The Cold War Era: Key Events and Developments

Cold War

A state of hostility between the United States and the Soviet Union characterized by ideological conflict without direct fighting.

Proxy states

Nations that engage in conflict on behalf of superpowers during the Cold War, such as South Vietnam and North Vietnam.

Vietnam War

A conflict from 1964 to 1975 where the United States supported South Vietnam against North Vietnam, which was backed by the Soviet Union.

United Nations (UN)

An international organization founded on October 24, 1945, aimed at promoting peace and preventing conflicts from escalating into war.

General Assembly

A part of the UN where each member nation has one vote to discuss and vote on issues.

Security Council

A UN body that acts on issues discussed in the General Assembly and may use military force against troublemaking countries.

Permanent members of the Security Council

The five countries that have veto power in the Security Council: the United States, France, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and China.

Veto power

The ability of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to block any substantive resolution.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

A document formalized by the UN in 1948 outlining basic protections and rights common to all people.

UNICEF

The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, created in 1946 to provide food for children suffering after World War II.

International Court of Justice

A judicial body established by the UN charter to settle disputes over international law between countries.

Protection of Refugees

A main aim of the UN to assist people who have fled their homes due to war, famine, or natural disasters.

NGOs

Non-governmental organizations that work with the UN to provide assistance to refugees.

UNHCR

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, an agency that provides support to refugees.

Humanitarian work of the UN

Efforts by the UN to promote human rights and provide assistance to those in need, including refugees and victims of war.

Ideological battle

The conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union over capitalism and communism during the Cold War.

Eastern Europe occupation

The Soviet Union's control over Eastern Europe after World War II to create a buffer against Western Europe.

Civil war in Angola

A conflict from 1975 to 1991 between a Soviet-backed government and U.S.-backed rebels.

League of Nations

An earlier international organization that failed to prevent conflicts, leading to the establishment of the UN.

United Nations Day

October 24, the day the UN was founded and is still honored today.

Controversy of veto power

The debate over granting veto power to five permanent members of the Security Council due to the imbalance of power.

Human rights abuses

Violations such as genocide, war crimes, and government oppression that the UN investigates.

Buffer zone

A region created by the Soviets in Eastern Europe to separate the U.S.S.R. from Western Europe.

Superpowers

The United States and the Soviet Union, the two dominant nations that emerged after World War II.

Palestinian Refugees

Among the earliest refugees that the UN helped were Palestinians who fled the disorder that occurred when the UN partitioned Palestine to create the state of Israel in 1948.

Peacekeeping

The United Nations is also well known for its peacekeeping actions, frequently sending peacekeeping forces to ease tensions in trouble spots.

First Peacekeeping Mission

The first peacekeeping mission was related to the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict in Palestine.

UN Peacekeepers

Since the first mission, UN peacekeepers have served in places such as the Congo, Lebanon, East Timor, and the Balkans.

IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) works with the UN to provide technical advice and loans to developing nations.

World Bank

The World Bank collaborates with the UN to provide technical advice and loans to developing nations.

WTO

The World Trade Organization (WTO) works to promote free trade worldwide.

GATT

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is another international treaty that promotes free trade.

Iron Curtain

The metaphor of the Iron Curtain described the split between Eastern and Western Europe, as stated by Winston Churchill in March 1946.

Eastern European Governments

The Soviets directed Eastern European countries to develop five-year economic plans focused on industry and collective agriculture.

Satellite States

Satellite states are small states that are economically or politically dependent on a larger, more powerful state.

George Kennan

George Kennan was a U.S. diplomat who advocated for a policy of containment to hold communism where it was and prevent its spread.

Containment Policy

The containment policy aimed to prevent the spread of communism beyond its existing borders.

Truman Doctrine

The Truman Doctrine was a strong statement by President Harry Truman that the U.S. would support countries resisting communism, specifically in Greece and Turkey.

Dardanelles

The Dardanelles is the strait between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea that the Soviet Union wanted to control.

Marshall Plan

The Marshall Plan, enacted in June 1947, was designed to offer $13 billion in aid to all nations of Europe to rebuild and modernize.

Economic Stability and Communism

The belief that a Communist revolution occurs only in economically unstable nations influenced the goals of the Marshall Plan.

U.S. Aid After WWII

The United States spent about $12 billion to provide relief and rebuild infrastructure in Europe after World War II.

Five-Year Economic Plans

Countries like Bulgaria, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania were directed by the Soviets to develop five-year economic plans.

Rollback Policy

Some politicians criticized Kennan for advocating containment instead of a more aggressive rollback policy to overthrow existing regimes.

Economic and Military Support

Truman pledged U.S. economic and military support to Greece and Turkey to resist Communist threats.

Dictatorial Governments

The governments of Eastern European countries were just as dictatorial as the Soviet government.

Economic output increase

Economic output in the countries aided was 35 percent higher in 1951 than it had been in 1938.

COMECON

The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance developed by the Soviets in 1949 to help rebuild Eastern Europe.

Berlin Airlift

An operation where about one million tons of supplies were airlifted into West Berlin until the Soviet blockade ended in May 1949.

West Germany

The new nation formed by the three Western allies in September 1949 by combining their occupied zones of Germany.

East Germany

The German Democratic Republic created by the Soviets in October 1949 in the zone they occupied.

