Cold War Vocab

This term describes the competition for nuclear supremacy

between the US and USSR.

Cold War

US troops sprayed this chemical during the Vietnam War,

resulting in damage to the environment and negative health

outcomes for Vietnamese citizens.

Agent Orange

During this event, the US flew millions of tons of food, water, and

medicine into West Berlin when the Soviets blocked their regular

supply routes.

Berlin Airlift

This political practice involves doing something dangerous up to

the threshold of safety, before stopping.

Brinkmanship

These were the two competing political ideologies that were the

basis for the tensions of the Cold War.

Capitalism/Communism

This idea was the basis for US foreign policy during the Cold War

and focused on stopping the spread of Soviet ideology beyond the

USSR’s borders.

The policy of containment

This theory suggested that a Communist takeover of one country

would lead to more Communist takeovers in neighboring

countries.

The domino theory

This was a period of the Cold War when tensions between the US

and USSR were eased, from 1967-1979.

detente

This term describes the group of socialist states that were aligned

with and under the influence of the Soviet Union during the Cold

War.

Eastern Bloc

This policy authorized the US to provide military assistance to any

nations whose security was threatened by Communism.

The Einshower doctrine

These underground bunkers were built to protect people from a

nuclear explosion.

Fallout shelter

The Soviet-occupied eastern portion of Germany was known by

this name during the Cold War.

German democratic republic

This leader allowed people in the Soviet Union to have increased

freedoms and pushed for demilitarization, contributing to the fall

of the USSR.

Gorbachev

This person founded the Indochinese Communist Party and

served as leader of North Vietnam throughout most of the

Vietnam War.

Ho Chi Minh

The development of this weapon, 1000 times more powerful than

the atom bomb, gave the US temporary advantage over the USSR

during the Cold War.

Hydrogen Bomb

This term describes the ideological and military barrier around

the USSR and its allies that was established after WWII.

Iron Curtain

During this secret operation, the US sent weapons to a country in

the Middle East, despite an embargo, and provided Central

American rebels with financial aid.

Iran-Contra affair

This country became an ally of the United States during the Cold

War, following a seven year period of American occupation after

WWII.

Japan

This person was US President for most of the Vietnam War and

was detested by antiwar activists for conscripting thousands of

young men to fight.

Lyndon B. Johnson

This conflict took place between 1950 and 1953 and ended with

the division of two countries along the 38th parallel.

Korean War

This person led the USSR during the height of the Cold War, from

1958 to 1964 and initiated the de-Stalinization of the Soviet

Communist Party.

Nikita Khrushchev

This 1963 treaty, signed by the US, USSR and UK, banned all

nuclear testing in the atmosphere, outer space, or underwater.

Limited Test Ban Treaty

Despite being officially neutral during the Cold War, geography

led this country to become the most heavily bombed nation in the

world.

Laos

This principle of deterrence says that countries with nuclear

capability are prevented from using their weapons, for fear of a

devastating counterattack.

Mutual Assured Destruction

This program provided US aid to countries in Western Europe

after WWII to prevent them from falling under Soviet influence.

The Marshall Plan

This military alliance was formed in 1949 to provide western

nations with collective security against the Soviet Union.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

This US President improved relations with China and the USSR by

conducting state visits and signing the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

Richard Nixon

After WWII, Germany was divided into four of these, setting the

stage for a lot of turmoil in Berlin during the Cold War.

Occupation Zones

The US boycotted this event hosted in Moscow in 1980 and the

USSR boycotted it when it was hosted in LA in 1984.

Summer Olympic Games

This term describes a conflict between smaller or less powerful

countries that represent the interests of larger or more powerful

countries.

Proxy War

During 1968, people in Czechoslovakia experienced increased

freedoms during this event, until Soviet troops invaded and

squashed the protests.

The Prague Spring

This person was the reigning British monarch for the entirety of

the Cold War era and is credited with warming relations between

the UK and USSR.

Queen Elizebeth II

This describes the period when Americans were so paranoid

about the influence of Communism that thousands were

investigated under the suspicion that they were spies.

Second Red Scare

This term describes the competition between the US and USSR to

launch satellites and reach the moon, proving who had the best

technology and economy.

Space Race

This term describes the political rift that occurred between China

and the USSR due to their different interpretations of

Communism.

Sino-Soviet Split

This US policy pledged economic and military aid to any

democratic country threatened by Communism.

The Trueman Doctrine

In 1961 the Soviets developed this nuclear weapon - the largest

one ever created at that point.

Tsar Bomba

This organization was largely unable to help to end the Cold War

since both the US and USSR held veto power.

The United Nations Security Council

This fighting force was composed of South Vietnamese

supporters of the Communists in the North who wanted to

reunify the country.

The Vietcong

This 1989 nationwide nonviolent protest movement in

Czechoslovakia successfully spurred democratization in the

country.

Velvet Revolution

This treaty united Europe’s Communist states, with each pledging

that they would fight together if one of them was attacked.

The Warsaw Pact

This British leader pushed for the UK to develop its own atomic

bombs, seeing it as the responsibility of the West to protect the

world from the USSR.

Winston Churchill

Cold War paranoia, particularly in the 1950s and 1960s, led to the

rise of this: prejudice against things that are strange or foreign

Xenophobia

The decisions made at a meeting held here, set the stage for the

showdown between the Soviets and the Western powers over

Berlin.

The Yalta Conference

This American proposal for the removal of all nuclear missiles

from Europe paved the way for the Strategic Arms Reduction

Talks in the 1980s.

Zero Option