Cold War and 20th Century Global History

Vocabulary terms covering key figures, events, and concepts from the Cold War era and 20th-century geopolitical history.

Roosevelt FDR

The 32nd US President who participated in the Yalta Conference alongside Churchill and Stalin to discuss post-war Europe.

United Nations

An international organization formed in $1945$ to promote international co-operation and prevent future world conflicts.

Yalta

A $1945$ meeting where the 'Big Three' (Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin) discussed the reorganization of post-World War II Germany and Europe.

Containment

The United States foreign policy strategy during the Cold War intended to prevent the spread of communism.

Truman Doctrine

A policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism or totalitarian ideology, specifically Greece and Turkey.

Iron Curtain

A term coined by Winston Churchill describing the symbolic and physical divide between Western Europe and Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe.

Berlin Airlift

A military operation in $1948$ and $1949$ that brought food and other needed goods into West Berlin by air after the government of East Germany, which at that time surrounded West Berlin, had cut off its supply routes.

Nato

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization; a military alliance formed in $1949$ by Western nations to counter Soviet expansion.

Marshall Plan

A US program of economic aid for the reconstruction of Europe following World War II to promote stability and prevent the spread of communism.

Warsaw Pact

A military alliance of communist nations in Eastern Europe, organized in $1955$ in answer to NATO.

Great Leap Forward

An economic and social campaign by the Communist Party of China, led by Mao Zedong, aimed at rapidly transforming the country into an industrial society.

Cultural Revolution

A decade-long sociopolitical movement in China ($1966-1976$) initiated by Mao Zedong to purge capitalistic and traditional elements.

Brinkmanship

A Cold War policy of threatening to go to the edge of war in response to enemy aggression.

38th Parallel

The line of latitude that separates North Korea and South Korea, established as a boundary after World War II.

U-2 Incident

The shooting down of a US spy plane and the capture of its pilot by the Soviet Union in $1960$, leading to increased tensions.

5 year plan

A series of centralized economic developmental goals used in the Soviet Union and China to expand industry and agriculture.

Bay of Pigs

A failed invasion of Cuba in $1961$, sponsored by the CIA, which aimed to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro.

Cuban Missile Crisis

A $13$-day confrontation in $1962$ between the US and Soviet Union over the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles on Cuba.

Vietnamization

President Nixon's strategy for ending US involvement in the Vietnam War, involving a gradual withdrawal of American troops and replacement with South Vietnamese forces.

Domino Theory

The theory that if one nation comes under Communist control, then neighboring nations will also come under Communist control.

Little Red Book

A book of statements from speeches and writings by Mao Zedong, which was widely distributed during the Cultural Revolution.

The Prague Spring 1968

A period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia that was ended by a Soviet-led invasion.

Detente

A period of improved relations and eased tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union during the $1970s$.

Glasnost

A policy of Mikhail Gorbachev in the $1980s$ meaning 'openness,' which allowed for more freedom of information and speech.

Perestroika

Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of 'restructuring' the Soviet economy and political system.

Mao Zedong/Tse-Tung

The leader of the Chinese Communist Party and founder of the People's Republic of China.

Vietcong

A Communist-led army and guerrilla force in South Vietnam that fought its government and was supported by North Vietnam.

Third World Countries

A term used during the Cold War to describe developing nations that were not aligned with either NATO (First World) or the Communist Bloc (Second World).

MAD

Mutually Assured Destruction; a doctrine of military strategy in which a full-scale use of nuclear weapons by two opposing sides would result in the annihilation of both the attacker and the defender.

Tiananmen Square

Site in Beijing where student-led demonstrations for democracy were crushed by the Chinese military in $1989$.

Ho Chi Minh

The Vietnamese communist revolutionary leader who was Chairman and First Secretary of the Workers' Party of Vietnam.

Solidarity

A Polish labor union and social movement led by Lech Walesa that helped end communist rule in Poland.

Destalinization

A series of political reforms in the Soviet Union after the death of Joseph Stalin, led by Nikita Khrushchev.

SALT I

The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks; agreements between the US and USSR to limit the list of nuclear missiles in their arsenals.

The August Coup

An attempt by hardliners of the Soviet Union's Communist Party in $1991$ to take control of the country from Mikhail Gorbachev.

Arms Race

A competition between the United States and the Soviet Union for superiority in the development and accumulation of weapons, especially nuclear ones.