-
1301. D-Day
- June 6, 1944 - Led by Eisenhower, over a million troops (the largest
- invasion force in history)
- stormed the beaches at Normandy and began the process of re-taking
- France. The turning point
- of World War II.
-
1309. Battle of the Bulge
-
December, 1944-January, 1945 - After recapturing France, the Allied
- advance became stalled along the German border. In the winter of 1944,
- Germany staged a massive counterattack in Belgium and Luxembourg which
- pushed a 30 mile "bulge" into the Allied lines. The Allies stopped the
- German advance and threw them back across the Rhine with heavy losses.
-
1313. Hiroshima, Nagasaki
1314. Yalta Conference
1315. Potsdam Conference
- First and second cities to be hit by atomic bombs, they were bombed
- after Japan refused to surrender and accept the Potsdam Declaration.
- Hiroshima was bombed on August 6, 1945 and Nagasaki was bombed on August
- 9, 1945.
- February, 1945 - Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin met at Yalta to make
- final war plans, arrange the post-war fate of Germany, and discuss the
- proposal for creation of the United Nations as a successor to the League
- of Nations. They announced the decision to divide Germany into three
- post-war zones of occupation, although a fourth zone was later created
- for France. Russia also agreed to enter the war against Japan, in
- exchange for the Kuril Islands and half of the Sakhalin Peninsula.
- July 26, 1945 - Allied leaders Truman, Stalin and Churchill met in
- Germany to set up zones of control and to inform the Japanese that if
- they refused to surrender at once, they would face total destruction.
-
1334. Truman Doctrine
1335. Marshall Plan
- 1947 - Stated that the U.S. would support any nation threatened by
- Communism.
- Introduced by Secretary of State George G. Marshall in 1947, he proposed
- massive and systematic American economic aid to Europe to revitalize
- the European economies after WWII and help prevent the spread of
- Communism.
-
339. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
1340. Warsaw Pact
1341. Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO)
1342. Central Treaty Organization (CENTO)
- Chartered April, 1949. The 11 member nations agreed to fight for each
- other if attacked. It is an international military force for enforcing
- its charter.
- To counter the NATO buildup, the Soviets formed this military
- organization with the nations of Eastern Europe. Also gave Russia an
- excuse for garrisoning troops in these countries.
- September, 1954 - Alliance of non-Communist Asian nations modelled after
- NATO. Unlike NATO, it didn't establish a military force.
- Members were the U.S., Great Britain, Turkey, Iran and West Pakistan.
- Treaty to improve U.S. relations and cooperation with Latin and South
- America. Fairly successful, similar to ANZUS.
-
1349. Korean War, limited war
1350. Truman-MacArthur Controversy
- After WWII, Korea had been partitioned along the 38th parallel into a
- northern zone governed by the Soviet Union, and a southern zone
- controlled by the U.S. In 1950, after the Russians had withdrawn,
- leaving a communist government in the North, the North invaded the
- South. The U.N. raised an international army led by the U.S. to stop
- the North. It was the first use of U.N. military forces to enforce
- international peace. Called a limited war, because the fighting was to
- be confined solely to the Korean peninsula, rather than the countries
- involved on each side attacking one another directly.
- Truman removed MacArthur from command in Korea as punishment for
- MacArthur's public criticism of the U.S. government's handling of the
- war. Intended to confirm the American tradition of civilian control
- over the military, but Truman's decision was widely criticized.
-
1351. Mahatma Gandhi
1352. Dien Bien Phu
1353. Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh
1354. Bricker Amendment
1355. John Foster Dulles
1356. Massive Retaliation
- Great revolutionary who led India to independence from Great Britain
- through passive resistance and civil disobedience based upon Henry David
- Thoreau's doctrines.
- France had exercised colonial control of Indochina until WWII. After
- Japan's defeat in 1945, the Viet Minh seized Hanoi and declared the
- North an independent republic. War with France broke out in 1946. In
- the Spring of 1954, the Viet Minh surrounded and destroyed the primary
- French fortress in North Vietnam at Dien Bien Phu. Lead to the
- withdrawal of France from Indochina.
- North Vietnamese leader who had lead the resistance against the Japanese
- during WW II and at the end of the war had led the uprising against the
- French Colonial government. He had traveled in Europe, educated in
- Moscow, and was an ardent Communist. Became President of the North
- Vietnamese government established after the French withdrawal. Often
- called the George Washington of North Vietnam.
- Proposal that international agreements negotiated by the executive
- branch would become law if and only if they were approved by Congress
- and didn't conflict with state laws. Isolationist measure, didn't pass.
- As Secretary of State. he viewed the struggle against Communism as a
- classic conflict between good and evil. Believed in containment and the
- Eisenhower doctrine.
- In the 1950's after Stalin died, Dulles and Eisenhower warned the
- Soviets that if aggression was undertaken, the U.S. would retaliate with
- its full nuclear arsenal against the Soviet Union itself. However, the
- U.S. would not start conflicts.
-
1357. Brinksmanship
1358. Preemptive Strike
1359. Nikita Khrushchev, 1955 Geneva Summit
1360. Hungarian Revolt
1361. Abdul Nasser, Suez Crisis
1362. Peaceful coexistence
1363. Eisenhower doctrine
1364. Common Market
- The principle of not backing down in a crisis, even if it meant taking
- the country to the brink of war. Policy of both the U.S. and U.S.S.R.
- during the Cold War.
The doctrine of attacking an enemy force before they can attack you.
- Stalin's successor, wanted peaceful coexistence with the U.S.
