| A | B |
|---|
| Blitzkrieg | military tactic developed by the Nazis during the World War II involving a quick and decisive strike by armed forces. |
| Holocaust | mass murder of millions of European Jews and other minorities by the Nazis during World War II. |
| Nuremberg Trials | War crimes trials which took place in Nuremberg, Germany that put Nazi leaders on trial for their actions during the Holocaust. 12 Nazi leaders were sentenced to death and thousands were imprisoned for their actions. |
| atomic bomb | A powerful bomb strong enough to destroy and entire city. It was dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to help speed the end of World War II |
| propaganda | spreading of ideas that help a cause or hurt an opposing cause |
| Harry Truman | Democratic president (1945-1953) who became president after F.D.R.'s death in 1945. He approved the plan to drop the atomic bomb on Japan to end World War II and led the U.S. into the Korean War. |
| totalitarianism | government where a single party controls the government and every aspect of the lives of the people |
| appeasement | policy followed by Great Britain and other European nations before the outbreak of WWII, allowing Hitler to take land without opposition. |
| Lend-Lease Act | Act passed by Congress allowing President Roosevelt to lend war materials to America's allies while keeping U.S. neutral during the first years of World War II |
| internment camps | areas where those of Japanese ancestry were sent during World War II |
| Cold War | period following World War II and lasting until the downfall of the Soviet Union in 1991, characterized by competition between democratic and communist countries |
| capitalism | An economic system in which manufacturing is controlled by private corporations and individuals competing for profits. |
| socialism | the belief in community ownership of property and the sharing of all profits. Many working class people supported this idea of sharing the ownership of businesses and wealth of the country. |
| Truman Doctrine | 1947 foreign policy announcement by President Harry Truman providing economic and military assistance to nations threatened by invasion; it was a direct attempt to combat the Soviet Union's efforts to become more influential in Greece and Turkey |
| Marshall Plan | program of massive U.S. financial aid designed to strengthen the economic, political, and social structures of European countries after World War II. The goal of the plan was to prevent the spread of communism. |
| NATO | North Atlantic Treaty Organization - military alliance between the United States and democratic nations of Western Europe formed in 1949 in response to the Soviet Union's influence over Eastern Europe. Its aim was the collective security of member nations declaring that an attack on one nation would be considered to be an attack on all the nations in NATO. |
| United Nations | international peace organization formed in 1945 to help solve conflicts between nations |
| communism | An economic, social, and political system characterized by the common ownership of the means of production and the absence of social classes; all wealth is owned by the government. |
| containment | policy of trying to prevent the spread of Soviet or communist influence beyond where it already existed |
| Cuban Missile Crisis | military showdown between the United States and Soviet Union resulting from the U.S. discovery of Soviet missiles on Cuba. The military blockade of Cuba ordered by President Kennedy eventually led to thee removal of the missiles. |
| Domino Theory | Cold War belief that as one nation fell to the communists, neithboring nations would follow |
| Vietnam War | undeclared war fought by the United States to prevent the fall of South Vietnam to invading forces from communist North Vietnam; the war ended with the withdrawal of U.S. troops after forces from North Vietnam captured South Vietnam's capital of Saigon. |
| Korean War | armed conflict between 1950 and 1953 resulting from communist North Korea's invasion across the Thirty-eighth parallel into South Korea. North Korea was supported by China; South Korea was supported by the United Nations. |
| détente | Policy favored by President Nixon and later President Reagan, resulting in a lessoning of hostilities between the U.S.S.R. and the U.S. |
| Berlin Airlift | the U.S. response to the Soviet Union's attempt to drive the United States and its allies out of West Berlin by blockading the city during the Cold War. It involved a massive airlift of food and other materials by the United States lasting over three months. |
| John F. Kennedy | Democratic president (1961-1963) who faced several Cold War issues such as the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War in attempt to contain communism. He was assassinated in 1963. |
| Joe McCarthy | A Senator in the 1950s who publicly attacked many people alleged (declared without proof) to be Communists. His unfounded accusations destroyed the careers of numerous innocent Americans and heightened the atmosphere of anti-Communist hysteria in the country. |
