Cold war Flashcards
Proxy wars
A war instigated by a major power which does not itself become involved.
Communist
Communism is a political and economic system that seeks to create a classless society in which the major means of production, such as mines and factories, are owned and controlled by the public.
Democracy
Government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.
Truman Doctrine
To provide military and economic aid to Greece and Turkey and, by extension, to any country threatened by Communism or any totalitarian ideology.
Reparations
Compensation in money, material, labor, etc., payable by a defeated country to another country or to an individual for loss suffered during or as a result of war.
Marshall Plan
Any comprehensive program for federally supported economic assistance, as for urban renewal.
Berlin Wall
Communist government (East) wanted to stop people from fleeing to West Germany.
Containment
Containment was a United States policy using numerous strategies to prevent the spread of communism abroad.
Berlin Airlift
In response to the Soviet blockade of land routes into West Berlin, the United States begins a massive airlift of food, water, and medicine to the citizens of the besieged city.
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was created in reaction to the integration of West Germany into NATO in 1955 .
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 European and North American countries.
Brinkmanship
Brinkmanship is the practice of trying to achieve an advantageous outcome by pushing dangerous events to the brink of active conflict.
Sputnik
Sputnik 1 was the first artificial Earth satellite. The Soviet Union launched it into an elliptical low Earth orbit on 4 October 1957.
Arms Race
An arms race occurs when two or more nations compete in increases in military personnel and materiel.
Domino Theory
The theory that a political event in one country will cause similar events in neighboring countries, like a falling domino causing an entire row of upended dominoes to fall.
Iron Curtain
A notional barrier separating the former Soviet bloc and the West prior to the decline of communism that followed the political events in eastern Europe in 1989.
Totalitarianism
A system of government that is centralized and dictatorial and requires complete subservience to the state.
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit.
Space Race
The Space Race was an informal 20th-century competition between two Cold War rivals, the Soviet Union and the United States to achieve firsts in spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between the two nations following World War II.
In 1949 the United States and European countries worked together to form an alliance for protection against Communist aggression called N.A.T.O. What does N.A.T.O stand for?
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Who was the dictator that controlled the Soviet Union?
Stalin ruled as absolute dictator of the Soviet Union throughout World War II and until his death in March 1953.
Which event signaled the end of the Cold War?
The Iron Curtain was lifted and the Cold War came to an end.
A system where the government owns the factories and other natural resources AND controls the production of goods is known as _______
Communism
The Allied victory in World War II led to the emergence of TWO global superpowers. What were those TWO superpowers?
The United States and the Soviet Union
