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US History: 2024-2025 > Origins of the Cold War > Flashcards

Origins of the Cold War Flashcards

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1
Q

What challenges faced many countries after World War II?

A
  • World War II resulted in catastrophic death tolls for most warring nations– the Soviet Union experienced more deaths than any other country.
  • Soldier and civilian death tolls were high in many parts of the world.
  • Europe, Asia, and the Soviet Union saw horrific physical destruction.
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2
Q

What factors contributed to American optimism after World War II?

A
  • The US was influential in the Allied victory- resulting in high levels of patriotism.
  • The economy had recovered significantly- Great Depression finally ended.
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3
Q

What new opportunities were available for American veterans after World War II?

A

American veterans were able to access GI Bill benefits after World War II.

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4
Q

What was the GI Bill?

A

Federal government legislation passed near the end of WWII, that allowed veterans to receive college tuition benefits and low-interest home loans.

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5
Q

How did the American economy perform during the decade following World War II?

A
  • After a brief period of adjustment, the American economy soared after World War II– due to high demand for American goods from overseas.
  • High employment, growing wages, new consumer products, and access to credit cards all helped the economy grow.
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6
Q

What factors resulted in the expansion of American suburbs after WWII?

A
  • Thriving economy.
  • Highway construction made it easier for people to live in suburbs.
  • Access to low-interest loans via the GI Bill.
  • Use of assembly line to construct homes kept costs low– ex. Levittowns.
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7
Q

What was the Federal Highway Act?

A
  • Signed by President Eisenhower after World War II, it enabled the construction of the US’ first interstate highways.
  • Encouraged rapid growth of suburbs.
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8
Q

What is suburbanization?

A
  • The rapid growth of communities outside of large urban areas.
  • Characterized by good schools, new homes, safe neighborhoods.
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9
Q

Why did some regions in the United States experienced population and economic growth after World War II, while others did not?

A
  • Wartime growth in the South and West encouraged many Americans to move to cities like Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Atlanta.
  • Nice weather, low taxes, and new communities all attracted people to the South and West– away from declining old industrial communities in the Midwest.
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10
Q

What is the Sun Belt?

A
  • Nickname given to the postwar growth region of the American West and South.
  • Strong economy and good weather led many to move to these areas.
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11
Q

What is the Rust Belt?

A
  • Nickname given to the postwar decline region of the American Midwest.
  • Slow growth within the economy in these areas led many to leave– leading to further decline in cities like Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland.
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12
Q

What factors caused the baby boom after World War II?

A
  • Delay in marriages during WWII– led to increased marriage rates after the war.
  • Thriving economy allowed families to have more children.
  • Postwar optimism and hope for a better future, return to traditional family values.
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13
Q

What impact did the baby boom have on American society after World War II?

A
  • From 1946 to 1964 the US experienced an increase in the birth rate– allowing the overall population to grow.
  • America became much younger, and the economy reflected that, as baby boomers became teenagers popular culture reflected their interests.
  • Difficult period for many American women who felt overwhelmed by domestic expectations.
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14
Q

Why was there a surge of mass popular culture after World War II?

A
  • Availability of new technologies– Hi-Fi Record Players and Television.
  • Popularity of Rock and Roll music– including artists such as Elvis.
  • Strong economy and young population.
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15
Q

What important advancements in science and technology impacted American society after World War II?

A
  • Credit cards
  • Hydrogen Bombs
  • Polio Vaccine
  • Hi-Fi Record Players
  • Man-Made Satellites
  • Television
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16
Q

Who was Jonas Salk?

A
  • American scientist credited with developing the Polio vaccine after World War II. Effectively eradicating the illness in the US by 1979.
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17
Q

What was Sputnik?

A
  • Soviet satellite launched into space before successfully orbiting Earth in 1957.
  • Prompted the start of the “Space Race”
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18
Q

What is NASA?

A
  • American government agency created to further the United States’ goals in the Space Race in 1958.
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19
Q

What is the Hydrogen Bomb?

A
  • Nuclear weapon develop by the US (1952) and USSR (1953) during the early nuclear arms race.
  • Significantly more powerful than the atomic bombs developed and used by the US during World War II.
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20
Q

What positive impacts did advancements in science and technology have after World War II?

A
  • Increased opportunities for entertainment– TV and record players.
  • Access to credit cards allowed for easier spending and the growth of the economy.
  • The polio vaccine saved lives, prevented paralysis, and paved the way for future medical advancements.
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21
Q

What negative impacts did advancements in science and technology have after World War II?

