Unit 4 Cold War World History Test

Trouble of Potsdam

Harry Truman tried to propose a compromise that was immediately rejected by Stalin

worried

just a taste of what was to come between the USSR and USA

Nuremberg Trials

Nuremberg, Germany (1945-1949)

Allied military courts tried 200 and Nazi military officials

several dozen sentenced to death for roles in Holocaust and other war crimes

Cold War

era of tension and hostility b/twn America and the Soviet Union

Iron Curtain

image used by Churchill to describe the sharp division of Europe that was there result of Soviet actions

said it was a serious threat to peace

Truman Doctrine

pledge to provide economic and military aid to oppose the spread of communism

Marshall Plan

named after Secretary of State (George Marshall)

provided $13 Billion for rebuilding Europe

helped western Europe make rapid recovery from war and helped restore political stability

Containment

involved resisting Soviet aggression in order to contain the spread of communism

Berlin Airlift

a massive effort by the Western leaders to supply Berlin by air

NATO

1949 North Atlantic Treaty Organization

designed to counter Soviet power in Europe alliance

US, Canada, most Western European countries joined together in military alliance and security

Warsaw Pact

alliance formed in 1955 between Soviet Union and communist nations of Eastern Europe

Korean War

communist North Korea attacked South Korea with goal to unite countries under communist government

US and UN sent military force to stop invasion

North Korea nearly conquered South Korea in months

invasion of Inchon tipped balance in UN's favor

China support drove UN out of North Korea

war settled in stalemate

both sides agreed to armistice

Hydrogen bombs

completely vaporized island that was tested on

nuclear fusion-powered

created first by the United States and then a year later by the Soviet Union

Deterrence

development or maintenance of military power to deter, or prevent, an attack

Arms race

a struggle between nations to gain an advantage in weapons

what the US and Soviet Union were locked in

took a leap forward when it was clear the US had more weapons

took another leap when Soviet Union successful launch of Sputnik

Sputnik

history's first artificial satellite (an object that orbits the Earth)

Joseph McCarthy

Senator

in late 1940's and 1950's led effort with a congressional committee to expose communists in the American film industry and government

accusing many innocent people of communist activities

Vietnam

communist rebels fought back against French temporarily divided into Northern and Southern halves

North: communist South: anti-communist regime

spread of communism concerned Americans

supported French struggle against communist (south), sent military aid to fight rebels North Vietnamese fought with rebels in an effort to reunite Vietnam

Vietcong win warn 1975

formally recognized by the US in 1995

The Berlin Wall

to stop as many as 1,000 people a day from making the daily trip between their homes in Germany to jobs in West Germany

East Germany began erecting a tall barrier between the 2 halves of the city

heavily guarded

succeeded in slowing flight of East Germans to West Germany

came to symbolize brutality of communist system

built overnight

there until November 1989

Bay of Pigs

April 1961

1,500 secretly trained Cubans came ashore

Americans believed invasion would start massive Cuban uprising against Castro

invaders= quickly defeated

Cuban Missile Crisis

confrontation between US and Soviet Union over installation of Soviet Nuclear missiles in Cuba

2 week standoff- Soviet leaders removed missiles when the United States agreed to move US missiles from Turkey and promised not to attack Cuba

Nonaligned Nations

John F. Kennedy

favored limiting nuclear weapons tests as a means of slowing development of new and more deadly technologies

Richard Nixon

1968

elected US President

Detente

sought by Richard Nixon

reduced tension between superpowers

SALT I and II

result of Nixon's effort

negotiations

strategic arms limitations talks

led to agreements limiting number of nuclear weapons held by each side

SALT II: new round of talks

resulted in arms control treaty in 1979

never ratified by US senate

US Economy

enjoyed great success after WWII

total value of all US goods and services=2.5x greater

economic growth driven by consumer spending

1970-slowed dramatically

spike in cost energy

1980-enployment sustained growth

nation's debts grew sharply: spent more money than it received in taxes

heavy industry suffered

Martin Luther King, Jr.

