cold war vocab

Cold War

1947 – 1991

Struggle between the USSR and US for global power

Never fought each other directly

Competed for dominance through Cuban Missile Crisis, Space Race, proxy wars (Korea and Vietnam Wars)

United Nations

International peacekeeping body

193 current members

Goals: promote sustainable initiatives, prevent conflict, support developing countries

Involves volunteer military of soldiers from many countries

The Satellite States

USSR granted independence to surrounding states but set up communist governments

Promised to allow free elections but installed puppet leaders

Did not allow for self-determination

Nuremburg Trials

Axis leaders put on trial for war crimes

Former leader of Japan sentenced in death

Charged for: killing civilians, torture, use of chemical weapons, strategic bombing of cities

Marshall Plan

US sent $13 billion to western Europe (made money off interest)

Helped devastated nations rebuild and resist communism

Solidified alliances with US

Berlin Wall

Those in West Berlin had higher standard of living (controlled by Allies)

Many tried to cross the wall from the east to the west

Armed guards policed the wall and killed escapees

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Largest military alliance that has ever existed

An armed attack on one member is responded to by all members (acted as a deterrent of war)

Warsaw Pact

USSR military alliance with satellite states in response to NATO

Same policy of war on one is war on all

Used to strengthen control over satellite states and prevent uprisings

Non-Aligned Movement

International organization where members are not aligned with or against any major power

Members known as “third world countries”

Includes nearly all of Africa, South Asia, and South/Central America

British East India Company

Established in India by Britain to trade resources in the region

Direct British rule

Exploited goods and artisans for economic benefit

Partition

Britain split Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan into two countries

Led to violence between Muslims and Hindus

Many were displaced and refugees were attacked

Ongoing tensions over Kashmir (part of India, Hindu ruler, Muslim majority)

The Chinese Revolution

Mao Zedong (communist) wins popular support by promising better standard of living

Promised to redistribute land to peasants and open schools/hospitals

Communists defeated Nationalist Party and set up People’s Republic of China

The Great Leap Forward

Peasant lands organized into communes organized by the state

High agricultural quotas

Exhaustion of fields led to widespread famine

Cultural Revolution

Mao Zedong’s red book instructs people to attack intellectuals

Red Guard (revolutionary students) incentivized to arrest teachers and bureaucrats

Attempts to indoctrinate the youth

Wanted to preserve socialism by eliminating those aligned with capitalism

Deng Xiaoping

Implemented progressive measures to modernize China (political reform)

Mandated primary school education

Rehabilitated political prisoners from Cultural Revolution

Created Open Door Policy for foreign investment

Tiananmen Square

People camp and go on hunger strikes in Tiananmen Square (symbol of sovereignty)

Begun by students protesting authoritarian government

Soldiers move in and open fire

Unknown death toll

Chernobyl

Scientists working on nuclear research in Ukraine

Ignored safety protocols and melted reactor, led to radioactive explosion chain reaction

Radiation spreads over multiple countries and areas become uninhabitable

Radiation sickness crisis

Showed the dangers of nuclear power

The Pacific Theater

Japanese invaded China during Chinese Civil War (Rape of Nanking)

US island hopping toward Japan

Truman drops atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki

V-J Day (Victory in Japan) when Japan surrenders

The Nanking Massacre

AKA Rape of Nanking

Happened when Japan invaded China and captured the city of Nanking

Hundreds of thousands were killed, tortured, and raped

Symbolizes the dangers of intense militarism and nationalism

Motivates the modern world to more effectively protect human rights

Holocaust

Ultimate goal of complete Jewish extermination

Jews sent to labor and execution camps

Many died of overwork, beatings, shootings, gas, etc.

USSR began to liberate camps

Germany tried to cover it up (destroyed sites and killed survivors)

Mao Zedong

President of the People’s Republic of China

Originally the leader of the Chinese Communist Party

Won popular support by promising to redistribute land and open schools/hospitals

Implemented policies like the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution

Iron Curtain

Political metaphor diving Europe in half

One side was under western influence (capitalism) the other was under Soviet influence (communism)

Symbolizes the USSR’s effort to keep its side of the curtain away from western influence

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Created by the United Nations after the horrors witnessed in WWII

Outlines universal and inalienable human rights

30 articles that outline civil, political, economic, cultural, religious, and social rights regardless of nationality, race, or other classifying factors

Not legally binding but has inspired human rights movements

Foundations of freedom, justice, and peace