Key Terms/Ideas/People/Events

USHC 7.5-B Key Terms/Ideas/People/Events & Vocabulary

Key Terms/Ideas/People/Events

·  Cuba – island nation 90 miles from Florida; has had close political and economic ties since the Spanish-American War in 1898; many Cuban inhabitants lived in poverty and Castro led a revolution to overthrow the American-backed leader; Castro went on to nationalize (de-privatize) American business interests in Cuba earning the anger of the United States; Castro & Cuba turned to the Soviet Union for assistance

·  Cold War – term given to the confrontations between the United States and the Soviet Union; fortunately, no direct fighting between the two superpowers; the use of surrogates to do the fighting was common; began because of distrust between the two former World War II allies; lasted from 1945 till the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991

·  Fidel Castro – revolutionary leader of Cuba; overthrew the American backed government in 1959; nationalized (took from private control) American business interests; became an enemy to the United States after the CIA backed a Cuban invasion (Bay of Pigs);

·  Soviet Union – communist nation; one of two world superpowers during the Cold War; the other is the United States; allies with the United States against Germany during World War II; shortly after, the distrust and ideological differences manifested themselves into the Cold War

·  CIA – government organization responsible for providing national security intelligence and oversees and engages in tactical and covert activities at the request of the president;

·  President Kennedy – followed President Eisenhower; Kennedy was a Democrat and many believed that Democrats were “soft on communism”; felt need to prove he was a “Cold Warrior”; took the blame for failure of Bay of Pigs; successfully stood up to the Soviets in the Cuban Missile Crisis; began small involvement of Vietnam; assassinated in November of 1963

·  Bay of Pigs – Cold War event focusing around Cuba; the CIA trained exiles from Cuba in order to invade and hoped to start an uprising against Castro; the Bay of Pigs was the location this invasion took place; the plan failed and US prestige fell; Castro turned to the Soviet Union

·  Berlin – city at the center of many Cold War events; city was divided amongst the major Allied powers after Germany surrendered; the city was located inside of the Communist controlled East Germany; the western half belonged to the western Allied powers (US, Great Britain & France) while the eastern half was controlled by the Soviet Union; events included the Berlin Blockade, Berlin Airlift, Berlin Wall, Fall of the Berlin Wall

·  Vietnam – located in Southeast Asia; the nationalist forces fought the Japanese in World War II and the French who tried to restore their colony; French asked the United States for help because the nationalists began receiving aid from the Soviet Union; the US will find itself in a long-term war with little chance of winning

·  Naval blockade – President Kennedy’s solution to stopping and ultimately having the missiles in Cuba removed; the hope was the naval blockade around Cuba would prevent the Soviets from arming the missile sites; the blockade worked

·  Nuclear missile sites – American spy planes photographed these sites being built over Cuba; these missile sites led to the Cuban Missile Crisis

·  Cuban Missile Crisis – Cold War event brought on by the desire for the Soviet Union to place nuclear-tipped missiles in Cuba; the US, led by President Kennedy, could not allow “first-strike” capable missiles in Cuba; Kennedy ordered a quarantine or blockade around Cuba; after 13 Days of escalating fear of nuclear war, an agreement was reached that ended the crisis and averted nuclear confrontation; the closest the United States and Soviet Union came to armed conflict in the Cold War

·  Kremlin – center of government for the Soviet Union and residence of the Soviet Union leader

·  Nuclear test ban treaty – treaty signed in the aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis between the United States and the Soviet Union; a step in the right direction for scaling back the arms race; there was still a long way to go

·  Israel: Jewish refugees established the state of Israel in the Palestine region of the Middle East; US quickly recognized it and has supported it for the past seven decades; other Middle Eastern nations do not like Israel

·  Middle East – region of the world where three continents meet (Europe, Asia & Africa) and the location of much of the world’s turmoil; natural resources (oil) allow this region much financial and economic power; mostly made up of Muslim nations who were against the foundation of Israel and have worked to undermine and hurt that nation; still in turmoil to this day

·  Holocaust: the mass murder or genocide of approximately six million Jews during World War II; a program of state-sponsored murder by Nazi Germany throughout German-occupied territory

