History Ch4 Flashcards
Yalta conference
A meeting of the US president Roosevelt, SU leader Stalin and UK prime minister Churchill to discus how to reorganise Europe post-war in February 1945
Satellite state:
A officially independent country but on heavy economic, military and political control of another country.
Iron curtain:
A political, military and ideological barrier created by the SU to prevent itself and its satellite states from open contact with the west.
Truman Doctrine:
USA policy to stop Soviet expansion during the cold war by supporting countries threatened by the SU.
Cold war:
A thread for a nuclear war between the USA and the SU from 1945-1991
Marshall plan:
American aid program to help rebuild the Europe’s economy after WWII
Berlin blockade:
The blocking of all traffic to west Berlin by Stalin from 24th june 1948 - 12th may 1949
NATO:
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation alliance established in 1949
Berlin wall:
Barrier from 1961 - 1989 created by east Germany that completely cut off west Berlin from surrounding east Germany and east Berlin
Nuclear arms race:
Competition for supremacy in nuclear warfare between the USA and the SU
Space race:
Competition of supremacy in spaceflight between the USA and the SU
De-stalinisation:
Political reform in the SU after the death of Stalin in 1953 that rejected Stalin’s culd of personality
Cuban missile crisis:
A 1962 cold war conflict between the USA and the SU over the deployment of soviet missiles in Cuba, this almost ended in a full scale nuclear war
Domino theory:
US theory stating that if one state came under the influence of communism, the surrounding countries would follow
Guerrilla warfare:
War fought by small groups of irregular soldiers against larger regular forces
Vietnam war:
War fought between 1955 and 1975 between north and south Vietnam that was part of the cold war
Hippie:
A person that belongs to a youth culture in the 1960s and 1970s
Perestroika:
Policy from Gorbachev in 1985 to turn the communist economy into a free market economy in the SU
Glasnost:
Policy from Gorbachev in 1985 to give people in the SU more freedom of speech
Peaceful revolution:
The process of change that transformed communist east Germany to a parliamentary democracy which led to the reunification of Germany
Fall of the wall:
When on 9th November 1989 east Berliners could freely visit west Berlin again
German reunification:
The process in 1990 when east Germany joined west Germany to form the reunited nation of Germany
