Download Cold War Vocabulary

1. “Baby Boom”
• A marked
increase in the
birthrate,
especially in
the US
following
WWII.
2. Universal Declaration of Human
Rights
• Eleanor Roosevelt was the first
woman to represent a country
when she was sent to represent
the United States at the newly
created United Nations following
WWII. Eleanor played a vital role
in expanding the rights of people
all around the world when she
was given the position of
“Chairman” over a committee
that would write this important
U.N. document still cited today.
3. G.I. Bill of Rights
• As soldiers returned home
following WWII, the
government began discussing
ways to help them. First
known as the servicemen’s
Readjustment Act of 1944, this
bill offered money for college
or job training, low or no
interest loans to buy homes or
businesses, and
unemployment benefits to
military veterans.
4. Capitalism
• An economic
system based
on private
property and
free
enterprise.
5. Communism
• An economic system in
which all goods are owned
jointly; in the Soviet
Union, this developed into
a government in which all
social and economic policy
decisions were made by a
single party. Free speech
was not allowed.
6. Partition
To divide or
separate into
portions.
Berlin
* After WWII, Germany was
partitioned into zones which
were occupied in the West by
democratic and capitalist
nations and in the East by the
communist Soviet Union.
Berlin was also partitioned
into like zones.
7. United Nations
• On June 26, 1945 in San
Francisco, California 50
Nations, including the Soviet
Union, signed a charter
creating this organization.
• It was hoped this organization
would settle disputes
between nations and prevent
future wars through
negotiations and by use of
“peace keeping” forces.
8. George Marshall
• This man was an
important WWII general
from 1939 to 1945,
building and directing the
largest army in history. He
acted as secretary of state
from 1947 to 1949,
formulating the Marshall
Plan and earned the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1953.
9. Marshall Plan
• The United States
instituted this man’s
plan, The Marshall
Plan, after WWII. It
provided for massive
financial aid to rebuild
European economies
and prevent the
spread of communism.
10. Eleanor Roosevelt
• Her life reflected her
commitment to public service in
our country and throughout the
world. Married to FDR, she
became known as the First Lady
of the World. She served a
delegate to the United Nations
and kept on with her
humanitarian work; always
fighting racial injustice, women’s
equality, and working tirelessly
for social reform.