Chapter 25 Reading Flashcards
US and Great Britain wanted
united Germany and independent nations in Eastern Europe
Stalin wanted
weak, divided Germany and Eastern Europe under communist control
satellite states
Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and eastern part of Germany
Truman
after meeting in Potsdam became convinced the Soviet Union had aspirations toward world domination; began the Cold War; asked congress for money to help Turkey and Greece to fight communism; ordered the development of a hydrogen bomb
Churchill
agreed with Truman and said iron curtain descended upon Europe
east of the curtain
Stalin tightening his grip and trying to spread communism
Truman Doctrine
Truman’s promise of aid; set new course for American foreign policy
containment
goal of another American policy; use American power to help nations resist communism
Marshall Plan
containments 1st success; Marshall’s economic recovery plan for Europe; US gave $13 billion in grants and loans to Western European nations
1948 Stalin decided to
block all shipping from western Germany into west Berlin; hope to make the city fall to the communists
Berlin airlift
US and Britain stopped Stalin’s plan by airlifting supples, including food, fuel, and clothing into West Berlin; showed that communism can be contained
North Atlantic treaty organization
NATO; 12 Western European and North American nations agreed to act together to defend Western Europe; west Germany joined in 1955
Warsaw pact
Soviet Union response to NATO; all communist states of Eastern Europe except Yugoslavia promised to defend one another if attacked
Jiang Jieshi
known as Chaing Kaishek in US; US supported; allies with Mao against Japan during the war; became enemies
Mao Zedong
Soviet Union aided
Mao’s communists
took over the Chinese mainland; called their government the peoples republic of china
after WW2 US and Soviet Union split
Korea into 2 nations divided by the 38th parallel of latitude
June 25, 1950
90,000 north Korean troops armed with Soviet Union weapons crossed the 38th parallel to attack South Korea; Truman sent American troops to join South Korean and United Nations forces
Douglas MacArthur
under him attacked the port city of Inchon; drove the North Koreans back north; told Truman china wouldn’t intervene and continued to push forward; distrusted Trumans policy of “limited war”; got fired when he sent a letter to congress condemning the policy
November 26, 1950
300,000 Chinese soldiers attacked
Eisenhower hinted
might use nuclear weapons to achieve a cease-fire
2 things changed
Trumans use of American forces enlarged the power of the presidency; new alliance called the Southeast Asia treaty organization SEATO
SEATO
formed to prevent the spread of communism; asian version of NATO
September 2, 1949
America learned the soviets had an atomic bomb; world suddenly became more threatening
scientists
warned developing the h bomb would lead to a perpetual arms race
mutually assured destruction
US and Soviet Union; stockpiling weapons; prevent the other form actually using the weapons
massive retaliation
Eisenhower foreign policy emphasized
John Foster Dulles
Eisenhower’s SOS; believed only by going to the brink of war (brinkmanship) could the US discourage communist aggression
Nikita Khrushchev
became leader of the Soviet Union in 1953; continued to try to spread communism; shut down students and workers in Hungary from rioting
wokers in Poland
rioted against Soviet rule and won greater control of their government
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Egypt’s president; wanted to build a dam in the Nile River; opened relations with communist china and the Soviet Union and US withdrew its offer to help; nationalized Suez Canal
Britain, France, and Israel
in response invaded Egypt; using Suez as excuse took control of canal but withdrew when US wouldn’t help
Eisenhower Doctrine announced
use force to help any nation threatened by communism; used in 1958 to put down a revolt against a pro-American government in Lebanon
Eisenhower administration used
CIA to help return American governments to Iran and Guatemala
October 4, 1957
Soviets launched the satellite Sputnik 1
response to Sputnik 1
congress passed legislation to educated more scientists and created NASA
red scare
public fear that communists were working to destroy America both from within and without; spurred Truman to investigate federal employees
1940 smith act
truman administration used to send 11 US communist party members to prison; law against advocating violent overthrow of the government
house committee on un-American activities
investigated supervise activities throughout American life including academic institutions, labor unions, and city halls; targeted the Hollywood 10
hollywood 10
groups of left wing writers, directors, and producers; refused to testify against themselves and sent to prison
blacklist
named entertainment figured suspected of communist ties
Alger Hiss
government employee who helped organized the United Nations; denied everything before HUAC but sentenced 5 years in prison
Whittaker Chambers
former member of the communist party and espionage agent; named Hiss as one of his government contacts
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
accused of passing secret information about nuclear science to soviet agents; being persecuted because they were jewish and held unpopular beliefs; convicted in highly controversial trial and executed in 1953
Joseph R McCarthy
senator from Wisconsin; claimed he had long lost of communists in the state department; each time asked to give spacific names figures changed; popularity soared; targets grew bigger; went after US army; popularity went down when witnesses saw him twist the truth during tv hearings
McCarthyism
became catchword for the senators vicious style of reckless charges
end of Korea War an McCarthy’s downfall
signaled the decline of the red scare
