Period 8 - APUSH Vocab

Soviet Union

A communist superstate (USSR) that emerged after WWI and became the primary rival of the United States during the Cold War until its collapse in 1991.

Security Council

The branch of the United Nations responsible for maintaining international peace and security, with five permanent members (US, USSR, UK, France, China) each holding veto power.

Satellite States

Countries in Eastern Europe (e.g., Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia) that were politically and militarily dominated by the Soviet Union after WWII.

Iron Curtain

A term coined by Winston Churchill describing the ideological and physical division between Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe and the democratic West during the Cold War.

George F. Kennan

American diplomat who authored the "Long Telegram" and the containment strategy, arguing the US should resist Soviet expansion without direct military conflict.

Containment Policy

The US foreign policy strategy, inspired by Kennan, aimed at preventing the further spread of communism beyond where it already existed.

Truman Doctrine

President Truman's 1947 policy pledging US military and economic aid to any nation threatened by communist takeover, first applied to Greece and Turkey.

George C. Marshall

US Secretary of State who proposed the Marshall Plan; also served as Army Chief of Staff during WWII.

Marshall Plan

A 1948 US program that provided over $12 billion in economic aid to rebuild war-devastated Western European nations and prevent the spread of communism.

Berlin Airlift

A 1948–49 operation in which the US and Britain flew supplies into West Berlin after the Soviet Union blockaded all land routes into the city.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

A 1949 military alliance among the US, Canada, and Western European nations based on the principle that an attack on one is an attack on all.

Warsaw Pact

A 1955 Soviet-led military alliance of Eastern European communist nations, formed as a counterpart to NATO.

National Security Act

A 1947 law that reorganized the US military, created the Department of Defense, the CIA, and the National Security Council (NSC).

Douglas MacArthur (Japan)

US general who oversaw the occupation and democratic reconstruction of Japan after WWII; later commanded UN forces in Korea before being fired by Truman.

Mao Zedong

Communist leader who won the Chinese Civil War in 1949 and founded the People's Republic of China, causing alarm in the US about spreading communism.

Korean War

A 1950–1953 conflict in which US-led UN forces defended South Korea against a North Korean (and later Chinese) communist invasion, ending in an armistice.

38th Parallel

The line of latitude that divided North and South Korea before and after the Korean War, serving as the de facto border.

Stalemate

A situation in which neither side can achieve victory; used to describe both the Korean War's military deadlock and broader Cold War tensions.

Brinkmanship

Eisenhower's Cold War strategy of pushing dangerous situations to the edge of conflict to force the enemy to back down, associated with Secretary of State John Foster Dulles.

Spirit of Geneva

A term describing the brief optimism for peaceful coexistence following the 1955 Geneva Summit between Eisenhower and Soviet leaders.

Nikita Khrushchev

Soviet leader after Stalin who pursued a policy of "de-Stalinization," but also escalated Cold War tensions (Berlin Wall, Cuban Missile Crisis).

Sputnik

The world's first artificial satellite, launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, shocking Americans and sparking the Space Race.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

A US federal agency created in 1958 in response to Sputnik to lead American space exploration efforts.

U-2 Incident

A 1960 event in which a US spy plane was shot down over Soviet territory, derailing a planned peace summit and escalating Cold War tensions.

Cuba

A Caribbean island nation that became a Cold War flashpoint after Fidel Castro's communist revolution brought it into the Soviet orbit.

Fidel Castro

Communist revolutionary who overthrew Cuba's government in 1959 and aligned Cuba with the Soviet Union, creating a Cold War crisis 90 miles from Florida.

Military-Industrial Complex

A term used by President Eisenhower in his farewell address to warn against the dangerous influence of the defense industry on government policy.

Berlin Wall

A barrier built by East Germany in 1961 to prevent citizens from fleeing to West Berlin; it became the most powerful symbol of the Iron Curtain until its fall in 1989.

Bay of Pigs

A failed 1961 CIA-backed invasion of Cuba by anti-Castro exiles, embarrassing the Kennedy administration and pushing Cuba closer to the Soviet Union.

Cuban Missile Crisis

A 1962 standoff between the US and USSR after Soviet nuclear missiles were discovered in Cuba; considered the closest the Cold War came to nuclear war.

Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

A 1963 agreement between the US, USSR, and UK prohibiting nuclear weapons testing in the atmosphere, underwater, and in space.

John F. Kennedy

35th US President (1961–1963) who navigated the Cuban Missile Crisis, launched the Peace Corps and New Frontier agenda, and was assassinated in Dallas.

Lyndon B. Johnson

36th US President who expanded the Vietnam War and championed the Great Society domestic programs, including the Civil Rights Act and Medicare.

Non-Proliferation Treaty

A 1968 international agreement aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons to additional countries.

