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LAV: Cold War
Truman and the Cold War
| Vocabulary | Definition |
|---|---|
| Servicemen's Readjustment Act/GI Bill of Rights (1944) | continued the veterans' education at the expense of the government; this started a postwar boom in higher education and the economy |
| Employment Act of 1946 | created the Counsel of Economic Advisers for both the president and congress, and was meant to promote economic welfare |
| Taft-Hartley Act (1947) | probusiness, meant to check the power of growing unions. It provided for: an outlaw of the closed shop, permission for "right to work" laws, outlawing secondary boycotts, giving the president an 80-day cooling off period before a dangerous strike |
| National Security Act (1947) | provided for: a centralized Department of Defense to coordinate the Army, Navy, and Air Force, the creation of the National Security Council (NSC) to coordinate the making of foreign policy in the Cold War, and the creation of the CIA to employ spies |
| baby boom | 50 million babies were born between 1945 and 1960. The postwar era led to a steep rise in births, which greatly affected the economy. |
| suburban growth | Desperate need for housing caused a construction boom. William J. Levitt helped to formed Levittown, which produced 17,000 new homes at a good price. The new homes had a low interest rates, so more and more families could move to the suburbs |
| Sunbelt | states from Florida to California; the warmer climate, lower taxes, and economic opportunities in defense-related industries attacted GI's and their families. |
| Harry Truman | moderate Democrat, became VP in the 1944 election and president after FDR's death in 1945. He attempted to continue in the New Deal tradition. He challenged racial discrimination. |
| Council of Economic Advisers | counsel to both the president and Congress, meant to promote economic welfare |
| inflation; strikes | Truman wanted price controls during wartime, however the controls were relaxed and there was a 25% inflation rate in the prodceeding time of peace. 4.5 million workers then went on strike in 1946, some threatening national safety. Truman broke it up. |
| Committee on Civil Rights | 1946, a committee to challenge civil rights. Truman also strengthened the civil rights division of the department of justice to aid black leaders in ending segregation in schools. |
| 22 Amendment | limited the presidency to two full terms in office |
| Progressive Party | Liberal democrats who broke away from Truman because they thought his aggressive foreign policy endangered world peace. They elected Henry Wallace as their candidate. |
| Henry Wallace | progressive party candidate for president, opposing Truman |
| States' Rights Party (Dixiecrats) | formed in response to Truman's civil rights policies. |
| J. Strom Thurmond | candidate nominated by the Dixiecrats against Truman |
| Thomas Dewey | the Democratic candidate who was so convinced he would win the election, that his campaign was cautious and uneventful. Truman, however, campaigned well and won the election. |
| Fair Deal | Truman had many ideas for the Fair Deal (like national health insurance, federal aid to education, civil rights legislation, funds for public housing, etc.), however Congress only passed an increase in minimum wage and more social security candidates |
| Cold War | the unviolent conflict between the U.S. and the USSR during the 50's. It is said that the conflict began because of Truman and other leaders' anti-communist attitude. |
| Soviet Union | a communist country in Europe during the 40's and 50's. They were a part of the Cold War along with the U.S. |
| United Nations | a universal organization focused on promoting world peace that was developed in 1945 in response to the nuclear power surrounding World War II. It's run by a 15-member council, which oversees the prodceedings. |
| World Bank | was created at the Bretton Woods conference in 1944. It was founded to help rebuild our war-torn world. The U.S. invited the Soviet Union to become involved, but they declined, saying that it was a tool of capitalism. |
| Communist Satellites | states that were used by Stalin during the Cold War as buffer states. These states became communist by influenced elections of dictators and were used by the Soviet Union as a blockade against possible attacks from Hitler. |
| Iron Curtain | mentioned in a speech by Winston Churchill of England. This refered to the spread of communism to the satellite states, and the power of the Soviet Union behind the "curtain" spread across Europe. The U.S. and the U.K. wanted to avoid this spread. |
| Winston Churchill | influential British Prime Minister during and after WWII. He made the famous comment about the "Iron Curtain" just before the Cold War got worse. |
| George Kennan | expert on Soviet affairs. He designed the "containment policy," with the belief that with persistent suppression, the Soviet Union would back from communism and give up ideas for world domination. |
| Dean Acheson | Undersecretary of state, supported and helped to formulate the containment policy |
