EOCT VOCABULARY REVIEW

CHAPTER 10

Containment Policy

US policy during the Cold War which acknowledged that Eastern Europe was lost to communism while maintaining that the US would focus its efforts on “containing”communism to where it already existed without letting it spread to other nations

Truman Doctrine

Policy put forth by President Truman and WWII which stated that the US would not hesitate to intervene and aid nations overseas to resist communism

Marshall Plan

Plan proposed by George Marshall which served to spark economic revival and prosperity in European countries devastated by WWII, thereby helping to stop the spread of communism.

Cold War

Term which referred to the tension between the US and the Soviet Union that dominated both nations’ foreign policies and which many feared would lead to actual war.

Mao Tse-Tung

Leader of China’s communist revolution.

Korean War

War fought between the North and South that also involved US troops and other nations backed by the UN. It ended in a cease-fire that left Korea divided at almost the exact same point as it was before the fighting started.

HUAC

Congress’s House of Un-American Activities Committee which was responsible for rooting out Communism in the federal government during the second Red Scare.

Joseph McCarthy

Wisconsin Senator who was convinced that Communists had infiltrated high levels of government and the US military. Initially, popular, he eventually had to defend his views in a series of televised hearings in which most US citizens viewed him as paranoid at best and downright crazy at worst.

Red Scare

Fear of communism that was common in the US after WWII.

China’s Communist Revolution

Revolution led by Mao Tse-tung in 1949 in which China’s communist party overthrew the Nationalists to take over the country

GI BILL

Legislation passed by Congress after WWII that provided military veterans with benefits such as job priority, money for furthering their education, training, and loans for purchasing homes and property. Because of the support it provided, the nation witnessed a social revolution

Levittowns

Nickname for the new suburbs that developed after WWII. They were so called for the developer who came up with innovative ways to provide mass amounts of affordable housing

Baby Boom

Term that refers to the period after WWII in which the US experienced a rapid population increase.

National Highway Act

Law passed by Congress in the 1950s that authorized the building of a system of interstate highways

Kennedy-Nixon Debate

First televised presidential debate in history. It changed politics because it demonstrated tha candidates would now have to worry about how they looked and presented themselves on television

Sputnik

A Soviet satellite which was the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth. Its launch revealed the superiority in Soviet technology and greatly concerned the US. Realizing that this same technology could be used to launch nuclear missiles, the US eagerly entered the space race.

Impact of Television

For the first time, people could watch entertaining shows, news reports, advertisements, etc. from the comfort of their own homes without having to go to the theater

Space Race

C ompetition with the Soviet Union to gain the upper-hand in space travel and technology

Impact of Television coverage of the Civil Rights Movement and Vietnam

As the civil rights movement of the 1950’s and 60’s progressed, television coverage of the violence inflicted on African-Americans demanding their civil rights played a major role in winning support for the cause. Likewise, televised images from Vietnam made it the first war ever “fought in people’s living rooms.” In other words, the fact people could actually see the death and destruction every night on their own tvs contributed to the war’s controversy as it allowed people to form their own opinions about what their were witnessing

Impact of Computers and Cellular Phones

Computers have greatly impacted communication, making it easier and faster to communicate and gather information than ever before. As a result, globalization, business, employment, and politics have all been greatly impacted

Dwight Eisenhower

WWII hero who became president after Truman. He was concerned about the spread of communism and Soviet aggression and was prepared to fight communism. He was also concerned about the fate of the world given the existence of powerful nuclear weapons. He introduced his Doctrine which stated that the US would not hesitate to aid any country in the Middle East that asked for help resisting communist aggression

Eisenhower Doctrine

Doctrine issued by President Eisenhower which stated that the US would not hesitate to aid any country in the Middle East that asked for help resisting communist aggression.

Nikita Khrushchev

Leader of the Soviet Union after Stalin. He was the leader of the USSR during the U-2 incident, the construction of the Berlin Wall, and the Cuban Missile Crisis

Fidel Castro

Leader of the Cuban Revolution which established a communist government in Cuba. He is currently the longest reigning leader of any country, still ruling Cuba.

U-2 Incident

Incident that involved a US U-2 spy plane shot down over the Soviet Union. At first, the US government denied conducting any such spy missions. However, when the Soviets produced evidence, Eisenhower had to acknowledge the Soviet reports as accurate. The president accepted responsibility, but refused to apologize for spying on the USSR, thereby infuriating Khrushchev further.

Cuban Revolution

Cuba’s communist revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power in the 1950’s

John F. Kennedy

President after Eisenhower. He was president during the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis. He also issued a challenge to NASA to put a man on the moon by the end of the 1960’s. He was assassinated and succeeded by Lyndon Johnson

Bay of Pigs

CIA operation meant to remove Castro from power in Cuba. It involved an invasion which turned out to be a terrible failure and a huge embarrassment for the Kennedy administration

Berlin Wall

Wall constructed by the communist East Germany to keep people from fleeing to West Berlin

Cuban Missile Crisis

Standoff between the US and USSR over the issue of Soviet missiles that had been placed in Cuba. The US authorized a blockade to prevent anymore missiles and the 2 nations almost went to war. Eventually, the Soviets agreed to remove the missiles in exchange for a US pledge not to invade Cuba. In addition, the US also offered the Soviets a secret assurance that it would eventually remove US missiles stationed in Turkey as well.

Vietnam

Small Southeast Asian country colonized by the French during the 1800’s. Eventually, nationalists wanted independence from France and the country became divided between a communist government in the North and a US backed government in the South. Ultimately, the nation became the sight of an intense civil war that involved US troops and eventually resulted in the Communist taking over the entire country.

Viet Cong

South Vietnamese communist rebels who aided the North Vietnamese against the South Vietnamese government and US troops during the Vietnam War.

Lyndon B. Johnson

President after Kennedy who escalated US involvement in Vietnam

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

Resolution passed by Congress which gave the president the authority to “take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the US…” In effect, it gave Johnson the power to take military actions in Vietnam without having to get approval from Congress.

Tet Offensive

A major coordinated attack launched by the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong against the US and South Vietnamese forces during the Vietnam War. Although the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces eventually turned back they won a psychological victory. This Offensive showed that Communist could launch a coordinated attach and led many people in the US to question how the government was handling the war and whether US troops should be there at all.

Fall of Saigon

The fall of the South Vietnamese capital to the communist in 1975 which signaled the end of the Vietnam War

Students for a Democratic Society

Student political movement that launched large protests against the Vietnam War and supported a number of social cause, such as civil rights. It demanded that the government take radical steps to deal with poverty, inequality and to end the war in Vietnam. Eventually, the movement faded as it failed to spread far beyond college campuses. However, the awareness and unrest it created helped create pressure to end the Vietnam War and get US troops home as quickly as possible.

Kent State University

Site of a student , anti-war protest that resulted in National Guardsmen shooting and killing four people and wounding nine others

Pentagon Papers

A study ordered by former secretary of defense, Robert McNamara, that documented the history of US involvement in Vietnam, parts of which were published in the New York Times, creating further outrage and opposition to the war.

Paris Peace Accords

Agreement reached between the US, South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and leaders of the Viet Cong which ended US involvement in the Vietnam War and which was suppose to divide Vietnam into a communist nation in the North and a pro-US government in the South. Instead, war soon resumed with the communist conquering the entire country.