Henry Kissinger

Nixon's National Security Advisor and Secretary of State who helped engineer détente with the USSR and China and negotiated the Paris Peace Accords.

Détente

A relaxation of Cold War tensions between the US and USSR in the early 1970s, pursued by Nixon and Kissinger through diplomacy and arms agreements.

Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT I)

A 1972 agreement between the US and USSR that froze the number of nuclear missiles each side could have, a key achievement of détente.

Soviet-Afghan War

A 1979–1989 conflict in which the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan; the US covertly supported Afghan rebels (mujahideen), contributing to Soviet decline.

McCarran Internal Security Act

A 1950 law requiring communist organizations to register with the government; seen as a major infringement on civil liberties during the Red Scare.

House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)

A congressional committee that investigated suspected communist influence in American society, famously targeting Hollywood figures.

Alger Hiss

A State Department official convicted of perjury in 1950 after being accused of being a Soviet spy, fueling fears of communist infiltration in the government.

Julius Rosenberg

An American convicted of passing nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union along with his wife Ethel; both were executed in 1953, intensifying Cold War paranoia.

Joseph R. McCarthy

Wisconsin senator who led aggressive, often baseless investigations into alleged communist subversion in the US government and military in the early 1950s.

McCarthyism

The practice of making reckless, unsubstantiated accusations of communist subversion, named after Senator Joseph McCarthy; associated with political witch hunts.

Second Red Scare

A period of intense anti-communist fear and suspicion in the US from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s, fueled by McCarthy, HUAC, and Cold War anxieties.

Servicemen's Readjustment Act (GI Bill of Rights)

A 1944 law providing WWII veterans with education, housing loans, and job training benefits, fueling postwar prosperity and suburban growth.

Baby Boom

The dramatic surge in birth rates in the US from 1946 to 1964, as returning WWII veterans started families, leading to a massive generational cohort.

Levittown

Mass-produced suburban communities built by William Levitt after WWII, symbolizing the postwar suburban expansion and the American Dream — though initially racially segregated.

Sun Belt

The region of the southern and southwestern United States that experienced major population and economic growth after WWII, driven by warm climate, cheap land, and new industries.

22nd Amendment

A 1951 constitutional amendment limiting the President to two terms in office, passed in reaction to FDR's four terms.

Fair Deal

President Truman's domestic agenda that called for expanded social programs including national health insurance, civil rights legislation, and housing — most of which was blocked by Congress.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

34th US President and WWII general who oversaw postwar prosperity, created NASA, warned of the military-industrial complex, and pursued Cold War brinkmanship.

Interstate Highway Act

A 1956 law that funded the construction of 41,000 miles of interstate highways, transforming American transportation, commerce, and suburban development.

New Frontier

JFK's domestic and international agenda emphasizing space exploration, civil rights, economic growth, and foreign aid — more of a vision than fully realized legislation.

Great Society

LBJ's sweeping domestic program that created Medicare, Medicaid, the Voting Rights Act, and major education and anti-poverty legislation in the mid-1960s.

New Federalism

Nixon's policy of shifting federal power and funding back to state and local governments, reducing the centralized role of the federal government.

Richard Nixon

37th US President known for opening relations with China, pursuing détente, and the Watergate scandal that led to his resignation in 1974.

Stagflation

A rare combination of high inflation, high unemployment, and slow economic growth that plagued the US economy in the 1970s, defying traditional economic theory.

Rock and Roll

A musical genre that emerged in the 1950s blending Black rhythm and blues with country music; it became the soundtrack of youth rebellion and cultural change.

Beatniks

A 1950s countercultural movement of artists, writers, and poets (like Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg) who rejected mainstream materialism and conformity.

Kennedy Assassination

The murder of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas, by Lee Harvey Oswald; a traumatic national event.

Warren Commission

The government commission led by Chief Justice Earl Warren that investigated JFK's assassination and concluded Oswald acted alone (though many disputed this).

Committee on Civil Rights

A committee created by Truman in 1946 that published "To Secure These Rights," a landmark report documenting racial injustice and recommending federal civil rights action.

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

The oldest and largest civil rights organization in the US, founded in 1909, that fought segregation through legal challenges and advocacy.

Jackie Robinson

The first African American to play in Major League Baseball (1947), breaking the color barrier and becoming a symbol of the civil rights movement.

Brown v. Board of Education

A landmark 1954 Supreme Court ruling that declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional, overturning Plessy v. Ferguson.

Thurgood Marshall

NAACP lawyer who argued Brown v. Board of Education before the Supreme Court; later became the first African American Supreme Court Justice.

Earl Warren

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court whose court issued landmark rulings including Brown v. Board of Education, Gideon v. Wainwright, and Miranda v. Arizona.

