cold war

cold war definition and characteristics

cold war definition and characteristics

political, strategic and ideological struggle between the US and the USSR that spread throughout the world, struggle that contained everything short of war, competing social and economic ideologies

brinkmanship, espionage, foreign aid, alliances, propaganda, surrogate wars

six major strategies of the Cold War

promote open markets for US goods to prevent another depression, promote democracy throughout the world- especially in Asia and Africa, stop the spread of communism

Cold War goals for the US

create security for itself, establish defensible borders, encourage friendly governments on its borders, spread communism around the world

Cold War goals for the USSR

the Truman doctrine

America promised it would support free countries to help fight communism

the Marshall Plan

a massive economic aid plan for Europe to help it recover from the damage caused by the war

the Eisenhower Doctrine

required Congress to yield its war-making power to the president so that the president could take immediate military action; it created a US commitment to defend the Middle East against attack by any communist country

the Berlin Crisis

Soviets tried to remove the Allies from Berlin by cutting off access to the city; West responded by airlifting supplies to allow West Berlin o survive

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

organization to coordinate their defense against USSR

Warsaw Pact

organization of communist states in Central and Eastern Europe

the Korean War

U.S. gains possessions of Korea after WWII from Japan, the U.S. and Russia partition Korea like they did with Germany and Berlin

• Russia: controls North

• U.S.: controls South

General Douglas MacArthur

wanted ground and air attacks on China, Truman refused, lost his position after speaking out against Truman

Senator McCarthy

a Republican senator from Wisconsin, did the most to whip up anti-communism during the '50s, gave a speech claiming to have a list of Communists in the State Department

Arms Race

Cold War tensions increased in the US when the USSR exploded its first atomic bomb

Space Race

Cold War tensions increased in the US when the USSR launched Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite into geocentric orbit

the U-2 incident

spy missions but lacked technology to launch countermeasures until 1960

the Bay of Pigs Invasion

an unsuccessful attempt by U.S-backed Cuban exiles to overthrow the government of the Cuban dictator Fidel Castro

Berlin Wall

a low, barbed-wire barrier rose between East and West Berlin. Within days, workers cemented concrete blocks into a low wall, dividing neighborhoods and families, workers and employers, the free from the repressed.

the Cuban Missile Crisis

the closest the world ever came to nuclear war. The US armed forces were at their highest state of readiness ever, and Soviets in Cuba were prepared to launch nuclear weapons to defend the island if it were invaded.

the Vietnam War

The U.S. intervened to stop the spread of \n communism into South Vietnam (Domino Theory); 1973 - the U.S. pulled out of Vietnam, the conflict ended in a ceasefire agreement

the Domino Theory

President Eisenhower developed this - if Vietnam fell to Communism, the U.S. believed all of Southeast Asia would fall like dominoes (China and North Korea already did)

the Gulf of Tonkin Incident

US destroyer attacked in Gulf of Tonkin; US restricted with the power to take action and US troops made to ground to fight