APUSH Time Period 8

Harry Truman

FDR’s VP; became president after FDR died; authorized the a-bombing of Japan

Potsdam Conference

postwar allied conference; Truman’s first meeting w Stalin

Iron Curtain

term coined by Winston Churchill; metaphorically divided eastern (communist) and western (non-communist) Europe

Berlin Airlift

US & UK response to the Soviet blockade of W. Berlin; flew in 2.3mil tons of food and supplies over 327 days

NATO

military alliance between 10 European nations, the US, and Canada; first time the US joins a military alliance during peacetime

Containment

US foreign policy under Truman; wanted to prevent the spread of communist but not eradicate it; communism could continue to exist where it already was

Truman Doctrine

US will support democratic nations resisting communism through economic and military aid; only implemented in Turkey & Greece

Marshall Plan

aid the economic recovery of post-war Europe; expectation that nations receiving aid will also receive US influence and be anti-communist

38th Parallel

the line dividing North & South Korea

General Douglas MacArthur

US general during Korean War; removed from his position for insubordination and lobbying Congress

Joseph McCarthy

senator known for spreading fear and paranoia regarding communism during the red scare

McCarthyism

using fear and paranoia to increase following

House Un-American Activities Committee

began investigating communism in 1947; often called people in for questioning with no evidence against them

Hollywood Ten

group of people in the movie industry who refused to cooperate with HUAC; blacklisted as a result

Alger Hiss

first American indicted for spying; convicted of perjury but not espionage

Rosenbergs

couple executed for espionage in 1953; accused of leaking a-bomb secrets to the Soviets; only circumstantial evidence

Dwight D. Eisenhower

2nd Cold War president; brinkmanship

Sputnik 1

satellite launched by the soviets in 1957; 1st man-made object to orbit the earth

Richard Nixon

VP under Eisenhower; kitchen debate

NSC #68

classified document laying out the US plan for rapid military growth during the cold war

Brinkmanship

the willingness to go to the edge or “brink” of war; policy built on threats & retaliationthe

Mutual Assured Destruction

the knowledge that if the US and the Soviets go to nuclear war, both countries will be fully & completely destroyed

Massive Retaliation

if the US or the Soviets were to bomb the other, the victim country will retaliate with greater force

Nikita Khrushchev

replaces Stalin as Soviet dictator; not a military dictator

Kitchen Debate

discussion between Nixon and Khruschev at the US’ exhibit at the World’s Fair in Moscow; unscripted & unplanned

Warsaw Pact

Soviet NATO

U-2 Incident

Soviets Shoot down an American plane sent by the CIA for reconnaissance

Baby Boom

term for the massive increase in births across the US in the time after WWII

Levittown

NY suburban community known for affordable & mass-produced homes

Interstate Highway Act

authorized the construction of a national system of interstate highways; partially motivated by national defense interests; largest public works project in US history

Brown v Board of Education

supreme court case which ruled that segregation (“separate but equal”) is unconstitutional and illegal; overturned Plessy v Ferguson

Thurgood Marshall

lawyer who argued Brown v Board; future chief justice

Civil Rights Act of 1964

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

Voting Rights Act of 1965

outlawed literacy test & poll taxes and allowed the fed. gov. to take over state elections