apush unit 8 vocabulary (need to extend)

Cold War

From the late 1940's to 1991, it dominated international relations. The Communist empire of the Soviet Union against the Western democracy of the United States. It was fought mainly through diplomacy rather than armed conflict, but brought the world dangerously close to a nuclear war. (p. 561)

Soviet Union

A Communist nation, consisting of Russia and 14 other satellite states, that existed from 1922 to 1991. (p. 561)

Joseph Stalin

The leader of the Soviet Union during World War II. In the Nonaggression Pact of 1939, he and Hitler agreed to divide up Eastern Europe. The Soviets later fought Hitler in World War II. They were unhappy when the British and Americans waited until 1944 to open a second battle front in France. (p. 562)

United Nations

In the fall of 1945, this worldwide organization was founded and allowed membership of all countries. It had a 15-member Security Council that was to maintain international security and authorize peacekeeping missions. It is often referred to as the U.N. (p. 562)

Security Council

Within the United Nations, this council consisted of 15 members. There were five permanent members that had veto power: United States, Great Britain, France, China, and the Soviet Union. (p. 562)

Iron Curtain

The term popularized by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to describe the Soviet Union's policy of isolating and controlling the Soviet satellite states of Eastern Europe. (p. 563)

George Kennan

Helped formulate Truman's containment policy. Expert on Soviet Affairs, in an influential article he wrote that only "a long-term, patient but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies" would eventually cause the Soviets to back off their Communist ideology of world domination and live in peace with other nations. (p. 563)

Containment policy

In 1947, President Truman adopted the advice of three top advisers on how to contain Soviet aggression. This policy called for a long-term, firm, and vigilant containment of the Soviet's expansion tendencies. They believed this would eventually cause them to back off their Communist ideology of world domination. (p. 563)

Truman Doctrine

This doctrine was in response to a Communist-led uprising against the government in Greece and Soviet demand for some control of a water route in Turkey. In 1947, President Truman asked Congress for $400 million in economic and military aid to assist Greece and Turkey against totalitarian regimes. (p. 564)

Marshall Plan

A 1947 plan of U.S. economic aid to help European nations revive their economies and strengthen democratic governments, after the devastation of World War II. This plan offered $12 billion in aid to western and southern Europe. The Soviet Union refused to take any of the aid and the result was a deepening rift between non-Communist West and the Communist East. (p. 564)

Berlin airlift

The Soviets cut off all access by land to West Berlin. The United States flew planes in with supplies to help the people. At the same time, the U.S. sent 60 bombers capable of carrying atomic bombs to bases in England. Stalin chose not to challenge the airlift and war was averted. (p. 564)

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

A military alliance, commonly known as NATO. It consists of the United States, Canada, and ten European nations. Its purpose was to defend Western Europe against outside attack. (p. 565)

National Security Act

In 1947, this act provided for 1) a centralized Department of Defense to coordinate the operations of the military, 2) creation of the National Security Council (NSC) to coordinate the making of foreign policy in the Cold War, 3) creation of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to employ spies to gather information on foreign governments. (p. 566)

Nuclear arms race

Soviet and American scientists were in an arms race to develop superior weapons systems. From 1945 to 1949 the U.S. was only country to have atomic bombs. In 1949 the Soviets tested their first atomic bomb. President Truman responded by approving the development of a hydrogen bomb which would be 1000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb. (p. 566)

NSC-68

A 1950 secret report in which the National Security Council that U.S must fight the Cold War by:

1) quadruple U.S. defense spending to 20% of GNP

2) form alliances with non-Communist countries

3) convince Americans that a costly arms build up was necessary for defense

(p. 566)

Douglas MacArthur

Popular general who aggressively directed American forces during the Korean War. He clashed with President Truman, who removed him from command in 1951. (p. 566)

Chiang Kai-shek

Nationalist leader of China, forced out of China by the Communists. He retreated to Taiwan, where the U.S. continued to support him. (p. 567)

Taiwan

When the Communists took control of the China mainland, the Nationalists led by Chiang Kai-shek were forced to retreat to this island. (p. 567)

Mao Zedong

The Communist leader of the People's Republic of China. He overthrew Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalists. (p. 567)

People's Republic of China

Commonly known as China, it is the largest country in East Asia. A socialist republic ruled by the Communist Party of China under a single-party system. (p. 567)

Korean War

On June 25, 1950 the North Korean army invaded South Korea. General Douglas MacArthur led a United Nations force consisting of mostly U.S. troops to help the South Korean army. By the time a peace agreement was signed in 1953 the north and south border was nearly in the same location, but 2.5 million people, including 54,000 Americans had died. (p. 568)

38th parallel

After World War II Japan gave up its former colony Korea and the country was divided along this parallel. The northern area was occupied by the Soviet forces and the south by the U.S. forces. (p. 568)

Loyalty Review Board

In 1947 under pressure from the Republicans this board was established to investigate the background of more than 3 million employees. (p. 570)

Smith Act

In 1940, this act made it illegal to advocate or teach the overthrow of the government by force or belong to an organization with this objective. (p. 570)

Dennis et al. v. United States

In 1951, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Smith Act. (p. 570)

McCarran Internal Security Act

In 1950, Congress passed this act over Truman's veto which did the following:

1) Made it unlawful to advocate or support the establishment of a totalitarian government.

