Cold War Vocabulary

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Vocabulary

Truman Doctrine

This U.S. President's policy in 1947 of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism or totalitarian ideology, mainly helped Greece and Turkey. It was called the

Berlin Airlift

The name of the U.S. humanitarian operation in 1948 that supplied food and fuel to citizens of west Berlin when the Russians closed off land access to Berlin. It was called the

Warsaw Pact

An organization that was formed as an answer to the formation of NATO to protect the Eastern Soviet Union aligned countries from the West.

Satellite Nations

Communist nations in Eastern Europe on friendly terms with the USSR and thought of as under the USSR's control. They were known as

Containment

This was the American policy of resisting further expansion of communism around the world. The policy was called

Iron Curtain

This was Winston Churchill's metaphoric term for the Cold War division between the Soviet-dominated East and the U.S.-dominated West. He called it the

Cold War

This was a conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union from 1945-1992. The nations never directly confronted each other on the battlefield but deadly threats went on for years as well as proxy wars such as Korea, Vietnam, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. It was called the

Marshall Plan

This was a plan from the United States to rebuild and revive war-torn economies of Europe. It was called the

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

This alliance began in 1949 for defense initiated by the United States, Canada, and 10 Western European nations. It is called

38th Parallel

This is the dividing line between North and South Korea. It is called the

Korean War

This was the conflict between Communist North Korea and Non-Communist South Korea. The United Nations (led by the United States) helped South Korea. This was known as the

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

This is the Federal Agency which is charge of protecting the United States from external threats by using espionage (spying). This agency is called the

Warsaw Pact

This was an alliance between the Soviet Union and other Eastern European nations. It was a response by the Soviet Union to the creation of NATO. This alliance was called the

Eisenhower Doctrine

This foreign policy created by the U.S. which proposed and obtained a joint resolution from Congress authorizing the use of U.S. military forces to intervene in any country that appeared likely to fall to communism. It was used in the Middle East. This policy was called the

Nikita Khrushchev

This person was the Soviet leader during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He was famous for denouncing Stalin and allowed criticism of Stalin within Russia. In a speech at the United Nations he threatened to "bury the United States". This person was

Domino Effect

This was the term used that described what would occur if communism took hold in one country and would spread to other surrounding countries. It was called

Sputnik

This was the first artificial satellite launched into orbit around Earth by the Soviet Union. It was called.

Space Race

This was the name given to the competition between the United States and the Soviet Union for domination over space and landing a person on the moon. It was called the

Cuban Missile Crisis

This was the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union over Cuba, when the Soviet Union positioned nuclear missiles 90 miles from Florida on the island of Cuba. This was the closest the world has come to nuclear war. It was called the

John F. Kennedy

This president sent advisors to Vietnam, resolved the Cuban Missile Crisis, challenged America to land a man on the moon, and was assassinated in Dallas in 1963. This person was

détente

This was the relation of tension between the Soviet Union and the United States during the 1970s.

Leonid Brezhnev

This was the leader of the USSR during the period of relation of tension initiated by President Nixon.

Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)

This was the name of the program started by President Reagan to create a defense shield to protect the U.S. from a nuclear attack.

Ronald Reagan

This President began using foreign and domestic policies to end communism and bring down the Soviet Union.

Mikhail Gorbachev

This Soviet leader initiated policies called "perestroika" and "glasnost" to compete with the United States socially, politically, and economically.

perestroika

This was the policy of restructuring in the USSR in the 1980s.

glasnost

This was the policy of openness in the USSR in the 1990s.

Margaret Thatcher

This was the UK Prime Minister the Soviets called the "Iron Lady" because of her hard stance with the USSR.

Pope John Paul II

This person was responsible for open dialog between the Soviet Union and the rest of the Western World as understanding of peace and civility.

George Orwell

This was the British writer who foreshadowed the coming and dangers of communism to Europe and the world. His books; Animal Farm and 1984 are still read today.

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