1945-Present Study Guide

Chinese Civil War

Chinese Civil War

War between communist Mao Zse Tong and nationalist Chaing-Kai Shek. The communists took over and forced the nationalists to retreat to Taiwan

Chinese revolution of 1949

A political revolution in China led by Mao Zedong. After several years of fighting the Guomindang, the communists won control of the country in 1949.

Mao Zedong (1893-1976)

Leader of the Communist Party in China that overthrew Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalists. Established China as the People's Republic of China and ruled from 1949 until 1976.

Guomindang

Nationalist political party founded on democratic principles by Sun Yat-sen in 1912. After 1925, the party was headed by Chiang Kai-shek, who turned it into an increasingly authoritarian movement.

Chiang Kai-shek

General and leader of Nationalist China after 1925. Although he succeeded Sun Yat-sen as head of the Guomindang, he became a military dictator whose major goal was to crush the communist movement led by Mao Zedong.

Long March

The 6,000-mile (9,600-kilometer) flight of Chinese Communists from southeastern to northwestern China. The Communists, led by Mao Zedong, were pursued by the Chinese army under orders from Chiang Kai-shek.

Impact of Japanese Invasion on Civil War

The invasion of the Japanese temporarily halted the Chinese Civil War, as both the Nationalist and Communist parties worked together to resist this foreign aggression.

Taiwan

About 100 miles off China's southeastern coast,used to be a providence of China for several hundereds years, and the people of China fled to this country for nationalism

people's communes

Large-scale rural communities first implemented during the Great Leap Forward that were in charge of nearly all aspects of political, social, and economic life in the Chinese countryside from the late 1950s until the early 1980s, when they were disbanded and replaced by a system of household and village-based agricultural production.

Great Leap Forward

Started by Mao Zedong, combined collective farms into People's Communes, failed because there was no incentive to work harder, ended after 2 years.

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.

Sino-Soviet Split

A rift in the 1960s between the communist powers of the Soviet Union and China, fueled by China's opposition to Soviet moves toward peaceful coexistence with the US

Deng Xiaoping

Communist Party leader who seen as responsible for Chinese economic reforms after the death of Mao Zedong in 1976.

Tiananmen Square

Site in Beijing where Chinese students and workers gathered to demand greater political openness in 1989. The demonstration was crushed by Chinese military with great loss of life.

one child policy

A program established by the Chinese government in 1979 to slow population growth in China.

European Economic Community

The EEC (also known as the Common Market) was an alliance formed by Italy, France, West Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg in 1957 and dedicated to developing common trade policies and reduced tariffs; it gradually developed into the European Union.

Marshall Plan

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

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

an international organization created in 1949 by the North Atlantic Treaty for purposes of collective security

Warsaw Pact

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

Iron Curtain

Winston Churchill's term for the Cold War division between the Soviet-dominated East and the U.S.-dominated West.

Berlin Wall

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

Berlin Airlift

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

proxy wars

after WWII many powerful countries used smaller countries to fight one another in wars called proxy wars.

38th parallel

Line that divided Korea - Soviet Union occupied the north and United States occupied the south, during the Cold War.

domino theory

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

nuclear arms race

A competition for supremacy in nuclear warfare between the United States, the Soviet Union, and their respective allies during the Cold War.

James Bond

Fictional British spy invented during the Cold War by novelist Ian Fleming. A perfect example of Cold War fiction, this spy represents the ideal Westerner intellectually, physically, and technologically.

Nikita Khrushchev

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

Fidel Castro

Cuban socialist leader who overthrew a dictator in 1959 and established a Marxist socialist state in Cuba (born in 1927)

Cuban Missile Crisis

The 1962 confrontation between US and the Soviet Union over Soviet missiles in Cuba. Scared US citizens because missiles very close to South Florida.

De-Stalinization

Khrushchev's policy of purging the Soviet Union of Stalin's memory; monuments of Stalin were destroyed; Stalin's body was moved outside the Kremlin Wall; Khrushchev did this because he disliked Stalin for jailing and killing loyal Soviet citizens.

detente

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

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

A policy initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev that involved restructuring of the social and economic status quo in communist Russia towards a market based economy and society

glasnost

A policy of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev which called for more openness with the nations of West, and a relaxing of restraints on Soviet citizenry.

"miracle year" of 1989

Massive demonstrations, last-minute efforts at reforms, and the breaching of the Berlin Wall, lead to the overthrowing of communism in Eastern Europe.

Boris Yeltsin

President of the Russian Republic in 1991. Helped end the USSR and force Gorbachev to resign.

Socialist Realism

Attempt within the USSR to relate formal culture to the masses in order to avoid the adoption of Western European cultural forms; begun under Joseph Stalin; fundamental method of Soviet fiction, art, and literary criticism.

Ronald Reagan

first elected president in 1980 and elected again in 1984. He ran on a campaign based on the common man and "populist" ideas. Iran released hostages on his Inauguration Day in 1980. He cut out many welfare and public works programs. He used the Strategic Defense Initiative to avoid conflict. His meetings with Gorbachev were the first steps to ending the Cold War. He was also responsible for the Iran-contra Affair which bought hostages with guns.

