>>ib history of the americas: the cold war and the americas<<

ussr

communist russia called itself the union of soviet socialist republics.

soviet

pertaining to the ussr.

cold war

a state of extreme tension between the usa and the ussr from about 1946 to 1989.

pearl harbor

the us naval base in hawaii.

grand alliance (1941-1945)

the usa, ussr, and britain were allied to oppose nazi germany in the second world war.

orthodox (arthur schlesinger)

in the cold war context, a western historian who sees the west as always right and blames the ussr for the conflict.

revisionist (william appleman williams)

in the cold war context, a western historian who blames the usa for the conflict.

post-revisionist (martin mccauley)

in the cold war context, a historian who argues that both the usa and the ussr bore responsibility for the cold war.

congress

elected us legislative body consisting of the senate and the house of representatives.

truman doctrine

truman's march 1947 speech that said the usa would help any country under attack from communists.

western

cold war term for the anti-communist alliance led by the usa.

republican

us political party that tends to favor minimal government and big business.

democrat

us political party that tends to favor big government in matters relating to the health and welfare of the population.

state department

the us federal government department that deals with foreign affairs.

containment

the truman administration's policy of preventing the spread of communism.

marshall plan

us economic aid program for post-war western europe, also known as marshall aid.

nato

the north atlantic treaty organization, established in 1949, as a defensive alliance against the ussr.

collective security

system whereby nations promised to intervene to help if one of them was a victim of aggression.

secretary of state

us government official with responsibility for foreign.

the rio conference, 1947

they agreed that an attack on one american nation would constitute an attack on all and merit resistance if two-thirds of them agreed on action, also called the rio treaty.

pan-american

covering north and south america.

oas

organization of american states, established in 1948 to combat communism.

cia

the central intelligence agency was established in 1947 to conduct counter-intelligence operations outside the usa.

united nations

international organization established after the second world war to work for international peace, cooperation and progress.

economic commission for latin america (ecla)

criticized us financial and economic policies, arguing that latin american poverty owed much to its perceived role as a supplier of raw materials to the industrial nations that made more profitable manufactured goods.

red scare

an outburst of anti-communist hysteria, in which communists (real and imagined) were seen everywhere ('reds under the bed').

socialism

political philosophy that advocated redistribution of wealth. some contemporaries used the words communism and socialism interchangeably.

left-wingers

those sympathetic to the ideals of socialism and communism, favoring government activism.

fbi

the federal bureau of investigation was established in 1935 in order to investigate federal crime and to collect intelligence.

huac

in 1945 congressman john rankin suggested that a congress be made permanent and given broader powers in order to deal with domestic subversion (he was convinced it was a communist plot when the red cross did not label blood according to race).

justice department

the part of the federal government with special responsibility for monitoring the enforcement of laws and the administration of justice.

gestapo

nazi germany's feared secret police force.

mccarthyism

the term associated with senator joseph mccarthy who led the search for communists in america during the early 1950s through his leadership in the house un-american activities committee.

us information agency

established by president eisenhower in 1953 to educate foreigners about the usa.

pink

cold war americans referred to communists as 'reds' or as 'pink.'

détente

a relaxation in cold war tensions.

korean war

an estimated 36,000 americans died there are, and the war cost the american taxpayer $67 million.

smith act (1940)

act which made it illegal to speak of or advocate overthrowing the us government. was used by truman 11 times to prosecute suspected communists.

republic of korea (rok)

south korea, ruled by pro-american anti-communist syngman rhee. american troops left in 1949.

democratic people's republic of korea (dprk)

north korea established under the leadership of the communist kim il sung. many believe that if free national elections had been held in korea, kim would have won.

'loss of china'

belief that truman could have prevented communist victory in china in 1949 with more aid to chiang kai-shek.

nsc-68

sixty-eighth national security council planning paper.

conventional forces

soldiers, tanks, ships, etc.

league of nations

a global organization, set up in 1920, to resolve international disputes.

appeasement

policy of conciliating a potential aggressor by making concessions, as britain and france did to nazi germany in the 1930s, before the outbreak of the second world war.

traditional interpretation (michael dockrill and michael hopkins)

according to this still popular interpretation, the usa was motivated by anti-communism and containment in joining the korean war.

revisionist interpretation (robert wood)

claim us policy was motivated by economic imperialism in joining the korean war.

emphasis on one factor (melvyn leffler and john lewis gaddis)

the usa believed it had to intervene in korea for two reasons. first, because japan's economic revival required access to markets and raw materials in other countries such as korea and malaya. second, to demonstrate to japan that the usa was a credible power and ally. some also stressed that the american intervention was a response to a communist challenge to the entire structure of post-war collective.

economic imperialism

dominating other countries through trade rather than by territorial conquest.

security council

un body that has responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. it has five permanent members and 10 non-permanent members. each member can veto an action.

joint chiefs of staff

heads of the us army, navy, and air force.

pusan perimeter

an area 100 by 50 miles in the south-eastern corner of the korean peninsula, where retreating us/un/rok troops were pinned around the port of pusan in summer 1950.

inchon, september 1950

macarthur's amphibious assault that recaptured inchon and the south korean capital seoul.

amphibious assault

attack in which land and sea forces combine.

