Chapter 37: Harry Truman & The Cold War
Years of Cold War: 1945-1990 (Yalta Conference)
Years of Korean War: 1950-1953
Leaders: Kim Ill Sung: North Korean Communist leader
Syngman Rhee: South Korean Democratic leader
General in charge: Douglas McArthur
Replaced by: John Ridgeway
YaluRiver: border between North Korea and China
54,000: Americans dead in Korean War: “Forgotten War”
38th Parallel: Dividing line between N. and S. Korean (DMZ)
Inchon Landing: Major amphibious landing by Gen. McArthur behind enemy lines
1949: China becomes Communist: Mao Zedong
U.S.S.R. detonates 1st atomic bomb
“Iron Curtain” Speech: Winston Churchill
Marshall Plan: Economic Aid to rebuild Western Europe: Containment
NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Warsaw Pact: Soviet version of NATO…counteract that alliance
National Security Act 1947: Created Dept. of Defense…NSC…Central Intelligence Agency and Joint Chiefs of Staff
Taft-Hartley Act: Pro-Business Bill…anti-Union…Truman vetoed “slave labor bill”
McCarran Act: Anti-Communist Act directed at punishing anyone joining communist activities..Truman Vetoed
22nd Amendment: 2 term limit on the Presidency…10 years total
Dixiecrats: splintering of the Democratic Party in 1948…Southern white Democrats opposed to Civil Rights and desegregation.
Strom Thurmond: Presidential nominee of the Dixiecrats (States’ Rights Party) in 1948 election
Harry Truman: Democrat
Thomas Dewey: Republican
Henry Wallace: Progressive Party
“Fair Deal”: Harry Truman’s ambitious domestic reform programs
GI Bill: College tuition for returning veterans of WWII…Home loans also
Dean Acheson: Truman’s controversial Sec. of State after George Marshall resigned.
George Kennan: Soviet specialist who developed the idea of “Containment”
Containment: Truman’s foreign policy relating to Communism.
Truman Doctrine: Applied 1st to Greece and Turkey. “The United States will assist free peoples anywhere resisting the restraints of communism” Sets the stage for future U.S. involvements.
NSC-68: National Security Council #68…report that emphasized that the U.S. should embark on a massive military buildup.
1953: Rosenbergs (H-Bomb secrets) tried and executed
Stalin dies
Berlin Airlift: Truman’s response to the Soviets cutting off West Berlin in 1948
Sino-Soviet Agreement: Soviet/Chinese agreement in 1950. Alliance
Loyalty Review Board: Investigate the background of 3 million federal employees.
Joseph McCarthy: Senator from Wisconsin…Witch Hunt for Communists
Benjamin Spock: Childcare book
HUAC: House on Un-American Activities Comm.
Taiwan: Chang Kai Shek
Sunbelt: Influx of money from the federal government…pop. Shift
Harry Truman: Courage, not pretentious, honesty..stubborn
Soviet Bloc: Eastern Europe…heated area for the Cold War
Nuremberg Trials: Trials for Nazi war crimes
Point Four: aide for Latin America, Africa and Asia
Why did the Soviets distrust the U.S.?
- Delaying the Second Front in WWII
- Britain and U.S. did not inform Soviets of A-Bomb project until it was tested