Unit 12: The Later Cold War Flashcards
space race
The Soviets took an early lead when they sent the first satellite, Sputnik, and the first astronaut, Yuri Gagarin, into space in the late 1950s. The Americans caught up however when Neil Armstrong became the first man on the moon in 1969
“iron curtain”
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill described the ideological divide between Western and Eastern European countries as an “iron curtain”
Berlin Wall
divided the German capital and actually prevented people from moving from the Communist East to the Democratic West
after the Cuban Missile Crisis
the US and the USSR began negotiations for nuclear nonproliferation. the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaties (SALT) led to detente but the US still thought of the USSR as “the evil empire”
Vietnam War
started after the French lost control of Indochina, Vietnam was divided along the 17th parallel, and the USSR supported the North and the US supported the South. then, the Communist North Vietnamese led by Ho Chi Minh invaded the Democratic South, and American forces fought to defend the South. the war ended in the first major US loss, and Vietnam became completely Communist. Nearly 60,000 Americans died in this regrettable war
Israel
the victors of WWII created the modern state of Israel as a homeland for the Jews but they took the territory from Palestinians, so the Israelis have been fighting to defend their holy land for a half century. 1973 Yom Kippur War was the most serious threat to Israel. US supported Israel and so Americans struggled through the Arab Oil Embargo. Jimmy Carter negotiated the Camp David Accords between Israeli Prime Minister Menachim Begin & Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat but the peace was short-lived
1979 Iranian Revolution
the Ayatollah (religious leader) Khomeini & the Islamic fundamentalists deposed the Shah (king) and established a religious state. the US insulted Iran when they provided a safe haven for the Shah (who had cancer), and extremists held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days in Tehran
After the death of Mao
Deng Xiaopeng relaxed the strict communist system and took steps toward a market economy in China
Tiananmen Square
students gathered in Tiananmen Square and protested for even more capitalist and democratic reforms. the protesters were violently suppressed and freedom of the press & assembly were restricted afterward
South Africa
protests in South Africa paid off in the end of Apartheid and the election of the first black president, Nelson Mandela (who had been jailed 27 years)
How did USSR fail
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev hoped to maintain Communism in USSR but there were many cracks. He tried to reform the existing system through his policies glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring), but ultimately the USSR failed and disintegrated. In 1991, the empire broke up into 15 independent countries
Balkan States of Yugoslavia
began to break up into new nations. However, their movement for independence became violent, as Slobodan Milosevic and Serbia tried to take over Slovenia, Bosnia, and Croatia and killed many in civil war and ethnic cleansing
European Union
officially formed but the alliance for economic prosperity began after WWII with the European Coal and Steel Community (with 6 original members including France, West Germany, Italy, and the Benelux countries). Since, it has grown into a 27-member nation partnership for trade and transportation with a common currency called the Euro
