Cold War

A conflict that was between the US and the Soviet Union. The nations never directly confronted each other on the battlefield but deadly threats went on for years.

Potsdam

July 26, 1945 - Allied leaders Truman, Stalin and Churchill met in Germany to set up zones of control and to inform the Japanese that if they refused to surrender at once, they would face total destruction.

satellite nation

A country that is dominated politically and economically by another nation.

Iron Curtain

A political barrier that isolated the peoples of Eastern Europe after WWII, restricting their ability to travel outside the region

Yalta Conference

1945 Meeting with US president FDR, British Prime Minister(PM) Winston Churchill, and and Soviet Leader Stalin during WWII to plan for post-war

George Keenan

Well-known US diplomat with much knowledge of Soviet affairs that wrote the article Foreign Affairs in 1947. Strongly advocated the Containment Doctrine.

containment

American policy of resisting further expansion of communism around the world

the Marshall Plan

A United States program of economic aid for the reconstruction of Europe (1948-1952)

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organization; an alliance made to defend one another if they were attacked by any other country; US, England, France, Canada, Western European countries

limited war

A war fought to achieve a limited objective, such as containing communism

Truman Doctrine (1947)

stated that the U.S. would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid to resist internal left-wing (and therefore it was assumed "communist") movements and prevent them from falling into the Soviet sphere. Early example of application of "containment" doctrine - that the US would take action to stop spread of communism. Some see this as beginning of Cold War.

Berlin Airlift

airlift in 1948 that supplied food and fuel to citizens of west Berlin when the Russians closed off land access to Berlin

People's Republic of China

Communist government of mainland China; proclaimed in 1949 following military success of Mao Zedong over forces of Chiang Kai-shek and the Guomindang.

The Korean War

The conflict between Communist North Korea and Non-Communist South Korea. The United Nations (led by the United States) helped South Korea.

subversion

a systematic attempt to overthrow a government by using persons working secretly from within

Loyalty review program

a policy established by President Truman that authorized the screening of all federal employees to determine their loyalty to the U.S. government

Alger Hiss

A former State Department official who was accused of being a Communist spy and was convicted of perjury. The case was prosecuted by Richard Nixon.

perjury

lying under oath

McCarran Act

required all communist organizations to register with the government and to provide lists of members

McCarthyism

The term associated with Senator Joseph McCarthy who led the search for communists in America during the early 1950s through his leadership in the House Un-American Activities Committee.

censure

to criticize harshly

fallout

radioactive particles dispersed by a nuclear explosion

fallout shelter

a shelter to protect occupants from the fallout from an atomic bomb

The Rosenberg's

Couple executed for giving military secrets to the Soviets in the 1950's

Project Venona

project that worked to crack the Soviet spy code to read messages between Moscow and the US collected during the Cold War

HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee)

Committee responsible for rooting out communists in American Government and Society

Hollywood Ten

Group of people in the film industry who were jailed for refusing to answer congressional questions regarding Communist influence in Hollywood

Joseph McCarthy

1950s; Wisconsin senator claimed to have list of communists in American gov't, but no credible evidence; took advantage of fears of communism post WWII to become incredibly influential; "McCarthyism" was the fearful accusation of any dissenters of being communists

Army-McCarthy Hearings (1954)

Congressional hearings called by Senator Joseph McCarthy's to accuse members of the army of communist ties. In this widely televised spectacle, McCarthy finally went too far for public approval. The hearings exposed the Senator's extremism and led to his eventual disgrace. (951)

Massive Retaliation

The "new look" defense policy of the Eisenhower administration of the 1950's was to threaten "massive retaliation" with nuclear weapons in response to any act of aggression by a potential enemy.

Sputnik

First artificial Earth satellite, it was launched by Moscow in 1957 and sparked U.S. fears of Soviet dominance in technology and outer space. It led to the creation of NASA and the space race.

brinkmanship

A policy of threatening to go to war in response to any enemy aggression.

covert

(adj.) hidden, disguised, purposefully kept secret; sheltered, secluded; (n.) a sheltered place, a hiding place

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

A U.S. agency created to gather secret information about foreign governments.

developing nation

a nation whose economy is primarily agricultural

military-industrial complex

Eisenhower first coined this phrase when he warned American against it in his last State of the Union Address. He feared that the combined lobbying efforts of the armed services and industries that contracted with the military would lead to excessive Congressional spending.

armistice

an agreement made by opposing sides in a war to stop fighting for a certain time; a truce.

U-2 incident

The incident when an American U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union. The U.S. denied the true purpose of the plane at first, but was forced to when the U.S.S.R. produced the living pilot and the largely intact plane to validate their claim of being spied on aerially. The incident worsened East-West relations during the Cold War and was a great embarrassment for the United States.

Mossadegh, Mohammad

the democratically elected prime minister of Iran who was ousted in a CIA coup in 1953

Shah Pahlavi

the leader of Iran after World War II that was supported by Western government and Western oil companies. He tried to weaken the political influence of religion in Iran by limiting the role of the Islamic legal and academic experts. He was forced to flee from Iran in January 1979.

Jacobo arbenz Guzman (Guatemala)

-President of Guatemala who announced the government seizure of land from the United Fruit Company, owned by U.S. investors.
-U.S. believed Arbenz Guzman was Communist-inspired and feared that similar radical ideas might spread to other Central American countries.

The Taiwan Crisis

china threaten to sieze 2 islands from nationalists taiwan was communist barrier eisenhower threaten to use nuclear forces against china -china backed down

Suez Crisis (1956)

military attack on Egypt by Britain, France, and Israel beginning on 29 October 1956. The attack followed Egypt's decision of 26 July 1956 to nationalize the Suez Canal after the withdrawal of an offer by Britain and the United States to fund the building of the Aswan Dam

The Warsaw Pact

An alliance between the Soviet Union and other Eastern European nations. This was in response to the NATO

Nikita Krushchev (Soviet Union)

-succeed after Stalin
-gave a famous speech called "secret speech"

Declaration of Conscience

a doctrine issued by Smith and other senators which condemned those who had turned the Senate into a "forum of hate and character assassination"