8A Cold War Beginnings

Berlin Wall

A barrier separating East and West Berlin built in 1961 to keep citizens from escaping to the West

containment

American policy of resisting further expansion of communism around the world

Cuban Missile Crisis

The 1962 confrontation bewteen US and the Soviet Union over Soviet weapons in Cuba.

decolonization

The collapse of colonial empires. Between 1947 and 1962, most former colonies in Asia and Africa gained independence.

Douglas MacArthur

U.S. general in charge of UN forces in Korea 1950-51, before being forced to relinquish command by President Truman.

Fidel Castro

Communist dictator of Cuba who came into power in 1959.

Harry Truman

33rd President of the United States. Led the U.S. to victory in WWII making the ultimate decision to use atomic weapons for the first time. Shaped U.S. foreign policy regarding the Soviet Union after the war.

Intercontinental Ballistic Missile

a guided missile with a minimum range of 5,500 kilometres (3,400 mi) primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery.

Iron Curtain

Winston Churchill's term for the Cold War division between the Soviet-dominated East and the U.S.-dominated West.

John F. Kennedy

President of the US during the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis

Mutual Assured Destruction

a condition of shared deterrence in which both sides possess the ability to survive a first strike with weapons of mass destruction and launch a devastating retaliatory attack

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Military alliance created in 1949 made up of 12 non-Communist countries including the United States that support each other if attacked.

Nikita Khrushchev

A Soviet leader during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Also famous for denouncing Stalin and allowed criticism of Stalin within Russia.

Proxy Wars

During the Cold War, local or regional wars in which the superpowers armed, trained, and financed the combatants.

Sputnik

October, 1957 - The first artificial satellite sent into space, launched by the Soviets.

Truman Doctrine

1947, President Truman's policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism or totalitarian ideology

United Nations (UN)

an organization of independent states formed in 1945 to promote international peace and security

Warsaw Pact

An alliance between the Soviet Union and other Eastern European nations formed in response to NATO