Cold War Vocab. Flashcards
Bay of Pigs Invasion
In 1961 the United States sent trained Cuban exiles to Cuba to try and overthrow Fidel Castro’s government. They failed miserably
Berlin Airlift
A military operation in the late 1940s that brought food and other needed goods into West Berlin by air after the government of East Germany which at that time surrounded West Berlin, had cut off its supply routes
Berlin Wall
A wall that separated West Berlin, Germany, from East Germany, Which surrounded it until 1989
Cold War
This term is used to describe the relationship between America and the Soviet Union form 1947 to 1991. During this time, the Soviet Union was seeking to spread communism to satellite states
Containment
The action of keeping something harmful under control or within limits, Refers to stopping the spread of communism during the Cold War
Cuban Missile Crisis
A confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union in 1962 over the presence of Missile sites in Cuba; one of the “hottest” periods of the Cold war
Domino Theory
The idea that if one key nation in a region fall to control of communists, other would follow like toppling dominoes
Glasnost
A policy of speaking openly about Soviet problems
Iron Curtain
The name for the boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of WW2 in 1945 until the end of the Cold war in 1991. It is not a physical Curtain.
Korean War
The Korean War was fought between South Korea and communist North Korea. It was the first major conflict of the Cold War as the Soviet Union supported North Korea and the United States supported South Korea. The war ended with little resolution. The countries are still divided today and North Korea is still ruled by a communist regime.
Marshall Plan
A plan of the United States for rebuilding the allied countries of Europe after WW1. One of the main reasons this was done was to stop communism
McCarthyism
A period of intense anti-Communist susicion in the United States that lasted roughly from the late 1940s to the mid late 1950s
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
It was a formal military alliance to guard against a Soviet Attack. Members of NATO agreed that an attack on one member would be considered an attack against the entire group
Nuclear Arms Race
A competition between the US and USSR, with the ultimate goal having the most quantity and destructive weapons.
Perestroika
A government policy created by Mikhail Gorbachev meant to restructure the economy of the Soviet Union. This permitted some private business.
Satellite States
Eastern European nations that were allied with and under the control of the Soviet Union during the Cold War including Poland, Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and East Germany.
Sputnik
Sputnik I was the first Earth - orbiting artificail satellite. Sputnik 2 paved the way for human spaceflight and provided scientists with some of the first data on how living organisms react to spaceflight environments.
Truman Doctrine
A foreign policy where the United States pledged to support other countries in their struggle to resist communism
Vietnam War
(November 1, 1955 - April 30, 1975)
Fought between communist North Vietnam and the government of Southern Vietnam. The North was supported by communist Countries and the South was supported by anti-communist countries
