2025 Cold War Vocabulary

Arms Race

competition between two or more parties for the best armed forces

Baby Boom

the sharp increase in the U.S. birthrate following World War II

Bay of Pigs Invasion

an attempt by Cuban exiles in southern Cuba to overthrow the Cuban socialist government of Fidel Castro; the effort was funded by the U.S. and was a failure

Berlin Airlift

operation in which U.S. and British planes flew food and supplies into West Berlin after the Soviets blockaded the city in 1948; lasted 327 days

Brinkmanship

the practice of threatening an enemy with massive military retaliation for any aggression

Communism

In theory, an economic and political system based on one-party government, state ownership of property, and no economic classes

Containment

policy adopted by the United States in the late 1940s to stop the spread of communism; it involved providing economic aid in order to strengthen countries against the Soviets

Cuban Missile Crisis

term used to describe the days during which the United States teetered on the brink of nuclear war with the Soviet Union

Domino Theory

idea that if a nation falls under communist control, nearby nations will also fall under communist control

House Un-American Activities Committee

a congressional committee that investigated Communist influence inside and outside the U.S. government in the years following World War II

Iron Curtain

phrase coined by Winston Churchill in 1946 to describe an imaginary line dividing Communist countries in the Soviet bloc from countries in Western Europe during the Cold War

Marshall Plan

program to supply economic aid to European nations to help them rebuild after World War II; proposed by US Secretary of State George C. Marshall

Red Scare

widespread fear of communism; U.S. experienced two waves of strong anti-communist sentiment- (approximately) 1918-1920 and 1947-1957

Truman Doctrine

President Truman's pledge to provide economic and military aid to countries threatened by communism

Vietcong

South Vietnamese Communists who fought against the government of South Vietnam in the Vietnam war; received support from North Vietnamese

Satellite Nations

Communist nations in Eastern Europe on friendly terms with the USSR and thought of as under the USSR's control

Duck and Cover

exercise for schoolchildren; supposed protection from a atomic bomb

Buffer zone (state)

zone of separation, a territorial "cushion" that keeps rivals apart

command economy

An economic system in which the government controls a country's economy (like the Soviet Union).

capitalist economy

an economic system in which the market determines production, distribution, and price decisions, and property is privately owned

Berlin Blockade

The blockade was a Soviet attempt to starve out the allies in Berlin in order to gain supremacy. The blockade was a tense point in the Cold War.

Berlin Wall

A wall separating East and West Berlin built by East Germany in 1961 to keep citizens from escaping to the West

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

A 1949 defense alliance initiated by the US, Canada, and 10 Western European nations

Warsaw Pact

An alliance between the Soviet Union and other Eastern European nations. This was in response to the NATO

Nikita Khrushchev

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

Bay of Pigs

In April 1961, a group of Cuban exiles organized and supported by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency landed on the southern coast of Cuba in an effort to overthrow Fidel Castro. When the invasion ended in disaster, President Kennedy took full responsibility for the failure.

Fall of Saigon (1975)

Communist North Vietnamese and Vietcong forces captured the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon, which resulted in the death of many South Vietnamese

Kent State Massacre

Four killed, nine wounded by Ohio National Guard during protest of U.S. invasion of Cambodia

Mikhail Gorbachev

Soviet leader of the 1980s who worked with Reagan to end the Cold War

Command Economy (Communism)

an economy in which production, investment, prices, and incomes are determined centrally by a government.

deliberative and democratic processes

a process where deliberation is central to decision making. This process also looks to generate outcomes that promote the common good through reasoning, rather than through a law-making process.

democratic discourse

debate where one or more highly-valued positions search for authentic truth and are recognized without giving up their valid claims/position.

geographic features

are natural characteristics, such as soil, mountains, clouds, natural bodies of water, etc.

geographic representations

globes, graphs, diagrams, and aerial and satellite images (remote sensing) that allow us to visualize spatial patterns on Earth.

Geospatial Technologies

tools used to map and analyze earth's geography and humans societies.

governing bodies

Groups that create and maintain rules and guidelines and handle overall administrative tasks

mediums of exchange

instrument with a standard accepted value used to facilitate exchange, for example, currency.

Public Institutions

publicly owned organizations established by government to serve the wants and needs of a whole society

Private Institutions

institution supported or controlled by private individuals or non-governmental agencies

Civic Identity

a sense of individual responsibility to the community or collective; it emphasizes the idea that every citizen should do his or her part in making the community a better place to live, a sentiment that also extends toward responsibility for the nation