Cold War vocab quiz

Truman Doctrine

A plan created by President Truman in 1947 that aimed to help countries resist communism by providing them with economic and military aid.

Containment

The policy adopted by the United States during the Cold War to stop the spread of communism, especially by preventing the Soviet Union from expanding its influence into other countries.

Marshall Plan

A program initiated by the United States after World War II to provide economic aid to European countries to help them rebuild their economies and prevent the spread of communism.

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

A military alliance formed in 1949 between several Western European countries and the United States to provide collective defense against the Soviet Union and its allies during the Cold War.

Iron Curtain

A term used by Winston Churchill to describe the division between communist Eastern Europe and democratic Western Europe during the Cold War.

Warsaw Pact

A military alliance formed in 1955 by the Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellite states in response to NATO, to provide mutual defense against Western powers.

Red Scare

A period of intense fear and paranoia in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, characterized by suspicion of communism and communist sympathizers.

Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)

A military strategy during the Cold War in which both the United States and the Soviet Union possessed enough nuclear weapons to completely destroy each other, thereby preventing either side from launching a nuclear attack.

Satellite State

A country that is formally independent but heavily influenced by another more powerful nation, often used to describe Eastern European countries under the influence of the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

President Eisenhower

Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States (1953-1961), who served during the Cold War and was known for his policies of containment and his warning about the military-industrial complex.

Korean War

A conflict that took place from 1950 to 1953 between North Korea (supported by China and the Soviet Union) and South Korea (supported by the United Nations, primarily the Unites States), resulting in the division of Korea at the 38th parallel.

Arms Race

A competition between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War to develop and stockpile nuclear weapons and other military technologies.

SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Organization)

A regional defense alliance formed in 1954 by the Unites States and several Southeast Asian countries to prevent the spread of communism in the region.

Berlin Airlift

A humanitarian operation conducted by the United States and its allies in 1948-1949 to provide food and supplies to West Berlin after the Soviet Union blockaded the city in an attempt to force the Western powers out.

38th parallel

The line of latitude that divided North Korea and South Korea following World War II, and later became the border between the two countries after the Korean War.