Cold War Pt. 1 Terms

COLD WAR PT. 1 TERMS U.N. = an international organization to promote world peace and progress Soviet Union -country’s military forces occupied most of Eastern and Central Europe and the eastern portion of Germany at the end of World War II Germany- divided into East and West Germany, West Germany became democratic and East Germany became communist and stayed under the control of the Soviet Union. Japan- government became democratic, Japan became a strong ally (friend) of the United States Cold War = an uneasy peace after World War II, marked by a fierce rivalry between the U.S. and the Soviet Union Values of western nations, including the U.S.: believed in democracy, individual freedom, free market economic system based on private property and profit Values of Soviet Union: totalitarian government (dictatorship) ruled by communists and a communist or socialist economic system Socialism = an economic system in which the government owns and controls the means of production; for example, the government owns power plants, transportation and communication companies etc. containment = the post-World War II American foreign policy that tried to check the expansion of the Soviet Union and communism through diplomatic, economic, and military means Truman Doctrine = President Harry S. Truman’s promise that the U.S. would defend free peoples from subversion (overthrow of the government) or outside pressure; set precedent that the containment of communism would be the basic principle of American foreign policy throughout the Cold War Marshall Plan = a massive American financial aid program (1947) to help European nations recover economically from World War II, 1) rebuild European economies 2) prevent the spread of communism NATO = North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a defensive military alliance between the U.S. and Western European countries to prevent a Soviet invasion of Western Europe WARSAW PACT - a defensive military alliance between the Soviet Union and Eastern European communist countries to oppose NATO Alger Hiss: federal government official who was accused of passing secret documents to the Soviets in the late 1930s; although Hiss claimed he was innocent, he was convicted of perjury; many Americans believed Hiss was guilty of treason. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg- Americans who had gained information about the United States’ atomic project; were arrested for passing atomic secrets to the Soviets, convicted of espionage (spying) and executed Senator Joseph McCarthy- accused many American officials of being communists and unfairly accused others of disloyalty, especially of pro-communist activity, without convincing proof or even solid evidence. McCarthyism- to refer to situations where someone has made false accusations based on rumor or guilt by association Korean War: when communist North Korea invaded non-communist South Korea, ended 1953 in a stalemate with South Korea still free of communism Dwight D. Eisenhower- won the 1952 presidential election “massive retaliation” = the Eisenhower administration’s threat of swift, all-out military actions against a nation committing aggression (attack) Fidel Castro- lead a communist revolution that took over Cuba in 1959, many Cubans flee to Florida in order to escape communist rule Bay of Pigs invasion; CIA trained anti-communist Cubans and landed them on the Cuban coast in an attempt to lead the Cuban people in a revolt against Castro. It was a complete disaster; the popular uprising against Castro never happened; Castro’s army had captured or killed most of the American-supported invaders, embarrassment to JFK. Cuban Missile Crisis- Soviet Union had placed missiles in Cuba, President Kennedy reacted by placing a naval blockade of Cuba; threatened to take further steps if the Soviets didn’t remove their missiles. The Soviets agreed to withdraw their missiles from Cuba, and in exchange the United States would remove its outdated missiles from Turkey avoiding nuclear war. Bomb Shelter - Americans tried to prepare for a possible nuclear attack by building bomb shelters in their basements and having school drills to train children in case of nuclear.