APUSH Unit 8

Yalta Conference

1945 meeting between FDR, Churchill, and Stalin to plan post-WWII Europe.

Cold War

Tense political and military rivalry between the U.S. and Soviet Union (1945

Bretton Woods Conference

1944 meeting that created the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

United Nations (U.N.)

International organization founded in 1945 to promote peace and cooperation.

Nuremberg war crimes trial

Trials that held Nazi leaders accountable for WWII crimes.

Berlin airlift

U.S. and British effort (1948

containment doctrine

U.S. policy to stop the spread of communism abroad.

Truman Doctrine

1947 pledge to support nations resisting communism, starting with Greece and Turkey.

Marshall Plan

U.S. program giving $13 billion to rebuild Western Europe after WWII.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

1949 military alliance between the U.S., Canada, and Western Europe.

National Security Council

U.S. advisory group created in 1947 to help the president on security issues.

Memorandum Number 68 (NSC-68)

1950 policy paper calling for massive U.S. military buildup to fight communism.

Korean War

1950

House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)

Congressional group investigating suspected communists in the U.S.

McCarthyism

The 1950s practice of accusing people of communism without strong evidence.

Army-McCarthy hearings

Televised 1954 hearings exposing Senator McCarthy’s harsh tactics and ending his influence.

Executive Order 9981

Truman's 1948 order to desegregate the U.S. military.

Taft-Hartley Act

1947 law limiting the power of labor unions.

Operation Dixie

Failed post-WWII effort to unionize Southern workers.

Employment Act of 1946

U.S. law committing the government to promote maximum employment.

G.I. Bill

1944 law giving WWII veterans education and housing benefits

Fair Deal

Truman’s program to expand New Deal reforms like healthcare and housing.

Sunbelt

Region in the South and West that grew rapidly after WWII.

Levittown

Mass-produced suburban housing developments in the 1950s.

baby boom

Huge rise in U.S. birth rates from 1946 to 1964.

The Feminine Mystique

1963 book by Betty Friedan sparking the modern women’s rights movement.

rock 'n' roll

1950s music style blending African American blues and white country music.

Checkers Speech

1952 TV speech where Richard Nixon defended himself from corruption charges.

Montgomery bus boycott

1955

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas

1954 Supreme Court case ending racial segregation in public schools.

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

1960s civil rights group focused on peaceful protest.

Operation Wetback

1954 government program to deport Mexican immigrants.

Federal Highway Act of 1956

Law funding the construction of the U.S. interstate highway system.

policy of boldness

1950s U.S. strategy to directly challenge Soviet power with nuclear strength.

Hungarian uprising

1956 revolt against Soviet control in Hungary, crushed by Soviet forces.

Dien Bien Phu, Battle of

1954 battle where Vietnamese forces defeated the French, ending French rule in Indochina.

Suez crisis

1956 conflict where Britain, France, and Israel attacked Egypt after it nationalized the Suez Canal.

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

Group formed in 1960 to control oil production and prices.

Sputnik

First artificial satellite, launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, starting the Space Race.

kitchen debate

1959 exchange between Nixon and Khrushchev over the merits of capitalism vs. communism.

military-industrial complex

Eisenhower’s warning about the powerful alliance between the military and arms industry.

abstract expressionism

1940s

International Style

Modernist architectural style emphasizing simplicity and glass/steel designs.

Beat Generation

1950s writers rejecting materialism and promoting free expression.

Southern Renaissance

Literary movement where Southern writers explored racial and social issues.

New Frontier

JFK’s program for civil rights, the space race, and fighting poverty.

Peace Corps

JFK initiative sending volunteers abroad to help developing nations.

Apollo

U.S. space program that landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969.

Berlin Wall

Barrier built in 1961 separating communist East Berlin from West Berlin.

European Economic Community (EEC)

1957 alliance promoting economic unity in Western Europe (later became the EU).

Bay of Pigs invasion

Failed 1961 U.S.-backed attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro in Cuba.

