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History Terms
WWII and later terms
65
History
Undergraduate 1
05/10/2009

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Term
Munich Agreement
Definition
1938 treaty in which the leading powers of Western Europe allowed Hitler to annex strategic areas of Czechoslovakia in order to satisfy his territorial aspirations (strategy of appeasement)
Term
nonaggression pact
Definition
1939 agreement between Stalin and Hitler that divided Poland between Germany and the Soviet Union and said the two nations would not attack each other
Term
"good neighbor" policy
Definition
American strategy of renouncing military intervention in Latin American affairs
Term
blitzkriedgs
Definition
"lighting wars"; fast and brutal attacks staged by Germany on its neighbors starting in 1940
Term
Vichy
Definition
city in central France, headquarters of the pro-German French regime installed in 1940
Term
Holocaust
Definition
systematic killing of 6 million Jews, gypsies, and other societal scapegoats in Nazi concentration camps all over Europe
Term
Battle of Britain
Definition
fierce battle fougt in the summer and autumn of 1940; Hitler attempted to break Britain's air power through heavy bombardment of British cities
Term
"America First Committee"
Definition
organization created to oppose US involvement in the Second World War; committee leaders argued that the Nazis were unstoppable and that the US should negotiate with them
Term
Four Freedoms
Definition
basic human rights articulated by FDR to ensure that America's involvement in WWII was seen as ideologically ound: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, freedom from fear
Term
Lend-Lease Act
Definition
Legislation passed in March 1941 empowering the presient to lend weapons and supplies to nations fighting the Germans or the Japanese
Term
Atlantic Charter
Definition
set of aims issued by Rosevelt and Churchill which stated that the war was being waged in the name of national self-determination and was not a war of conquest
Term
Grand Alliance
Definition
group of three countries allied to fight Hitler: the US, Britain, and the Soviet Union
Term
four policemen
Definition
Four major allies: the US, the soviet Union, Britain, and China; Roosevelt suggested that after the war, these countries exert their military power to ensure international peace
Term
Guadalcanal
Definition
island in the Pacific Ocean; one of the Solomon Islands; location of 1943 battle that allowed the US and its allies a foothold in the Pacific
Term
Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC)
Definition
Agency that required companies with federal contracts to make jobs available without regard to "race, creed, color, or national origin"
Term
Double V
Definition
Campaign championed by African Americans demanding "democracy at home and abroad" during WWII
Term
bracero program
Definition
wartime arrangement in which the US government brought several hundred thousand Mexican migrants to work on California farms
Term
GI Bill
Definition
Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, which promised unemplyment benefits, educational opportunities, low-interest housing loans, and medical care to millions of soldiers
Term
Battle of the Bulge
Definition
Largest battle of the western front; ended when the Germans failed to capture the Allied stronghold of Bastogne, Belgium and allowed Soviet forces to advance on Germany from the East
Term
Yalta agreement
Definition
statement issued by Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin in February 1945; promised independent regimes in Poland and EAstern Europe, yet conceded that pro-Soviet parties would have a large role in creating and sustaining these regimes
Term
Manhattan Project
Definition
American project during WWII designed to harness the power of the atom and create an atom bomb
Term
Cold War
Definition
the postwar ideological, economic, and military contest between the US and the Soviet Union
Term
United Nations
Definition
Inernational organization that fosters discussions among the world's nations and monitors the well being of almost all individuals in the world
Term
containment
Definition
US strategy for dealing with the Soviet Union, with the intent of containing Communism and not letting it advance any farther than it already had
Term
Domino Theory
Definition
metaphor articulated by Eisenhower, referring to unstable nations as dominoes, with the US being obligated to prevent the dominoes from "falling" which would begin a process of Communist world domination
Term
Truman Doctrine
Definition
strategy of the US offering aid to nations that might be susceptible to Communist infiltration
Term
Marshall Plan
Definition
Truman Doctrine as it was administered in Europe by General George Marshal; the plan sent $13 billion to governments that promised to become or remain democracies
Term
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Definition
pat that cemented an alliance of Western nations; prompted by the Berlin Crisis
Term
NSC-68
Definition
Classified paper written by American diplomats that portrayed an uncontrollably aggressive Soviet Union; the paper recommended stopping the threat by advocating a massive military build-up, the creation of hydrogen bombs, and rooting out all Communists on American soil
Term
Fair Deal
Definition
Truman's twenty-one-point postwar plan that provided increases in the minimum wage, federal assistance in building homes, federal support for education and health care, jobs in public works, renewal of the Fair Employment Practices Commission
Term
Taft-Hartley Act
Definition
Labor-Management Act of 1947 that banned the closed shop, outlawed collective bargaining within industries, and authorized the president to delay strikes by declaring a "cooling-off" period
Term
Kitchen Debate
Definition
Discussion between Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev and Vice President Richard Nixon in 1959 debating the relative merits of capitalism and Communism
Term
Hollywood Ten
Definition
Group of screenwriters and directors accused of being members of the Communist Party
