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30 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Munich analogy
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Because of the Munich Appeasement during World War II, where Great Britain and the entire world got taken advantage of by Hitler, it is now thought that the only way to bargain with a dictator is through invading them, since they will always take advantage of the other countries.
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George Keenan’s “Long Telegram” and “X” article 1946-1947
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This telegraph, sent by Keenan who was a long-time US diplomat in the USSR, described the nature of post WWII communism in the USSR, saying that leaders there were so paranoid that they could not be negotiated with. The “X” article in this telegram talked about the containment of communism as being the most important.
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Containment
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This was thought to be the only way to stop the USSR and communism from spreading and taking over the world.
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Truman Doctrine 1947
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This “doctrine” referred to the world as two separate camps, and that the US must come to the aid of any country that was resisting the hostile, non-democratic regimes, so that the “free people” could be kept safe from the totalitarians.
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Marshall Plan 1947
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This plan was for the US to help jumpstart some European economies after WWII so that they could resist communist takeovers, especially in Germany, Italy and France. All countries could apply for aid, but communism was never mentioned.
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North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) 1948
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The members of NATO were US, Canada, GB, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, and they made a mutual defense pact to present a permanent united front against any future USSR aggression in Europe.
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Berlin Airlift 1948-1949
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Because the USSR sealed off Berlin to force the Allies out, the US refused to start a shooting war with the USSR, and thus begun a massive airlift campaign so the city could get needed food and medicine.
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Cold War* 1945-1991
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The cold war was a state of political tension and military rivalry between the US and the USSR that stopped short of full-scale war.
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Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) 1946
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This commission established civilian control over the military and peaceful uses of atomic energy. General Groves, who was the director of the Manhattan project, worked backstage so that the military could have a large role over the military use of atomic energy,
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Baruch Plan 1946
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A plan in the UN, it said that the US would dominate any Un-sponsored international atomic energy commission.
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Taft-Hartley Law 1947
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Passing over Truman’s veto, it stated that the president can order striking workers back to their jobs for a 90-day cooling period while collective bargaining continued, and that states could pass right-to work laws that allowed workers right to have a job without having to join a union.
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GI Bill 1944
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To promote the welfare of veterans, the GI Bill was passed so that all tuition and fees and living expenses would be paid for three years of college. This accelerated the trend to prosperous white middle class, because Jim Crow restrictions on universities restrained the black involvement of taking advantage of these benefits.
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Election of 1948
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Because FDR’s New Deal coalition was breaking up, most thought that Truman faced almost certain defeat in this election. Also, the democrats were divided so the Republicans thought they would capture the election, but Truman won by a narrow margin.
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Henry Wallace
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Wallace was one of the candidates that split the Democratic party, running for the Progressive party, that was a far-left party, which was an anti-Cold War platform.
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Strom Thurmond
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A Supreme Court justice at the time, he formed the Dixiecrats, who were incredibly pro-segregationist and rejected Truman’s desegregation of the military.
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Thomas Dewey
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A moderate governor from New York, Dewey was nominated for president by the Republican in 1948. He ran a very complacent race, but because of Truman’s whistle-stop tour, he lost by a very narrow margin.
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Fair Deal
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Truman’s renewal of the New Deal, the Fair Deal consisted of national health insurance, regional TVA-style projects, and strong ties between farmers and labor. This was blocked by the Conservative coalition, and was also veto-proof.
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Alger Hiss vs. Whittaker Chambers case 1948
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Hiss was brought to trial for perjury about if he had been a secret member of the communist party in the 1920’s and ‘30’s. Whittaker Chambers, the editor of the Times, testified against him, and said he had worked with him twenty years before.
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Truman Loyalty Program 1947
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Because he didn’t want to look “soft on Communism”, Truman began to review the loyalty of all federal employees, which led to the dismissal of employees without hearings or notification of charges by the Federal Loyalty Board. Thus, “potentially” disloyal employees such as gays, alcoholics, and debtors were “guilty until proven innocent”.
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HUAC Hollywood Hearings 1947
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The HUAC (House un-American Activities Committee) went after many filmmakers and others in the film industry for communism. This happened because of the many movies during WWII that portrayed the USSR in a positive light. Those who were uncooperative were blacklisted, especially the “Hollywood Ten”, who were convicted of contempt, jailed, and couldn’t get work in Hollywood for many years afterwards.
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McCarren Act 1950
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This act, passed over Truman’s veto, required all Communists in the US to register with the Attorney General, as well as forbidding the entrance of Communists into the country and allowing the US government to detail any suspect aliens during deportation hearings.
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Senator Joseph McCarthy / McCarthyism 1950-1955
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McCarthy, a Senator form Wisconsin, announced that he had a list of 205 Communists who worked for the state department, but when it was examined by the Senate, it was thought that it was a “fraud and a hoax”. But, McCarthy was backed by right-wing Catholics and neo-isolationists, and was given his information by J. Edgar Hoover, the head of the FBI.
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National Security Council (NSC) 1947
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Created by Congress in 1947, the NSC’s use was to advise the President on international affairs and military issues.
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NSC-68 1950
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The NSC sent Truman a long document that advocated pro-active anti-communism foreign policy. Because of this, there was a 400% increase in defense spending, which was paid for by a large tax increase, and it was used to build up conventional weapons and H-bomb program to counteract the Soviet A-bomb.
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Korean War 1950-1953
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Korea was divided into Communist North Korea occupied by Soviet troops, and non-communist South occupied by dwindling number of US troops. Truman thought that Korea was following USSR and Communist China’s orders, and thus was very scared of an atomic World War III. So, under a UN directive, a “police action” was started to defend South Korea. This was supported throughout the US, and the US supplied more than 50% of the troops, even though it was a UN action, not a US declaration of war.
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Chinese intervention 1950
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Because there started to be a US presence on the Chinese border, led by Mao Zedong, 400,000 Chinese smashed UN lines and defeated 20,000 US solders.
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Truman vs. MacArthur 1951
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MacArthur wanted to bomb both the Chinese and the USSR supply bases, blockade China’s coast, and unleash the Nationalist forces in China. But, Truman disagreed with this, thinking that MacArthur was insubordinate and threatened civilian control of the military, and thus fired him. Because of this, Truman became extremely unpopular, and there were even rumors of impeachment.
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Election of 1952
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Because of the low approval rating of the stalemate in the Korean war, Truman decided not to run. The Republican party nominated the popular General Eisenhower, with the conservative anti-communist Richard Nixon as his VP. For the Democrats, they nominated Illinois Senator Adlai Stevenson, but “Ike” won decisively because of his promise to bring the war to an end.
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President Dwight D. Eisenhower 1952-1960
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A war hero during World War II, especially at Normandy, Eisenhower successfully got the US out of Korea, which was a very unpopular war.
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Rosenberg case 1952-1953
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In this case, the Rosenbergs, a husband and wife who were living in NY at the time, were passing on confidential information to the Soviet Union about the atomic bomb, and thus were put to death because of it.
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