Margaret Thatcher

leader of conservatives in Great Britain who came to power. Pledged to limit social welfare, restrict union power, and end inflation. Formed Thatcherism, in which her economic policy was termed, and improved the British economic situation. She dominated British politics in 1980s, and her government tried to replace local property taxes with a flat-rate tax payable by every adult.

national self determination

The notion that peoples should be able to choose their own national governments through democratic majority-rule elections and live free from outside interference in nation-states with clearly defined borders.

conjuncture

When a bunch of events all start to combine at the same time. Occurred with decolonization.

Indian National Congress

A movement and political party founded in 1885 to demand greater Indian participation in government. Its membership was middle class, and its demands were modest until World War I. Led after 1920 by Mohandas K. Gandhi, appealing to the poor.

Mohandas Gandhi

Leader of the Indian independence movement and advocate of nonviolent resistance. After being educated as a lawyer in England, he returned to India and became leader of the Indian National Congress in 1920. Advocated for toleration for Muslims and Hindus alike.

Jawaharlal Nehru

Indian statesman. He succeeded Mohandas K. Gandhi as leader of the Indian National Congress. He negotiated the end of British colonial rule in India and became India's first prime minister (1947-1964). Initially rejected partition but agreed when no other path seemed possible.

Muslim League

an organization formed in 1906 to protect the interests of India's Muslims, which later proposed that India be divided into separate Muslim and Hindu nations

Partition

After gaining independence from Great Britain in 1947, India was separated into two countries Pakistan for Muslims and India for Hindus; led to conflict as well as population displacement and resettlement

nonalignment

The policy of some developing nations to refrain from aligning with either the United States or the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Ho Chi Minh

1950s and 60s; communist leader of North Vietnam; used geurilla warfare to fight anti-comunist, American-funded attacks under the Truman Doctrine; brilliant strategy drew out war and made it unwinnable.

American War

U.S. troops go into Vietnam to aid the south which is bad. No one wants to fight there and they get stuck there. Overall not a smart war to get involved in.

Balfour Declaration

Statement issued by Britain's Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour in 1917 favoring the establishment of a Jewish national homeland in Palestine.

Palestine

A territory in the Middle East on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Disputed with Israel.

Israel

A Jewish state on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, both in antiquity and again founded in 1948 after centuries of Jewish diaspora. Disputed with Palestine.

infitada

the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, beginning in 1987.

Gamal Abdel Nasser

He led the coup which toppled the monarchy of King Farouk and started a new period of modernization and socialist reform in Egypt

Muslim Brotherhood

Egyptian religious and nationalist movement founded by Hasan al-Banna in 1928; became an example for later fundamentalist movements in the Islamic world.

Suez Crisis

July 26, 1956, Nasser (leader of Egypt) nationalized the Suez Canal, Oct. 29, British, French and Israeli forces attacked Egypt. UN forced British to withdraw; made it clear Britain was no longer a world power

Algeria

Ex-colony of France that gained independence through forceful attacks on the French.

Negritude

Literary movement in Africa; attempted to combat racial stereotypes of African culture; celebrated the beauty of black skin and African physique; associated with origins of African nationalist movements.

Kwame Nkrumah

Leader of nonviolent protests for freedom on the Gold Coast. When independence was gained, he became the first prime minister of Ghana. He develpoped economic projects, but was criticized for spending too much time on Pan-African efforts, and neglecting his own countries' issues

Pan-Africanism

A movement that stressed unity among all Africans

Jomo Kenyatta

A nationalist leader who fought to end oppressive laws against Africans; later became the first Prime Minister of Kenya

Nelson Mandela

ANC leader imprisoned by Afrikaner regime; released in 1990 and elected as president of South Africa in 1994. Major advocate in the fight against apartheid.

Apartheid Laws

(no longer in effect) in South Africa that physically separated different races into different geographic areas. This promoted political and economic discrimination to nonwhites.

Islamic fundamentalism

A movement within both the Shiite and Sunni Muslim traditions to return to a more conservative, religious-based society and state. Often associated with a rejection of Western culture and with a political aim to merge civic and religious authority.

jihad

a struggle or fight against the enemies of Islam; the spiritual struggle within oneself against sin

Iranian Revolution

(1978-1979) a revolution against the shah of Iran led by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, which resulted in Iran becoming an Islamic republic with Khomeini as its leader. Led to Islamist theocracy as the main form of government.

Ayatollah Khomeini

Shi'ite philosopher and cleric who led the overthrow of the shah of Iran in 1979 and created an Islamic Republic of Iran.

Saddam Hussein

Was a dictator in Iraq who tried to take over Iran and Kuwait violently in order to gain the land and the resources. He also refused to let the UN into Iraq in order to check if the country was secretly holding weapons of mass destruction.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

President of Iran from 2005-2013 who rolled back reforms and introduced more hardline conservative policies.

