Unit 8: Cold War and Decolonization (copy)

Cold War

A global rivalry for power and influence between the United States and the Soviet Union that lasted from 1945 until the early 1990s.

Proxy Wars

Conflicts where major powers support opposing sides without directly fighting each other.

Liberals Democracy

A political ideology promoting multi-party elections and civil liberties.

Communism

An ideology promoting a one-party system and a planned economy, often described as totalitarian.

Ideology

A system of ideas and ideals forming the basis of economic or political theory and policy.

Buffer Zone

A region created to act as a barrier between hostile powers.

Marshall Plan

A program initiated by the U.S. in 1947 to aid the economic recovery of European nations after WWII.

Containment

U.S. policy aimed at preventing the spread of Soviet influence and communism.

Berlin Blockade

A Soviet attempt to block Western access to Berlin from June 1948 to May 1949.

Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)

The military doctrine that both superpowers would destroy each other in a nuclear war, deterring such conflicts.

NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a military alliance formed in 1949 for collective defense.

Warsaw Pact

A collective defense treaty between the USSR and several Eastern European nations established in 1955.

Detente

A period of relaxed tensions and improved relations between the U.S. and the USSR during the 1970s.

Perestroika

Economic and political reform initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev in the USSR in the 1980s.

Glasnost

The policy of increased openness and transparency in government initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev in the USSR.

Decolonization

The process by which colonies gained independence from imperial powers.

Non-alignment

A policy of not formally aligning with either superpower during the Cold War.

Tiananmen Square protests

Pro-democracy protests in China in 1989 that were violently suppressed by the government.

Apartheid

A system of institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination in South Africa.

Vietnam War

A conflict between North Vietnam (supported by the USSR) and South Vietnam (supported by the U.S.).

Cuban Missile Crisis

A confrontation between the U.S. and USSR in 1962 over Soviet missiles in Cuba, marking a peak in Cold War tensions.

Iron Curtain

A term used to describe the division between the Soviet bloc and the Western bloc during the Cold War.

Détente

The easing of strained relations, especially in a political situation, during the Cold War.

U.S. Doctrine of Containment

A strategic foreign policy adopted by the United States to prevent the spread of communism.

The Truman Doctrine

U.S. policy of providing political, military, and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces.

Berlin Airlift

An operation in which U.S. and British forces flew in supplies to West Berlin after the Soviet blockade.

The Khmer Rouge

A communist regime that ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979 and was responsible for the genocide of nearly two million people.

Zionism

A nationalist movement among Jews that supported the re-establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

Balfour Declaration

A statement by the British government expressing support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

OPEC

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, established to coordinate and unify petroleum policies.

Sharpeville Massacre

A 1960 incident where South African police killed 69 people during a peaceful protest against apartheid.

African National Congress (ANC)

A political party in South Africa that led the struggle against apartheid.

Geneva Accords

A 1954 agreement that temporarily divided Vietnam into North and South at the 17th parallel.