Cold War

Containment

A Cold War foreign policy strategy by the US to prevent the spread of communism, primarily by military and economic means.

Iron Curtain

Term coined by Winston Churchill to describe the ideological and physical divide between Western Europe and the Soviet-controlled Eastern Bloc during the Cold War.

Berlin Airlift

Operation to deliver supplies to West Berlin during the Soviet blockade led by the US and UK.

Candy Bomber

Nickname for Gail Halvorsen, a pilot who dropped candy to children during the Berlin Airlift, boosting morale and earning worldwide admiration.

NATO and the Rio Pact

North Atlantic Treaty Organization, military alliance of 30 countries for collective defense.

Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, collective defense agreement among American countries.

Warsaw Pact

Military alliance of communist countries in Eastern Europe, led by the Soviet Union as a response to NATO during the Cold War.

The Indian Partition

The division of British India into two separate nations, India and Pakistan, in 1947, resulting in widespread violence and mass migration.

Mohandas Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru

Leaders of Indian independence movement. One advocated nonviolent civil disobedience. The other was India's first Prime Minister, focused on social reform and modernization.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Leader who played a pivotal role in the creation of Pakistan. Known as the "Father of the Nation" in Pakistan.

Communist North Korea and Democratic South Korea

Communist country with a totalitarian regime

Democratic country with a capitalist economy, known for rapid industrialization and technological advancements.

Domino Theory

A Cold War belief that if one country falls to communism, neighboring countries will also fall like a row of falling dominos.

Guatemalan Coup of 1954

CIA-backed operation to overthrow President Arbenz, fearing communist influence and protecting US business interests in Guatemala.

UFCO

(United Fruit Company) was a US corporation that dominated the banana trade in Central America, with significant political and economic influence in the region.

Mao Zedong

Leader of the Chinese Communist Party from 1949 to 1976. Implemented radical social and economic reforms in China, such as the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution.

The Great Leap Forward in China

Mao Zedong's campaign in China from 1958 to 1962 aimed to rapidly transform the country from an agrarian society to an industrialized one, resulting in widespread famine and millions of deaths.

The Space Race

A Cold War competition between the US and Soviet Union to achieve milestones in space exploration, leading to the first human landing on the moon in 1969.

Ho Chi Minh

Established the Viet Minh, ruled North Vietnam

Viet Minh

Established by Ho Chi Minh, declared independence and started fighting the French, they won

Gulf of Tonkin

Two unprovoked “attacks” by North Vietnamese torpedo boats, enters America into the war, escalation of armed forces in Vietnam

South Vietnamese Soldiers

Perspective: this is their home, support democracy, suffered loss throughout the war, they have a lot to lose, feel the pressure of American forces leaving, by the end of the war 250,000 soldiers died

Vietcong Soldiers

Armed communist political revolutionary organization in South Vietnam and Cambodia, from South Vietnam, their home, support from North Vietnam, spread chaos in the South, have a lot to lose

Ho Chi Minh Trail

Elaborate system of mountain and jungle paths and trails used by North Vietnam to infiltrate troops and supplies into South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos during the Vietnam War

Massacre at My Lai

American Soldiers brutally killed most women, children, and old men in a Vietnamese village

Berlin Wall

Represents the idealogical divisions of the Cold War

Joseph Stalin

Dictator of the Soviet Union, ruled using Marxism

Nikita Khrushchev

first secretary of the communist party, wanted to attain maximum propaganda effect, believed communism would overcome capitalism

Mikhail Gorbachev

last leader of the Soviet Union, he ended the Soviet Union’s post WW2 domination of Eastern Europe, he helped take down the Iron Curtain

Cuban Missile Crisis

The world was on the brink of a nuclear world war, showed that one wrong move could have started WW3

Bay of Pigs

Failed military landing operation in Cuba