AP®︎ US History: Topic 7.14 Flashcards

February 1945 meeting of Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin that established occupation plans for Germany, secured Soviet entry against Japan, promised free elections in liberated Europe, and settled UN voting arrangements

Yalta agreement promising representative governments and free elections in liberated Europe, but lacking enforcement and allowing conflicting American and Soviet interpretations

July–August 1945 meeting of Truman, Stalin, and Churchill and then Attlee that confirmed Germany’s occupation and restructuring while disputes over reparations and Eastern Europe exposed the weakening alliance

July 1945 demand by the United States, Britain, and China for Japan’s unconditional surrender, warning of “prompt and utter destruction” if Japan refused

The principle that nations cooperate through an international organization to deter aggression and preserve peace, central to the design of the United Nations

International organization founded in 1945 to maintain peace, provide a forum for diplomacy, promote international cooperation, and encourage respect for human rights; U.S. membership marked sustained international engagement

The UN’s principal deliberative body, in which every member nation has one vote

UN body primarily responsible for peace and security; the United States, Soviet Union, Britain, France, and China became permanent members with veto power

Nonbinding 1948 UN declaration establishing broad civil, political, economic, and social rights as universal standards after fascism, war, and the Holocaust

Former first lady who chaired the UN commission that prepared the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Postwar monetary system created in 1944 with fixed exchange rates tied to the dollar and U.S. conversion of foreign governments’ dollars into gold at $35 per ounce

Bretton Woods institution created to stabilize exchange rates and provide short-term assistance to nations with balance-of-payments problems

Bretton Woods institution created to finance postwar reconstruction and, later, economic development

1947 agreement promoting reductions in trade barriers and complementing the Bretton Woods system’s open, stable international economy

Germany and Berlin were divided among American, British, French, and Soviet zones for demilitarization, denazification, democratization, decentralization, and war-crimes prosecution

U.S.-dominated occupation that demilitarized and democratized Japan, ended the emperor’s direct political authority, reformed landholding and industry, and introduced a democratic constitution

American general who served as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers and directed the U.S.-dominated occupation and reform of Japan from 1945 to 1951

Occupation-era constitution establishing parliamentary democracy, civil liberties, women’s rights, universal adult suffrage, and the emperor’s removal from direct political power

Provision of Japan’s 1947 constitution renouncing war as a sovereign right and declaring that armed forces and other war potential would not be maintained

1945–1946 international trials of major Nazi leaders that established individual responsibility for aggressive war, war crimes, and crimes against humanity

1946–1948 international trials of Japanese leaders for aggressive war and atrocities; Hirohito was not prosecuted because U.S. officials believed retaining him would aid occupation stability

Temporary period when only the United States possessed atomic weapons, strengthening its initial diplomatic position but provoking Soviet insecurity and an accelerated nuclear program

American use of its new global power after World War II to shape peace settlements, international institutions, occupied enemy states, and the world economy