Cold War Terms

Cold War

A period of political tension post-WWII between the USA and USSR, characterized by competition, espionage, and arms race without direct military conflict.

NATO

An intergovernmental military alliance between North American and European countries, established in 1949 to promote collective defense and security cooperation.

Warsaw Pact

Military alliance of communist countries in Eastern Europe, led by the Soviet Union as a response to NATO during the Cold War.

Iron Curtain

Term used to describe the ideological and physical separation between Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War, symbolizing the divide between capitalist and communist ideologies.

Communism

A political ideology advocating for a classless society where all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs.

Capitalism

Economic system based on private ownership of the means of production and the pursuit of profit.

Proxy War

A war between two smaller countries that is funded by two larger countries as a way to fight without actually fighting

Great Leap Forward

The campaign undertaken by the Chinese communists between 1958 and early 1960 to organize its vast population, especially in large-scale rural communes, to meet China’s industrial and agricultural problems.

Korean War

A conflict between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea). The war reached international proportions in June 1950 when North Korea, supplied and advised by the Soviet Union, invaded the South.

Partition of India

The change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in the Indian subcontinent and the creation of two independent dominions in South Asia: India and Pakistan.

Israel/Palestine Partition of 1947

After the mandate ended in Palestine after WWI, it split into Israel and Palestine

Embargo

an official ban on trade or other commercial activity with a particular country.

Cultural Revolution of China

A sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Its stated goal was to preserve Chinese communism by purging remnants of capitalist and traditional elements from Chinese society.

Decolonization

A process by which colonies become independent of the colonizing country

Potsdam Conference

Three leaders deciding to split Germany into four occupation zones, each of which is monitored by one of the Allies: The UK, France, the USA, and the USSR

Disagreements at Yalta

Stalin pledges to allow nations to hold free and fair elections, but broke that promise, leading to growing tensions.

Korean War

USSR invaded Manchuria and continued to Korea, where the US occupied. US supported South Korea, while the USSR supported North Korea.

Vietnamese War

Us supported the South, where the USSR supported the North. US favor turned against the war, partially because of guerrilla warfare, and Nixon withdrew.