·  Suez Crisis [1956] – diplomatic & military confrontation between Egypt on one side and Britain, France & Israel on the other; Egypt nationalized (took from British control) the Suez Canal; United States forced Britain, France & Israel to withdraw

·  Al Qaeda terrorism – terrorist organization intent on doing harm to western powers and any others against them; by far largest action was the attacks on the World Trade Centers & the Pentagon on September 11, 2001; found refuge in Afghanistan with the Taliban

·  Taliban – former leaders of Afghanistan who provided safety for Al Qaeda terrorists; the US and coalition forces removed them from power after the attacks of 9-11; their origin stems from the Afghan resistance movement of the 1980s (which the US helped to supply with weapons)

·  Afghanistan – country in the Middle East; was attacked by the Soviet Union; United States provided the resistance weapons to defeat the Soviets; provided safety to Al Qaeda terrorists; invaded by US forces in fall of 2001; US forces are still engaged

·  American hostages – over 150 individuals captured and held hostage when Iranians had a revolution and captured the US embassy; Islamic fundamentalists held the Americans hostage for 444 days until Ronald Reagan became president;

·  Fundamentalist Islamic group – led to the overthrow of the Shah’s repressive government; anti-American and took over the US embassy in Iran

·  Shah of Iran – leader of Iran who was pro-US; the CIA helped him to overthrow a rival who attempted to nationalize oil interests; he led an unpopular and repressive regime, but was a US-friendly buffer country between the rest of the Middle East and the Soviet Union; his repressive regime was overthrown by a fundamentalist Islamic group who still retain power

·  Camp David Accords – agreements between Egypt & Israel resulted in a peace agreement between the two nations; important step in a more peaceful Middle East; there have been some regressions of the agreements recently

·  Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) – as the name implies, these are the major nations who possess oil; this was their organization and in the 1970s, passed an oil embargo on the United States; this threatened national security because of the importance of oil to the US’s economy; ultimately the US engaged in diplomacy to end the oil embargo

·  Oil embargo – the OPEC order not to sell oil to the United States; greatly impacted the price and availability of oil in the US; threatened the economy of the US

·  Eisenhower Doctrine – extending the policy of containment (Truman Doctrine) to the Middle East

·  Containment – Cold War policy of preventing communism from spreading; not ending it where it already exists

·  Arab nations – nations of the Middle East; Soviets increased their influence upon these nations because the United States supported Israel and these nations opposed the creation of Israel

·  President Eisenhower – Republican president after Truman; strong Cold War leader; ended Korean War and used nuclear deterrence as a foreign policy – shrunk size of military while increasing number of nuclear weapons; articulated the domino theory; forced Great Britain, France & Israel to end their invasion of Egypt during Suez Crisis

·  Arms race – competition between the United States and the Soviet Union to have the best armed forces; each nation competes to produce larger numbers of weapons, greater armies, or superior military technology in a technological escalation

·  1989 fall of the Berlin Wall – the Berlin Wall separated East & West Berlin and was a symbol of the Cold War and of the divide between the United States and the Soviet Union; the fall of the Berlin Wall also would symbolize the thawing and ending of the Cold War; the end of the Cold War takes place when the Soviet Union collapses upon itself and splits up

Vocabulary

USHC 7.5-B Key Terms/Ideas/People/Events & Vocabulary

·  Battleground – frontline

·  Backed – sponsored or supported

·  Nationalized – take over & make public

·  Uprising – rebellion

·  Credentials – qualifications

·  Exiles – outcasts

·  Initiate – start

·  Arming – deploying

·  Escalating – intensifying

·  Crisis – potential disaster

·  Averted – avoided

·  Confrontation – opposition

·  Aftermath – result

·  Installation – putting in place

·  hot line – direct communication

·  rivalry – competition

·  extensive – widespread

·  contributed – added

·  ongoing – continuing

·  extended – spread

·  intervened – interfered

·  engage – involve

·  facilitate – enable

·  interests – concerns

·  repressive – authoritarian

·  regime – government

·  buffer – barrier

·  containing – controlling

·  resistance – opposition

·  strain – pressure

·  liberation – freedom

USHC 7.5-B Key Terms/Ideas/People/Events & Vocabulary

USHC 7.5-B Key Terms/Ideas/People/Events & Vocabulary