All Flashcards
Potsdam Conference
Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill- changed to Clement Atlee, and Harry Truman: decided that Germany would remain divided with one zone friendly to the US and one zone friendly to Communist, pro-Soviet government
Chiang Kai-Shek
Led a corrupt and incompetent government with weak popular support, a nationalist leader
Mao Ze-dong
In a long and bitter rivalry with Chiang Kai-Shek
a Communist leader in China
Pro-American Sphere of Influence
Idea in Asia and Europe that was becoming more widely accepted; areas controlled by America through financial and military aid
Containment
Stop the spread of Communism, what the US would work to do
George F. Keenan
One of the architects of the idea of containment, was critical of the US sweeping view of containment
Marshall Plan
A plan to provide economic assistance to all European nations that would join in drafting a program for recovery
National Sec. (?) Act of 1947
Reshaped the US major military and diplomatic institutions
Gave the president expanded power
CIA
Replaced wartime office of Strategic Services and was responsible for collecting info through open and covert methods
Also carried out secret political and military operations
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
Declared that an attack against one member was an attack against all, a military alliance
West Berlin
A symbol of resisting Communist expansion
A city governed by West Germany but entirely surrounded by communist East Germany
Warsaw Pact
The alliance with the Soviet Union and the Communist governments of Eastern Europe
Communist counter to our NATO
Marshall Josip Tito
Leader of Yugoslavia
Berlin Airlift
Brought in supplies to West Germany
General Douglas MacArthur
Led the US occupation of Japan
House of Un-American Activities Committee
(HUAC) they held widely publicized investigations to prove that, if under democratic rule, the government had tolerated Communist subversion
“The Hollywood Ten”
Writers and producers who were previously Communists who were called to testify
Those who refused to answer questions about their own political beliefs were put in jail
Alger Hiss
A former high-ranking member of the state department
He sued Chambers, accused of passing classified state documents to the Soviet Union
Whittaker Chambers
A former Communist who turned against the party to become a time magazine editor Accused Hiss (?)
J. Edgar Hoover
Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
He investigated and harassed alleged radicals
Cold War
A war of words, a tense and dangerous rivalry between the Soviet Union and the United States after World War II
“Uncle Joe”
Nickname Americans gave to Joseph Stalin
Yalta 1945
A peace conference held in the Soviet city of Yalta where the Big Three reached agreements
Revisionist Interpretation
The restating of the motives and decisions that governed American actions in world affairs
United Nations
The new international organization which was made up of a General Assembly and Security Council and established in 1945 at the Yalta Conference
Security Council
Permanent representatives of the five major powers (the United States, Great Britain, China, France, and the Soviet Union) who would have veto power in the United Nations
“Zone of Occupation”
The four zones of Germany which Great Britain, the US, France, and the Soviet Union controlled separately after WWII
NSC-68
Outlined a shift in the American position in foreign policy
Said the US must begin a massive build up of weapons to stay ahead of the Soviets
Serviceman’s Readjustment Act of 1944
Also known as the GI Bill of Rights, provided economic and educational assistance of veterans
“Fair Deal”
Truman’s 21 point domestic program
States’ Rights Party
Or one faction of the Democratic Party that abandoned
Nominated Strom Thurmond
Progressive Party
Democratic party’s left wing formed this with Henry A. Wallace as its candidate
Thomas E. Dewey
Republican nominee for the Election of 1948, Governor of New York and one of the nation’s leading political figures
Syngman Rhee
Anti communist but only nominally democratic, South Korean statesman
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
Spies for the Soviet Union who were executed for conspiracy to commit espionage (spying), gave the Soviet Union information about the making of the atomic bomb
Joseph McCarthy
Made claims that there was a large number of Soviet spies in the US government and elsewhere, he was therefore censured by the US Senate
Red Scare
The promotion of fear of a potential rise of Communism
Adlai Stevenson
Nominated as the Democratic candidate in the 1952 presidential election, lost to Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Elected president in 1952, Republican, had been Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe during World War II
“Checkers Speech”
Address made by Richard Nixon because he was accused of being dishonest about funds meant to reimburse him for his political expenses