2) Restrict the employment and travel of those joining Communist -front organizations.

3) Authorized the creation of detention camps for subversives.

(p. 570)

House Un-American Activities Committee

After World War II, this House of Representative committee investigated Communist influence in the government and within organizations such as the Boy Scouts and Hollywood film industry. Many were called to testify before the committee and some were blacklisted. (p. 570)

Alger Hiss

He was a state department official who assisted Roosevelt at the Yalta conference. He denied that he was a Communist and had given secret documents to Whittaker Chambers. In 1950, he was convicted of perjury and sent to prison. (p. 571)

Whittaker Chambers

A confessed Communist and witness for the House Un-American Activities Committee. (p. 571)

Joseph McCarthy

A Republican senator from Wisconsin, who recklessly accused many government officials of being Communists. In December 1954 censured by the Senate which brought an end to his era. (p. 571)

McCarthyism

During the early 1950s, this term was applied to the process of recklessly accusing people in the government and the arts of being Communists. (p. 571)

World Bank

Created at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944. The bank's initial purpose was to fund rebuilding after World War II. Also know as International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The Soviets declined to join because they saw the bank as an instrument of capitalism. (p. 562)

elections of 1952, 1956

In these two presidential elections Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon defeated Adlai Stevenson quite easily. (p. 580-581)

Dwight Eisenhower

The United States general who supervised the invasion of Normandy and the defeat of Nazi Germany. In the election of 1952 he became the the 34th President of the United States. (p. 579)

Richard Nixon

He was vice president under Dwight Eisenhower. In 19868, he would become the 37th President of the United States, but in 1974 he resigned in disgrace after the Watergate scandal. (p. 580)

Dept. of HEW

In 1953, President Eisenhower consolidated welfare programs under this new department, run by Oveta Culp Hobby, the first woman in a Republican cabinet. (p. 580)

Highway Act; interstate highway system

The most permanent legacy of the Eisenhower administration was this act passed in 1956. It created 42,000 miles of highway linking every major city in the nation. (p. 580)

John Foster Dulles

In the Eisenhower administration, he was the Secretary of State that pursued a policy of pushing the USSR and China to the brink of war. However, Eisenhower prevented him from carrying his ideas the extreme. (p. 581)

brinksmanship

The principle of pushing Communist nations to the brink of war, thinking they would back down because of American nuclear superiority. (p. 581)

massive retaliation

This was Eisenhower's policy, it advocated the full use of American nuclear weapons to counteract even a Soviet ground attack in Europe. (p. 582)

Korean armistice

In July 1953, China and North Korea agreed to an armistice that would divide Korea into North Korea and South Korea near the 38th parallel. (p. 583)

Geneva Conference

A 1954 conference between many countries that agreed to end hostilities and restore peace in French Indochina and Vietnam. (p. 583)

open-skies

The Soviets rejected this proposal for open aerial photography of eachothers territory in order to eliminate surprise nuclear attacks. (p. 585)

Hungarian revolt

In October 1956, Hungary actually succeeded in overthrowing a government backed by Moscow. The Soviets sent in tanks to crush the freedom fighters and restore control over Hungary. The United States took no action in the crisis and gave de facto recognition of the Soviet sphere of influence in Eastern Europe. (p. 586)

Warsaw Pact

This 1945 agreement formed formed an alliance of the Eastern European countries including the USSR, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. (p. 586)

Sputnik

In 1957, the Soviet Union shocked the United States by launching the first space satellites into orbit around the earth. Fears of nuclear war were intensified since the missiles that launched the satellites could also deliver nuclear warheads anywhere in the world within minutes. (p. 586)

U-2 incident

In 1960, the Soviet military used a guided missile to shoot down an American U-2 spy plane over Soviet territory, revealing a formerly secret American tactic of the Cold War. (p. 586)

beatniks

A group of rebellious writer and intellectuals led by Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. They advocated spontaneity, use of drugs, and rebellion against societal standards. (p. 592)

Warren Commission

Chief Justice Earl Warren headed this commission which concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone assassin in President Kennedy's murder. Many unanswered questions lead to various theories about the assassination. For many Americans, this marked the beginning of the loss of credibility in government. (p. 604)

Bay of Pigs

In April 1961, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) trained Cuban exiles to attempt the invasion of Cuba and the overthrow of Fidel Castro. The invasion failed and Castro tightened his grip on Cuba. (p. 602)