Desegregation

The process of ending the legal separation of races in public spaces, schools, and institutions, a central goal of the civil rights movement.

Little Rock Nine

Nine Black students who enrolled at Little Rock Central High School in 1957 after desegregation; Governor Orval Faubus used the National Guard to block them until Eisenhower intervened.

Rosa Parks

A Black seamstress whose refusal to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955 sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

A 1955–1956 civil rights campaign in which Black residents boycotted Montgomery's bus system to protest segregation, launching MLK to national prominence.

Emmett Till

A 14-year-old Black boy from Chicago who was brutally murdered in Mississippi in 1955; his open-casket funeral shocked the nation and galvanized the civil rights movement.

Martin Luther King Jr.

The foremost leader of the civil rights movement who advocated nonviolent protest; led the SCLC, delivered the "I Have a Dream" speech, and was assassinated in 1968.

Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

A civil rights organization founded by MLK and other Black ministers in 1957 that coordinated nonviolent protest campaigns across the South.

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

A youth-led civil rights organization founded in 1960 that organized sit-ins, Freedom Rides, and voter registration drives; later became more radical under Stokely Carmichael.

Covert Action

Secret operations conducted by the CIA to influence foreign governments without public acknowledgment, a key Cold War tool used in Iran, Guatemala, and elsewhere.

Suez Canal

An Egyptian waterway that became a Cold War flashpoint in 1956 when Egypt nationalized it, leading Britain, France, and Israel to invade — and the US to pressure them to withdraw.

Eisenhower Doctrine

A 1957 policy declaring the US would provide military and economic aid to Middle Eastern nations threatened by communist aggression.

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

A cartel of oil-producing nations (mostly Middle Eastern) that controls oil production and pricing; its 1973 embargo devastated the US economy.

Yom Kippur War

A 1973 surprise attack by Egypt and Syria against Israel; US support for Israel led OPEC to impose an oil embargo on the US.

Oil Embargo

OPEC's 1973 ban on oil exports to the US and other nations that supported Israel, causing fuel shortages and skyrocketing prices, contributing to stagflation.

Camp David Accords

A 1978 peace agreement brokered by President Carter between Egypt and Israel, the first Arab-Israeli peace deal and a major foreign policy achievement.

Iran Hostage Crisis

A 1979–1981 crisis in which 52 American diplomats were held hostage by Iranian revolutionaries for 444 days, severely damaging Carter's presidency.

The Peace Corps

A volunteer program created by JFK in 1961 that sends Americans abroad to assist developing nations with education, health, and economic projects.

Panama Canal

A waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through Panama; Carter negotiated treaties in 1977 to transfer control to Panama, which was controversial domestically.

Vietnam War

A prolonged conflict (US involvement 1955–1975) in which the US tried to prevent communist North Vietnam from taking over South Vietnam; ended in US withdrawal and North Vietnamese victory.

Domino Theory

The Cold War belief that if one country fell to communism, neighboring countries would follow like falling dominoes; used to justify US involvement in Vietnam.

Tonkin Gulf Resolution

A 1964 congressional authorization giving LBJ broad power to escalate military action in Vietnam, based on disputed reports of North Vietnamese attacks on US ships.

Credibility Gap

The growing public distrust of the government's optimistic statements about the Vietnam War versus the grim reality on the ground.

Hawks vs. Doves

Terms used to describe those who supported continued military escalation in Vietnam (hawks) versus those who advocated for withdrawal and peace (doves).

Tet Offensive

A massive 1968 coordinated attack by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces on over 100 South Vietnamese cities; a military setback for them but a psychological turning point that eroded US public support for the war.

Vietnamization

Nixon's strategy of gradually withdrawing US troops while training South Vietnamese forces to take over the fighting, allowing the US to exit the war.

Kent State Massacre

A 1970 incident in which Ohio National Guard troops shot and killed four student protesters at Kent State University during an anti-Vietnam War demonstration.

My Lai Massacre

A 1968 atrocity in which US soldiers killed hundreds of unarmed South Vietnamese civilians; when revealed in 1969, it deepened public opposition to the war.

Pentagon Papers

A secret government study leaked by Daniel Ellsberg in 1971 revealing that the government had systematically misled the public about the Vietnam War.

Paris Accords

A 1973 peace agreement that ended direct US military involvement in Vietnam, though fighting between North and South Vietnam continued.

War Powers Act

A 1973 law limiting the President's ability to commit US forces to combat without congressional approval, passed in response to executive overreach in Vietnam.

Fall of Saigon

The April 1975 capture of South Vietnam's capital by North Vietnamese forces, marking the end of the Vietnam War and the unification of Vietnam under communism.

Ho Chi Minh

The communist leader of North Vietnam who led the fight for Vietnamese independence first against France, then against the US-backed South Vietnamese government.