Cold War Flashcards
international organization formed in 1945 to promote peace, security, and cooperation
United Nations
the ideological barrier that divided east and west Europe during the cold war
“Iron Curtain”
the US policy of attempting to restrict soviet power by preventing the spread of communism
Containment
The US plan to promote economic recovery in Europe after WWII
Marshall plan
Support from the US for countries seeking to resist communist influence
Truman Doctrine
Stalin declared and blockade on West Berlin. this prevented all supplies brought in by land from getting to the city
Berlin blockade
A massive effort to fly food and other essential goods into Berlin. The plan was successful and Stalin eventually lifted the blockade
Berlin Airlift
the half of Germany under US/NATO control, also known as West Germany
Federal Republic of Germany
the half of Germany under Soviet control, also known as East Germany
German Democratic Republic
A mutual defense pact formed by western nations in 1949, included the United States, Canada, and western European nations
NATO
Pact formed in 1955 by Soviet Union for self-defense, consisted of eastern European nations
Warsaw Pact
powerful nuclear device developed in the early 1950s
Hydrogen Bomb
long-range missiles which could carry nuclear warheads to targets a continent away. Abbreviated as ICBM
Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile
the first artificial satellite to orbit earth
Sputnik
leader of the communists in china eventually won the election
Mao Zedong
communist government of china, founded in 1949 by Mao Zedong
People’s Republic of China
Mao Zedong started it in 1953 to modernize the country and increase industrial production. It was successful
Five Year Plan
Announced in 1958, it set higher targets for both agriculture and industry. Farming suffered and food production fell sharply. By 1961 some 30 million died of starvation, the biggest famine in human history
Great Leap Forward
student group who were empowered to attack people who were considered anti-revolutionary
Red Guard
Stalin’s successor after his death in 1953
Nikita Khrushchev
a period of revolutionary upheaval and political persecution in china from 1966 to 1976
Cultural revolution
What was similar or different about the United Nations and the earlier League of Nations?
they both wanted to instill peace and safety in the whole world but The United nations wanted to fight the evil and the League of Nations wanted to not fight at all and instead just talk things out, but after WWII the United Nations knew that talking it out didn’t always work
Explain how both Russia and the US felt their actions were “defensive” in nature
the US was on the lookout for any countries seeming to be attempting to do what Germany did in WWII so when they saw how the soviet union was taking control of other countries they thought it was the bad guy, the Soviet Union thought that Germany needed to be stomped out because of its roles in both wars and that doing so was ultimately the best course of action
Compare the Truman Doctrine to the earlier Monroe Doctrine. What was similar/different?
both wanted to protect countries from political intervention but the Truman was protecting other countries from communism while the Monroe doctrine was protecting from political intervention in general
How did Chinese communism differ from Soviet Communism?
Chinese communism was a lot newer and at first had some good but ended up bad. Soviet communism was older and just pretty terrible all around
war from 1950-1983, between communist & Soviet-supported North Korea and non-communist & US-supported South Korea, Started when north attacked south
Korean war
the war between north and south Vietnam from the early 50s to 1975
Vietnam War
communist insurgents in South Vietnam
Viet Kong
the belief that if Vietnam fell to communists, the rest of Asia would fall like dominoes
Domino theory
What happened in Guatemala in 1953?
President at the time, Arbenz, began a land reform and took unused land from an American fruit company and gave it to poor peasants.
Where was there a revolution led by Fidel Castro that overthrew Batista?
Cuba - became Soviet ally