Term
blacklist
Definition
collection of names of hundreds of people deemed "subversive" whom Hollywood executives agreed not to hire
Term
White Citizens' Councils
Definition
Committees organized in the 1950s and 1960s to defend segregation in the South
Term
nation building
Definition
facilitating the economic and political maturation of developing nations; political strategy emplyed by President Kennedy
Term
Berlin Wall
Definition
barrier built in 1961 by the Communist government to separate impoverished, Soviet-controlled East Berlin from the more prosperous West Berlin
Term
Cuban Missile Crisis
Definition
13 day confrontation between the Kennedy administration and the Cuban Communist regime in October 1962; Castro had agreed to allow the Soviet Union to base a few of its nuclear missiles in Cuba, thus potentially triggering a nuclear war between the US and the Soviet Union
Term
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Definition
legislation outlawing all discrimination on in public faciliteis based on color, religion, sex, and national origin, and establishing the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to investigate violations of the law in employment
Term
welfare
Definition
umbrella term refering to many government assistance programs, especially Aid to Families with Dependent Children
Term
Hart-Cellar Act
Definition
legislation passed in 1965 curtailing the quota system of the 1920s and permitting larger numbers of non-Europeans to settle in the US
Term
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
Definition
legislation allowing the president to "take all necessary measures to repel armed attack against the forces of the US and to prevent further aggression," which was used to justify US involvement in Vietnam
Term
Ho Chi Minh Trail
Definition
Winding path through North Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, which the North Vietnamese used to supply the Viet Cong
Term
search and destroy operations
Definition
strategy used during wartime in which the US army would locate enemy forces, retreat, and call in airpower
Term
Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)
Definition
Organization founded in 1959 declaring that young people were tired of older political movements, even older radical ones; formed the core of self-conscious "New Left" movement, which rejected the Old Left's ideologies of economic justice in favor of an ideology of social justice
Term
Nation of Islam
Definition
Black nationalist organization whose leaders rejected the integrationist perspective of mainstream civil rights protesters, calling stead for an independent black nation-state
Term
Black Power
Definition
Movement bridging the gap between black nationalism and the civil rights struggle; its leaders argued that black people should have control over the social, educational, and religious institutions in their communities and advocated black pride
Term
counterculture
Definition
social movement of the sixties that consciously rejected traditional politics, social values, and corporate consumerism
Term
hippies
Definition
counterculture adherents who embraced new attitudes toward drugs, sex, popular culture, and politics
Term
Pentagon Papers
Definition
secrete defense department study, published in 1971, which revealed that the government had lied and purposely deceived the American public over major events in the Vietnam war in an attempt to manipulate public opinion
Term
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT)
Definition
Sessions held between president Nixon and Soviet premier Leonid Brezhnev, in which the two leaders agreed to freeze the number of long-range missile launchers and build certain new missiles only after they had destroyed the same number of older missiles
Term
detente
Definition
French term meaning "a relaxing" or "an easing"; refers to more relaxed relations with America's supposed enemies, China and the Soviet Union
Term
Six Day War
Definition
Conflict of 1967 during which Israel destroyed Egypt's and Syria's armies, and took significant land along the Gaza Strip, Golan Heights, and Sinai Peninsula
Term
stagflation
Definition
economic cycle in which prices keep going up (inflation) while the economy is losing jobs (or stagnating)
Term
Three Mile Island
Definition
nuclear reactor in Pennsylvania that suffered a meltdown in 1979
Term
Camp David Accords
Definition
1978 peace agreement between Israel and Egypt, brokered by President Carter
Term
affirmative action
Definition
prgram meant to ensure that a certain perentage of a company's employees are minorities or that a certain percentage of government contracts are given to minority-owned businesses
Term
Roe v. Wade
Definition
supreme court decision of 1973 whic struck down laws in forty-six states that limited a woman's access to a safe, legal abortion
Term
supply-side economics
Definition
theory that states that tax cuts would produce new investment, which would, i turn, generate an increase in federal revenues; these revenues would eventually "trickle down" to the lower classes in the form of more jobs
Term
contras
Definition
right-wing Nicaraguan guerrilla group during the 1980s
Term
trade deficit
Definition
inequality in trade where country's exports to another outweigh the second country's exports ot the first country
Term
ethnic cleansing
Definition
complete expulsion of an entire ethnic population from a particular area
Term
centrism
Definition
political ideology that eclectically blended liberal and conservative philosophies and policies, sometimes called "the Third Way," components include conservative economic principles and liberal social principles
Term
World Trade Organization (WTO)
Definition
International agency designed to resolve disputes between trading partners and advocate free trade
Term
Bush doctrine
Definition
Political principle articulated by President George W. Bush in which he declared America's right to fight a "preemptive war" against any nation that, one day, might threaten the US
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