8.1-8.3

Big Three

Leaders Franklin D. Roosevelt (U.S.), Winston Churchill (U.K.), and Joseph Stalin (USSR) coordinating Allied strategies during WWII.

Tehran Conference (1943)

Meeting where the Big Three agreed on opening a second front against Nazi Germany and discussed post-war territorial arrangements.

Potsdam Conference (1945)

Final meeting of the Big Three negotiating terms for the end of WWII, including administration of defeated Germany.

Harry Truman

33rd U.S. President who authorized atomic bombs on Japan and established the Truman Doctrine to contain communism.

Cold War

Period of geopolitical tension (1947-1991) between the U.S. and the USSR, characterized by ideological conflicts.

Dwight Eisenhower

34th U.S. President who promoted the 'domino theory' regarding the spread of communism.

Self-determination

The principle that nations have the right to choose their sovereignty and political status without external interference.

Hydrogen Bomb

A thermonuclear weapon more powerful than atomic bombs, developed by both the U.S. and USSR during the arms race.

Military-Industrial Complex

Term popularized by Eisenhower warning against the defense industry's growing influence on government policy.

United Nations

International organization founded in 1945 to promote peace, security, and cooperation among nations.

Iron Curtain

Term coined by Churchill describing the division between Western democracies and Eastern communist countries.

Satellite Countries

Nations in Eastern Europe aligned with and under the influence of the Soviet Union.

World Revolution

Marxist concept advocating for the global overthrow of capitalism and establishment of communism.

Containment

U.S. foreign policy aimed at preventing the spread of communism beyond its existing borders.

Truman Doctrine

Policy declaring U.S. support for countries threatened by communism, initially applied to Greece and Turkey.

Non-Aligned Movement

Group of states that chose not to align with either the U.S. or USSR, promoting independent paths during the Cold War.

Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD)

Doctrine where both the U.S. and USSR possessed enough nuclear weapons to deter direct conflict.

Sputnik

First artificial Earth satellite, launched by the USSR in 1957, marking the start of the Space Race.

Marshall Plan

U.S. initiative providing economic aid to Western Europe to rebuild after WWII and prevent communist influence.

COMECON

Soviet-led economic organization facilitating development in Eastern Bloc countries.

Proxy War

Conflicts where opposing countries support combatants serving their interests instead of waging war directly.

Berlin Airlift (1948-1949)

U.S.-led operation supplying West Berlin by air after the Soviet Union blockaded land routes.

Berlin Wall

Barrier constructed in 1961 dividing East and West Berlin, symbolizing the Cold War’s division.

Domino Theory

Belief that the fall of one nation to communism leads to the spread of communism to neighboring countries.

Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961)

Failed U.S.-backed operation by Cuban exiles to overthrow Fidel Castro’s communist government.

Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)

13-day confrontation over Soviet missiles in Cuba, bringing the world close to nuclear war.

Angola

Southern African nation where Cold War superpowers intervened in its post-independence civil war.

Contra War

Conflict in Nicaragua where U.S.-backed Contras fought the socialist Sandinista government during the 1980s.

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

Military alliance formed in 1949 among Western nations to counter Soviet power.

Warsaw Pact

Military alliance of Eastern Bloc countries led by the USSR, established in 1955 as a counterbalance to NATO.

Communist Bloc

Group of socialist states under Soviet influence during the Cold War.

SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Organization)

Alliance formed to prevent communism from spreading in Southeast Asia.

CENTO (Central Treaty Organization)

Military alliance aimed at containing Soviet influence in the Middle East.

Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963)

Agreement prohibiting nuclear weapon tests in the atmosphere, outer space, and underwater.

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (1968)

Treaty aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and promoting peaceful nuclear energy.

Hotline

Direct communication link established in 1963 between U.S. and Soviet leaders to reduce the risk of accidental war.

Antinuclear Weapons Movement

Social movements advocating against nuclear weapons testing and proliferation.

Douglas MacArthur

U.S. general who led UN forces in the Korean War but was dismissed for advocating nuclear weapons against China.

Lyndon B. Johnson

U.S. President who escalated U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War through the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.

John F. Kennedy

U.S. President during the Cuban Missile Crisis who promoted Cold War containment.

Nikita Khrushchev

Soviet leader who oversaw de-Stalinization and the Cuban Missile Crisis, later removed from power.

Land Reform

Redistribution of agricultural land, often seen in socialist or communist policies.

Commune

Large collective farm or community where property and labor were shared.

Theocracy

System of government where religious leaders rule in the name of a deity.

Mao Zedong

Communist leader of China who established the People's Republic in 1949 and launched the Great Leap Forward.

Great Leap Forward (1958-1962)

Mao Zedong's failed economic plan to rapidly industrialize China, leading to famine.

Cultural Revolution (1966-1976)

Mao’s campaign to purge capitalist elements from Chinese society, leading to chaos.

Red Guards

Radical youth groups mobilized by Mao during the Cultural Revolution to enforce communist ideology.

White Revolution

Series of reforms by Iran’s Shah including land redistribution and modernization.

Muhammad Reza Pahlavi

Last Shah of Iran whose modernization efforts led to unrest and his overthrow.

Mohammad Mosaddegh

Iranian Prime Minister who nationalized oil but was overthrown in a CIA-backed coup.

Haile Selassie

Ethiopian emperor who modernized the country but was overthrown in 1974 during a Marxist revolution.

Mengistu Haile Mariam

Communist leader of Ethiopia after the 1974 revolution, responsible for mass killings.