Unit 8: WWII and Early Cold War
Timeline
Trigger Words
Kennan, George: Foreign Service officer George Kennan was the key idea man behind the containment doctrine. His knowledge of Soviet history led him to conclude that the Soviets saw capitalist-communist conflict as inevitable. The only way to deal with that mentality, concluded Kennan, was for the United States to contain communism by resisting Soviet aggression and expansion wherever it might occur.
Marshall Plan: In 1947, Secretary of State George Marshall proposed a massive economic aid program to rebuild the war-torn economies of European nations. The plan was motivated both by humanitarian concern for the conditions of those nations' economies and by fear that their economic dislocation would promote the spread of communism in Europe, particularly Western Europe; also known as the European Recovery Program. McCarthyism: Joseph McCarthy conducted a witch-hunt of government employees that he charged with being communists or communist sympathizers. |
Containment: To prevent the spread of communism during the cold war.
Dumbarton Oaks: the United Nations was formulated and negotiated.The conference was attended by representatives of the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of China. Discussions included the formation of the Security Council and the right of veto that would be given to its permanent members. Taft-Hartley Act: The anti-union Taft-Hartley Act (1947) outlawed the closed shop and secondary boycotts. It also authorized the president to seek injunctions to prevent strikes that posed a threat to national security. |
Primary Sources
"We Can Do It"-Women Defense WorkersThis primary source shows pictures of women working during World War II.The first picture shows two women working on bombs. The second picture shows two women working on the aircrafts. The third picture shows a women working a lathe, a machine for shaping wood. The fourth and final picture shows three women installing an aircraft engine.
The women were important for working in factories because they provided the supplies that the men needed to fight the war. The men were not around to create the machinery they needed because they were off fighting the war. The women working in the factories caused the women to become more independent from men and want equal rights. ~Kayla M. Press Release Announcing U.S. Recognition of IsraelThe State of Israel was formed at midnight on May 14, 1948 and President Truman gave recognition of the new state government the following day. The first day of Israeli independence also saw its invasion by Arab forces, starting the first Arab-Israeli war. The UN played a huge role in the formation of Israel and continues to act as an advocate for peace throughout the world.
The formation of a new state, Israel, was significant because it showed that the new United Nations was far more capable than the weak League of Nations. Although Israel was pitied because of the Jew's suffering in the Holocaust, and therefore garnered support, the United Nations sought to bring stability to the region. Arab complaints were heard, and committees were established to try and come up with a plan that could establish a new country peaceably. ~Daniel T. |
Lend-Lease Act The Lend-Lease Act was a law that started a program in which the US would supply war material to Britain, the Soviet Union,China, France, and other Allies between 1941 and 1945. It was signed in March of 1941 - over a year after the start of WWII in Europe - and nine months before the US entered the war in December 1941.
The Act was a highly significant piece of the war. With it, all pretenses of neutrality within the United States had gone. It was also key in the victory of the Allies in the war, as much of the needed munitions (i.e. food, land vehicles, aircraft tanks, etc.) of the Allies came from America's Lend-Lease Act. It even led to Stalin's open acknowledgement of the helpfulness of the US throughout WWII. ~Aaron W. Executive Order 9066In this order, among the mass hysteria encircling World War II, Pearl Harbor, and more, FDR orders and gives the secretary of war and the military permission to relocate residents who seem to be danger in the coastal regions into shelters (aka the concentration camps). Though it mostly applied to Japanese, it could also apply to those of other descents such as German or Italian.
This Executive Order is the perfect representation of the mass hysteria following World War II. Innocent people were wrongly convicted and this is an order that impacted thousands of minorities lives and insinuated hardships and pains to endure. As some have said, this order has been known to be one of the nation's greatest exploit of civil rights. Later this was revoked and the country apologized for such actions, but it left a lasting impression on the nation, since it had no right to condemn others for doing the same actions. -Ingrid C. |