Post world war II vocab

interstae highway act

$ 250 billion project to develop roads to link the nation

sputnik

Soviet satellite the 1st to be lauched into space

containment

U.S policy of blocking communist expansion around the world

iron curtain

a barrier that seperated the Soviet Union and the communist nations of Eastern Europe from the democratic nations of the west.

Arms race

a contest which nations compete to build more and more powerful weapons

cold war

a period of tension between the Soviet Union nd its communists allies versus the US and its non communist allies. Lasted 50 years.

stalemate

a situation in a war which neither side wins

Berlin airlift

airlift to feed and give supplies to the people of W. Berlin

North atlantic treaty organization

alliance between us and western european countries to protect them from soviet aggresion

warsaw pact

alliance formed by the Soviet union with eastern european countries

Sen. Joseph McCarthy

claimed the members of the us government were communists

mao zedong

communist dictator in China

suburbs

communities outside of cities

superpowers

countries whose military economic and political power are so great that they can influence events worldwide

satellite nation

weaker nationms ruled by another more powerful nation

Berlin Wall

wall that seperated communist E. Berlin form democratic w. berlin

United Nations

international peacekeeping organization

baby boom

major increase in the # of children born in the later 40s and 50s

Levittown

mass production of houses in the suburbs of NY and other areas

television

new invention that brought news and enterainment into peoples homes

truman doctrine

program of giving aid to help nations threatened by communist expansion

Marshall plan

secretary of states program of giving huge amounts of money to help rebuild the economy of Western Europe

GI bill of rights

the government spent billions of dollars to give veterans money to spend on businesses, homes and schooling