- Eisenhower agreed to a summit conference with Khrushchev, France and
- Great Britain in Geneva, Switzerland in July, 1955 to discuss how
- peaceful coexistence could be achieved.
- 1956 - Hungary tried to overthrow the Communist government, partly
- encouraged by the U.S. The rebellion was quickly crushed.
- Egypt's dictator, Abdul Gamal Nasser, a former army officer who had led
- the coup that overthrew King Farouk, nationalized the Suez Canal in
- 1956, and was attacked by British, French and Israeli forces. The U.S.
- intervened on behalf of Egypt. Damaged Britain and France's standing as
- world powers.
- Khrushchev's proposal that the U.S. and U.S.S.R. could compromise and
- learn to live with each other.
- Eisenhower proposed and obtained a joint resolution from Congress
- authorizing the use of U.S. military forces to intervene in any country
- that appeared likely to fall to communism. Used in the Middle East.
- Popular name for the European Economic Community established in 1951 to
- encourage greater economic cooperation between the countries of Western
- Europe and to lower tariffs on trade between its members.
-
1365. Organization of American States (OAS)
1366. Castro's Revolution
1367. Bay of Pigs
1368. Alliance for Progress
1369. Cuban Missile Crisis
- Founded in 1948 by 21 nations at the Ninth Pa-American Conference, now
- consists of 32 nations of Central and South America and the U.S.
- Settled disputes between its members and discouraged foreign
- intervention in American disputes.
- 1959 - A band of insurgents led by Fidel Castro succeeded in
- overthrowing the corrupt government of Juan Baptista, and Cuba became
- Communist.
- 1961 - 1400 American-trained Cuban expatriates left from Nicaragua to
- try to topple Castro's regime, landing at the Bay of Pigs in southern
- Cuba. They had expected a popular uprising to sweep them to victory,
- but the local populace refused to support them. When promised U.S. air
- cover also failed to materialize, the invaders were easily killed or
- captured by the Cuban forces. Many of the survivors were ransomed back
- to the U.S. for $64 million. President Kennedy had directed the
- operation.
- 1961 - Formed by John F. Kennedy to build up Third World nations to the
- point where they could manage their own affairs.
- October 14-28, 1962 - After discovering that the Russians were building
- nuclear missile launch sites in Cuba, the U.S. announced a quarantine
- of Cuba, which was really a blockade, but couldn't be called that since
- blockades are a violation of international law. After 6 days of
- confrontation that led to the brink of nuclear war, Khrushchev backed
- down and agreed to dismantle the launch sites.
-
1371. Revenue Act of 1942
1372. G.I. Bill of Rights
1378. Taft-Hartley Act
381. Election of 1948: candidates, issues
- Effort to increase tax revenues to cover the cost of WWII by adding
- additional graduated steps to the income tax and lowering the threshold
- at which lower income earners began to pay tax.
- 1944 - Servicemen's Readjustment Act, also called the G.I. Bill of
- Rights. Granted $13 billion in aid for former servicemen, ranging from
- educational grants to housing and other services to assist with the
- readjustment to society after demobilization.
- 1947 - Senator Robert A. Taft co-authored the labor-Management Relations
- Act with new Jersey Congressman Fred Allan Hartley, Jr. The act
- amended the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 and imposed certain
- restrictions of the money and power of labor unions, including a
- prohibition against mandatory closed shops.
- Democrat - Harry Truman
- Republican - John Dewey
- States' Rights Democrat (Dixiecrat) - Strom Thurmond
- Progressive - Henry Wallace
- The Democratic party was torn apart by the dispute between the liberal
- civil rights platform of the majority and the conservative, states'
- rights views of the southern membership, and the Progressive party
- pulled away liberal votes as well. Although everyone expected Dewey to
- win, Truman managed a surprise victory.
-
1384. Fair Deal
1387. House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)
1388. Sen. Joseph McCarthy (1908-1957), McCarthyism
- Truman's policy agenda -- he raised the minimum wage from 65 to 75 cents
- an hour, expanded Social Security benefits to cover 10 million more
- people, and provided government funding for 100,000 low-income public
- housing units and for urban renewal.
- Committee in the House of Representatives founded on a temporary basis
- in 1938 to monitor activities of foreign agents. Made a standing
- committee in 1945. During World War II it investigated pro-fascist
- groups, but after the war it turned to investigating alleged communists.
- From 1947-1949, it conducted a series of sensational investigations
- into supposed communist infiltration of the U.S. government and
- Hollywood film industry.
- Wisconsin Senator who began sensational campaign in February, 1950 by
- asserting that the U.S. State Department had been infiltrated by
- Communists. In 1953 became Chair of the Senate Sub- Committee on
- Investigations and accused the Army of covering up foreign espionage.
- The Army-McCarthy Hearings made McCarthy look so foolish that
- further investigations were halted.
-
1392. Twenty-Second Amendment
- Proposed in 1947 and ratified in 1951. It limited the number of terms
- that a president may serve to two. Was brought on by FDR's 4-term
- presidency
-
1398. McCarran-Walter Immigration Act
1399. Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW)
1400. Interstate Highways Act
- 1952 - Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1952, it kept limited
- immigration based on ethnicity, but made allowances in the quotas for
- persons displaced by WWII and allowed increased immigration of European
- refugees. Tried to keep people from Communist countries from coming to
- the U.S. People suspected of being Communists could be refused entry or
- deported.
- Created by Republican Congress members under Ms. Overta Culp Hobby of
- Texas. Regulated through committees.
1944 - Began federal funding for an interstate highway system.
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