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42 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Potsdam Conference
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~ the final wartime meeting of the leaders of the U.S., Great Britian, and the Soviet Union was held at Potsdam, outside Berlin, in July, 1945
~ Truman, Churchill, and Stalin discussed the future of Europe but their failure to reach meaningful agreements soon led to the onset of the Cold War |
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Iron Curtain
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~ British Prime Minister Winston Churchill coined the phrase "IRon Curtain" to refer to the boundary in Europe that divided Soviet-dominated eastern and central Europe from western Europe, which was free from Soviet control
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NATO
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~ In 1949, the U.S., Canada, and ten European nations formed this military mutual-defense pact
~ in 1955, the Soviet Union countered NATO with the formation of the Warsaw Pact, a military alliance among those nations within its own sphere of influence |
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1948 Election
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~ President Truman's political fortunes reached their lowest ebb in early 1948
~ the democrats reluctancly nominated Truman when Eisenhower turned down the nomination from both parties ~ the democrats were divided over a progressive civil rights platform ~ the dixiecrats as they were called nominated Strom Thurmond on a States' Rights party ticket ~ Republican victory was certain and Republican candidate Thomas E. Dewey waged a cautious and bland campaign designed to give him a free hand once he was in the White House ~ with nothing to lose, Truman barn-stormed around the counry denouncing the "do-nothing" Republican Eightieth Congress. ~ the president reminded the voters of how much they owed the Democrats for helping them survive the Great Depression ~ Truman won a narrow victory ~ farmers, organized labor, urband ethnic groups, and blacks held together behind Truman ~ One more reason why Truman won was because the Republican's didn't challenge the democrats over the Cold War issue |
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Douglas MacArthur
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~ MacArthur, in charge of Japanese occupation, denied the Soviet Union any role in the reconstruction of Japan
~ he supervised the transition of the Japanese government into a constitutional democracy, shaped along Western lines, in which communists were barred from all government posts ~ he was the supreme commander of UN forces in Korea and he was the general of the Korean War ~ General MacArthur changed the whole complexion of the war by carrying out a brilliant amphibious assault at Inchon, on the waist of Korea, cutting off and destroying most of the North Korean army in the South ~ General MacArthur and the president was sure that China would not intervene in the invasion of North Korea ~ they were both wrong ~ MacArthur finally stablized the fighting at the 38th parallel ~ Truman courageously relieved the popular hero of the Pacific of his command on April 11, 1951 |
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"Self Determination"
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~ is the principle in international law, that nations have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status with no external compulsion or external interference. The principle does not state how the decision is to be made, or what the outcome should be, be it independence, federation, protection, some form of autonomy or even full assimilation. Neither does it state what the delimitation between nations should be — or even what constitutes a nation. In fact, there are conflicting definitions and legal criteria for determining which groups may legitimately claim the right to self-determination
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Lend Lease Aid
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~ there were two possible forms of reconstruction for the Soviet Union
~ one was lend-lease aid ~ it proved no more successful than the loans ~ in the spring of 1945, congress instructed the administration not to use Lend-Lease for postwar reconstruction ~ Truman went further by signing an order on May 11, 1945, terminating all shipments to Russia, including those at sea |
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Taft Hartley Act
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~ this 1947 anti-union legislation outlawed the closed shop and secondary boycotts
~ it also authorized the president to seek injunctions to prevent strikes that posed a threat to national security |
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McCarthyism- Joseph McCarthy
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~ On February 12, 1950, Senator Joseph R. McCarthy of Wisconsin delivered a routine Lincoln's Birthday speech in Wheeling, West Virginia
~ this little known Republican suddenly attracted national attention when he declared i have her in my hand a list of 205- a list of names that were made known to the secretary of state as being members of the communist party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping policy in the State Department ~ McCarthy's wheeling speech triggered a four an half year crusade to hunt down alleged communists in government ~ this crusade ended when the senate censured him in 1954 ~ McCarthyism became the contemporary name for the red scare of the 1950s |
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Adlai Stevenson
