Unit 11 Vocabulary

Space Race Space race began when Soviets launched Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite, in 1957 USSR and U.S. compete in “New Frontier” (space); Soviets put first man in space. U.S. puts first man on the moon. Many Americans panicked, but President Eisenhower remained publicly calm NASA was created

Cold War Competition and conflict that developed between the U.S. and the Soviet Union after World War II Domestic Impact: Fear of communism, rise of Joseph McCarthy, Anti-War Movement International Impact: Korean War, Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam War

Marshall Plan The U.S. provided economic aid to European countries to help them rebuild after World War II

Truman Doctrine U.S. will provide economic and military aid to countries threatened by communism Examples: Greece and Turkey

Containment Policy Stopping the spread of communism to other countries As a result, U.S. tries to stop communist revolution in China and gets involved in Korean War

Communism in China U.S. gives support to the Nationalists to fight communism in China 1949 Mao Zedong leads communist takeover, people support him because of corruption in Nationalist government

Korean War After WWII, Korea was divided and Soviets backed North Korea and U.S. backed South Korea. North Korea crosses 38th parallel and invades South Korea. UN forces push them back to 38th parallel. Impact: war is stalemate, but increased fear of communist gains in U.S.

Joseph McCarthy A senator who made the claim that Communists were taking over the government. These unsupported attacks on suspected Communists became known as McCarthyism.

Cuban Revolution A revolution led by Fidel Castro overthrows the government on Cuba Castro sets up a communist government in Cuba with the help of the Soviet Union

Bay of Pigs An invasion of Cuba authorized by president Kennedy to overthrow Fidel Castro The invasion force was made up of Cuban exiles and was defeated by Castro Embarrassing for the U.S.

Cuban Missile Crisis A confrontation between the U.S. and the Soviet Union over the building of Soviet missile launchers in Cuba. The U.S. Navy blockaded Cuba Eventually the Soviet Union agreed to remove the missiles, and President Kennedy agreed not to invade.

Vietnam War U.S. enters the war to push a communist group supported by North Vietnam, called the Vietcong, out of South Vietnam U.S. troops fought in Vietnam from 1965 to 1975 The war became very controversial and divided public opinion

Tet Offensive Vietcong attack on cities in South Vietnam The U.S. eventually stop the attack, and the Vietcong are not successful However, parts of the attack were televised and showed that the war would not be easily won This turned many Americans against the war in Vietnam

Anti-War Movement The growing opposition to the war began with young people on college campuses and was led by groups like the SDS New Left: growing liberal youth movement that wanted to change American society (Hippies) They opposed the war because they were morally opposed to the war and because they thought the U.S. shouldn’t be there