Diego Rivera

Mexican artist of the period after the Mexican Revolution; famous for murals painted on walls of public buildings; mixed romantic images of the Indian past with Christian symbols and Marxist ideology.

dollar diplomacy

Foreign policy created under President Taft that had the U.S. exchanging financial support ($) for the right to "help" countries make decisions about trade and other commercial ventures. Basically it was exchanging money for political influence in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Getulio Vargas

Dictator of Brazil from 1930 to 1945 and from 1951 to 1954. Defeated in the presidential election of 1930, he overthrew the government and created Estado Novo ('New State'), a dictatorship that emphasized industrialization.

Good Neighbor Policy

FDR's foreign policy of promoting better relations w/Latin America by using economic influence rather than military force in the region.

Anastacio Somoza Garcia

Demonstrated himself to be a staunch anticommunist U.S. ally, outlawed the communist party in Nicaragua during the Cold War. Aided the US in Cuba and persecuted Sandinistas.

Lazaro Cardenas

President of Mexico (1934-1940). He brought major changes to Mexican life by distributing millions of acres of land to the peasants, bringing representatives of workers and farmers into the inner circles of politics, and nationalizing the oil industry

Carmen Miranda

a Portuguese Brazilian samba singer, dancer, Broadway actress, and film star who was popular from the 1930s to the 1950s. Thought to be too Americanized.

PEMEX

Mexican Petroleum; a government agency that runs the oil industry in Mexico.

Juan Peron

President of Argentina (1946-1955, 1973-1974). As a military officer, he championed the rights of labor. Emphasizes working class and industrialization while limiting foreign intervention

Eva Peron

Wife of Juan Peron and champion of the poor in Argentina. She was a gifted speaker and popular political leader who campaigned to improve the life of the urban poor by founding schools and hospitals and providing other social benefits.

Sandinistas

Members of a leftist coalition that overthrew the Nicaraguan dictatorship of Anastasia Somoza in 1979 and attempted to install a socialist economy. The United States financed armed opposition by the Contras. They lost national elections in 1990. Murdered nationalist Augusto Sandino (hence the name).

Contras

Anti-Sandinista fighters in the Nicaraguan civil war. The Contras were secretly supplied with American military aid (Reagan), paid for with money the United States clandestinely made selling arms to Iran.

Augusto Pinochet

Chilean military leader who in a coup deposed Salvador Allende. Communist, an elected leader who created one-party rule dictatorship and ruled with an iron fist. Human rights abuses.

The History of Mexico

Mural by Diego Rivera which showcases Mexico's history from early native Aztec world to the "future/present" Mexico. The different walls surrounding the staircase portray important historical events like the conquest, the colonial period, the Independence movement, the Revolution, the 1920s and 30s, and the "present" Mexico.

Mexican Muralist Movement

Originally spawned by the need to promote pride and nationalism in a country rebuilding after revolution, the Mexican Muralist movement brought mural painting back from its staid retirement in the history of ancient peoples as a respected artistic form with a strong social potential. With it, a rich visual language emerged in public spaces as a means to make art accessible to all. It provided an opportunity to educate and inform the common man with its messages of cultural identity, politics, oppression, resistance, progress, and other important issues of the time

Existentialism

A philosophy based on the idea that people give meaning to their lives through their choices and actions, and it is not predetermined by some higher power.

Soren Kierkegaard

Danish philosopher, founder of existentianalism, said "truth is subjectivity", religion is a personal matter, and relationships with God require suffering, wrote "Either/Or", The Sickness Unto Death"

Jean-Paul Sartre

A French existentialist who said that people just "turned up" and that there was no God to help honest people. Also said "man is condemned to be free" and people had to choose their actions.

Simone Beauvoir

French author of The Second Sex (says that from beginning, women have been the "different" sex from that of the "normal" male). She argued for women's rights and was also a prominent figure in the existentialist movement. She died in 1986.

communication revolution

Modern transformation of communication technology, from the nineteenth-century telegraph to the present-day smart phone.

economic globalization

The spread of trade, transportation, and communication systems around the world in the interests of promoting worldwide commerce.

Asian tigers

Collective name for South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore-nations that became economic powers in the 1970s and 1980s.

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

an international organization that acts as a lender of last resort, providing loans to troubled nations, and also works to promote trade through financial cooperation.

transnational corporations

A company that conducts research, operates factories, and sells products in many countries, not just where its headquarters or shareholders are located.

income inequality

the unequal distribution of household or individual income across the various participants in an economy. Shows the gap between the rich and the poor's earnings.

2008 recession

Home buyers were not buying homes; banks began to close; major unemployment numbers; banks were given money (the $700 billion dollar bailout); the $185 billion dollar economic stimulus plan helped stop the recession.

World Trade Organization

International organization derived from the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) that promotes free trade around the world. Created for the supervision of international trade and the maintenance of trade agreements and negotiations.

NAFTA

North American Free Trade Agreement; allows open trade with US, Mexico, and Canada.

resistance to globalization

Responses to rising cultural and economic globalization has led to anti-IMF and anti-World Bank Protests, lots of religious fundamentalism and protests against free trade as it isn't always fair to developing countries.

informal economy

Economic activity that is neither taxed nor monitored by a government; and is not included in that government's Gross National Product; as opposed to a formal economy