Post War
An ideological and political "barrier" that divided the world between east and west
Iron Curtain
What happened during the Fall of Saigon
American civilians and South Vietnamese trying to escape the North's take over because they would be killed.
First Satellite in orbit and who shot it off up there?
Sputnik, USSR
Started the space race
Why did the Soviet Union want to expand the their influence over Eastern Europe?
To act as a buffer between them and the West
(Also extract their resources)
Two sides of the Chinese Civil War and who led them?
Nationalist: Chiang Kai-shek (retreated to Taiwan)
Communist: Mao Zedong (stayed in mainland China)
What was the real reason why the Berlin Wall was erected?
Too many East Berliners were fleeing to the west, so it was built to keep them in
Once the Soviet Union detonated their first fission bomb in 1949, it started the
Arms Race
Other than rebuilding Europe after WWII, what was the other purpose of the Marshall plan?
Stop the spread of communism by putting an end to the economic chaos.
After WWII, the world was divided between Eastern and Western blocs, the 3rd world. What are these 3 things?
Western: democratic republics and is capitalist
Eastern: Totalitarian and is communist
3rd World: rest of the world, undeveloped
What war is still active due to only signing a ceasefire, established the world's most heavily fortified border (DMZ)
Korean War
Mikhail Gorbachev started what two big reforms?
Perestroika (restructuring): economic reforms, allowed some free market in
Glasnost (openness): Soviet citizens allowed to speak their minds and criticize the gov
These unintentionally was the undoing of the Soviet Union
Bosnia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Why did Hamas split off from the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO)?
Believed the PLO did not go far enough during the first intifada against Israel. Has been source of a lot of violence since while portraying itself as a legitimate government.
France wanted to keep their two most significant colonies of ____________ and ________. In their weakened state after WWII, they fought to maintain it, but ultimately lost
IndoChina (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia) and Algeria
What was the purpose of the Great Leap Forward and what was its end result?
Purpose: Make China equal to US and USSR in terms of steel production (back yard furnaces) and agriculture
Result: failure - Steel industry in shambles and a famine that killed 20-30 million Chinese
Name two of the four reasons why the Soviet Union was on the decline.
1) Eastern Europeans wanted liberation
2) Soviet leadership was too strict, younger Party members wanted reform
3) Younger Soviet citizens wanted reform due to economic woes
4) Too much $$$ spent of defense, drain on national wealth
What happened to Russia once the Soviet Union fell?
1) Still world power, kept its seat on the UN Security Council
2) Russians had more freedom than any other point in their history
3) Change from socialism to capitalism created high inflation and unemployment
Reason why Marshal Josip Broz (TITO!!!) did not have Yugoslavia join the Soviet Union
Believed that Soviet Marxism was a bastardization and that he practiced real Marxism.
What country, after WWII, became an economic powerhouse after the devastation it faced, thanks to their education system, strict work ethic, and protective tariffs?
Japan
What resulted from the Cultural Revolution?
Red Guard caused so much chaos and violence in their zeal for Mao, he had to capture them for reeducation and economic production fell
What happened during the August Coup in the Soviet Union?
Conservative communists overthrew Gorbachev --> Soviet citizens began protesting --> Boris Yeltsin tells Russians to resit the coup, riots erupt --> Soviet troops refused to fire on crowds --> coup fails, Gorbachev reinstated --> Russia declares independence
After failure of the August Coup and Soviet republics declaring independence, what Day did Gorbachev's resign as Premier of the Soviet Union and therefore the end of the USSR?
Dec 25, 1991
First detonation of a hydrogen bomb:
1) Who did it?
2) Name of the bomb?
3) Year it was detonated?
US, Ivy Mike, 1952