38th parallel

line of latitude dividing northern korea from southern korea.

wake island

a us base in the middle of the pacific ocean.

november offensives, 1950

walton walker knew he had insufficient supplies and macarthur foolishly broadcast the battle plan on armed forced radio, letting the chinese know what to expect, making these offensives disastrous.

frozen chosin

general douglas macarthur troops were cornered in north korea by the chinese and koreans in freezing temperature; us/un/rok retreated.

napalm

flammable liquid used in warfare.

pows

prisoners of war.

general assembly

un body where every single un member has representation.

ground commander

macarthur was in overall charge of the unc, but walker then ridgway were in charge on the ground in korea itself.

tickertape parade

when national heroes (like macarthur) returned to the usa, new yorkers would shower them with bits of paper (tickertape) as they drove through the streets of the city in an open-top car.

sino-american

chinese-american.

west point

us military academy for officer training.

kremlin

location of the soviet government in moscow.

free world

the west (countries such as the usa and its allies).

korean war armistice

although china proposed the armistice in 1951, it was not signed until 1953 because both sides feared giving the other any advantage, were preoccupied with saving face, and hated each other.

mandate

legitimate authority given for action.

new look

eisenhower's defense policy emphasized the use of nuclear weaponry rather than conventional forces.

military-industrial complex

belief that the vested interests of the military and industry encouraged them to escalate tensions and the production of weaponry.

more bang for a buck

eisenhower's belief that greater dependence on nuclear weaponry would save the usa money and protect it as effectively as conventional forces.

brinkmanship

creating the impression that one is willing to push events to the point of war rather than concede.

mass retaliation

new 1954 policy of dulles that would cheapen military costs and get more "bang for the buck" in dealing with enemy attacks.

vietnam

the first test of the policy of massive retaliation, where eisenhower discussed using nuclear weaponry to help the french but decided against it.

quemoy and matsu

a second test of the policy of massive retaliation that ultimately ended in eisenhower backing down.

rollback

pushing back communism in places where it was already established.

norad

north american aerospace defense command.

covert operations

secret warfare, for example sabotage.

oligarchies

unrepresentative elites.

dealing with revolutionaries

- eisenhower hoped the ussr would refrain from helping revolutionaries for fear of massive retaliation. - eisenhower sent us military advisers to assist friendly regimes in training native troops to oppose revolutionaries, as in vietnam. - dulles organized military alliances such as seato to help friendly regimes deal with the communist threat. - the cia used covert operations against revolutionary regimes in iran and guatemala. covert operations were planned against the cuban revolution in the final months of eisenhower's presidency. - eisenhower bought off bolivian revolutionaries.

middle class

businessmen, professionals, landowners.

shanty towns

collections of poorly built dwellings containing poverty-stricken populations.

strongmen

dictators--often latin american.

mestizo

person of mixed race.

expropriated

took possession without compensation.

juan jose arevalo

reformist president of guatemala elected in 1944; his programs led to conflict with foreign interests.

jacobo arbenz guzman

reformer who was president of guatemala from 1951 to 1954 thanks to united fruit company's coup.

united fruit company

most important foreign economic concern in guatemala during the 20th century; attempted land reform aimed at united fruit caused us intervention in guatemalan politics leading to ouster of reform government in 1954.

allen dulles

director of cia, appointed by eisenhower. he was a veteran of wartime oas cloak-and-dagger operations. he was also the brother of john foster dulles.

john foster dulles

us diplomat who (as secretary of state) pursued a policy of opposition to the ussr by providing aid to american allies (1888-1959).

soviet bloc

the countries in the ussr's eastern european empire (east germany, czechoslovakia, poland, romania, bulgaria, and hungary).

labor unions

trade unions that negotiated for better pay and working conditions for their members.

bolivian revolution

eisenhower's response was basically to try and buy out the revolutionaries. bolivia became the biggest recipient of us foreign aid, which naturally encouraged moderation in the revolutionaries.

council on foreign relations

american non-profit, non-partisan think-tank specializing in us foreign policy information and publications.

nixon in paraguay

nixon's trip was supposed to show us support for elected governments, but his visit to paraguay is an excellent illustration of us ambivalence about dictators who provided stability and were anti-communist.

nixon in argentina

with argentina only recently rid of an authoritarian and often anti-american leader in peron, that the inauguration of the democratically elected frondizi was important; nixon arrived late.

nixon in peru

the state department recommended that nixon cancel his visit to the prestigious san marcos university, but the us ambassador told him it was important not to lose face. even though it was received positively in america, it was counterproductive because it embarrassed the nation (people rioted).

nixon in venezuela

after jimenez's overthrow, people had turned on the police, burning them alive in some working-class districts. eisenhower's support for the unpopular dictator and widespread rumors that the usa was going to cut its imports of venezuelan oil generated much discontent. led to operation poor richard.

military junta

government by a group of army officers.

american way of life

americans greatly valued their political democracy, economic opportunities, and general prosperity.

gunboat diplomacy

foreign policy aims pursued through military force rather than negotiation.

operation poor richard

us troops and a fleet were put on standby near venezuela. meanwhile the venezuelan army had restored order, so nixon warned eisenhower that the latin americans would not take kindly to this american show of force. he was right. venezuelan radio even talked of a us invasion.

juscelino kubitschek

democratically-elected president of brazil who launched modernization efforts.

operation pan america (opa)

brazilian president juscelino kubitschek's proposed plan that was basically a marshall plan for latin america. it never really came to anything, unfortunately.

iron curtain

former british prime minister winston churchill used this term in 1946 when he said that soviets had separated eastern europe from the rest of europe.

act of bogota

a series of recommendations for measures for social improvements and economic development.

guerrilla movement

irregular fighting force that concentrates on activities such as sabotage and raids.

coup

the illegal overthrow of a government, usually by violent and/or revolutionary means.