Modern American History
Midterm study guide
1. What is Fascism?
2. What is Appeasement?
3. What economic and political conditions following World War I encouraged dictatorships?
4. How did European nations try to prevent war?
5. What is the theory of Internationalism?
6. Why did many Americans support isolationism? Why did President Roosevelt support internationalism?
7. What were the causes of WWII?
8. Why did the U.S. enter the war?
9. Who was Benito Mussolini?
10. Who was Joseph Stalin?
11. Who was Adolf Hitler?
12. Who was Emperor Hirohito?
13. Who was Winston Churchill?
14. Who was Franklin D. Roosevelt?
15. What is disenfranchised?
16. What is rationing?
17. What roles did minorities and women play in the armed forces during World War II?
18. Why was the Battle of Midway a turning point in the war in the Pacific?
19. What and when was D-Day?
20. Why was the Battle of the Bulge so important to the Allied forces?
21. What was the Manhattan Project?
22. What arguments did Truman consider when deciding whether to use the atomic bomb?
23. Who was General Douglas MacArthur?
24. Who was Dwight D. Eisenhower?
25. Who was George Patton?
26. What does it mean to liberate?
27. What is a charter?
28. What is containment?
29. What is a limited war?
30. What was the purpose of the United Nations? What does the General Assembly do? Who are the permanent members of the Security Council?
31. What agreements were made at the Yalta Conference in February 1945?
32. What did the Declaration of Liberated Europe establish?
33. What “threat” was made during the Potsdam Conference?
34. In response to the Holocaust, in December 1946 the UN passed a resolution that made ______punishable internationally and became part of the first Human Rights Treaty.
35. Why did President Truman’s first meeting with Soviet foreign minister Molotov mark a shift in Soviet-American relations?
36. What were Satellite Nations?
37. What was the Iron Curtain?
38. What was the impact of the Long Telegram?
39. In the late 1940s, President Truman saw the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall plan as essential for ______of Communism.
40. In the long run, the Truman Doctrine committed the United States to a pledge to fight ______.
41. The ______Airlift in 1948 symbolized American determination to contain communism and not give in to Soviet demands.
42. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was formed for the purpose of?
43. The Soviet Union formed the Warsaw Pact in response to a decision by NATO to do what?
44. In an attempt to prevent a Communist revolution in Asia, the United States sent $2 billion in aid beginning in the mid-1940s to what group in China?
45. What events shocked Americans and resulted in a dramatic shift in American policy to Japan?
46. Why did the Korean War begin?
47. The Korean War marked a turning point in the Cold War, leading to a major military buildup and to American involvement in ______.
48. United Nations troops in Korea were driven back across the 38th parallel in an attack from what country?
49. During the Korean War, General Douglas MacArthur wanted to use the ______against China.
50. In July 1953, negotiators signed an ______concerning Korea, with the battle line between the two sides becoming the border between North and South Korea.
51. What is the U.S. position in South Korea today?
52. What is subversion?
53. The official purpose of President Truman’s loyalty review program was to do what in regards to federal employees? What did this do for the American people’s fears regarding the spread of Communism?
54. In 1950, with Senator McCarthy and others arousing fears of Communist spies, Congress passed the Internal Security Act, usually called the?
55. What is perjury?
56. As worries about nuclear war and Communist infiltration spread, Cold War themes appeared in what types of popular culture?
57. Under President Eisenhower, the CIA ran covert operations in countries where the threat of communism seemed strong in order to do what?
58. Why did popular support for Senator Joseph McCarthy begin to fade?
59. Senator Joseph McCarthy’s tactic of blackening reputations with vague and unfounded charges became known as ______.
60. What is censure?
61. Radiation leftover from a nuclear blast is known as ______.
62. What is brinkmanship?
63. President Eisenhower used the threat of massive retaliation to resolve crises involving what countries? What is massive relatliation?
64. President Eisenhower’s strategy of brinkmanship could prevent wars, but it could not prevent what from happening in countries?
65. Egypt seized control of the ______, sparking a crisis to which President Eisenhower responded by threatening massive retaliation.
66. During President Eisenhower’s administration, many CIA operations took place in nations with primarily agricultural economies, known as ______nations.
67. CIA covert operations in ______during the early years of the Cold War achieved American objectives.
68. What did the Eisenhower Doctrine establish?
69. What happened to the size of the U.S. military during Eisenhower’s administration? Why did he do this?
70. What is military-industrial complex?
71. The first artificial satellite to orbit the earth, called ______, was launched in 1957.
72. What was the importance of the U-2 spy plane incident?
73. What is closed shop?
74. What is the right-to-work?
75. What are union shops?
76. What was the Serviceman’s Readjustment Act of 1944? What was this also called?
77. What programs did Truman support during his administration?
78. What happened during the election of 1948? Who won and why was this surprising?
79. What was Truman’s Fair Deal?
80. Why was Eisenhower easily elected?
81. What is dynamic conservatism?
82. What programs did Eisenhower support during his administration?
83. What does it mean that America became The Affluent Society? Why was this a new phenomenon?
84. How does the increase in disposable income influence American society?
85. What are the Suburbs? Why did the Suburbs grown in the 1950s?
86. What was the Baby Boom? Why did this happen?
87. What are white-collar jobs?
88. What are blue-collar jobs?
89. Why did white-collar jobs outnumber blue-collar jobs in the 1950s?
90. What is a multinational corporation?
91. What is a franchise?
92. Why did people want to conform in the 1950s?
93. What advances were made in electronics?
94. In aviation?
95. In medicine?
96. How does the rise of television have an impact on America?
97. What happens to movies during this time? How does the industry adapt?
98. What happens to Radio? How does it adapt?
99. What makes the teenage generation different than teenagers in earlier generations?
100. What is Rock ‘n’ Roll?
101. What is a generation gap?
102. What was the Beat Movement?
103. How were African American entertainers treated in the 1950s?
104. What is the poverty line?
105. Why did the inner cities decline in the 1950s?
106. What is Urban Renewal? What does this do to cities?
107. What is life like for many African Americans in the 1950s?
108. Mexicans?
109. Native Americans?
110. What was the termination policy?
111. What was life like for people living in Appalachia?
112. What is juvenile delinquency? Why did this increase in the 1950s?
113. How did television change the presidential election starting in 1960?
114. Who ran in this election? What was significant about their debates?
115. What was different about President Kennedy?
116. What is the missile gap?
117. What is the New Frontier?
118. What were some of the successes of President Kennedy? Setbacks?
119. How did Kennedy try to improve the lives of women?
120. How did Kennedy try to improve the lives of disabled Americans?