Cold War Vocab

NATO

(North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

Group of countries in Western Europe and the US that allies to stay safe from the Sovier Union and their allies during the Cold War.  They’re considered more free, supported capitalism and democracy, opposed the Warsaw Pact.

Iron Curtain

Term used by Winston Churchill to describe to division between communist Eastern Europe and democratic Western Europe during the Cold War

Truman Doctrine

President Truman would send aid to European countries that were resisting communism by giving them economic and military aid

Containment

Policy US used to stop the spread of communism by preventing the Soviet Union from expanding their influence into other countries

Marshall Plan

US aided ALL European countries that needed aid and did not matter if they were communist or not

Warsaw Pact

A military alliance formed in 1955 by the Soviet Union and its satellite states in response to NATO, to provide mutual defense against Western powers. Opposed the NATO

Red Scare

In the late 1940s and early 1950s was a period of intense fear and paranoia in the US, there was a lot of suspicion of communism and communist sympathizers

Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)

Both the US and the Soviet Union had enough nuclear weapons to completely destroy one another, this prevented both sides from launching nuclear attacks

Satellite State

Country that is mostly independent but heavily influenced by a more powerful nation, often used to describe Eastern European countries under the influence of the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

President Eisenhower

34th President of the US from 1953-1961, served during the Cold War and known for his policies of containment and his warning about the military-industrial complex

Korean War

Conflict taking place from 1950-1953 between North Korea (supported by communist countries like China and Soviet Union) and South Korea (supported by the United Nations, mainly US) which resulted in the division of Korea at the 38th parallel

Arms Race

Competition during the Cold War where the US and the Soviet Union to develop and stock nuclear weapons and other military technologies

SEATO

(Southeast Asia Treaty Organization)

Alliance formed in 1954 by the US and several countries in Southeast Asai to prevent the spread of comminism in the region

Berlin Airlift

US and its allies did a humanitarian operation where they would drop supplies and food by planes to West Berlin after the Soviet Union blockaded the city in an attempt to force Western powers out.

38th Parallel

The line of latitude that divides North and South Korea from eachother following WWII, and later it became their border after the Korean War