A
  • The credit card led to decreased savings and increased debt.
  • Competition to build more and more powerful nuclear weapons created rampant fear around the world about the potential for nuclear war.
  • The first space-based satellite made many Americans fearful the Soviets would launch a nuclear attack against the US.
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22
Q

Why did an attitude of conformity emerged during the decade following World War II?

A
  • Americans wanted to return to traditional ways of life after the horrors of WWII.
  • Fear of nuclear attack and distrust of technology.
  • Television and advertising depicted what a typical and ideal American society looked like– expecting people to fit into that standard.
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23
Q

How did the attitude of conformity impact different populations of Americans during the decade following World War II?

A
  • Certain groups, mostly women and racial minorities, feeling under-represented and unappreciated in American society.
  • Many women, racial minorities, and young people challenged the standards Americans were expected to live by.
  • Contributed to a foundation for future change– Civil Rights Movement and the Women’s Liberation Movement.
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24
Q

What was the Beat Generation?

A
  • Literary movement that challenged conformist standard after World War II.
  • Popular with American teenagers during the 1950s.
25
Q

What were Green Books?

A
  • Guidebooks that listed Black-friendly businesses and communities while traveling the United States.
26
Q

Who was Betty Friedan?

A
  • American author who wrote “The Feminine Mystique,” describing the frustrations and limitations experienced by women after WWII.
  • Helped spark the Women’s Liberation Movement of the 1960s.
27
Q

What was the Cold War?

A
  • Ideological and cultural battle between the United States and Soviet Union.
  • Started with the end of WWII in 1945, continuing into the early 1990s.
28
Q

What factors caused a rivalry to emerge between the US and the Soviet Union after World War II?

A
  • Ideological differences: Soviet communism vs. American capitalism and democracy.
  • Competing postwar goals: Soviet desire to spread communism vs. US desire to contain communism.
29
Q

What is containment?

A
  • American foreign policy goal during the Cold War– focused on stopping the spread of communism.
30
Q

How did the United States seek to further its international goals after World War II?

A
  • The United States’ commitment to containment was primarily achieved by giving money to war torn areas after World War II– hoping to prevent the economic conditions associated with communism.
31
Q

What was the Truman Doctrine?

A
  • President Truman’s commitment to financially support free nations in their fight against communism. Provided $400 million to fight Communist revolutionaries in Greece and Turkey.
  • Example of American containment policies during the early Cold War.
32
Q

What was the Marshall Plan?

A
  • The United States’ program that contributed $10 billion to rebuild Western Europe after World War II, hoping to prevent communism from spreading in these areas.
  • Example of American containment policies during the early Cold War.
33
Q

What were satellite states?

A
  • Nations where Joseph Stalin sought to establish a communist-friendly buffer zone after World War II.
  • Mostly established in Eastern Europe.
34
Q

What is NATO?

A
  • The North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
  • Organization formed in 1949, among western non-Communist nations, to counteract Stalin’s efforts to spread communism after WWII.
35
Q

What was the significance of the “iron curtain” during the Cold War?

A
  • The imaginary line that divided non-Communist western Europe from Communist eastern Europe during the Cold War.
  • Term coined by Winston Churchill.
36
Q

How and why was Germany divided after World War II?

A
  • How: Germany was divided into four Allied occupation zones run by the US, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union after WWII.
  • Why: To allow for the restructuring of Germany after the dismantling of the Nazi government at the end of WWII.
37
Q

How did the division of Germany after World War II contributed to Cold War tensions?

A
  • While the three western Allies governed their zones cooperatively– Stalin’s eastern zone focused on the destruction of Germany and establishment of communism.
38
Q

What was the Berlin Blockade?

A
  • In 1948, Stalin grew angry at the western Allies efforts to unify West Germany and establish a common currency.
  • Therefore he established a blockade, blocking all roads and rails into the western occupation zones of Berlin (resting within the Soviet zone).
  • Prevented food, medicine, and other resources from reaching West Berlin.
39
Q

What was the Berlin Airlift?

A
  • In response to the Berlin Blockade, the western Allies flew airplanes over West Berlin to deliver much needed supplies to residents of the city.
  • After 15 months Stalin ended his blockade, a victory for the Airlift.
  • Led to the creation of West Germany in 1949.
40
Q

Where did communism spread during the period following World War II?