Berlin Wall

In 1961, the East Germans, with Soviet backing built this wall around West Berlin to stop East Germans from escaping to West Germany. (p. 602)

Cuban missile crisis

In October 1962 the United States discovered that the Soviets were building underground offensive missile sites in Cuba. President Kennedy responded by announcing a naval blockade of Cuba until the missiles were removed. Nuclear war seemed possible until Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles in exchange for a pledge that the U.S. would not invade Cuba and the U.S. would remove some missiles from Turkey. (p. 602)

Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

In 1963, the United States and 100 other nations signed this agreement to end the testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere. (p. 603)

Henry Kissinger

Nixon's national security adviser, he later become secretary of state during Nixon's second term. He helped Nixon to fashion a realistic foreign policy that generally succeeded in reducing the tensions of the Cold War. (p. 625)

detente

President Nixon and Kissinger strengthened the U.S. position in the world by taking advantage of the rivalry between the two Communist giants, China and the Soviet Union. This policy was known for the reduction of tension between the US and Communist nations. (p. 627)

Strategic Arms Limitation Talks

President Nixon used his new relationship with China to put pressure on the Soviets to agree to a treaty limiting antiballistic missiles (ABMs), a new technology that would have expanded the arms race. After the first round of these talks (SALT I), U.S. diplomats secured Soviet consent to a freeze on the number of ballistic missiles carrying nuclear warheads. While this agreement did not end the arms race, it was a significant step toward reducing Cold War tensions and bringing about detente. (p. 627)

Satellites

Buffer states (nations under the control of a great power) that Russia used as protection from possible invasions

George Marshall and Dean Acheson

made the containment policy

West Germany

A US ally

East Germany

Soviet satellite

US-Japenese Security Treaty

Japan gave up its claims on Korea and Pacific islands - US ended up its occupation of Japan - they became allies

Kim II Sung

Communist leader who took control of North Korea

Syngman Rhee

Conservative nationalist who took control of South Korea

Atoms for Peace

A plan made by Eisenhower that was made after Stalin's death that wanted to slow dowwn the arms race by handing over some of the arms to the UN

Nikita Khrushchev

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

Fidel Castro

Communist leader of Cuba

military-industrial complex

The close association of the federal government, the military, and defense industries

Flexible Response Policy

reduced the risk of using nuclear weapons and increased the temptation to send elite special forces into combat all over the globe.

Non-Proliferation Treaty

US, Britain, and SSR agreed not to help other countries develop or acquire nuclear weapons

antiballistic missiles

a new technology which expanded the arms race

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

American couple executed for passing atomic secrets to Soviet agents

conglomerates

Major corporation that owns smaller companies in unrelated industries

The Lonely Crowd

criticised the replacement of inner direct individuals with other directed conformists

The Affluent Society

wrote abt. failure of wealthy Americans to adress the need for increased social spending for the common good

The Catcher of the Rye

Wrote about the struggle against conformity

Catch-22

criticised the rigidity of the military and the insanity of war

GI Bill

provided powerful support during transitions of 15 million veterans to a peacetime economy. Helped over 2 million GIs attend college and more than 5 million more receive other trainings creating a postwar boom in post-high school education. Also provided money for homes and farms and starting pf business to veterans.

Sun Belt

Uprooted by the war, millions of Americans moved to areas with warmer climates, lower taxes, and economic opportunities in defense related industries (states from Florida to California) (Often GI's and their families moved here

Baby boom

An increase in population by almost 30 million people. This spurred a growth in suburbs and three to four children families.

Interstate highway act

Authorized the construction of 42,000 miles of interstate highways linking all the nation's major cities.

Levittown

In 1947, William Levitt used mass production techniques to build inexpensive homes in surburban New York to help relieve the postwar housing shortage. It became a symbol of the movement to the suburbs in the years after WWII.

Stagflation

a period of slow economic growth and high unemployment (stagnation) while prices rise (inflation)

Post War Prosperity

Country enjoyed a steady economic growth rate, with an inflation rate averaging a negligible 1.5 percent. Gave Americans the highest standard of living in the world.

james meredith

Kennedy sent in troops to protect his right to attend class

george wallace

tried to stop an african american student from entering the university of alabama

martin luther king jr.

led the civil rights movement through non-violent protests

letter from birmingham jail

after he was arrested, mlk wrote this to encourage non-violent actions against segregation

march on washington

a march led by mlk in support of jobs and the civil rights bill

"i have a dream" speech

a speech given by Martin Luther King, Jr. at the march on Washington, which appealed for the end of racial prejudice

civil rights act

president Lyndon Johnson passed this act, making segregation illegal in all public facilities and gave the federal government more power to enforce school desegregation

equal employment opportunity commission

ended discrimination in employment on the basis of race, religion, sex, or national origin

24th amendment

abolished poll taxes