwork for the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision)

Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956

National Interstate and Defense Highways Act; established and funded the Interstate Highway System in the US, authorizingthe construction of 41,000 miles of high-speed, limited-access roads; signed by Eisenhower and inspired by Germany’s Autobahn

Grand Alliance

WWII military coalition formed by the US, the UK, and the Soviet Union to defeat the Axis powers; key figures include Churchill, FDR, and Stalin

Truman Doctrine

(March 1947) landmark US foreign policy that committed the US to providing economic and military assistance to countries resisting communist subversion/aggression; provided the foundation for US containment policy during the Cold War, beginning with aid to Greece and Turkey

George F. Kennan

(1904-2005) American diplomat and historian, best known for his Long Telegram; advocate of containment of USSR expansion during the Cold War

Midterm Election of 1946

Republicans won a landslide victory, taking control of both the House and the Senate for the first time since 1928, a result largely attributed to Truman’s declining approval ratings amid the post-war economy

Henry Wallace

(1888-1965) 33rd USA VP who served from 1941 to 1945 under FDR; 11th secretary of agriculture and 10th secretary of commerce; nominee of the new Progressive Party in the 1948 presidential election

“To Secure These Rights”

to protect and guarantee the fundamental freedoms and liberties that people possess, ensuring that they are not jeopardized or violated; it is the government’s primary purpose to safeguard these natural, unalienable rights for its citizens; title of a landmark 1947 report by the President’s Committee on Civil Rights

Executive Order 9981

(July 26, 1948) directive issued by Truman that abolished racial discrimination in the US Army, mandating equal treatment for all service members regardless of race, color, religion, or national origin

VENONA

US counterintelligence program initiated during WWII by the US Army’s Signal Intelligence Service; the Venona Papers revealed the identities of numerous Americans who were spies for the Soviet Union

Alger Hiss Case

(1904-1996) American government official who was accused in 1948 of spying for the Soviet Union in the 1930s; convicted of perjury in connection with this charge in 1950

Baby Boom

a temporary marked increase in the birth rate, especially the one following WWII

“The Glorious Thirty”

(Les Trentes Glorieuses) period of exceptional economic and social progress in France and other Western countries from roughly 1945 to 1975, following WWII; rising wages, increased productivity, and the establishment of “welfare states” with social benefits; term coined by Jean Fourastie in 1979