Military Strategy and Cold War History: Key Concepts and Events

Strategic Level of War

National objectives; long-term goals of war (political, economic, military).

Operational Level of War

Campaigns and major operations; bridges tactics to strategy.

Tactical Level of War

Battles and engagements; immediate execution on the ground.

Annihilation

Destroy enemy forces completely.

Attrition

Wear down enemy over time.

Exhaustion

Break enemy's will/resources.

Clausewitz's Trinity

War shaped by: (1) passion of the people, (2) chance/creativity of the military, (3) reason of government.

Spectrum of War

Ranges from limited war (restricted aims) to total war (all resources mobilized).

Iron Curtain

Division between Soviet-controlled East and democratic West.

Containment

U.S. strategy to stop spread of communism.

National Security Act (1947)

Reorganized defense; created DoD, CIA, NSC.

SAC / TAC / MAC

Specialized Air Force commands (strategic bombing, tactical support, airlift).

Berlin Airlift

U.S. response to Soviet blockade; massive supply effort.

Long Telegram

George Kennan's analysis of Soviet motives; foundation of containment.

NSC-68

Called for military buildup to counter communism.

Marshall Plan

U.S. aid to rebuild Europe, strengthen democracies.

NATO

Western military alliance.

Warsaw Pact

Soviet-led counter-alliance.

Mao Zedong / CCP

Communist victory in China.

Chiang Kai-Shek / KMT

Nationalists retreat to Taiwan.

On Protracted War

Mao's doctrine of long, drawn-out struggle.

Syngman Rhee

South Korean leader.

Kim Il-Sung

North Korean leader.

Task Force Smith

First U.S. ground unit; poorly prepared.

Pusan Perimeter

Defensive stand by UN forces.

Douglas MacArthur

Led UN forces; bold strategies.

Inchon Invasion

Surprise amphibious landing; turned tide.

38th Parallel

Dividing line between North and South.

Yalu River

Trigger for Chinese intervention.

Matthew Ridgway

Rebuilt U.S. Army in Korea.

Chosin Reservoir

Brutal winter battle; U.S. Marines' fighting withdrawal.

MiG Alley

Air battles over Korea.

Project Paperclip

U.S. recruitment of German scientists.

Wernher von Braun

Rocket pioneer.

Sputnik

First satellite (Soviet).

Project Mercury

First U.S. manned space program.

Yuri Gagarin

First human in space.

Apollo Program

U.S. moon landings.

Nuclear Triad

Land, sea, air nuclear delivery systems.

Massive Retaliation

Threat of overwhelming nuclear response.

Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)

Balance of terror; deterrence.

Ho Chi Minh

Communist leader of Vietnam.

Viet Minh

Anti-colonial independence movement.

Dien Bien Phu

French defeat; end of colonial rule.

Ngo Dinh Diem

South Vietnamese leader.

Flexible Response

Kennedy's strategy of varied military options.

ARVN

South Vietnamese army.

NLF/Viet Cong

Communist insurgents in South.

PAVN/NVA

North Vietnamese regular army.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

Gave LBJ authority to escalate war.

Battle of Ia Drang

First major U.S. battle; tested 'Air Mobile' tactics.

Air Mobile

Use of helicopters for mobility.

Robert McNamara

Defense Secretary; systems analysis approach.

William Westmoreland

U.S. commander; war of attrition.

MACV

U.S. command structure in Vietnam.

Tet Offensive

Surprise communist attacks; political turning point.

Ho Chi Minh Trail

Supply route through Laos/Cambodia.

My Lai Massacre

U.S. troops killed civilians; symbol of war's moral crisis.

Operation Rolling Thunder

Sustained bombing campaign.

Easter Offensive

1972 North Vietnamese offensive.

Linebacker I & II

U.S. bombing campaigns to force negotiations.

Forward Air Controllers

Directed airstrikes.

Wild Weasel

Anti-SAM missions.

Vietnamization

Nixon's plan to shift burden to South Vietnamese forces.

Peace with Honor

Nixon's phrase for U.S. withdrawal.

1948 Arab-Israeli War

Israel's independence war.

IDF

Israeli Defense Force.

Suez Crisis (1956)

Britain/France/Israel vs Egypt; U.S./USSR pressure ended it.

Six-Day War (1967)

Israel's preemptive victory.

Yom Kippur War (1973)

Surprise Arab attack; U.S./Soviet involvement.

Operation Nickel Grass

U.S. airlift to Israel.

Camp David Accords

Peace between Egypt and Israel.

Vietnam Syndrome

U.S. reluctance to use force after Vietnam.

Big Five

Modernization of U.S. military (M1 tank, F-15, etc.).

All-Volunteer Force

End of draft.

AirLand Battle Doctrine

Integrated land-air operations.

Operation Eagle Claw

Failed Iran hostage rescue.

Goldwater-Nichols Act

Reorganized military command.

Mikhail Gorbachev

Soviet leader; reforms.

Glasnost / Perestroika

Openness and restructuring.

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

Drained USSR resources.

Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)

"Star Wars" missile defense.

U.S. Space Command/Force

Military space operations.