Period 8 Part 1 Flashcards
provided for college or vocational education for returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as GIs or G. I.s) as well as one-year of unemployment compensation. It also provided loans for returning veterans to buy homes and start businesses.
Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (GI Bill)
many countries around the globe, notably those of Europe, Asia, North America, and Australasia experienced a baby boom. By the end of the decade, about 32 million babies had been born, compared with 24 million in the lean 1930s. In 1954, annual births first topped four million and did not drop below that figure until 1965, when four out of ten Americans were under the age of twenty
Baby Boom
New York suburb where postwar builders pioneered the techniques of mass home construction
Levittown
Region, south and southwestern U.S. It is characterized by a warm climate, rapid population growth since 1970, and relatively conservative voting patterns. Comprising 15 states, it extends from Virginia and Florida in the southeast through Nevada in the southwest, and includes southern California.
Sunbelt
A United States federal law that greatly restricts the activities and power of labor unions. The Act, still largely in effect, was sponsored by Senator Robert Taft and Representative Fred A. Hartley, Jr. U.S. President Harry S. Truman described the act as a “slave-labor bill” and vetoed it, adding that it would “conflict with important principles of our democratic society”. The Senate followed the House of Representatives in overriding Truman’s veto on June 23, 1947, establishing the act as a law. The Taft-Hartley Act amended the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA, also known as the Wagner Act), which Congress had passed in 1935.
Taft-Hartley Act
a US political party, composed chiefly of dissident Democrats, that nominated Henry Wallace for president in 1948 and supported the nationalization of key industries, advocated social reforms, and opposed the Cold War
Progressive Party
Splinter party of the Democrats who aimed to protect states’ rights and the southern way of life from the expanding federal government; supporters of racial segregation, the party formed after delegates walked out of the Democratic convention when Truman endorsed the Civil Rights card.
States-Rights party (Dixiecrats)
Truman’s policy of social improvement, which included support for increasing welfare, slum clearance, and civil rights. Most of his Fair Deal bills were shot down, save his initiative to expand unemployment benefits.
Fair Deal
important part of the United Nations; has to maintain international peace and security; takes care of the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of international sanctions, and the authorization of military action
Security Council
Winston Churchill reviewed the international response to Russian aggression and declared an “iron curtain” had descended across Eastern Europe, referring to the rise of communism there as satellite nations under the USSR
Iron Curtain
U.S. diplomat and historian. Among the most influential Americans in the Foreign Service in the 20th century he served from 1927 in various diplomatic posts in Europe. He sent his Long Telegram (1946), which with his 1947 Foreign Policy article (published under the pseudonym X) was pivotal in the establishment of the cold war U.S. policy of Soviet containment. In 1947 he became chairman of the policy-planning staff of the Dept. of State, and contributed to the development of the Marshall Plan . He also was influential in the development of what became the Central Intelligence Agency’s clandestine service.
George Kennan
Refers to the foreign policy strategy of the U.S. in the early years of the Cold War in which it attempted to stop what it called the domino effect of nations moving politically towards Soviet Union-based communism, rather than European-American-based democracy.
Containment Policy
Truman wanted to prevent the spread of communism. He wanted it “contained”. The first implementation was $400 million given to aid Greece and Turkey to prevent a communist takeover.
Truman Doctrine
American sponsored effort that provided funds for the economic relief and recovery of Western Europe
Marshall Plan
carried supplies to the people in West Berlin
Berlin Airlift
a military alliance for defending all members from outside attack (by Communists)
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
a 58-page formerly-classified report issued by the United States National Security Council; top secret; shaped U.S. foreign policy in the Cold War for the next 20 years
NSC-68
American military commander in Korea fired by President Harry Truman
Douglas MacArthur
Ld the Communist Party of China (CPC) against the Kuomintang (KMT) in the Chinese Civil War, allowing the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. Caused many Chinese deaths
Mao Zedong
occurring between June 25, 1950 and a ceasefire on July 27, 1953, was a civil war between the states of North Korea and South Korea that were created out of the post-World War II Soviet and American occupation zones in Korea, with large-scale participation by other countries. The principal support on the side of the North Korean communists was the People’s Republic of China, with limited assistance by Soviet combat advisors, military pilots, and weapons. South Korea was supported by United Nations (UN) forces, principally from the United States, although many other nations also contributed personnel.
Korean War
