Chapter 26: Cold War vocab

Berlin Blockade

soviet union cutting off all land and river transit between West Berlin and West Germany.

CIA

used spies to gather information abroad. The CIA also began to carry out covert, or secret, operations to weaken or over- throw governments unfriendly to the United States.

HUAC

House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). HUAC first made headlines in 1947, when it began to investigate Communist influence in the movie industry. The committee believed that Communists were sneaking propaganda into films.

McCarthyism

referred to the unfair tactic of accusing people of dis- loyalty without providing evidence.

38th parallel

Japan had annexed Korea in 1910 and ruled it until August 1945. As World War II ended, Japanese troops north of the 38th parallel (38o North latitude) surrendered to the Soviets. Japanese troops south of the parallel surrendered to the Americans. As in Germany, two nations developed, one communist and one democratic.

Korean War

On June 25, 1950, North Korean forces swept across the 38th parallel in a surprise attack on South Korea. The conflict that followed became known as the Korean War.

containment

taking measures to prevent any extension of communist rule to other countries.

cold war

a conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union in which neither nation directly confronted the other on the battlefield.

Truman doctrine

Truman asked Congress for $400 million in economic and military aid for Greece and Turkey. He declared that “it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.” Congress agreed with Truman and decided that the doctrine was essential to keeping Soviet influence from spreading.

Marshall Plan

Secretary of State George Marshall proposed that the United States provide aid to all European nations that needed it, say- ing that this move was directed “not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos.”

NATO

a defensive military alliance; pledged military support to one another in case any member was attacked. For the first time in its history, the United States entered into a military alliance with other nations during peacetime.

 International Monetary Fund(IMF)

a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries.

National Security Council(NSC)

the principal forum used by the President of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and foreign policy matters.

Taft-Hartley Act

The Act was amended to protect employees' rights from these unfair practices by unions. The amendments protected employees' Section 7 rights from union restraint or coercion and said that unions could not cause an employer to discriminate against an employee for exercising Section 7 rights.

 World Bank

an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity in a sustainable way.

baby boom

 a spike in birth rates after World War II

suburbs

 The residential districts or suburbs outside the boundaries of a city or town.

Conformity

compliance in actions, behaviour, etc., with certain accepted standards or norms

1956 Interstate Highway system

They were intended to serve several purposes: eliminate traffic congestion; replace what one highway advocate called “undesirable slum areas” with pristine ribbons of concrete; make coast-to-coast transportation more efficient; and make it easy to get out of big cities in case of an atomic attack.

route 66

, it was the primary route for the migration of farm workers from the Midwest to California.

 Jonas Salk

an American virologist and medical researcher who developed one of the first successful polio vaccines. 

Elvis Presley

 an American singer, actor and sergeant in the United States Army. Dubbed the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century.

GI Bill of Rights

Gave WWII vets a free college education, and better home loans.