Cold War Beginnings and Mao’s China

Cold War

A prolonged period of political and ideological rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union after World War II.

Denazification

The process of removing Nazi influence from German society, politics, and culture after World War II.

Truman Doctorine

A U.S. policy aimed at containing communism by providing aid to countries threatened by Soviet influence

Iron curtain

A symbolic term describing the division between communist Eastern Europe and democratic Western Europe.

Marshall Plan

A U.S. program that provided economic aid to rebuild Western European countries after World War II.

Berlin Airlift

A Western Allied operation that supplied West Berlin by air after the Soviet Union blockaded land routes.

NATO

A military alliance formed in 1949 among Western countries for collective defense against aggression.

Warsaw Pact

A 1955 military alliance of the Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellite states.

United Nations

An international organization founded in 1945 to promote peace, security, and cooperation among countries.

Mao Zedong

The founding leader of the People’s Republic of China and head of the Chinese Communist Party.

Great Leap Forward

A campaign led by Mao to rapidly industrialize China that resulted in widespread famine.

Cultural Revolution

A movement launched by Mao to enforce communist ideology, leading to social upheaval and persecution.

Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung

A collection of Mao Zedong’s sayings used to promote communist ideology in China.