AP World Unit 8: Cold War and Decolonization

38th Parallel

The line that separated Soviet occupied North Korea and US occupied South Korea.

Ahmed Ben Bella

An Algerian socialist soldier and revolutionary who was the first President of Algeria from 1963 to 1965.

Agent Orange

An herbicide that was originally created to defoliate trees; mainly used by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War.

Alexander Dubcek

Slovak politician and, briefly, leader of Czechoslovakia, attempted to reform the communist regime during the Prague Spring.

Alger Hiss

A State Department official who was accused of passing secrets to the Soviet Union during the 1930s; was never charged because of the statute of limitations.

Algerian Civil War

War between the Algerian government and Islamist rebel groups which took place from December 1991 to February 2002.

Algerian War for Independence

War fought from 1954-1962 for Algerian independence from France.

Al-Qaeda

Originally founded to fight off the Soviet Union, which supported the communist Afghan government.

African National Congress (ANC)

The Republic of South Africa's governing social democratic party.

Angolan Civil War

A major civil war in Angola which began after Angola achieved independence that started in 1975 and ended in 2002.

Augusto Pinochet

Deposed Salvador Allende in a coup and became president of Chile; nationalized industries and banks.

Basque Homeland and Freedom (ETA)

Organization founded in 1959 which wanted independence for the Basque region in northern Spain.

Benazir Bhutto

First female leader of a majority Muslim country; elected as prime minister of Pakistan in 1988.

Berlin Airlift

The effort by the United States and Britain to ship by air 2.3 million tons of supplies to the residents of the Western-controlled sectors of Berlin as a response to a Soviet blockade.

Berlin Wall

Wall built in 1961 to keep people in East Germany from fleeing to West Germany.

Biafran Civil War

Nigerian civil war that began in 1967 when the Igbos tried to secede from the northern-dominated government.

Big Three

Great Britain, United States, and the Soviet Union.

Brezhnev Doctrine

Stated that the Soviet Union and its allies would intervene if an action by one member threatened other socialist countries.

Brinkmanship

A policy of responding to enemy aggression with the threat of war.

Camp David Accords

A peace agreement between Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel and President Anwar Sadat of Egypt that was rejected by the Palestinians and several Arab states in 1979.

Charles de Gaulle

French president who expanded presidential power and went straight to the people of France and Algeria for approval of his plan for Algerian independence.

Cold War

A conflict that does not involve any direct military confrontation between two or more rival states.

Communes

A group of people living together and sharing possessions and responsibilities.

Council for Mutual Economic Assistance

The Soviet plan to rebuild Eastern Europe; developed because the Soviets did not want to participate in the Marshall Plan.

Containment

A policy of not allowing communism to spread.

Cuban Missile Crisis

A 13-day confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States that occurred after Soviet missiles were discovered in Cuba.

Cultural Revolution

Mao's attempt to reinvigorate China's commitment to communism in 1966.

Détente

A relaxation of strained relations by verbal communication.

Domino Theory

The notion that one nation falling to communist rule will result in neighboring nations falling to communist rule.

Douglas MacArthur

US commander of UN military forces that supported South Korea during the Korean War.

Fatah Faction

One of two factions into which Palestinians were split that controlled the West Bank.

Gamal Abdel Nasser

General who overthrew the king and established the Republic of Egypt.

Glasnost

The policy of opening up Soviet society and the political process by granting more freedom.

Great Leap Forward

The economic policy of Mao Zedong introduced in 1958 which proposed small-scale industrialization projects integrated into peasant communities and resulted in economic disaster; ended in 1960.

Hamas Faction

One of two factions into which Palestinians were split that controlled Gaza.

Ho Chi Minh

Communist leader of North Vietnam who opposed the French occupation of South Vietnam after World War II.

Hydrogen Bomb

Developed by both the US and the Soviet Union in the 1950s and was more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Japan in World War II.

Imre Nagy

Declared Hungary's freedom from Soviet control and vowed to support free elections; was executed by the Soviets after they invaded Budapest in 1956.

Indian National Congress

A movement and political party founded in 1885 to demand greater Indian participation in government.

Indira Gandhi

The only child of Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, who became the leader in 1966 after the death of her father.

Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF)

A 1987 treaty between the US and the Soviet Union which restricted intermediate-range nuclear weapons.

Irish Republican Army (IRA)

Established in 1919 to halt British rule in Northern Ireland using armed forces; Catholics fought as part of this group when the Catholic-Protestant conflict in Northern Ireland became more violent in the 1960s.

Iron Curtain

A political barrier that isolated the peoples of Eastern Europe after World War II, restricting their ability to travel outside the region.

Julius Nyerere

First president of the United Republic of Tanzania who instituted African socialist political and economic ideas.

Kashmir

A border region which caused tension between India and Pakistan.

Kent State University

Site of a US anti-war demonstration on May 4, 1970 in which four unarmed students were killed by the Ohio National Guard.

Khmer Rouge

A communist guerilla organization led by Pol Pot that overthrew the right-wing government in Cambodia and imposed a ruthless form of communism.

