world history test cchapter 23-24

Iron curtain

Symbolic divide between communist Eastern Europe and the democratic, capitalist West during the Cold War

Cold War

Postwar confrontation between industrialized democratic/capitalist nations and communist countries with controlled economies

Truman Doctrine

Made containment the major objective of American foreign policy during the Cold War

Containment

American policy to stop the spread of communism; a core American ideal during the Cold War

Marshall Plan

American economic assistance to help rebuild Europe; eagerly accepted in Western Europe, rejected by the Soviet Union and its puppet governments

NATO

Regional military alliance formed by the U.S. and Western nations

Warsaw Pact

Soviet response to NATO; military alliance of communist countries

Arms Race

Competition for a military edge between the U.S. and USSR; Soviets exploded an atomic bomb in 1949, Truman ordered the hydrogen bomb in response

Limited Wars

Cold War-era conflicts kept restricted in scope rather than expanded into wider wars

Korean War

War that began when North Korea invaded South Korea; UN responded; ended in armistice and a demilitarized zone

Douglas MacArthur

General who led the amphibious assault at Inchon; wanted a wider war and was relieved of command after going public with his opinions

38th parallel

Dividing line of Korea into North and South zones

Ho Chi Minh

Communist leader of Vietnam during the French Phase of the Vietnam War

Battle of Dien Bien Phu

French defeat in Vietnam that led to Vietnam being divided into two parts

Viet Cong

Group that began subversive activity in South Vietnam

SEATO

Southeast Asian alliance formed during the Vietnam War era

Domino theory

Idea that if one country fell to communism, neighboring countries would follow

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

Authorized escalation of American involvement in Vietnam; American troops rose to 542,000

Tet offensive

Major attack in Vietnam that became a propaganda victory for the Communists

Vietnamization

President Johnson/Nixon policy of "peace with honor"; South Vietnam eventually fell to the Communists

Fidel Castro

Communist leader of Cuba

Bay of Pigs

Failed U.S. operation against Castro's Cuba

Nikita Khrushchev

Soviet leader who promoted "peaceful coexistence"

Peaceful coexistence

Khrushchev's policy of coexisting with the West

Sputnik

First artificial satellite, made by the USSR

U-2 incident

U.S. U-2 spy plane shot down over Russia; pilot was Francis Gary Powers

Berlin Wall

Border between West and East Berlin; fell in 1989

Cuban Missile Crisis

When Russia put nukes on Cuban soil and the U.S. pushed them away

Apollo 11

First trip to the moon; crew was Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, and Michael Collins

Détente

Lessening of tension; began under President Nixon

SALT

Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty

Ronald Reagan

President; Iran freed kidnapped Americans during his term; known as the "great communicator"

Challenger (space shuttle)

Exploded in 1986

SDI

Strategic Defense Initiative — Reagan's plan to make nukes irrelevant; nicknamed "Star Wars"

Mikhail Gorbachev

Secretary General of the USSR; introduced perestroika and glasnost

Perestroika

Restructuring of communism

Glasnost

Openness

Solidarity

Workers union in Poland

Lech Walesa

Leader of Solidarity; the first elected president of Poland

Boris Yeltsin

First elected president of Russia

Commonwealth of Independent States or CIS

Group formed from former Soviet republics after the USSR collapsed

Great Leap Forward

Mao's attempt to industrialize China in 15 years

Cultural Revolution

Mao's effort to get rid of old ways and enemies of Mao

Tiananmen Square

June 4, 1989 massacre of peaceful protestors in China

Great Society

"War on Poverty"; welfare programs

Civil Rights Movement and MLK

African Americans asked to be treated like everyone else and have the same rights and freedoms

Bill Clinton

2nd president to be impeached (for moral reasons)

Konrad Adenauer

German leader who rejected communism (and socialism); helped Germany become an economic superpower

Charles de Gaulle

Led France's provisional government after WWII; became leader of the Fifth Republic

Fifth Republic

French government with a strong president; led by de Gaulle

Margaret Thatcher

"Iron Lady" of Great Britain; very conservative; Conservative Party; privatized/sold most government-owned (nationalized) businesses