Cuban missile crisis

1962 standoff over Soviet missiles in Cuba, almost leading to nuclear war.

Freedom Riders

Civil rights activists who rode buses to challenge segregation in the South.

Voter Education Project

Program to register Southern African Americans to vote during the 1960s.

March on Washington

1963 rally for civil rights where MLK delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech.

Richard M. Nixon

37th U.S. president (1969

Betty Friedan

Author of The Feminine Mystique and key figure in the women’s rights movement.

Elvis Presley

1950s rock 'n' roll star blending Black and white musical traditions.

Rosa Parks

Civil rights icon who sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott by refusing to give up her bus seat.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Leader of the civil rights movement promoting nonviolent protest.

Earl Warren

Chief Justice whose Supreme Court expanded civil rights and liberties.

John Foster Dulles

Eisenhower’s Secretary of State who promoted aggressive Cold War policies.

Nikita Khrushchev

Soviet leader during the height of the Cold War (including Cuban missile crisis).

Ho Chi Minh

Communist leader of North Vietnam.

Gamal Abdel Nasser

Egyptian leader who nationalized the Suez Canal and promoted Arab nationalism.

Fidel Castro

Communist leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008.

John F. Kennedy

35th U.S. president; led during the Cuban missile crisis and supported civil rights.

Lyndon Baines Johnson

36th U.S. president; launched the Great Society and passed major civil rights laws.

Jackson Pollock

Abstract expressionist artist famous for his drip painting technique.

Andy Warhol

Leading figure in pop art, known for works like the Campbell’s Soup Cans.

Jack Kerouac

Beat writer best known for On the Road.

Allen Ginsberg

Beat poet famous for Howl, criticizing U.S. culture and conformity.

Arthur Miller

Playwright of The Crucible and Death of a Salesman.

Ralph Ellison

Author of Invisible Man, exploring African American identity.

Robert F. Kennedy

U.S. Attorney General and civil rights advocate; assassinated in 1968.

Robert S. McNamara

Secretary of Defense during the Vietnam War, key figure in U.S. military strategy.

Ngo Dinh Diem

Anti-communist leader of South Vietnam until his assassination in 1963.

James Meredith

First African American student at the University of Mississippi, escorted by federal troops.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Landmark law banning discrimination based on race, color, religion, or sex.

affirmative action

Policies giving advantages to groups previously discriminated against.

Great Society

LBJ’s program to eliminate poverty and racial injustice.

Freedom Summer

1964 effort to register Black voters in Mississippi.

Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party

Integrated party challenging Mississippi’s all-white delegation at the 1964 Democratic Convention.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Law banning literacy tests and other barriers to Black voting rights.

Black Panther party

1960s militant group advocating for Black empowerment and self-defense.

Black Power

Movement calling for Black pride, self-reliance, and sometimes separation from white society.

Six-Day War

1967 conflict where Israel defeated Egypt, Syria, and Jordan, gaining territory.

Stonewall Rebellion

1969 LGBTQ+ uprising against police raids at a New York bar.

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)

1960s student activist group opposing the Vietnam War and advocating social change.

Vietnamization

Nixon’s plan to gradually withdraw U.S. troops and replace them with South Vietnamese forces.

Nixon Doctrine

U.S. policy that allies must fight their own wars with some U.S. support.

silent majority

Term for Americans who supported traditional values and Nixon’s policies but weren’t vocal.

My Lai

Massacre of Vietnamese civilians by U.S. soldiers in 1968, fueling antiwar protests.

Kent State University

Site of 1970 shooting where National Guard killed four antiwar protesters.

Pentagon Papers

Leaked documents revealing government lies about the Vietnam War.

détente

Relaxed Cold War tensions between the U.S., Soviet Union, and China during the 1970s.

Miranda warning

Requirement that police inform suspects of their rights upon arrest.

Philadelphia Plan

Nixon-era affirmative action plan requiring construction unions to hire minority workers.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Federal agency created in 1970 to protect the environment.