Cold War Vocab Study Guide

Cold War Vocabulary Flashcards

Containment

Keeping communism where it already existed; prevent spread

United Nations

GOAL: maintain peace and security in the world

Great Leap Forward (Mao)

Mao’s program to increase farm/industrial output

Created communes

Cultural Revolution (Mao)

Mao purged all bourgeois, intellectuals, and old ways from Chinese society

38th Parallel

Demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea

Iron Curtain

Division, Soviet-controlled countries

Communism: East

Democracy: West

Bay of Pigs Invasion

Failed U.S. backed invasion of Cuba to overthrow Fidel Castro

Failed and embarrassing

Cuban Missile Crisis

A 13-day confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union concerning Soviet ballistic missiles deployment in Cuba

Satellite State

Communist countries in the east heavily dependent on Russia

or countries heavily dependent on bigger countries

Domino Theory

If one country falls to communism, the rest of the countries will follow

Cold War

Ideological conflict between U.S. and USSR over democracy VS communism

Détente

Era of reduced tensions

Glasnost

“openness”

An end to censorship; free speech

Perestroika

“restructuring”

Reduced sized of bureaucracy

Star Wars

1980s massive missile defense program

OPEC

Cartel of the big oil producing countries

Sputnik

The first artificial Earth satellite, Soviet Union launched it

MAD

Mutually Assured Destruction

Belief that nuclear arsenals were so big that it actually prevented war

Proxy War

Strong nationals using another country to fight for them

U.S. and USSR using 3rd countries to fight for them

NATO

Military alliance pledged to help each other if attacked

Nikita Khrushchev

Leader of the Soviet Union during the Cold War, known for his role in the Cuban Missile Crisis and promoting de-Stalinization.

John F. Kennedy

President of the United States, known for his leadership during the Cuban Missile Crisis

Fidel Castro

Cuban revolutionary and leader who established a socialist state in Cuba

Ho Chi Minh

Leader of North Vietnam, known for his role in the Vietnam War and promoting communism in Vietnam

Leonid Brezhnev

General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, known for his policies of détente and military involvement in the Cold War.

Ronald Reagan

President of the United States, known for his anti-communist stance and policies during the Cold War.

Saddam Hussein

President of Iraq, known for his authoritarian rule and conflicts with the US.

Ayatollah Khomeini

Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, he established a theocratic government and opposed Western influence.

Pol Pot

Leader of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, responsible for the Cambodian genocide and radical communist reforms.

Mao Zedong

Founding father of the People's Republic of China, a communist revolutionary and leader of the Chinese Communist Party.

Joseph Stalin

Leader of the Soviet Union from the late 1920s until his death in 1953, known for his totalitarian regime, rapid industrialization, and the Great Purge.

Richard Nixon

President of the United States, he is known for the policy of detente in foreign relations, particularly with China and the Soviet Union

Mikhail Gorbachev

The last leader of the Soviet Union, known for implementing policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) that ultimately contributed to the end of the Cold War.