KRAPUSH / Units 8-9: Chapters 26, 27, 28 (Foreign Policy) APUSH Terms

Truman Doctrine (1947)

1) President Truman's promise to provide economic and military aid to countries in order to stop the spread of communism

2) Was used to stop Greece and Turkey from falling to communism

3) An example of the containment policy that set the guidelines for how the U.S. would deal with the Soviet Union for the next 40 years

Marshall Plan (1947)

1) The U.S. worried that a starving and post-WWII devastated Europe could turn communist

2) This provided $13 billion in economic aid to Western Europe to rebuild cities and infrastructure

3) This was lauded by many as helping America's European allies and stopping the spread of communism

Berlin Airlift (1948)

1) After Germany's loss in WWII, its capital city was divided amongst the Allied Powers but the Soviet Union closed all highways and railroads into the city

2) The U.S. refused to abandon its portion of the city and responded by dropping supplies from the air into the closed-off capital

3) After almost a year, the Soviet Union lifted the blockade, thus ending the standoff but still increasing Cold War tensions

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) (1949)

1) Created after WWII to ensure security and to check Soviet Union aggression (and consequently Soviets formed own pact with communist-aligned countries six years later)

2) First peacetime military alliance the U.S. entered into and still exists today

3) Each participating country promises to defend the others in the event of an attack

Korean War (1950)

1) Began when the communist Northern part of the peninsula (backed by the USSR) invaded the non-communist South (backed by the US)

2) This invasion marked the first military fighting in the Cold War

3) Despite nearly 5 million deaths (of which 40,000 were U.S. soldier deaths), the fighting ended in a stalemate with the peninsula continuing to be divided between the communist North and democratic South

House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) (1945-1950)

1) A congressional committee that investigated allegations of communist activity in the United States in the early years of the Cold War

2) Conducted a series of high-profile hearings alleging that Communists disloyal to the U.S. had infiltrated government, schools, and the entertainment industry (including the Hollywood Ten)

3) Led to heightened fear of communism and distrust in the government as witnesses were forced to supply names of other communists and thrown in jail if they did not cooperate

McCarthyism (1950-1954)

1) Named after the Wisconsin Senator who spent five years trying to expose communists in the U.S. government

2) This "witchhunt" falsely accused people of being communist without ample evidence which led to many Americans losing their jobs or being blacklisted from other jobs

3) These accusations ultimately stopped when the Army was falsely accused of being infiltrated with communists and Americans realized this had gone too far

Massive Retaliation (1952)

1) A strategy in which the U.S. promised to respond in greater force if attacked with nuclear weapons

2) President Eisenhower's defense strategy that relied heavily on the nation's nuclear arsenal as the main way to deter communist aggression

3) Continued the U.S.'s containment policy but took a more proactive and vigorous approach to stopping the spread of communism

CIA (1950s)

1) Federal agency responsible for gathering foreign intelligence and conducting covert actions abroad in pursuit of American national interests

2) Initially created after WWII to help check the Soviet Union's power

3) Helped orchestrate coups first in Iran and Guatemala to put pro-democracy leaders in power

Domino theory (1955-1973)

1) Idea that if one country falls to communism, then the neighboring ones will to

2) First used by President Eisenhower to justify involvement in Vietnam

3) This is central to the U.S.'s containment policy but proved to not always be true such as in Southeast Asia

Eisenhower Doctrine (1957)

1) Promised military and economic aid to any Middle Eastern country that needed help resisting communism 2) A continuation of the U.S. policy of containment

3) Expanded U.S. commitment to stopping the spread of communism to the Middle East

Sputnik (1957)

1) Soviet Union surprised the world by launching the first artificial satellite into outer space

2) Americans feared that Russians could use this technology to launch ballistic missiles that could carry nuclear warheads

3) Prompted the U.S. to invest more heavily in science and education, led to the creation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and ushered in the "Space Race" between the Russians and Americans (which led to the U.S. being the first to land on the moon)

Military-Industrial Complex (1960)

1) In his farewell address, President Eisenhower warned against this, arguing that it posed a threat to American democracy

2) Was fearful that military spending and development would drive U.S. foreign policy

3) Believed some spending was healthy to maintain competitiveness with Soviet Union, but did not want the military to become top government priority

Flexible response (1961)

1) U.S. defense strategy adopted by President Kennedy in which a wide range of diplomatic, military and economic options (military and non-military) were used to deter an enemy attack

2) Alternative to President Eisenhower's strategy that relied heavily on nuclear weapons

3) Led to increased defense spending in order to boost conventional military forces and created an elite branch of the army called the Green Berets that got the U.S. more involved in Vietnam

Cuban Missile crisis (1962)

1) This began when the U.S. discovered nuclear-armed Soviet weapons 90 miles away from the U.S.

2) This led to a tense 13 day stand-off between the Soviet Union (Khruschev) and United States (JFK) and the brink of nuclear war

3) This was ultimately resolved when the Soviets agreed to remove the nuclear weapons and the U.S. agreed to remove its nuclear weapons in Turkey