| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Marshall Plan | a United States program of economic aid for the reconstruction of Europe (1948-1952) |
| Berlin Wall | In 1961, the Soviet Union built a high barrier to seal off their sector of Berlin in order to stop the flow of refugees out of the Soviet zone of Germany. The wall was torn down in 1989. |
| Containment Policy | established by the Truman administration in 1947 to contain Soviet influence to what it was at the end of World War II. |
| berlin airlift | planes flew in food,fuel, and other supplies to 2 millioin berliners during the berlin blockade which cut off west berlin from the rest of the world |
| Détente | relaxation of tensions between the United States and its two major Communist rivals, the Soviet Union and China |
| domino_theory | the political theory that if one nation comes under Communist control then neighboring nations will also come under Communist control |
| Truman Doctrine | Policy statement by President Harry S. Truman in 1947 that promised military and economic aid to nations threatened by armed minorities or outside groups. Specifically targeted at Greece and Turkey who were threatened by communist aggression. |
| Satellite | nation politically and economically dominated or controlled by another more powerful country |
| NATO | North Atlantic Treaty Organization; an alliance made to defend one another if they were attacked by any other country; US, England, France, Canada, Western European countries |
| glasnost | a Soviet policy allowing more open discussion of political and social issues, as well as more widespread news and info |
| Arms Race | Cold war competition between the U.S. and Soviet Union to build up their respective armed forces and weapons |
| Division of Germany | 1947 Germany got divided into 4 zones controlled by the U.S., Great Britian, France and Russia |
| Korean War | the cold war conflict in which UN soliders fought to defend South Korea from takeover by Communist North Korea, ending a stalemate in 1953 |
| Cuban missile crisis | In October 1962, the United States and the Soviet Union came close to nuclear war when President Kennedy insisted that Nikita Khrushchev remove the 42 missiles he had secretly deployed in Cuba. The Soviets eventually did so, nuclear war was averted, and the crisisended. |
| Warsaw Pact | treaty signed in 1945 that formed an alliance of the Eastern European countries behind the Iron Curtain; USSR, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania |
| Yalta Conference | 1945 Meeting with US president FDR, British Prime Minister(PM) Winston Churchill, and and Soviet Leader Stalin during WWII to plan for post-war |
| Perestorkia | Restructing of the Soviet Governement and the economy in the 1980's |
| Tiananmen Square | Site in Beijing where Chinese students and workers gathered to demand greater political openness in 1989. The demonstration was crushed by Chinese military with great loss of life. |
| Berlin Blockade | The blockade was a Soviet attempt to starve out the allies in Berlin in order to gain supremacy. The blockade was a high point in the Cold War, and it led to the Berlin Airlift. |
| United_Nations | an organization of independent states formed in 1945 to promote international peace and security |
| Cold War | " War of words and threats" between the US and USSR from 1945-1990. It was a political and economic stuggle between these nations. |
| Nikita Khrushchev | He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, following the death of Joseph Stalin, and Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. He was responsible for the De-Stalinization of the USSR, as well as several liberal reforms ranging from agriculture to foreign policy. |
| domino_theory | the political theory that if one nation comes under Communist control then neighboring nations will also come under Communist control |
| Fidel_Castro | Cuban socialist leader who overthrew a dictator in 1959 and established a Marxist socialist state in Cuba (born in 1927) |
| weapons of mass destruction | nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons that can kill tens of thousands of people all at once |
| Bay of Pigs Invasion | failed invasion of Cuba in 1961 when a force of 1,200 Cuban exiles, backed by the United States, landed at the Bay of Pigs. |
| detente | relaxation of tensions between the United States and its two major Communist rivals, the Soviet Union and China |
| Mikhail Gorbachev | Soviet dictator from 1985 to 1991 whose policies caused the end of the Soviet Union; revisionist historians identify him as the true Cold War Hero, not Reagan |
| Sputnik | In October 1957, the Soviet Union surprised the world by launching Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth. The resulting outcry in the United States, especially fears that the Soviets were ahead in both space exploration and military missiles, forced the Eisenhower administration to increase defense spending and accelerate America's space program. |
| Brezhnev | Soviet Dictator from 1964 to 1982; brought an end to the Dethawing of the Cold War, instituted his doctrine of intervention in Eastern Europe; invaded Afghanistan in 1979 |
| Iron Curtain | A term popularized by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to describe the Soviet Union’s policy of isolation during the Cold War. The barrier isolated Eastern Europe from the rest of the world. |
| Strategic Arms Limitations Talks | In 1972, the United States and the Soviet Union culminated four years of SALT by signing a treaty limiting the deployment of antiballistic missiles (ABM) and an agreement to freeze the number of offensive missiles for five years. |
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