IB HoA 1 Cold War IDs

Command Economy

An economic system where the government determines what goods are produced, their volume, and their price. It allowed for rapid industrialization but often resulted in inefficiencies and consumer shortages, eventually becoming the standard model for the Eastern Bloc.

Parliamentary Government

A system of government where the executive branch derives its democratic legitimacy from and is held accountable to the legislature. The head of government is usually a member of the legislature, a model that struggled in the face of extremist movements in the 20th century.

Representative Government

A political system in which citizens elect officials to make laws and decisions on their behalf. The struggle to establish stable versions of this in Eastern Europe after WWI was a central theme, often failing as states transitioned into authoritarianism.

Fourteen Points

A statement of principles for peace negotiations delivered in January 1918. It emphasized self-determination, freedom of the seas, and the creation of an international organization, though it was often compromised by the territorial ambitions of other powers.

Collective Security

The diplomatic principle that an attack on one member of a group of nations is an attack on all. This was a founding theory for post-WWI international relations but failed significantly in the 1930s when it was unable to prevent global aggression.

League of Nations

An international organization established in 1920 to maintain world peace through arbitration. Its effectiveness was hampered by the absence of major global powers and the lack of an independent military force to enforce its mandates.

Isolation(ism)

A foreign policy of avoiding political or military involvement with other countries. Notably practiced by a major Western power during the 1920s and 1930s, this stance prevented participation in international peace organizations and delayed entry into WWII.

Russian Civil War

A multi-party conflict (1917–1922) following a major revolution. It involved a struggle between "Red" and "White" forces, eventually leading to the consolidation of power and the creation of a massive socialist state.

Polish-Russian War, 1920

A conflict involving a newly independent state and a revolutionary power. One side sought to secure eastern borders while the other aimed to spread revolution westward. A major battle at the capital halted the revolutionary advance.

Curzon Line

A proposed demarcation line first suggested in 1919 based on ethnic distribution. Although initially ignored, it became the basis for the permanent border between two major Eastern European powers established after 1945.

Treaty of Riga

Signed in March 1921, this agreement ended a conflict and established borders that gave a central European nation significant territories to the east of a proposed ethnic line.

Cordon Sanitaire

A diplomatic term referring to a system of alliances designed to "quarantine" or contain the spread of a revolutionary ideology. It involved supporting the independence of buffer states in Eastern Europe to act as a barrier.

Comintern

An international organization founded in 1919 to advocate for and coordinate global revolution. It served as a tool of foreign policy for a revolutionary power, causing significant friction with Western democratic governments.

Spheres of Interest

Regions over which a powerful nation exerts unofficial but significant political, economic, or military influence. The division of a continent into these zones was a primary cause of 20th-century geopolitical tension.

Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact

A non-aggression agreement signed in August 1939. A secret protocol divided Eastern Europe into zones of influence, allowing one power to invade territory without fear of a two-front war.

Big Three

The nickname for the leaders of the principal Allied powers during WWII whose summit meetings shaped the post-war world order.

Reparations

Compensation in money or goods provided by a defeated nation for damage or injury during a war. This was a major point of contention at post-WWII conferences, with one power demanding high payments to rebuild its economy.

Spiral of Distrust

A concept describing the breakdown of relations between former allies (1945–1947). Each side viewed the other's defensive actions as aggressive, leading to a cycle of escalation that cemented a long-term ideological conflict.

Economic Nationalism

Policies that emphasize domestic control of the economy through tariffs and trade barriers. In the 1930s, it led to the collapse of international trade and contributed to the rise of extremist regimes.

Autarchic Economy

An economy that aims for total self-sufficiency, requiring no trade with the outside world. This was a goal for several fascist regimes to ensure they could survive wartime blockades.

Atlantic Charter

A 1941 joint declaration outlining a vision for the post-war world, including principles like no territorial aggrandizement, self-determination, and the restoration of self-government.

Foreign Ministers Meeting at Moscow, October 1943

A high-level diplomatic meeting that recognized the need for a new international organization and pledged to fight until the unconditional surrender of the Axis powers.

Tehran Conference

The first meeting of the major Allied leaders in November 1943. Key outcomes included the commitment to open a "Second Front" in Europe and preliminary discussions on post-war borders.

Churchill-Stalin Meeting

A 1944 diplomatic encounter in which leaders used a "Percentages Agreement" to divide influence in the Balkans on a simple piece of paper.

Allied Control Commissions

Administrative bodies established in defeated countries to oversee the transition to peace. In several regions, these were dominated by a single military power, allowing for the eventual installation of specific ideological regimes.

Partisan Groups

Irregular military forces formed to oppose an occupying power. During WWII, those led by revolutionary factions were highly effective and often challenged for political control after the war ended.

Polish Home Army

The dominant resistance movement in an occupied Central European nation, loyal to a government-in-exile. They aimed to liberate their territory before the arrival of a foreign liberator.

Warsaw Uprising

A major 1944 operation to liberate a capital city from occupation. A nearby foreign army halted its advance, allowing the occupiers to crush the resistance and destroy the city.

NKVD

A secret police force responsible for internal security, prison systems, and the "cleansing" of political opponents in newly occupied territories during the mid-20th century.

Provisional Government

A temporary authority set up to manage a political transition. Control over these bodies was a primary source of conflict as the post-WWII world was being organized.

National Democratic Front

A coalition of political parties in a Balkan nation, ostensibly democratic but secretly dominated by a single revolutionary party. It served as a blueprint for the political takeover of the region.

Josip Broz (Tito)

The leader of a resistance force that liberated its own country with minimal outside help, eventually establishing a state independent of the direct control of a neighboring superpower.

Guerilla Groups

Small, independent groups using irregular "hit-and-run" tactics against a larger, traditional military force, often used by revolutionary movements.

Arrow Cross Party

A national socialist party in a Central European country installed as a puppet government in 1944, responsible for widespread deportations and murders.

Soviet Bloc

The group of nations under the political and military influence of a specific superpower, characterized by single-party rule and command economies.

Puppet Governments

Administrations that are legally independent but in practice are controlled by an outside power, often used by occupying forces to maintain local order.

Palmiro Togliatti

A prominent political leader who followed a policy of cooperation with monarchists and other parties to ensure the survival of his revolutionary party in a Western-aligned nation.

Yalta Conference

A February 1945 meeting that resulted in agreements on the division of a major defeated power into zones and the reorganization of governments in Eastern Europe.

Four Power Control

The joint administration of a defeated nation and its capital by four major victors after WWII, a system that eventually led to a permanent division of the territory.

Declaration of Liberated Europe

A pledge signed in 1945 promising that people would be allowed to create democratic institutions of their own choice through free elections. Failure to uphold this was a major catalyst for international conflict.