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Cold War 1945-1991

Terms in this set (38)

The United Nations
An organization of nations that was formed in 1945 to promote peace, security, and international cooperation. The organization is located in New York City.
Cold War
(1945-1991) The period after the Second World War marked by rivalry and tension between the two nuclear superpowers, the United States and the communist government of the Soviet Union. The Cold War ended when the Soviet government collapsed in 1991.
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.
Containment
A U.S. foreign policy adopted by President Harry Truman in the late 1940s, in which the United States tried to stop the spread of communism by creating alliances and helping weak countries to resist Soviet advances
N.A.T.O,
..., 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
Treaty Organization
Warsaw Pact what is it and when formed
Warsaw Pact
An alliance between the Soviet Union and other Eastern European nations. This was in response to the NATO
Sputnik
First artificial Earth satellite, it was launched by Moscow in 1957 and sparked U.S. fears of Soviet dominance in technology and outer space. It led to the creation of NASA and the space race.
Domino Theroy
if one country became comunist the surrounding countries would then become comunists
Detente
A lessening of tensions between U.S. and Soviet Union. Besides disarming missiles to insure a lasting peace between superpowers, Nixon pressed for trade relations and a limited military budget. The public did not approve.
Glanost
openness, policy where gorbechev allowed people to criticize government officials and censorship was relaxed
Joseph McCarthy
1950s; Wisconsin senator claimed to have list of communists in American gov't, but no credible evidence; took advantage of fears of communism post WWII to become incredibly influential; "McCarthyism" was the fearful accusation of any dissenters of being communists
The Hollywood Ten
When Hollywood producers and writers were called to testify, this group of people refused to answer questions about their own political beliefs and those of their colleagues, they were sent to jail for contempt.
Nikita Khruschev
Succeeded Stalin as the head of the Soviet Communist Party and became the Soviet premier.
Fidel Castro
Cuban socialist leader who overthrew a dictator in 1959 and established a Marxist socialist state in Cuba (born in 1927)
Ho Chi Minh
1950s and 60s; communist leader of North Vietnam; used geurilla warfare to fight anti-comunist, American-funded attacks under the Truman Doctrine; brilliant strategy drew out war and made it unwinnable
Vietcong
A group of Communist guerrillas who, with the help of North Vietnam, fought against the South Vietnamese government in the Vietnam War.
John F. Kennedy
president during part of the cold war and especially during the superpower rivalry and the Cuban missile crisis. he was the president who went on TV and told the public about hate crisis and allowed the leader of the soviet Union to withdraw their missiles. other events, which were during his terms was the building of the berlin wall, the space race, and early events of the Vietnamese war.
Lyndon Baines Johnson
36th president took over after JFK was assassinated "war on poverty"
Hawks
Americans who supported the Vietnam War.
Doves
Americans who opposed the Vietnam War.
Richard Nixon
37th U.S. President. 1969-1974 (Resigned). Republican
Mikhail Gorbachev
Head of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991. His liberalization effort improved relations with the West, but he lost power after his reforms led to the collapse of Communist governments in eastern Europe.
Truman Doctrine
1947, President Truman's policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism or totalitarian ideology, mainly helped Greece and Turkey
Marshall Plan
A United States program of economic aid for the reconstruction of Europe (1948-1952)
Berlin Airlift
Airlift in 1948 that supplied food and fuel to citizens of west Berlin when the Russians closed off land access to Berlin
Korean War
..., The conflict between Communist North Korea and Non-Communist South Korea. The United Nations (led by the United States) helped South Korea.
Berlin Wall
A wall separating East and West Berlin built by East Germany in 1961 to keep citizens from escaping to the West
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.
Cuban Missile Crisis
(JFK) , , an international crisis in October 1962, the closest approach to nuclear war at any time between the U.S. and the USSR. When the U.S. discovered Soviet nuclear missiles on Cuba, President John F. Kennedy demanded their removal and announced a naval blockade of the island; the Soviet leader Khrushchev acceded to the U.S. demands a week later, on condition that US doesn't invade Cuba
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
1964 Congressional resolution authorizing President Johnson to take military action in Vietnam
Vietnam War
..., a prolonged war (1954-1975) between the communist armies of North Vietnam who were supported by the Chinese and the non-communist armies of South Vietnam who were supported by the United States
Communism
A theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state.
Blockade
a war measure that isolates some area of importance to the enemy
Containment
A U.S. foreign policy adopted by President Harry Truman in the late 1940s, in which the United States tried to stop the spread of communism by creating alliances and helping weak countries to resist Soviet advances
Satellite Nations
Communist nations in Eastern Europe on friendly terms with the USSR and thought of as under the USSR's control
Economic Aid
Assistance to other nations in the form of grants, loans, or credits to buy the assisting nation's products.
Democracy
A political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them
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