Early Cold War and Post-WWII Geopolitics

Vocabulary flashcards covering the onset of the Cold War, containment policies, European recovery, security apparatus developments, and the postwar partition of Palestine.

Harry Truman

The US vice president who assumed the presidency after FDR died, known for guiding the nation into the early Cold War era despite low initial public expectations.

Cold War

A prolonged political and ideological conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union, rather than a direct physical war between them.

Proxy Warfare

A style of warfare in which major powers do not fight each other directly, but instead influence and use other nations or entities to fight for them.

Decolonization

The post-World War II process where newly formed independent nations across Africa and Asia emerged and sought new political ideologies to organize their governments.

Yalta Conference

A wartime meeting between the US, the UK, and the Soviet Union to determine postwar plans for Germany and the governance of Eastern European nations.

Yalta Declaration of Liberated Europe

A policy proposed by FDR at the Yalta Conference requiring Stalin to grant complete freedom and free elections to Eastern European countries liberated from German rule.

Iron Curtain

A territorial dividing line running through the center of Europe, separating Soviet-controlled communist Eastern Europe from democratically controlled Western Europe.

Western Bloc and Eastern Bloc

The two geopolitical divisions of Europe; the Western bloc consisted of democratic nations allied with the US, and the Eastern bloc consisted of communist nations controlled by the Soviet Union.

Buffer Zone

The territorial barrier in Eastern Europe that Russia sought to establish and maintain to safeguard itself against future Western invasions.

George Frost Kennan

A US diplomat and embassy worker tasked with analyzing Soviet communism who first formulated the strategy of containment.

Long Telegram

An 8,000-word analysis authored by George Kennan arguing that Russia is foundationally communist and will perpetually oppose democracy, capitalism, and the West.

The West

A term designating America and its democratic Western European allies.

Containment

A US geopolitical strategy aimed at utilizing various measures to stop and contain the spread of communism and Soviet influence globally.

Domino Theory

The theory stating that if one country falls to communism, all of its surrounding neighboring nations will inevitably fall as well.

Truman Doctrine

The foundational foreign policy stance of the Truman administration committed to doing everything in US power to curb Soviet influence and prevent the spread of communism.

Greek Civil War of 1946

A post-WWII conflict between democratic and communist factions in Greece that alarmed Western nations and accelerated early Cold War fears.

George C. Marshall

The US Secretary of State who proposed a massive financial and technical program during a Harvard University commencement speech to rebuild Europe.

Marshall Plan

A recovery program that sent $\$13,000,000,000$ to Europe to restore its economy and infrastructure, serving as an economic method of containing communism.

Berlin Blockade

Stalin's physical blockade of trade, resources, and goods entering Western Berlin, intended to force the US and Western allies to abandon the city.

Berlin Airlift

A relief operation wherein thousands of Western supplies, food, and resources were dropped by plane into Western Berlin, marking an early US victory in the Cold War.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

A mutual defense alliance formed on 04/04/1949 by 12 Western nations in Washington DC to defend against Soviet aggression, officially ending US isolationism.

National Security Act of 1947

A major piece of US legislation that divided military branches, created the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and established the Central Intelligence Agency.

Joint Chiefs of Staff

A body created by the National Security Act of 1947 composed of top-ranking military generals who meet to discuss defense matters.

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

A US intelligence and security agency established in 1947 that engaged in covert operations during the Cold War, including removing foreign leaders.

Mandate

A territory or colonial holding governed by a foreign nation, such as British control over Ottoman Palestine after World War I.

Balfour Declaration

A British document issued during World War I that promised the Jewish people a homeland in Palestine in exchange for wartime support.

Aliyah

Large waves of Jewish migration during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s that brought thousands of foreign Jews into the British Mandate of Palestine.

Resolution 181

A United Nations resolution that proposed partitioning Palestine into an Arab state and a Jewish state, while designating Jerusalem as an international holy site.

1948 War

The war launched by surrounding Arab Muslim nations and local Palestinian forces against the newly declared state of Israel immediately after Britain pulled out.