Cold War - Social Studies 8

The Communist Manifesto

The Communist Manifesto is about the idea of workers overthrowing wealthy owners and ending capitalism. Its ultimate goal is to abolish private property and create a completely equal society. (1848)

Russian Revolution

• This revolution overthrew the Russian king due to extreme poverty, food shortages, and heavy losses in WW I.

• There was a rise of communism led by Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks.

• This revolution lead to the creation of the U.S.S.R and pulled Russia out of the world. (1917)

Joseph Stalin

He was the brutal dictator of the Soviet Union who transformed the nation into a nuclear superpower ruled through terror(gulags).His actions directly influenced the start of the Cold War. (1924)

Eastern Europe/ Western Europe

After World War II, there was a divide between Eastern Europe and western Europe. This is such a division where Eastern Europe became communist under Soviet control while Western Europe stayed democratic, and allied with the United States.

Eastern Europe

Communist nations in eastern Europe ruled by the Soviet Union.

Western Europe

Free, democratic nations allied with the US.

East/West Germany Division

There was a division in Germany following World War II. Germany was split into east and west Germany.

East Germany

Influence by Soviet Union sets up a communist dictatorship.

West Germany

A free and capitalist nation aligned with the US and Western Europe.

East/West Berlin

The city of Berlin divides into east and West Berlin.

East Berlin

The communist capital of East Germany, controlled by the Soviet Union.

West Berlin

A free, democratic city enclave deep inside communist territory, allied with the United States.

The Iron Curtain

Eastern Europe is trapped behind an iron curtain because it cannot escape the control of USSR’s pro-communist governments. People are not free to leave communism. (1946)

Containment

Stop the spread of communism

First Lightning/Red China

• First Lightning: The codename for the Soviet Union’s first successful atomic bomb test.

• Red China: The nickname for China after it officially became a communist nation.

(1949)

Arms Race

: The intense competition between the US and the USSR to build the biggest and most powerful nuclear weapons.

Mutual Assured Destruction (M.A.D.)

A military strategy ensuring that if one side launches a nuclear attack, the other will retaliate, destroying both countries completely.

38th Parallel

The line of latitude that acts as the border dividing communist North Korea and democratic South Korea.(1945)

Korean War

• A war sparked when communist North Korea invaded democratic South Korea, leading to US and UN military intervention to contain communism.

• North Korea - Communist Dictatorship

• South Korea - Ally of America aligned with Western values

• South Korean + American forces drive back communist troops

• Communist China sends troops to support Communist North Korea

• Ceasefire and demilitarized zone established (1950-1953)

Sputnik

The world's first artificial satellite, launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, which shocked the US and officially started the Space Race. (1957)

Space Race

The Cold War competition between the US and the USSR to achieve dominance in space exploration and technology.

• Soviet Union launches Sputnik

• Soviet Union launches first animal into space

• U.S achieved its biggest victory with Apollo 11 moon landing with astronauts.(1957-1969)

Fidel Castro

Communist dictator of Cuba who overthrow the Cuban government and aligned Cuba closely with the Soviet Union. (1959)

Berlin Wall

• The Berlin Wall divided the city of Berlin from 1961 to 1989

• It was built by the government of East Germany during the Cold War

• Berlin is split into communist east Berlin and democratic West Berlin

• The main purpose was to stop East Germans from escaping to West Berlin.

• The wall stretched about 96 miles (155 km) around West Berlin. (1961-1989)

Nikita Khrushchev

The leader of the Soviet Union after Stalin, who led the USSR during the height of the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis.(1953)

John F. Kennedy

The US President, who served from 1961 until his assassination 1963 and led the country through the Cuban Missile Crisis and the early space race. (1961-1963)

Cuban Missile Crisis

A dangerous 13-day standoff between the US and the USSR over Soviet nuclear missiles placed in Cuba, bringing the world to the brink of nuclear war.

• A US spy plane takes photos, revealing Soviet nuclear missile bases

• President Kennedy announces naval blockades around Cuba to stop Soviet ships

• A US spy plane is shut down over Cuba, reaching the highest point of tension.

• The crisis ends when Khrushchev agrees to dismantle the missiles, and the US secretly agrees to remove its own missiles from Turkeyz(1962)

Lee Harvey Oswald

The Marxist sympathizer who assassinated US President John F. Kennedy.(1963)