ALL VOCAB FOR QUEST

Superpowers

Countries with the most military/economic power after WWII (U.S. and Soviet Union)

Communism

System where government owns everything and wealth is shared

Capitalism

System where individuals own businesses and make profit

Iron Curtain

Division between communist Eastern Europe and capitalist Western Europe

United Nations

International organization created to promote peace after WWII

Cold War

Conflict between U.S. and Soviet Union without direct fighting

Truman Doctrine

U.S. policy of helping countries resist communism

Marshall Plan

U.S. program giving money to rebuild Europe after WWII

Berlin Airlift

U.S./Allies supplied West Berlin by airplane during Soviet blockade

Containment

Strategy to stop the spread of communism

Brinkmanship

Willingness to go to the edge of war to achieve goals

NATO

Military alliance of U.S. and Western countries

Warsaw Pact

Soviet military alliance with Eastern Europ

Berlin

Divided city during Cold War (East communist, West capitalist)

Germany

Split into East Germany and West Germany after WWII

Republic of China

Nationalist government in China (Taiwan today)

People's Republic of China

Communist China under Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong

Leader of Communist China

Jiang Jieshi

Leader of Nationalist China

Great Leap Forward

Mao's failed plan to rapidly industrialize China

Long March

Retreat of Chinese Communists to escape Nationalists

Red Book

Book of Mao's quotes used during Cultural Revolution

Cultural Revolution

Mao's campaign to enforce communism and remove opposition

Red Guards

Young people who enforced Mao's Cultural Revolution

Kuomintang

Chinese Nationalist Party

Kim Il Sung

Leader of North Korea

Douglas MacArthur

U.S. general in Korean War

Inchon

Successful U.S. landing in Korea led by MacArthur

Pusan Perimeter

Last defensive line before UN counterattack in Korea

DMZ

Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea

Fidel Castro

Communist leader of Cuba

Bay of Pigs

Failed U.S. invasion of Cuba

Quarantine

Blockade of Cuba during missile crisis

Cuban Missile Crisis

1962 nuclear standoff between U.S. and USSR

Ho Chi Minh

Leader of North Vietnam

Vietcong

Communist guerrilla fighters in South Vietnam

Dien Bien Phu

Major French defeat in Vietnam

Domino Theory

Idea that if one country falls to communism, others will follow

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

Gave U.S. power to escalate Vietnam War

Tet Offensive

Major surprise attack by North Vietnam

Vietnamization

U.S. plan to slowly withdraw troops from Vietnam