UNIT 8 AP WORLD VOCAB

Yalta Conference

pivotal WWII meeting between the “Big Three” allies (Roosevelt USA, Churchill UK, Stalin USSR) to plan post war reorganization of Asia and Europe

United Nations

international organization founded in 1945 to promote peace replacing the failed League of Nations

Iron Curtain

ideological, political physical division of Europe into 2 hostile camps- communist Eastern Europe (under Soviet control) and democratic/capitalist Western Europe.

Soviet ‘Satellites’

Eastern Europe nations that follow WWII that was formally independent but controlled by Soviet Union

Containment Policy

U.S. foreign policy strategy during the Cold War designed to stop spread of communism beyond its post WWII borders

Truman Doctrine

U.S. foreign policy pledging economic and military aid to nations threatened by communism, marking the official start of “containment”

Marshall Plan

U.S. led initiative, officially European Recovery Program, that provided over $13 billion in economic aid to rebuild Western European economics after WWII

Berlin Airlift

a major Cold War crisis where U.S. & Britain flew over 2.3 million tons of supplies in West Berlin bypass a Soviet ground blockade

Berlin Wall

fortified concrete barrier build by East Germany (GDR) to stop citizens fleeing to democratic West Berlin

Korean War

a major proxy of the Cold War; involved North Korea (supported by USSR & China) invading South Korea (supported by the US & UN) to unify the peninsula

Vietnam War

“proxy war” of decolonization, driven by US containment policy and domino theory to prevent communist expansion

Domino Theory

U.S. foreign policy belief that if one nation in a region fell into communism, neighboring nations would fall

Sputnik

world’s first artificial satellite (major milestone of tech during the Cold War)

John F. Kennedy

representing intense Cold War, confronted with Soviet communism, 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, authorizing failed Bay of Pigs invasion & increased military advisors in Vietnam

Nikita Khrushchev

Premier of Soviet Union who succeeded Stalin, led during Cold War’s peak (his policy “de-Stalinization”)

Bay of Pigs

failed CIA backed invasion of Cuba by exiles, aiming to overthrow Fidel Castro’s communist government

Cuban Missile Crisis

13 day direct confrontation between the US & Soviet Union, marking the closest the world came to nuclear war

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

1949 intergovernmental military alliance formed by the Western nations to provide collective security against Soviet aggression during the Cold War

Warsaw Pact

Soviet led military alliance & collective defense treaty formed by the Soviet Union & its Eastern European satellite states in response to West Germany joining NATO

“Non-Aligned“

coalition of mostly African & Asian nations formed by the Cold War that chose not to formally align with either the United States or Soviet Union

Communist Bloc

coalition of Soviet signed nations in Central/Eastern Europe & Asia formed post WWII as a buffer zone

Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

Cold War agreement signed by the USSR, US, & UK that banned nuclear tests in the atmosphere, underwater, & outerspace

Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT)

1970s negotiations between the US & USSR aimed at curbing nuclear arms race by limiting long range missiles & launchers

Chiang Kai-shek

leader of the Chinese Nationlist Party who fought for control of China against Mao Zadong’s communists

The Long March

6,000 mile yr long military retreat by the CCP to escape Nationalist forces led by Chiang Kai-shek

Mao Zedong

leader of the CCP who won the Chinese Civil War (transformed China into socialist state through land reform, collectivization, Great Leap Forward, & Cultural Revolution)

Great Leap Forward

failed economic & social campaign led by Mao Zedong & CCP to rapidly transform China from an agrarian economy into a modern industrial society

Cultural Revolution

decade long sociopolitical movement in China ordered by Mao Zedong to purge “capitalist” elements, eliminate rivals, and re-impose Maoist orthodoxy (caused chaos, violence)

Chinese Communist Party (CCP)

founding of sole ruling party of the People’s Republic of China (PCR)

Ho Chi Minh

Vietnamese communist leader who led the struggle for independence against France & later the U.S. becoming president of North Vietnam (key for nationalism he led decolonization & unified Vietnam under communism after Vietnam War)

Viet Cong

South Vietnamese communist insurgency & military arm of National Liberation Front that fought to overthrow the South Vietnamese government & reunify the country under communist rule

Suez Crisis

piviotal Cold War era conflict where Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the French/British owned Suez Canal

Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO)

umbrella organization dedicated to establish independent Palestinian state through armed struggle & diplomacy

Martin Luther King Jr.

Baptist minister & key leader of U.S. civil rights movement who used nonviolent resistance

Nelson Mandela

South African leader of the African National Congress & country’s first black president (key figure in transitioning from nonviolent resistance to armed struggle against white minority rule)

Ronald Reagan

accelerated the end of the Cold War by the “peace through strength” policy, increasing military spending (his foreign affairs & negotiations with Mikhail Gorbachev were crucial to Soviet collapse)

Mikhail Gorbachev

leader of USSR was the final leader of Soviet Union

Detente

easing of the Cold War tensions & improved diplomatic relations between the U.S. & Soviet Union (during 1970s)

Perestroika

mid 1980s policy (initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev) to revive the flow of Soviet economy by introducing limited free market mechanisms & decentralized control

Glasnost

1980s Soviet policy (Mikhail Gorbachev) that loosened censorship & increased transparency in government

Decolonization

process after 1945 where colonies in Africa & Asia gained independence from European imperial powers, establishing sovereign nations

Palestine

represents post WWII decolonization conflict involving the end of the British Mandate, 1948 creation of Israel

Zionists

19th century nationalist movement advocating for establishment of Jewish national homeland in Palestine, motivated by rising European antisemitism

Indian National Congress

major political party in British India founded in 1885 to seek greater right to self govern

Amritsar Massacre

represented brutal nature of imperialism & showed turning point in the struggle for Indian independence

Mohandas Gandhi

preeminent leader of independence movement against British rule, utilize nonviolent civil disobedience

Civil disobedience

active nonviolent refusal to obey unjust laws to achieve political, social, or economic change

Salt March

240 mile nonviolent protest led by Mohandas Gandi against British colonial rule in India (thousands defined the British salt monopoly by marching to the sea to harvest salt)

Pakistan

Muslim minority nation state created in 1947 negotiated through British India, lead by Muhammad Ali Jinnah & Muslim League to avoid Hindu domination

Muhammad Ali Jinnah

The leader of the All-India Muslim League & first governor of Pakistan.