Cold War: Key Events, Conflicts, and Leaders

Cold War

A political, military, economic, and ideological conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union after World War II from about 1945-1991.

Superpower

A nation with dominant political, military, and economic strength capable of influencing world events.

Ideological Conflict

The US and USSR had completely opposite beliefs about government and economics.

Containment

US foreign policy designed to stop the spread of communism.

Red Scare

Fear that communists were trying to infiltrate and take over the United States.

Domino Theory

The belief that if one country became communist, nearby countries would also fall to communism like dominoes.

Yalta Conference

Meeting between Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin near the end of WWII to discuss postwar Europe.

Iron Curtain

The symbolic division between communist Eastern Europe and democratic Western Europe.

Satellite Nations

Countries controlled politically and militarily by the Soviet Union.

Berlin Airlift

US and British operation that flew food and supplies into West Berlin after the Soviet blockade.

Berlin Wall

Barrier built by East Germany in 1961 to stop people from fleeing into West Berlin.

Arms Race

Competition between the US and USSR to build larger and more advanced weapons.

Hydrogen Bomb

A nuclear weapon much more powerful than the atomic bomb.

Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)

The idea that both sides had enough nuclear weapons to completely destroy each other if war occurred.

Nuclear Deterrence

Using the threat of nuclear retaliation to prevent attacks.

Space Race

Competition between the US and USSR to dominate space exploration and technology.

Sputnik

First artificial satellite launched by the USSR in 1957.

Apollo 11

US mission that landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969.

38th Parallel

Line dividing North Korea and South Korea after WWII.

Korean War (1950-1953)

War between communist North Korea and democratic South Korea.

Douglas MacArthur

US general who led UN troops in Korea.

DMZ (Demilitarized Zone)

Heavily guarded buffer zone between North and South Korea.

Outcome of Korean War

Korea remained divided; Communism contained in South Korea; Cease-fire, not peace treaty.

Ho Chi Minh

Communist leader of North Vietnam.

Vietcong

Communist guerrilla fighters in South Vietnam who supported North Vietnam.

Vietnam War

Proxy war fought between communist North Vietnam and democratic South Vietnam.

Vietnamization

Richard Nixon's policy of gradually withdrawing US troops and turning fighting responsibilities over to South Vietnam.

Paris Peace Treaty (1973)

Agreement that established a cease-fire and US withdrawal.

Fall of Saigon (1975)

North Vietnam captured South Vietnam and unified the country under communism.

Khmer Rouge

Communist group that took control of Cambodia.

Pol Pot

Leader of the Khmer Rouge responsible for genocide.

Cambodian Genocide

Mass deaths of nearly 2-3 million Cambodians between 1975-1979.

Fidel Castro

Communist dictator who seized power in Cuba in 1959.

Bay of Pigs Invasion

Failed CIA-backed invasion by Cuban exiles trying to overthrow Castro.

Cuban Missile Crisis

1962 confrontation after the USSR placed nuclear missiles in Cuba.

Blockade

US naval barrier around Cuba preventing Soviet ships from entering.

Outcome of Cuban Missile Crisis

USSR removed missiles, US promised not to invade Cuba, Hotline established between US and USSR.

Hungarian Revolution (1956)

Revolt against Soviet control crushed by Soviet military force.

Prague Spring (1968)

Movement in Czechoslovakia seeking reforms and more freedoms.

Alexander Dubček

Leader of Prague Spring reforms.

Brezhnev Doctrine

Policy allowing the USSR to intervene in communist countries to preserve communism.

Nicaragua

Cold War conflict between socialist Sandinistas and US-backed Contras.

FSLN (Sandinistas)

Socialist revolutionary group in Nicaragua.

Contras

Anti-communist rebels supported by the US.

Angolan Civil War

Conflict between communist MPLA and anti-communist UNITA.

Congo Crisis

Conflict after Congo's independence that drew in Cold War superpowers.

Soviet-Afghan War

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan from 1979-1988.

Mujahideen

Islamic fighters supported by the US against Soviet forces.

Iranian Revolution

1979 revolution overthrowing the Shah and creating an Islamic government.

Iran Hostage Crisis

Iranian students held 52 Americans hostage for over a year.

Espionage

Spying to gather secret information.

CIA

Central Intelligence Agency of the United States.

KGB

Main intelligence agency of the Soviet Union.

Détente

Period of reduced Cold War tensions beginning in the 1970s.

SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks)

Meetings between the US and USSR to reduce nuclear weapons.

Brinkmanship

Pushing dangerous situations to the edge of war to force concessions.

John F. Kennedy

US president during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Nikita Khrushchev

Soviet leader during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Richard Nixon

President associated with détente and Vietnamization.

Jimmy Carter

President during late Cold War tensions and human rights diplomacy.

Ronald Reagan

President who increased military spending and pressured the USSR economically.

Star Wars (SDI)

Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative using advanced technology to defend against missiles.

Mikhail Gorbachev

Soviet leader who introduced major reforms.

Glasnost

Gorbachev policy meaning 'openness.'

Perestroika

Gorbachev's economic restructuring reforms.

Solidarity Movement

Independent labor union movement in Poland challenging communism.

INF Treaty (1987)

Agreement eliminating many nuclear missiles in Europe.

Fall of the Berlin Wall (1989)

Major symbol of the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe.

German Unification (1990)

East and West Germany reunited into one democratic country.

Breakup of the Soviet Union (1991)

USSR dissolved into 15 independent nations.

Causes of the Cold War

Ideological differences, Distrust after WWII, Soviet expansion, US containment.

Major Cold War Conflicts

Berlin Crisis, Korean War, Vietnam War, Cuban Missile Crisis, Soviet-Afghan War.

Reasons the USSR Collapsed

Economic weakness, Costly arms race, Pressure from reforms, Nationalist movements, Failed communist economy.

Effects of the Cold War

US became sole superpower, Germany reunified, USSR collapsed, Continued tensions in Korea and Middle East, Nuclear weapons still threaten world peace.