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~ the democratic candidate in the 1952 election and the 1956 election
~ he lost both times ~ Stevenson, concerned over atmospheric fallout from nuclear testing had led him to propose a mutual ban on such experiments ~ Eisenhower and Khrushchev and Eisenhower each voluntarily suspended further weapons tests pending the outcome of a conference held at Geneva to work out a test ban treaty ~ the suspension of testing halted the pollution of the world's atmoshpere, but it did not lead to the improvement in Soviet-American relations that Eisenhower sought |
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CIA
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~ the National Security Act created the Central Intelligence Agency to coordinate the intelligence-gathering activities of various government agencies
~ In 1953, the CIA was instrumental in overthrowing a popularly elected government in Iran and placing the shah in full control of that country ~ in Latin America, Eisenhower once again relied on covert action ~ In 1954, the CIA masterminded the overthrow of a leftist regime in Guatemala |
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Sputnik
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~ In October 1957, the Soviet Union surpised the owrld by launching Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth
~ the resulting outcry in the US, especially fears that the Soviets were ahead in both space exploration and military missiles, forced the Eisenhower administration to increase defense spending and accelerate America's space program |
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Francis Gary Powers
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~ two weeks before Eisenhower and Khrushchev were to convene in Paris, the Soviets shot down an American U- plane piloted by Powers
~ the US had been verflying Russia since 1956 in the high-altitude spy planes, gaining vital information about the Soviet missile program which showed there was little basis for the public's fear that the Russians had opened up a dangerous missile gap ~ Eisenhower took full responsibility for Power's overflight |
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ICBM's
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~ intercontinental ballistic missiles
~ the US feared that Russia was several years ahead of them in the development in ICBMs ~ Democrats criticized Eisenhower for not spending enough on defense and warned that a dangerous missile gap would open up by the early 1960s-- a time when the Russians might have such a commanding lead in ICBMs that they could launch a first strike and destroy America ~ Eisenhower allowed increased defense spending to speed up the building of American ICBMs |
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Bernard Baruch
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~ after the war, the US developed a disarmament plan that would turn control of fissionable material, then the processing plants, and ultimately the American stockpile of bombs over to an international agency
~ when Truman appointed financier Bernard Baruch to present this proposal to the UN, Baruch insisted on changing it in several important ways, adding sanctions against violators and exempting the international agency from the UN veto ~ Baruch followed the advice of Army Chief Dwight Eisenhower, who cited the rapid demobilization of the American armed forces to argue that we canot at this time limit our capability to produce or use this weapon ~ the Baurch Plan preserved the American atomic monopoly for the indefinite future ~ the Soviets didn't agree with this |
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George Marshall
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~ the wartime army chief of staff
~ he became secretary of state ~ calm, mature, and orderly of mind, Marshall had the capability to think in broad strategic terms ~ he relied on gifted subordinates to handle the day-to-day implementation of his policies ~ in the months to follow, he came to rely on two men in particular: Dean Acheson and George Kennan ~ Marshall, Acheson, and Kennan set out on a new course in American diplomacy, dubbed containment ~ Marshall quickly decided the United States would have to assume Britain's role in the Mediterranean ~ they presented their case to congress and congress was impressed ~ they pushed for the Truman Doctrine ~ Marshall warned that the patient is sinking while the doctos deliberate ~ the experts drew up a plan for the massive infusion of American capital to finance the economic recovery of Europe ~ Marshall presented the broad outline at a Harvard commencement ~ Marshall pushed the Marshall Plan through Congress and it saved Europe |
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Dean Acheson
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~ an experienced Washington lawyer and bureaucrat, was appointed undersecretary of state and given free rein by Marshall to conduct American diplomacy
~ as an ardent Anglophile, hewanted to see the U.S take over a faltering Britain's role as the supreme arbiter of world affairs ~ he opposed appeasement and advocated a policy of negotiating only from strength ~ Acheson helped Marshall to set out on a new course in American diplomacy which was dubbed containment ~ Acheson presented the case to Congress to help the Mediterranean and that they must or communism would spread to Greece and Turkey ~ succeeded Marshall as secretary of state in early 1949 believed it was imperative that the U.S. develop he hydrogen bomb before the Soviet UnionAcheson ordered the Policy Planning Staff to draw up a new statement of national defense policy, the NSC-68 |
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George Kennan
