Period 8 Part I Vocab - APUSH

Soviet Union

a communist nation that consisted of Russia and 14 other states; participated in the Cold War

United Nations

An international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate co-operation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress and human rights issues; founded after the second world war

Security Council

the 15-member council within the UN given the primary responsibility within the UN for maintaining international security and authorizing peacekeeping missions

World Bank

initially created to fund the rebuilding of a war-torn world and encourage world trade; founded at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944

Iron Curtain

a metaphor coined by Churchill that refers to the division between the US allies in Western Europe and the Soviet allies in Eastern Europe

Containment policy

designed to prevent Soviet expansion without starting a war by creating alliances and helping weak countries to resist Soviet advances; firm containment of soviet expansion would halt communist power

Truman Doctrine

Truman asked Congress for $400 million in economic and military aid to assist the “free people” of Greece and Turkey against “totalitarian” regimes; US foreign policy would be to aid any power fighting communists

Marshall Plan

an extensive program of US economic aid to help European nations revive their economies and strengthen democratic governments; if they had money, they could buy American goods; $17 billion

Berlin Airlift

President Truman’s response to the Soviet’s blockade of access to Berlin by land; constant flying in of supplies to the people of West Berlin; lead to West and East Germany

West vs East Germany

caused by the Soviet’s blockade of Berlin; one side is allied with the US and the other with the Soviet Union

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

a military alliance for defending all members from outside attack; created to protect Western Europe from Soviet rule

Warsaw Pact

a military alliance for the defense of communist states of Eastern Europe; Soviet’s response to NATO

Arms Race

an intense competition between the US and USSR to develop superior weapons systems

Taiwan

the island that Chiang and his nationalists retreated to after all of mainland China was controlled by the Communists

People’s Republic of China

Communist government of mainland China

38th Parallel

the line by which Korea was divided along

Korean War

the first “hot war” of the Cold war; Soviet-backed North Korea invaded South Korea and the UN forces supported the South Koreans; eventually the war ended in a stalemate, neither side being able to overwhelm the other and fighting was stalled just above the 38th parallel

Brinkmanship

a hard line created by John Foster Dulles that declared that if the US pushed Communist powers to the brink of war, they would back down because of American nuclear superiority; the act of pushing a situation to the verge of war in order to threaten and encourage one's opponent to back down; breaking point

Massive Retaliation

a military doctrine and nuclear strategy in which a state commits itself to retaliate in greater force in the event of an attack; relying more on nuclear weapons and air power and spending less on conventional military forces would save money, help balance the fed budget, and increase pressure on potential enemies

Korean Armistice

the truce made between the US/SouthKorean alliance and the Chinese/NorthKorean alliance to end the Korean War; the exchange of prisoners, the halt of fighting, and the withdrawal of most US troops; Korea remained divided near the 38th parallel

Open-Skies Policy

a policy to have all US and USSR territory open to aerial photography by the opposing nation in order to eliminate the chance of a surprise nuclear attack; rejected by the Soviets

Spirits of Geneva

the first thaw of the Cold War; At a summit, Eisenhower called for a slowdown in the arms race; the Soviet Union withdrew troops from Austria and developed peaceful relations with Greece and Turkey.

Peaceful Coexistence

Term used by Nikita Khrushchev (new Soviet Premier) to promote compromisation and to reduce tensions between the USSR and the US

Hungarian Revolt

a popular uprising in Hungary that succeeded in overthrowing a government backed by Moscow; Khrushchev sent in Soviet tanks to crush the freedom fighters and restore control over Hungary; the US was limited in the actions they could take in this situation as to not launch major war in Europe

Sputnik

the satellites launched into orbit around the earth by the USSR; shocked the US and raised questions about the technological leadership of the US

U-2 Incident

the US spy plane that was shot down by Russians; revealed the secret US tactic for gaining information about their enemy’s missile program; led to Khrushchev denouncing the US and walking out of the Paris summit (temporarily ending the thaw)

Military-industrial complex

a term used by President Eisenhower during his farewell address; if the military becomes the biggest client for manufacturers, then the nation will begin to invest more of its economy into military contracts; presented his fear that the arms race was taking on momentum and logic all its own

Bay of Pigs

an American attempt to overthrow the newly established communist government in Cuba by training and sending Cuban rebels; failed because Kennedy rejected the idea of using US forces to save them

Berlin Wall

a gloomy symbol of the Cold War; created around West Berlin by Easter Germans (with Soviet backing) to stop East Germans from fleeing to West Germany

Cuban Missile Crisis

the most dangerous moment in US-Soviet relations; Castro (leader of Cuba) invited Khrushchev to build underground missile sites that could launch offensive missiles capable of reaching the US in mins; led to Kennedy blockading Cuba until the weapons were removed and Soviet and after 13 days, the USSR decided to remove the missiles from Cuba; could have lead to a full-scale nuclear war

Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

treaty created to end the testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere; offset by a new round in the arms races for developing missile and warhead superiority

Flexible-response policy

developed an array of military options that could match the gravity of whatever crisis came to hand; increased spending on conventional (nonnuclear) arms and mobile military forces; reduced the risk of using nuclear weapons

Detente

a deliberate reduction of Cold War tensions

Strategic Arms Limitation Talks

discussions between the USSR and the US talking about limiting the numbers of ballistic missiles in both nations; didn’t end the arms race, yet was a significant step toward reducing Cold War tensions and bringing about détente

Winston Churchill

former British Prime Minister; declared: “An iron curtain has descended across the continent”

George Marshall

Secretary of State for President Truman; helped formulate the containment policy that was designed to prevent Soviet expansion without starting a war

George Kennan

an expert on Soviet affairs; claimed that only “a long-term, patient but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies” would eventually cause the Soviets to back off their plan to spread communism; also helped formulate the containment policy

*Dean Acheson

Undersecretary of State for President Truman; also helped formulate the containment policy that was designed to prevent Soviet expansion without starting a war

Douglas MacArthur

A US general that took firm charge of the reconstruction of Japan; this general also commanded the UN forces expedition during the Korean War and stabilized fighting near the 38th parallel

Chiang Kai-shek

leader of the Chinese Nationalists; he and his followers fled to Taiwan when the mainland was taken over by the Communists

Mao Zedong

the leader of the Chinese Communists; took over mainland china and formed the regime of the People’s Republic of China

Kim Il Sung

the Communist leader of North Korea; approved the initial attacks of North Korea on South Korea, starting the Korean War

Syngman Rhee

the conservative nationalist leader of South Korea

Nikita Khrushchev

the New soviet leader after Stalin’s death; denounced the crimes of Stalin and supported “peaceful coexistence” with the west

Fidel Castro

overthrew the Cuban dictator; once denied support by the US, he turned towards the Soviets and set up a Communist totalitarian state

Joseph Stalin

Russian leader who succeeded Lenin as head of the Communist Party and created a totalitarian state by purging all opposition Bolshevik revolutionary