Chapter 16: The Cold War

Satellite State

Country controlled by a more powerful nation

Cold War

Worldwide rivalry between the U.S. and Soviet Union

Iron Curtain

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

Truman Doctrine

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

Containment

keeping Communism from spreading to countries that are not Communist

Marshall Plan

a United States program of economic aid for the reconstruction of Europe (1948-1952)

Berlin Airlift

airlift in 1948 that supplied food and fuel to citizens of west Berlin when the Russians closed off land access to Berlin

NATO

an international organization created in 1949 by North American and Western European nations for purposes of collective security

Warsaw Pact

treaty signed in 1945 that formed an alliance of the Eastern European countries behind the Iron Curtain

Mao Zedong

Chinese communist leader until his death in 1976

38th Parallel

line of latitude that separated North and South Korea

Douglas MacArthur

United States general who served as commander of U.S and U.N. forces during the Korean War

Limited War

war fought to achieve only specific goals

SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Organization)

defensive alliance aimed at preventing communist aggression in Asia

Arms Race

a competition between nations to have the most powerful armaments

Mutually Assured Destruction

if either US or the USSR was hit with a nuclear weapon they would respond with the same

Brinkmanship

the policy of pushing a dangerous situation to the brink of disaster (to the limits of safety)

CIA (Central Intelligence Agency)

an independent agency of the United States government responsible for collecting and coordinating intelligence and counterintelligence activities abroad in the national interest

NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

an independent agency of the United States government responsible for aviation and spaceflight

Sputnik

The world's first space satellite; launched by the Soviets

Red Scare

a period of general fear of communists

HUAC

The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) was an investigating committee which investigated what it considered un-American propaganda,

Hollywood Ten

Group of people in the film industry who were jailed for refusing to answer congressional questions regarding Communist influence in Hollywood

Blacklist

put on a blacklist so as to banish or cause to be boycotted

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

Arrested in the Summer of 1950 and executed in 1953, they were convicted of conspiring to commit espionage by passing plans for the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union.

Joseph R. McCarthy

led a crusade to investigate officials he claimed were Communists

McCarthyism

unscrupulously accusing people of disloyalty (as by saying they were Communists)

Soviet Bloc

The communist nations in Eastern Europe closely allied with the Soviet Union

Berlin Blockade

Soviet efforts to close off West Berlin from outside trade and force the city to accept communist rule

Harry Truman

president from 1945 to 1953

Joseph Stalin

Communist dictator of the Soviet Union from 1927-1953

Massive Retaliation

A military doctrine and nuclear strategy in which a state commits itself to respond with much greater force in the event of an attack.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

president from 1953 to 1961