| containment policy | the belief that the U.S. and other capitalistic countries could contain communism by challenging it consistently. The Truman administration believed that the communists would eventually back down from world domination attempts and live in peace. |
| Truman Doctrine | when Truman implemented the containment policy and asked Congress for $400 million to support and guard Turkey and Greece from the spread of communism. |
| Marshall Plan | headed by George Marshall and Truman. The plan was aimed toward Europeon countries who needed financial and economic support after the war, mostly France and Italy. It wanted to fund the countries to avoid the spread of communism. It was successful. |
| Berlin Airlift | result of the Soviet Union cutting off access to Berlin by land. Truman did not want to pull troops out of Berlin, so they airlifted food and supplies in instead, weake after weak, to the people of West Berlin and the troops. |
| East Germany vs. West Germany | East Germany: German Democratic Republic, a Soviet satellite nation West Germany: Federal Republic of Germany, an ally of the U.S. |
| Germany | a country divided by communist influence and outside captialistic influence. (West Germany and East Germany) |
| North Atlantic Treaty Organization | a millitary alliance suggested by Truman that united ten nations together and protected each other from any sort of attack. Gen. Eisenhower was made the Supreme Commander and the troops were sent to W. Europe to protect it from Soviet attacks. |
| arms race; NSC-68 | arms race: the race to build superior weapons systems NSC-68: secret report by the National Security Council. It said the U.S. must up defense spending to 20% of GNP, form alliances w/noncommunists, convince the U.S. that arms buildup was key. |
| U.S. Japanese Security Treaty | a treaty signed by the Japanese to surrender Korea and the pacific islands. Another treaty provided for the end of American occupation in Japan, however, troops stayed to provide protection. |
| Douglas MacArthur | he lead the reconstruction of Japan after than war. He helped to instate a parliamentary democracy and a new constitution. |
| Chinese Civil War | was the match up of Chiang Kai-Shek and Mao Zedong. American military leader George Marshall was sent end it, but he failed. The U.S. sent $400 million of supplies over, but most of them fell to the communists. |
| Chiang Kai-shek | Chinese commander of the Nationalist Party, who took control of the central government. He was defeated by Mao Zedong. The U.S. supported him during WW2. |
| Taiwan | called Formosa at the time. Shek ended up here with his nationalist followers at the end of the Chinese Civil War. They set up a government, which divided China. |
| Mao Zedong | Chinese Communist leader, who pushed back Shek and the Americans during the Chinese Civil War. He headed the People's Republic of China and signed a pact with Joseph Stalin. |
| People's Republic of China | Communist China run by Mao Zedong |
| Joseph Stalin | leader of the USSR and promoter of Communism during the Cold War. He was constantly pursued by Americans and all capitalists because of his beliefs; he began the spread of Communism. |
| Kim II Sung | Communist leader over North Korea after the Soviets left. |
| Syngman Rhee | Conservative Nationalist in charge of South Korea after the Americans left. |
| Korean War; U.N. Police action | N. Korea invaded S. Korea, the U.N. feared the spread of Communism and sent a special set of U.N. forces headed by the U.S. MacArthur and the U.S. defended S. Korea but didn't officially declare war (it was "Police Action"). |
| 38th parallel | the division of North and South Korea after the war, where the armistice was signed. The Soviet monitored the North while the U.S. monitored the South. |
| Dennis et al. v. U.S. | upheld the Constitutionality of the Smith Act of 1940 |
| Smith Act (1940) | stated that it was illegal to teach or be a part of an organization promoting the overthrow of the government. |
| McCarran Internal Security Act (1950) | overturned Truman's veto. It said it was (1.) unlawful to advocate a Tolitarian government, (2.) it restricted employment and travel of those involved in Communist front organizations, (3.) authorized detention camps for subversives. |
| House Un-American Activities Committee | turned its attention from searching out Nazis to searching out Communists and Communist industries. |
| Alger Hiss | helped Roosevelt earlier during ww2. He was convicted of communism and denied it. As a result he was convicted of perjury and sent to prison. This sent fear through Americans about Communist infiltration in the government. |
| Whittaker Chambers | was a confessed communist and was a star witness for the House UnAmerican Activities Committee. He lead them on to Alger Hiss. |
| Rosenberg Case | the Rosenbergs were convicted of giving secrets about the A-bomb to the Russians, and were then executed because of it. Many say that it was more of an anti-Communist gesture than a fair trial. |
| Joseph McCarthy | Communist exposer who wanted to discredit the Truman administration. During the Army-McCarthy hearings, he was exposed as a bully as he convicted army men of Communism. He was exposed as a fraud by Congress later on. |
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