Arms Race

A competition between the United States and the Soviet Union during the late 1940s and 1950s to develop more powerful nuclear weapons.

Hydrogen bomb

A nuclear weapon developed by both the United States and the Soviet Union by 1952 that was much more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Japan.

Military-industrial complex

The close ties fostered between the U.S. government and private companies that developed weapons during the arms race.

Sputnik

The first artificial satellite launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, marking the beginning of the Space Race.

Space Race

The competition between the United States and the Soviet Union to achieve significant milestones in space exploration.

Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD)

A doctrine where both the United States and the Soviet Union realized that a nuclear war would result in the obliteration of both sides.

Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)

A missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead into U.S. territory, first tested by the Soviets in early 1959.

Antinuclear Weapon Movement

A reaction against the nuclear arms race that began in Japan in 1954, opposing U.S. testing of nuclear weapons.

Japan's petition against nuclear weapons

In 1955, more than one-third of Japan's population signed a petition opposing nuclear weapons.

Berlin Blockade

A blockade set up by the Soviets around Berlin to prevent food and other supplies from entering the city.

Bonn

The capital of the new nation of West Germany after the blockade ended.

East Berlin

The capital of East Germany, located in the Soviet zone of Berlin.

Soviet Union's refusal

The Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellites refused to participate in the Marshall Plan.

Nuclear arms race

The competition between the United States and the Soviet Union to develop and stockpile nuclear weapons.

Eisenhower's warning

President Dwight Eisenhower warned against allowing the military-industrial complex too much power.

Chinese Communists

Gained control of China's government in 1949, contributing to U.S. fears of Soviet expansion.

North Korea's attack

The attack by Communist North Korea on democratic South Korea in 1950, further escalating tensions.

U.S. satellite launch

The United States launched its first satellite in January 1958, following the Soviet launch of Sputnik.

Antinuclear weapons movement

A movement that expanded in the late 1970s and early 1980s to other countries, particularly to the United States and Western Europe.

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organization, created in April 1949 for mutual support and cooperation among Western nations.

Original NATO members

Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United States.

Warsaw Pact

A military alliance created in 1955 in response to NATO, consisting of Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union.

Communist bloc

Nations that were part of the Warsaw Pact and combined their armed forces under Soviet leadership.

Yugoslavia's position

Pursued independent domestic and foreign policies under Marshal Tito and did not join the Warsaw Pact.

Albania's independence

Acted independently of Soviet influence and withdrew from the Warsaw Pact in 1968.

SEATO

Southeast Asia Treaty Organization formed in 1954 by Australia, France, Great Britain, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, and the United States.

CENTO

Central Treaty Organization, an anti-Soviet treaty organization formed by Great Britain, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, and Turkey.

Non-Aligned Movement

A coalition of countries that were not aligned with either the Soviet Union or the United States, established in the 1950s.

Key non-aligned leaders

Jawaharlal Nehru (India), Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana), Gamal Abdel Nasser (Egypt), and Sukarno (Indonesia).

Ethio-Somali War

A conflict between non-aligned Somalia and Ethiopia from 1977 to 1978, where superpowers intervened by supplying aid.

Jacobo Árbenz

The Communist leader of Guatemala whose land reforms alarmed the United Fruit Company, leading to a U.S.-backed coup in 1954.

People's Republic of China

Established in 1949 after the Communists won the civil war against the Nationalists.

Cold War

A period of geopolitical tension between the Soviet Union and the United States and their respective allies.

Superpowers

The United States and the Soviet Union, which exerted influence over various nations during the Cold War.

Military alliances

Agreements between countries for mutual defense and support, such as NATO and the Warsaw Pact.

Developing countries

Countries that were often non-aligned and sought to avoid involvement in the Cold War while pursuing their own interests.

Foreign aid

Assistance given by one country to another, often used by superpowers to gain influence over non-aligned nations.

Coup d'état

A sudden overthrow of a government, such as the one executed by the CIA against Jacobo Árbenz in Guatemala.

Cold War blocs

The division of the world into opposing sides during the Cold War, primarily the Eastern bloc (Soviet-aligned) and Western bloc (U.S.-aligned).

Military committee

A group within CENTO that the United States joined, despite not being a full member.

Soviet influence

The political and military control exerted by the Soviet Union over its satellite states and other nations during the Cold War.

Mao Zedong

The head of the Chinese Communist Party who ordered the nationalization of Chinese industries and created five-year plans.

Five-Year Plans

Plans created by Mao Zedong on the Soviet model that emphasized heavy industry at the expense of consumer goods.

Great Leap Forward

A policy initiated in 1958 that organized peasant lands into communes, leading to massive failure and approximately 20 million deaths from famines.

Communes

Large agricultural communities organized during the Great Leap Forward where land was held by the state rather than by private owners.

Cultural Revolution

A campaign initiated by Mao in 1966 to lead Chinese society to a Communist future, which aimed to silence critics and ensure Mao's hold on power.

Red Guards

Groups of revolutionary students ordered by Mao to seize local and national authorities for reeducation during the Cultural Revolution.

Relations with the Soviets

Despite both being Communist states, China and the Soviet Union had conflicts, including skirmishes over their common border from 1961 onward.

Deng Xiaoping

The Chinese leader who succeeded Mao in 1976 and instituted reforms including the replacement of communes with peasant-leased plots of land.