Unit 6 - Cold War to Modern Era Flashcards
Ideologies
A system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy.
Communism
A political theory advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs.
Capitalism
An economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit.
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A group of thirty-one countries from Europe and North America that exists to protect the people and territory of its members.
Space Race
A twentieth-century competition between the United States and the Soviet Union to achieve superior spaceflight capability. Happened in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between the two nations following World War II.
Arms Race
A competition between nations for superiority in the development and accumulation of weapons between the US and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
Containment
A geopolitical strategic foreign policy pursued by the United States during the Cold War to prevent the spread of communism.
Iron Curtain
The ideological barrier erected by the Soviet Union after World War II to seal off itself and its dependent eastern and central European allies from open contact with the West and other non-communist areas.
Berlin Blockade & Airlift
The Soviet leader imposed the Berlin Blockade cutting off all land and river transit between West Berlin and West Germany. The Western Allies responded with a massive airlift to come to West Berlin’s aid.
McCarthyism
The political practice of publicizing accusations of being communist with insufficient regard to evidence.
Blacklisted
The list of people that were shunned or excluded by America because they are alleged to have engaged in communism.
HUAC
The House Un-American Activities Committee. Made to investigate alleged disloyalty and rebel activities on the part of private citizens, public employees and organizations suspected of having Communist ties.
Baby Boom
A temporary marked increase in the birth rate, especially the one following World War II.
Suburbanization
A term to describe the growth and spatial reorganization of contemporary city. Houses looked very similar.
Brinkmanship
The practice of trying to achieve an advantageous outcome by pushing dangerous events to the brink of active conflict.
Armistice
An agreement made by opposing sides in a war to stop fighting for a certain time; a truce.
Civil Rights Movement
The nonviolent social movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the United States.
Civil Disobedience
The refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines, as a peaceful form of political protest.
Cuban Missile Crisis
The direct and dangerous confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War due to Cuba becoming communist and making nukes as of orders from the Soviet Union.
Counterculture
A way of life and set of attitudes opposed to or at variance with the prevailing social norm.
Poverty
The state of being extremely poor.
Vietcong
A member of the communist guerrilla movement in Vietnam that fought the South Vietnamese government forces with the support of the North Vietnamese army and opposed the South Vietnamese and US forces in the Vietnam War.
Vietnamization
The US policy of withdrawing its troops and transferring the responsibility and direction of the war effort to the government of South Vietnam.
OPEC
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries; an organisation enabling the co-operation of leading oil-producing countries, in order to collectively influence the global market and maximize profit.
SALT I & II
The first agreements signed by the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1972 and 1979, respectively, and were intended to restrain the arms race in strategic (long-range or intercontinental) ballistic missiles armed with nuclear weapons.
Détente
The easing of hostility or strained relations, especially between countries.
Watergate Scandal
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon that led to Nixon’s resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration’s persistent attempts to cover up its involvement in the June 17, 1972 burglary of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Washington, D.C., Watergate Office Building.
Impeachment
A charge of misconduct made against the holder of a public office.
Camp David Accords
Established a framework for a historic peace treaty concluded between Israel and Egypt in March 1979.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Iranian militants stormed the United States Embassy in Tehran and took approximately seventy Americans captive. This terrorist act triggered the most profound crisis of the Carter presidency and began a personal ordeal for Jimmy Carter and the American people that lasted 444 days.
Equal Pay Act
A United States labor law amending the Fair Labor Standards Act; aimed at abolishing wage disparity based on sex.
Title IX
Prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance.
Rust Belt
The geographic region from New York through the Midwest that was once dominated by manufacturing.
Sun Belt
Comprises the states of the South and the Southwest. The term was coined to describe both the warm climate of these regions and the rapid economic and population growth that have been characteristic since the 1960s.
Reaganomics
The economic policies of the president Ronald Reagan, associated especially with the reduction of taxes and the promotion of unrestricted free-market activity.
Iran Contra Affair
The scandal involved the United States Government selling weapons to Israel to sell weapons to Iran to fund the Nicaraguan Contras. It happened under President Ronald Reagan’s government.
Ethnic Cleansing
The mass expulsion or killing of members of an unwanted ethnic or religious group in a society.
Interdependence
The dependence of two or more people or things on each other.
Multinational Corporation
A company that has business operations in at least one country other than its home country.
Outsource
Obtain (goods or a service) from an outside or foreign supplier, especially in place of an internal source.
Warsaw Pact
The political alliance made with the USSR and it’s allies.
Yalta Conference
The World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union to discuss the postwar reorganization of Germany and Europe.
Hawks/Doves
Hawks supported the Vietnam War. Doves did not support the Vietnam War.
SEATO (South East Asian Treaty Organization)
An international organization for collective defense in Southeast Asia created by the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty, or Manila Pact.
Intifada
The Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, beginning in 1987.
Perestroika
The policy or practice of restructuring or reforming the economic and political system. First proposed by Leonid Brezhnev in 1979 and actively promoted by Mikhail Gorbachev, perestroika originally referred to increased automation and labor efficiency, but came to entail greater awareness of economic markets and the ending of central planning.
Persian Gulf War
Iraq had accused the U.S. and Israel of deliberately weakening Iraq by convincing Kuwait to lower oil prices. Armed campaign waged by a 39-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
Civil Rights Act
Prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Provisions of this civil rights act forbade discrimination on the basis of sex, as well as, race in hiring, promoting, and firing.
The Palmer Raids
A series of raids conducted by the United States Department of Justice under the administration of President Woodrow Wilson to capture and arrest suspected socialists, especially anarchists and communists, and deport them from the United States.
The USA Patriot Act (2001)
Passed to protect the United States from terrorists. Prohibits knowingly harboring persons who have committed or are about to commit a variety of terrorist offenses
Truman Doctrine
The principle that the US should give support to countries or peoples threatened by Soviet forces or Communist insurrection. First expressed in 1947 by US President Truman in a speech to Congress seeking aid for Greece and Turkey, the doctrine was seen by the Communists as an open declaration of the Cold War.
Woodrow Wilson’s New Freedom
His successful 1912 presidential campaign; pledging to restore unfettered opportunity for individual action and to employ the power of government in behalf of social justice for all.
The Federal Reserve System
The central bank of the United States. It was created by the Congress to provide the nation with a safer, more flexible, and more stable monetary and financial system.
Native American Movement
Initially centered in urban areas in order to address systemic issues of poverty, discrimination, and police brutality against Native Americans.
Consumer and Environmental Movement
Environmental movements demanded preservation and restoration of Earth’s environment. Inspired by Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring, condemning the chemicals that were poisoning the environment, groups organized around the country. Activists protested pollution and toxic wastes.
Persons with Disabilities Movement
Advocated and tackled many disability rights issues by providing people with disabilities equal access to federally funded programs.
Americans with Disabilities Act
Prohibits discrimination based on disabilities.
Pure Food and Drug Act `
Prohibited the manufacture, sale, or transportation of misbranded foods and drugs.
