ss 30-1 | cold war

EXPANSIONISM

a political and economic policy in which a state seeks to extend its territory, power, or economic influence beyond its borders

(communism)

DETERRENCE

the act of discouraging an action or preventing a specific behavior through the fear or threat of consequences

(stopped communism)

SPHERE OF INFLUENCE

a spatial region or conceptual boundary where a person, organization, or nation holds dominant power, authority, or leverage

DIPLOMACY

the peaceful art and practice of conducting negotiations, building relationships, and managing interactions between sovereign states or institutions

BRINKMANSHIP

a high-stakes negotiation strategy where one party aggressively pushes a dangerous situation to the very edge of conflict or disaster to force their opponent into making concessions

IRON CURTAIN

the ideological, political, and physical boundary that divided Europe into two separate regions from the end of World War II until the end of the Cold War

BALANCE OF POWER

a dynamic equilibrium of influence and capability

a "bipolar" system where the United States and the Soviet Union dominated global politics

Mutually assured destruction

MAD

a Cold War military doctrine where the full-scale use of nuclear weapons by two opposing sides would result in the complete annihilation of both the attacker and the defender

COLLECTIVE SECURITY

an international relations strategy where a coalition of nations agrees that an act of aggression against one member is treated as an attack against all

DÉTENTE 

the easing of strained relations or tensions between opposing countries, typically through diplomacy, negotiations, and treaties rather than conflict or appeasement\

systematic easing of geopolitical tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War

DISSENT

American democratic socialist magazine founded in the winter of 1954 by intellectuals—including Irving Howe—who sought an unwavering stance against both Soviet Stalinism and domestic McCarthyism

PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE

Cold War foreign policy developed by Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in 1956. It asserted that capitalist and communist states could compete without engaging in direct military conflict, pivoting away from the Marxist-Leninist belief that war with the West was inevitable

DOMINO THEORY

Cold War geopolitical concept positing that the "fall" of one nation to communism would trigger a chain reaction, causing neighboring countries to fall like a row of dominoes

ARMS RACE

a competitive, spiraling acquisition of military capabilities between two or more countries. Driven by geopolitical tension and mutual suspicion, each side continuously increases the quantity and technological sophistication of its weapons to deter or outmatch the other

PROXY WAR

an armed conflict where external powers—often major nations or empires—indirectly finance, arm, or train local combatants to fight on their behalf

Instead of directly fighting each other, these major powers manipulate the conflict to advance their strategic interests or weaken their rivals while avoiding open warfare

korean war

a civil war. The U.S. and its allies, unified under the flag of the United Nations, backed South Korea while the Soviet Union and China supported North Korea.

VIETNAM WAR

a long and destructive conflict fought mainly between communist North Vietnam, led by Ho Chi Minh, and South Vietnam, which was supported by the United States and other anti-communist allies. After Vietnam was divided into a communist north and non-communist south in 1954, tensions grew because North Vietnam wanted to reunite the country under communism while the U.S. feared communism would spread across Asia through the “domino theory.”

The war involved brutal jungle fighting, heavy bombing campaigns, guerrilla warfare by the Viet Cong, and widespread civilian suffering. Many young American soldiers were drafted to fight, and graphic media coverage caused huge protests and anti-war movements in the United States and around the world. In 1973, the U.S. withdrew most of its troops, and in 1975 North Vietnam captured Saigon, ending the war and reunifying Vietnam under communist rule. The war left lasting impacts on Vietnam, the U.S., and Cold War politics.

FIDEL CASTRO

Cuba

the communist leader of Cuba who came to power after overthrowing the Cuban government in 1959. He allied closely with the Soviet Union during the Cold War, especially because he feared invasion by the United States after events like the Bay of Pigs Invasion.

Cuban Missile Crisis

when the Soviet Union secretly placed nuclear missiles in Cuba, close enough to strike the United States. When the U.S. discovered the missiles, President John F. Kennedy demanded their removal and set up a naval blockade around Cuba. For 13 tense days, the world was close to nuclear war before Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles in exchange for the U.S. promising not to invade Cuba and secretly removing American missiles from Turkey.

NATO

established in 1949 as a collective defense alliance to counter the geopolitical and military expansion of the Soviet Union in post-World War II Europe

WARSAW PACT

formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in May 1955 between the Soviet Union and seven Eastern Bloc socialist republics

POTSDAM CONFERENCE

a meeting between the Allied leaders after World War II to decide what would happen to Germany and Europe after the war. Leaders including Harry S. Truman, Joseph Stalin, and Winston Churchill discussed dividing Germany into occupation zones and removing Nazi influence. The conference also increased tensions between the Soviet Union and Western countries, helping start the Cold War.

REAGAN

shifted U.S. policy from détente to aggressive confrontation, aiming to actively weaken and "roll back" the Soviet Union rather than just contain it

GORBACHEV

the final leader of the Soviet Union and is known for trying to reform its political and economic system. He introduced major changes called glasnost (more openness) and perestroika (restructuring) to fix the country’s problems, but these reforms also weakened government control. His leadership contributed to the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991

McCARTHYISM

was a period in the early 1950s when fear of communism in the United States led to intense accusations and investigations of suspected communist supporters. It was driven mainly by Senator Joseph McCarthy, who claimed that communists had infiltrated the U.S. government, military, and entertainment industry. Many people were unfairly accused, lost their jobs, or were blacklisted, even without solid evidence.

berlin wall

a heavily guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, physically and ideologically dividing the city during the Cold War. Erected by communist East Germany, it served as the starkest symbol of the Iron Curtain, preventing citizens from fleeing to the democratic West