Cold War Vocabulary

Question 1

laissez-faire

Answer 1

a policy or attitude of letting things take their own course, without interfering.

Question 2

Berlin Wall

Answer 2

The Berlin Wall was built by the communist government of East Berlin in 1961. The wall separated East Berlin and West Berlin. When it was knocked down this symbolized the end of the Cold War.

Question 3

Communist

Answer 3

an economic system in which all means of production are owned by the people
land, factories, railroads, and businesses private property does not exist
all goods and services are to be shared equally
In theory there are no social classes- but they still existed in the USSR

Question 4

democracy

Answer 4

America is a democracy that has a capitalist economic system, free elections, & competing political parties

Question 5

Truman Doctrine

Answer 5

helped nations that were threatened by communism.

Question 6

Reparations

Answer 6

Stalin wanted huge reparations from Germany, and a ‘buffer’ of friendly states to protect the USSR from being invaded again. Britain and the USA wanted to protect democracy, and help Germany to recover. They were worried that large areas of eastern Europe were falling under Soviet control.

Question 7

Marshall Plan

Answer 7

This plan gave food and other aid to European countries to help them recover from the war.

Question 8

Berlin wall

Answer 8

A wall that separated 2 different sides of Berlin.democracy and communism.

Question 9

Containment

Answer 9

blocking the Soviets from spreading communism

Question 10

Berlin Airlift

Answer 10

The United States and Britain responded with the Berlin airlift. On June 24, the Soviet Union made a bid for control of Berlin by blockading all land access to the city. From June 1948 to May 1949, U.S. and British planes airlift 1.5 million tons of supplies to the residents of West Berlin. After 200,000 flights, flying food and supplies into the city for 11 months. Finally, the Soviets lifted the blockade.

Question 11

Warsaw Pact

Answer 11

The Soviets and the countries of Eastern Europe made a similar agreement. It was called the Warsaw Pact.

Question 12

NATO

Answer 12

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). NATO was a military alliance.

Question 13

Brinkmanship

Answer 13

Soon both nations were involved in an arms race. They produced more and more nuclear weapons and developed new ways to deliver them. Both sides were willing
to go to the brink, or edge, of war. This became known as brinkmanship

Question 14

Sputnik

Answer 14

the world’s first human-made satellite

Question 15

Arms Race

Answer 15

a competition between nations for superiority in the development and accumulation of weapons, especially between the US and the former Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Question 16

Domino Theory’

Answer 16

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.

Question 17

Iron Curtain

Answer 17

At the end of World War II, Soviet forces occupied lands along its western border. After the war, Stalin made sure Communist governments were in place in these lands: Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Poland, and Yugoslavia. This divided Europe between East and West. Winston Churchill called this symbolic division the “iron curtain.

Question 18

Totalitarianism

Answer 18

Under Stalin the Soviet Union took control of all aspects of both public and private life

Question 19

Capitalism

Answer 19

An economic system in which money is invested with the goal of making more money (profit)

Question 20

Space Race

Answer 20

The United States then began spending huge amounts of money to improve science education.