History A Level Cold War Review

Traditional View

Soviets are to blame

Revisionist View

U.S. is to blame

Post Revisionist View

Both sides are Blamed but mostly Soviets

Post-PostRevisionist View

Stalin is to Blame

While reading the extract

1. Pick out quotes you can use

2. Read paper 2 or 3x to ensure understanding

3. Need a "big" message

4. Outside content knowledge not as important as quoting from the extra to support the historians approach

5. An incorrect assumption of the approach can lead to a low score and you don't need to say at the start you can save it until the last paragraph

6. Point, quote, point,quote, on and on

7. Understand the main argument/approach

8. Use direct quotes and write a detailed book report

Yalta Conference

1945 meeting between US, UK, and USSR to plan post-WWII; secret deals made and promises (like free Poland elections) were broken.

Potsdam Conference

Final WWII meeting; Truman told Stalin about atomic bomb; increased tensions between US and USSR.

Truman Doctrine

US policy to give aid to countries threatened by communism (like Greece and Turkey); based on containment.

Marshall Plan

Gave billions to rebuild Europe after WWII to stop spread of communism; USSR and allies rejected it.

Containment

US strategy to stop spread of communism for 40+ years; idea from George Kennan’s Long Telegram

Berlin Blockade

1948-49 Soviet blockade of West Berlin to cut off supplies; response to Western allies uniting West Germany.

Berlin Airlift

US/UK flew supplies into West Berlin for over 300 days to break the Soviet blockade.

NATO

Military alliance of US and Western nations formed in 1949 to stop Soviet expansion.

Warsaw Pact

Soviet military alliance with satellite countries formed in response to NATO.

Iron Curtain

Term for the division between democratic Western Europe and communist Eastern Europe.

Fair Deal

Truman's domestic plan to raise minimum wage, expand Social Security, and help with housing and civil rights.

GI Bill

Gave veterans money for college, homes, and businesses; helped create a strong middle class.

Employment Act of 1946

Law that aimed for full employment; gave Truman financial advisors to help economy.

Taft-Hartley Act

Law that weakened labor unions; passed over Truman’s veto.

Consumerism

Americans began spending more after WWII; fueled by ads, credit, and baby boom demand.

Baby Boom

Post-WWII rise in birth rate; increased demand for homes, cars, and goods.

Suburbs

Grew fast in 1950s; families moved out of cities; needed cars, schools, appliances.

Interstate Highway Act

1956 law that built 42,000 miles of highways; boosted car use and suburban growth.

Military-Industrial Complex

Ike’s warning in 1961 about too much peacetime military spending by businesses and the government.

Red Scare

Fear of communism in the US after WWII; led to investigations, loyalty tests, and blacklists.

HUAC

Congressional committee that investigated suspected communists, especially in Hollywood.

Joseph McCarthy

Senator who accused people of being communists without evidence; eventually censured by Congress.

Eisenhower

WWII hero elected president in 1952 and 1956; moderate Republican who ended Korean War and built highways.

Truman

Became president after FDR; led US through end of WWII, start of Cold War, and Korean War.

Korean War

1950-53 conflict between communist North Korea (backed by USSR/China) and South Korea (backed by US/UN).

Civil Rights in the 1950s

Some progress (Brown v. Board, Little Rock 9), but racism and segregation still widespread.

Beat Generation

1950s youth movement that rejected consumerism and conformity; early counterculture.

Rock and Roll

1950s music mixing black blues and country; popular with teens, hated by parents.

Social Mobility

Ability to move up in class; boosted by GI Bill and economic growth, but not equal for all.

Operation Wetback

1950s program that deported thousands of Mexican immigrants.

McCarthyism

Accusing people of being communist without evidence; created fear and ruined lives.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Supreme Court decision that ended school segregation.

Little Rock Nine

1957: 9 Black students integrated a white high school; Eisenhower sent troops to protect them.

1948 Election

Truman won in surprise upset after campaigning against a "do-nothing" Congress.

Hollywood Blacklist

People in Hollywood who were accused of being communists, careers were ruined, and there was never any evidence to prove it.