Korean War

1950-1953; began when North Korea invaded South Korea in an attempt to reunite the country under its leadership.

Kwame Nkrumah

first president of an independent Ghana who took office in 1960

Land Reform

a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership

Mao Zedong

declared the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 and supported the Chinese peasantry throughout his life

Marshall Plan

offered $12 billion in aid to European countries to modernize industry, reduce trade barriers, and rebuild infrastructure

Martin Luther King Jr.

the most prominent of African American civil rights leaders in the US in the 1950s and 1960s

Mengistu Haile Mariam

Ethiopian army officer and head of state (1974-91), who helped overthrow the centuries-old monarchy and attempted to mold Ethiopia into a communist state

Metropole

large city of a former colonial ruler

Mikhail Gorbachev

Soviet statesman whose foreign policy brought an end to the Cold War and whose domestic policy introduced major reforms

Military-industrial Complex

informal alliance between a government and big defense contractors

Muslim League

a political organization founded in India in 1906 and led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah to defend the interests of India's Muslim minority; advocated for a separate nation for Indian Muslims

Nelson Mandela

socialist lawyer who led the black resistance to apartheid in South Africa

Nikita Khrushchev

led the de-Stalinization of Russia and argued for major innovations

Non-Aligned Movement

created in the Bandung Conference, this was a group of countries which vowed to stay neutral in the Cold War

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

an alliance between the US, England, France, Canada, and Western European countries made to defend one another if they were attacked by any other country

One-party State

a type of sovereign state in which only one political party has the right to form the government

Organization of African Unity (OAU)

founded in 1963 by Nkrumah to protect African sovereignty

Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO)

a political movement formed in 1964 uniting Palestinian Arabs in an effort to create an independent state of Palestine

Perestroika

attempts to restructure the Soviet economy to allow elements of free enterprise

Potsdam Conference

final wartime meeting of the leaders of the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union was held at Potsdam in July, 1945. Truman, Churchill, and Stalin discussed the future of Europe but their failure to reach meaningful agreements soon led to the onset of the Cold War

Prague Spring

period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia

Proxy War

a war in which a major power helps bring about conflict between other nations but does not always fight directly

Quiet Revolution

a period of intense socio-political and socio-cultural change in the Canadian province of Quebec after the election of 1960

Red Guards

groups of revolutionary students that Mao ordered to seize government officials, teachers, and others to be sent to reeducation camps

Ronald Reagan

US president during the Cold War era

Salvador Allende

president of Chile who was overthrown in 1973 by revolt of Chilean military with the support of the United States

Sandinista-Contras Conflict

a proxy conflict in Nicaragua in which the Contras were US-backed and the Sandinistas were Soviet-backed

Satellite Countries

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

Self-determination

the idea that every country should choose its own form of government and leaders

Shining Path

a revolutionary organization founded by Abimael Guzman in the 1970s that was based on the ideas of Mao Zedong and Cambodia's Khmer Rouge; this organization was responsible for decades of bombings in Peru

Sirimavo Bandaranaike

became Prime Minister of Sri Lanka in 1960 after the assassination of her husband; was the world's first female prime minister

Six-Day War

Israeli-Palestinian war in 1967 in which Israel gained the Gaza Strip from Egypt, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria

Space Race

a competition of space exploration between the United States and Soviet Union

Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT)

negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union that were aimed at curtailing the manufacture of strategic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons

Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)

dubbed 'Star Wars,' this was a missile defense system that was supposed to be able to destroy any Soviet nuclear missiles that targeted the US or its allies

Suez Crisis

military attack on Egypt by Britain, France, and Israel in 1956 after Egypt seized the Suez Canal from British administration

Sukarno

the leader of Indonesia's struggle for independence from the Netherlands

Tehran Conference

meeting in 1943 in Iran between the Big Three (United States, Britain, Russia) at which they planned the 1944 assault on France and agreed to divide Germany into zones of occupation after the war

Truman Doctrine

a 1947 speech by US president Harry Truman that outlined what the US needed to do to stop the spread of communism, specifically in Turkey and Greece

Ulster Defense Association

Protestant group fighting against the Irish Republican Army in the Catholic-Protestant conflict in Northern Ireland in the 1960s

United Nations

established in 1945 to promote world peace and cooperation; replaced the League of Nations

Viet Cong

the name given to the communist guerrilla movement in southern Vietnam

World Revolution

the belief that organized workers would overthrow capitalism in every country

Warsaw Pact

the Soviet response to NATO in 1955 which included an alliance between eight countries of Eastern Europe

White Revolution

a far-reaching series of reforms resulting in aggressive modernization in Iran from 1960 to 1963

Wladyslaw Gomulka

secretary of the Polish Communist Party who came to power in Poland amid demonstrations against Soviet domination; pursued independent domestic policy but was still loyal to the Soviet Union

Yalta Conference

meeting in 1945 between the Big Three to make final war plans, arrange the post-war fate of Germany, and discuss the proposal for creation of the United Nations as a successor to the League of Nations

Yom Kippur War

a surprise invasion by Egypt and Syria which was repelled by Israel in 1973