led a civil rights campaign

after years of struggle against racial injustice

achieved some major reforms

Counterculture

rebellion of teenagers and young adults against mainstream American society

spread across the country

adopted unconventional values, clothing, behavior

Postwar Recovery

much of Western Europe lay in ruins

land destroyed

national economies collapsed

million of people displaced

Marshall Plan prevented chaos

caused factories and farms to be producing even more than before the war

did not eliminate poverty

Nikita Khrushchev

leader of Soviet Union after Stalin

committed Communist

hostile stance against west

De-Stalinize

tore down statues of Stalin

renaming streets and towns

loosened restrictions on economy and politics

Solidarity

anti-government protest movement

Glasnot

willingness to discuss openly USSR problems

Perestroika

reform of Soviet economic and political system

Mikhail Gorbachev

came to power in USSR 1985

pursued arms control agreements with US reduced central planning of Soviet economy and introduced some free-market mechanisms

began to pull Soviet troops out of eastern Europe

urged leaders to adopt reformers

reversed decades of Soviet Policy in eastern Europe

Velvet Revolution

peaceful revolution in Czechoslovakia

pushed communists out of power

2 reasons we went to war

liberty and democracy

to save our world from the Nazis (Axis Powers-Germany (Hitler), Italy (Mussolini), and Japan (Hirohito))

Cost of WWII

15 million soldiers dead

40 million civilians dead

Hamburg, Dresden, Tokyo fire bombed

Hiroshima and Nagasaki incinerated

Holocaust exposed

Europe in ruins

2 major countries left

2 Superpowers

United States- represented Democratic West

Soviet Union- represented Communist East

April 26, 1945

Americans and Soviets meet at Elbe River in Germany to bring an end to the war in Europe

UNITED STATES vs. Soviet Union

democracy where government was freely elected by people

free society where people could express any opinions they wished

capitalists state where farms, shops, factories, etc. belonged to private individuals or companies

rich and poor exist because of private ownership wealth

SOVIET UNION vs. United States

one-party state where only Communist Party members were allowed to hold government positions

controlled by Stalin's secret police and anyone who criticized him could end up in a concentration camp

communist state where all shops, farms, etc. had been taken over by the state

less of a difference between the rich and poor (SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC EQUALITY ARE KEY VALUES)

What happens when the USSR and the USA no longer have a common enemy?

no trust in one another

disagreements in war time

disagreements afte war

Truman Doctrine

US would pick up where Britain left off

would help any other country fighting communism

$400 million to assist Greece and Turkey

became basis of American policy during the Cold War

Warsaw Pact 1955

Soviet response to NATO

13 Day stand-off

US spy plane spotted a missile on a launch pad

tensions escalated very quickly

Changing Societies: North America

Post War BOOM

economic boom

-most powerful in the world and continued after WWII until the 1970s

Baby boom and GI Bill

civil rights movements and counterculture

Western Europe (Postwar)

recovery- The Marshall Plan

Alliances and Economic Unity

Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union (Postwar)

tough times ahead

command economy: centrally planned economy

de-stalinazation

Ho Chi Minh

fights French occupiers to gain an independent Vietnam

backed by USSR and China

Conference in Switzerland (Vietnam)

decided Vietnam would be temporarily divided

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

brings US troops in 1964-1973 Vietnam

1980s

both countries have economies in crisis

arms race/Cold War

threatened to be reunited

people done with this on both sides

Russian policies

focus on home

arms control agreements with US

bring some free-market decisions

get out of eastern European satellite

Solidarity movement In Poland

revolution against USSR

Berlin Wall being torn down

Hungary opened borders to Austria

Easter Germans traveled to Hungary to get to the West

East Germany opened gates of Berlin Wall

November 1989 torn down

North Korea

soviets established a communist-led government in the North with strong economic and political ties to Moscow

South Korea

United States supported a non-communist-led government in the south with strong economic and political ties to Washington, D.C.

Results of Korean War

controversial on its value

some see it as a stalemate

some as victory stopping the aggressors

4 million dead