A
  • Eastern Europe
  • East Germany
  • China
  • North Korea
  • North Vietnam
41
Q

Who was Mao Zedong?

A
  • Chinese revolutionary leader that established China as a Communist nation at the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949.
42
Q

How and why Korea was divided after World War II?

A
  • How: Korea was divided along the 38th parallel at the end of WWII. North Korea was made Communist; South Korea was made non-Communist.
  • Why: Korea had been under Japanese control and the Allies didn’t believe Korea was prepared to self-govern.
43
Q

How did the division of Korea after World War II contribute to Cold War tensions?

A
  • Neither North or South Korea was pleased with the 38th parallel– making border skirmishes common.
  • In June 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea starting the Korean War.
44
Q

Why did the United States intervene in Korea during the early Cold War?

A
  • After North Korea invaded South Korea, it appeared that South Korea would fall to communism.
  • The US intervened in the Korean War to contain communism to North Korea.
45
Q

How and why was Vietnam divided after World War II?

A
  • How: Vietnam was divided along the 17th Parallel at the Geneva Conference in 1954. North Vietnam was Communist and South Vietnam was non-Communist.
  • Why: After facing Japanese occupation during WWII, Vietnam attempted a revolutionary movement to overthrow their French imperialists. After France failed to end this revolution, the Geneva Conference was held, and Vietnam was divided.
46
Q

Why did the US intervene in Vietnam during the early Cold War?

A
  • The US began sending military advisors to Vietnam during the 1950s in hopes of containing communism to North Vietnam.
47
Q

What is the domino theory?

A
  • Common concern during the early Cold War that if one country fell to communism, neighboring countries would fall to communism as well.
  • Caused the US to intervene in many Cold War conflicts- particularly Korea and Vietnam.
48
Q

How did the nuclear arms race intensify during the early Cold War?

A
  • Both the US and the Soviet Union worked to develop as many nuclear weapons as possible.
  • Both the US and the Soviet Union worked to develop more powerful and advanced technologies with their nuclear weapons.
49
Q

What is an ICBM?

A
  • An intercontinental ballistic missile.
  • During the nuclear arms race, the US and Soviet Union wanted to develop ICBMs to be able to target one another from greater distances.
50
Q

How did fears associated with the nuclear arms race impact American society after World War II?

A
  • Americans lived in constant fear that the Soviet Union might attack the US.
  • People built bunkers in the homes and businesses; children practiced duck and cover drills at school.
  • People became increasingly fearful of anything associated with the Soviet Union– such as communism.
51
Q

What caused the Second Red Scare to emerge after World War II?

A
  • Intense fear of communism and the Soviet Union after WWII– especially amid the ongoing nuclear arms race.
  • Many worried that communist spies were living among the American public- putting everyone at risk.
52
Q

How did the US government respond to concerns of communist spies operating within the US government and American society during the Second Red Scare?

A
  • Investigations were completed to ensure that the government and public were secure.
  • Organizations were created to organize these investigations.
53
Q

Who was Alger Hiss?

A
  • US State Department employee convicted on charges of espionage after acting as a Soviet spy.
54
Q

Who were Julius and Ethel Rosenberg?

A
  • Married couple convicted and sentenced to death for providing nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union during the nuclear arms race.
  • Julius had worked on the Manhattan Project.
55
Q

What were Loyalty Review Boards?

A
  • Government committees created to investigate government employees- and their potential ties to Soviet Communism.
56
Q

What was the House Unamerican Activities Committee (HUAC)?

A
  • Congressional committee created to investigate Communist threats in all aspects of American society.
57
Q

Who were the Hollywood Ten?

A
  • A group of Hollywood contributors that were blacklisted (banned) from working in the movie industry, after HUAC investigations connected them to the Communist Party.
58
Q

How did the actions of Senator Joseph McCarthy demonstrate the extreme nature of the Second Red Scare after World War II?

A
  • Unlike the very real connections between some convicted spies and the Soviet Union, McCarthy made false claims against hundreds of Americans during the Second Red Scare.
  • McCarthy’s claims were often made with little to no evidence– ruining many people’s lives along the way.
59
Q

What is McCarthyism?

A
  • The people of mass hysteria surrounding Communist allegations during the height of the Second Red Scare.
  • Caused by Senator Joseph McCarthy.

US History: 2024-2025 (10 decks)

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