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~ Kennan was dMarshall's other mainstay
~ he headed the newly created Policy Planning Staff ~ he was a career foreign service officer ~ Kennan was a Soviet expert ~ mastering Russian history and culture as well as speaking the language fluently ~ he served in moscow after U.S. recognition in 1933 and again during WWII, developing there a profound distrust for the Soviet regime ~ he advocated a policy of containment, arguing that only strong and sustained resistance could halt the outward flow of Russian power ~ Kennan believed that neither Congress nor public opinion should interfere with the conduct of foreign policy by the experts ~ he also helped Marshall and Acheson convince Congress and the president that they needed to give aid and protect the Mediterranean from Russia and communism ~ Kennan resigned as the head of the Policy Planning Staff when Acheson ordered the Staff to draw up a new statement of national defense policy |
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Andrei Gromyko
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~ was a Soviet statesman from the beginning to the end of the Cold War. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR from 1957 to 1985, and as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, from 1985 to 1987. Gromyko was responsible for many top decisions on Soviet foreign policy. He retired in 1987. In the West he was given the nickname Mr. Nyet, literally translating Mr. No.
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Chiang Kai-Sheik
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~ after WWII, Sheik got US backing to become the leader in China
~ he was a nationalist ~ china was split between communism and nationalism ~ soon the country was in a civil war and the US had given up on the outcome ~ communism won and Mao was placed in power |
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Mao Tse-Tung
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~ at the end of WWII Mao was the other leader that could take over China
~ he represented communism ~ Mao used tight discipline and patriotic appeals to strengthen his hold on the peasantry and extend his influence over the country ~ soon however the country was in a civil war ~ Mao's forces drove the Nationalists out of Manchuria and later out of China ~ Mao took over and 2 months later Mao and stalin signed a Sino-Soviet treaty of mutual assistance that clearly placed China in the Russian orbit |
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Ho Chi Minh
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~ leader of the communist guerrillas in the Indochina war
~ at the end of the war Ho controlled North Vietnam while the French continued to rule in the South |
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Vietminh
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~ in the Indochina war with Ho against the french, Chinese increased their support to Ho's forces, known as the Vietminh
~ by the Spring of 1954, the French were on the brink of defeat. The Vietminh had surrounded nearly ten thousand French troops at Dien Bien Phu deep in the interior of northern Indochina ~ Dien Bien Phu feel to the Vietminh in May 1954 ~ Indochina was divided at the 17th parallel ~ the northern side controlled by Ho |
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Nikita Khrushchev
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~ he was Stalin's successor and new ruler of the Soviet Union
~ Khrushchev did not agree to the open skies agreement ~ Khrushchev and Eisenhower each voluntarily suspended further weapons tests pending the outcome of a conference held at Geneva to work out a test ban treaty ~ he was arrogant and told the US that the soviet union would bury them and that their grandchildren would live under communism |
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NSC - 68
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~ National Security Council planning paper No. 68 redefined America's national defense policy
~ adopted in 1950, it committed the US to a massive military buildup to meet the challenge posed by the Soviet Union |
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National Security Council
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~ it was created by the national security act
~ composed of the service secretaries, the secretary of defense, the secretary of state - to advice the president on all matters regarding the nation's security |
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National Security Act 1947
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~ Congress passed the National Security Act in 1947 in response to perceived threats from the Soviet Union after WWII
~ it established the Department of Defense and created the Central Intelligence National Security Council |
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Containment
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~ first proposed by George Kennan in 1947
~ containment became the basic strategy of the US throughout the Cold War ~ Kennan argued that firm American resistance to Soviet expansion would eventually compel Moscow to adopt more peaceful policies |
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Marshall Plan
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~ in 1947, Secretary of State George Marshall proposed a massive economic aid program to rebuild the war- torn economies of western European nations
~ the plan was motivated by both humanitarian concern for the conditions of those nations' economies and fear that economic dislocation would promote communism in western Europe |
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Suez Crisis
