Regents Prep USH - Cold War

Watergate Scandal

A break-in at the Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate complex in Washington was carried out under the direction of White House employees. Disclosure of the White House involvement in the break-in and subsequent cover-up forced President Nixon to resign in 1974 to avoid impeachment.

Collapse of the Soviet Union (1991)

From 1990-1991, Gorbachev struggled to deal with Lithuania and other problems unleashed by his reforms; he tried to appease conservatives who complained of the growing disorder in the Soviet Union, and he tried to accommodate the liberals, who favored a new kind of decentralized Soviet federation. In August of 1991, a group of discontented rightists (conservative leaders of the traditional Soviet institutions- army, government, KGB, military industries) arrested Gorbachev and attempted to seize power. After Yeltsin and a mob of Russians stopped the coup, Gorbachev pleaded for the Soviet republics to remain in the Union, but one by one they declared their independence and in December of 1991 the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus announced that the Soviet Union "ceased to exist" and would be replaced by a Commonwealth of Independent States. Gorbachev turned over his responsibilities of commander-in-chief to Yeltsin in December 1991.

Kent State

Ohio college where an anti-war protest got way out of hand, the Nat'l Guard was called in and killed 3 students (innocent & unarmed, wounded 9) indiscriminate fire of M-1 rifles

LBJ

Vise President to JFK,1963-1969, democrat, passed civil rights act of 64, included a program called Great Society, presidency based on Vietnam war, passed Gulf of Tonkin and said "to take any measures necessary",decided to escalate American involvement in Vietnam, proved to be extremely unpopular

War Powers Act of 1973

Gave any president the power to go to war under certain circumstances, but required that he could only do so for 90 days before being required to officially bring the matter before Congress.

Bay of Pigs Invasion

failed invasion of Cuba in 1961 when a force of 1,200 Cuban exiles, backed by the United States, landed at the Bay of Pigs.

Warsaw Pact

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

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.

Truman Doctrine (1947)

stated that the U.S. would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid to resist internal left-wing (and therefore it was assumed "communist") movements and prevent them from falling into the Soviet sphere. Early example of application of "containment" doctrine - that the US would take action to stop spread of communism. Some see this as beginning of Cold War.

McCarthyism

The term associated with Senator Joseph McCarthy who led the search for communists in America during the early 1950s through his leadership in the House Un-American Activities Committee.

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.

Detente

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

Red Scare

fear that communists were working to destroy the American way of life

Marshall Plan

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

Containment Policy

US policy to stop expansion of Soviet Union and Communism

Korean War (1950-1953)

began as a civil war between North and South Korea (which had been established by the USSR and US respectively), but the conflict soon became international when, under U.S. leadership, the United Nations joined to support South Korea and China entered to aid North Korea. The war left Korea divided along the 38th parallel. The Korean War was an example of the U.S. Cold War policies of containment and militarization, setting the stage for the further enlargement of the U.S. defense perimeter in Asia (Vietnam)

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

A 1949 defense alliance initiated by the US, Canada, and 10 Western European nations

Nuclear Proliferation

the spread of nuclear weapons

Space Race

A competition of space exploration between the United States and Soviet Union.

Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)

A confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War.

Alger Hiss

A former State Department official who was accused of being a Communist spy and was convicted of perjury. The case was prosecuted by Richard Nixon.

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

Arrested in the Summer of 1950 and executed in 1953, they were convicted of conspiring to commit espionage by passing plans for the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union.

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

Reganomics

the economic policies of Ronald Regan; also called supply-side economics. Regan hoped to promote growth and investment by deregulating business, reducing corporate tax rates, and lowering federal tax rates for upper and middle income Americans

1968 Democratic National Convention

significant event in presidential election of 1968; demonstrated the confusion and lack of unity among Democrats; outside, protests and police brutality

Civil Rights Act of 1964

outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin

Voting Rights Act of 1965

a law designed to help end formal and informal barriers to African-American suffrage

Fallout Shelter

a shelter to protect occupants from the fallout from an atomic bomb

Great Society

President Johnson called his version of the Democratic reform program the Great Society. In 1965, Congress passed many Great Society measures, including Medicare, civil rights legislation, and federal aid to education.