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~ Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal in 1956 when the US withdrew promised aid to build the Aswan Dam on the Nile River
~ Britain and France, dependent on Middle East oil that was transported through the Suez Canal, launched an armed attack to regain control ~ President Eisenhower protested the use of force and persuaded Britain and France to withdraw their troops |
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Gamal Nasser
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~ the Egyptian leader
~ he seized control of the Suez Canal in July 1956 ~ France and England launched an attack and took control of the Canal ~ but when Soviet's threatened to intervene the French and English decided to end the invasion |
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Alger Hiss
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~ the most famous disclosure of all came in August 1948, when Whittaker Chambers accused Alger Hiss of having been a Soviet spy in the 1930s
~ a prominent State Department official ~ when he denied the charges, Chambers led investigators to a hollowed- out pumpkin on his Maryland farm ~ inside the pumpkin were microfilms of confidential government documents ~ Chambers claimed that Hiss had passed the State Department materials to him in the late 1930s ~ although the statute of limitations prevented a charge of treason against Hiss, he was convicted of perjury in January 1950 and sentenced to a five-year prison term |
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Truman Doctrine
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~ in 1947, Truman asked Congress for money to aid the Greek and Turkish governments that were then threatened by communist rebels
~ arguing for the appropriations, Truman asserted his doctrine that the US was committed to support free people everywhere who were resisting subjugation by communist attack or rebellion |
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Berlin Airlift
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~ in 1948, in response to a Soviet land blockade of Berlin, the US carried out a massive effort to supply the two million Berlin citizens with food, fuel, and other goods by air for more than six months
~ the airlift forced the Soviets to end the blockade in 1949 |
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Kim Il-Sung
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~ the Russians installed a communist government in the northern part of Korea and installed Kim as their leader
~ Kim Il-Sung came to Moscow to gain approval for the assault on South Korea, Stalin gave it willingly as well as China ~ they crossed the border and invaded south korea until the US came in and stopped the assault |
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38th parallel
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~ the 38th parallel was a line that divided North and South Korea
~ North was communism and South was nationalism ~ it had been divided in 1945 ~ however the Korean war threatened this boundary but by the end of the war the dividing line was back to the 38th parallel |
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Ethel and Julius Rosenberg
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~ the government charged American communists the Rosenbergs with conspiracy to transmit atomic secrets to the Soviet Union
~ in 1951, a jury found the Rosenbergs guilty of treason, and Jedge Irving Kaufman sentenced them to die for what he termed their loathsome offense ~ the Rosenbergs were electrocuted on June 19, 1953 |
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Klaus Fuchs
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~ a British scientist
~ worked on the wartime Manhattan Project ~ admitted giving the Russians vital information about the A-bomb |
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Election of 1952
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~ Dwight D. Eisenhower was the Republican candidate for president
~ he was immensely popular because of his amiable manner, winning smile, and heroic stature ~ Eisenhower ran againsst Adlai Stevenson, the eloquent Illinos governor whose appeal was limited to diehard Democrats and liberal intellectuals ~ Eisenhower's running mate hacked the democrats on the communist and corruption issues, but he himself delivered the most telling blow of all on the Korean War, saying that he would personally go and end the unfriendly war ~ Eisenhower won without question |
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Military Industrial Complex
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~ in his farewell address in January 1961, President Eisenhower used the phrase "military-industrial complex" to warn about the danger of massive defense spending and he close relationship between the armed frces and industrial corporations that supplied their weapons
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Council of Economic Advisers
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~ is a group of three economists who advise the President of the United States on economic policy.[1] It is a part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, and provides much of the economic policy of the White House. The council prepares the annual Economic Report of the President.
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John Foster Dulles
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~ Eisenhower's secretary of state
~ the president let Dulles made the public speeches and appearances before congressional committees, where the secretary's hard-line views placated GOP extremists ~ Dulles carefully consulted with the president before every appearance |
